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Hazelwood Power Station to close

Hazelwood Power Station, Australia鈥檚 dirtiest power generator and many decades past its 鈥渦se by鈥 date, will finally close on March 31.

Hazelwood鈥檚 closure is symbolic because of its size, its history and because it provides 20% of Victoria鈥檚 power. But technological advances and environmental concerns have finally caught up with it.

In May, majority owner ENGIE鈥檚 CEO Isabelle Kocher said the company was reviewing its remaining coal plants one by one and would close those with the most outdated technology.

CSIRO staff vote No on cuts to rights and conditions

Staff of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have overwhelmingly rejected a proposed enterprise bargaining agreement that would cut workplace rights and conditions, for a pay rise well below inflation. A ballot announced on November 1 revealed that 70% of eligible staff voted against CSIRO management's proposed EBA, dealing a further setback to the Turnbull government's faltering public sector bargaining policy.

Installing a right-wing government, Spain's PSOE deepens its own crisis

In the end, on October 29, it all worked out rather well for Mariano Rajoy. After patiently implementing his motto that 鈥渁ll things come to he who waits鈥, the leader of the conservative People鈥檚 Party (PP) was that day confirmed as Spain鈥檚 prime minister for a second four-year term.

Normal operations were apparently resumed in the institutions of the Spanish state after 10 months of turmoil arising from the inconclusive general election results of December 20 and June 26.

Melbourne Kurds protest Diyarbakir arrests

Members of Melbourne鈥檚 Kurdish community rallied outside the city鈥檚 Turkish consulate on October 28 to protest the arrests of the co-mayors of the city of Diyarbakir in south-east Turkey.

The two mayors, G眉ltan Ki艧anek and Firat Ali, were arrested on October 25 and accused of links to the banned Kurdish Workers鈥 Party (PKK). Ki艧anek is also an elected member of the Turkish Parliament for the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party. She is also the city鈥檚 first female mayor.

Battling homelessness and poverty

There are 105,000 homeless people in Australia. In NSW and Victoria there has been a 20% increase in the rate of homelessness in the past decade. This shows that homelessness is a structural issue, one that charity is not capable of fixing.

The current homelessness services are incredibly scarce and designed to fail anyone in need of accommodation.

Time to call out Clinton 鈥 and face down the liberal feminists: a reply to Van Badham

Guardian journalist and self-proclaimed 鈥渟ocialist feminist鈥 Van Badham鈥檚 latest article is entitled .

Property title scandal as WestConnex protests continue

The NSW Coalition government is under fire again after property owners in Sydney's south-west were hit by a "monumental stuff-up" in which at least 140 new buyers were not told they would be in the path of a future motorway before they bought their properties.

The blunder affects properties purchased between June 27 and October 24 this year that are in or near the planned F6 extension corridor in Sydney's south and the Werrington Arterial project. The Labor opposition has linked the error with the privatisation of the agency responsible, Land and Property Information.

The Kafkaesque world of the North West Point Immigration Detention Centre on Christmas Island

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In August, Pamela Curr from Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), and Sister Brigid Arthur, from the Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project, travelled to Christmas Island to visit the men seeking asylum, who are currently held in the detention centre, more than 2600 kilometres from the nearest capital city, Perth. On their return they presented this report.

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Now legal to grow medicinal marijuana

The Narcotic Drugs Amendment Act 2016 came into effect on October 30, allowing people to apply for a licence to cultivate cannabis for their own medical needs, to manufacture cannabis products for sale for medicinal purposes, or to conduct related research.

The Act now gives patients access to a safe, reliable and legal source of cannabis for medicinal use. Previously patients had to import medicinal cannabis products.

1916 conscription referendum remembered

On October 28, the 100th anniversary of the first conscription referendum, historian Michael Hamel-Green gave a talk at the Brunswick Library entitled "When Australians said no to war".

Hamel-Green said that in official commemorations of World War I there is "amnesia" about the divisions among the Australian people over the war.

When the initial high level of voluntary recruitment to the army declined, Labor Prime Minister Billy Hughes decided to introduce conscription for overseas service 鈥 conscription for service within Australia was already legal.

Fact Check: The Coal Wars

Since Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull replaced Tony 鈥渃oal is good for humanity鈥 Abbott, the Adani Carmichael mine, the Galilee Basin and environmental 鈥渓awfare鈥 has been out of the news. But an increase in the coal price and Turnbull鈥檚 apparent change of view means the Coal Wars are back. This is a review of some of the key claims at the heart of the Australian coal debate.

CLAIM: The Adani mine will create 10,000 jobs.

Planning minister orders Carlton pub rebuilt

Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne said changes to planning laws about to be introduced mean they could force the developers behind the demolition of Melbourne's Corkman Irish Pub to "replicate the site immediately prior to demolition".

The heritage listed 159-year-old Corkman Irish Pub, previously known as the Carlton Inn, was illegally demolished on October 15.

Its owners had no building or planning permits.

Before the demolition, the developers commissioned an architect to draw plans for a 12-storey tower on the site.