Australia

By Gerry Georgatos - Courtesy of The Stringer - http://thestringer.com.au/ - (Photo of Irrkelantye dwelling by Paddy Gibson) Today, Irrkelantye has been without its water supply for one month. The residents of this open air shanty now walk half a kilometre to collect as much water as they can carry back. The Northern Territory Government is not budging from its relative silence. It appears the Government wants the people to move on from this safe space.

The latest CEDEX assessment by Pitt and Sherry shows an increase in Australian electricity demand in June and July with rising supply from coal and gas since the Abbott Government abolished the carbon tax and talked about abolishing or emasculating the Renewable Energy Target with the Warburton Review. Emissions rose by about 1 million tonnes - about 0.8 per cent. It is the largest 2 month increase since 2006 according to Peter Hannam in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Today, some truly tragic news.

Hamid Kehazaei, a 24-year-old Iranian asylum seeker detained on Manus Island, recently suffered a cut to his foot while being detained on Manus Island. After the cut became infected, it's reported that Hamid sought medical attention and was denied for days, resulting in acute blood poisoning. Today we learned that, after being transferred to a hospital in Brisbane, he has been declared brain dead.

By Gerry Georgatos - courtesy of The Stringer - http://thestringer.com.au/ - Without any notice to the impoverished community of Irrkelantye, also known as Whitegate, the Northern Territory Government cut off the water supply. In the past, the United Nations has slammed as “an affront to human rights” such scandalous measures to shut down communities and move on people. Irrkelantye is all that its residents have known as home and indeed they have nowhere to go.