In this first installment of The West Weekly:

• We're all obsessed with Basil Zempilas.
• No one knows who our premier is – will free zoo tickets help?
• Man the battle stations! Seven West's cold war against nature laws has turned hot.

Head to www.lastplaceonearth.com.au for reportage, opinion, analysis and more.

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Newly independent Senator Fatima Payman is currently travelling through regional Western Australia on a 'listening tour' to meet with voters and hear their concerns.

The Last Place on Earth sat down with Senator Payman last week in the Pilbara town of Karratha, where she spoke about:

• Feeling constrained in the Labor party
• Meeting with angry students from the Curtin Uni pro-Palestine encampment
• Labor's Future Gas Strategy
• How genocide in Gaza will shape the next Australian federal election
• What she's hearing from voters in the regions

For more on power and politics in the west, and what it means for the rest of the country, visit www.lastplaceonearth.com.au

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A storm of controversy is swirling over offshore wind in the Western Australian town of Bunbury.

As the world attempts to transitions to renewable energy, grassroots groups are voicing their opposition to wind developments.

In South West WA, community group Save Our Beloved Geographe Bay has formed to oppose the federal government's proposed Bunbury offshore wind zone.

But are there nefarious forces at play?

How legitimate are environmental concerns about wind turbines?

Where's the money coming from to support local anti-wind groups like Save Our Beloved Geographe Bay?

Why do anti-wind activists hate environmental groups like Greenpeace so much?

And how does anti-wind sentiment fit into the murky worldviews of anti-vax, sovereign citizen, freedom-loving conspiracy theorists?

In this episode, you'll hear interviews with:

• Bunbury resident Rodney Peterson
• Curtin University marine scientist Professor Christine Erbe
• Save Our Beloved Geographe Bay campaign co-coordinator Martine Shepherd
• Busselton resident Darren Glover
• Independent MLC Sophia Moermond

Since this episode was recorded, a coalition of environmental orgs, including WWF and Greenpeace, released a statement on renewables and nature:

"Of course, every renewable energy project must be assessed for its environmental impact, which will mean avoiding some locations.

"Stronger and clearer laws would guide all projects, give the community and industry certainty, set limits of acceptability, be designed to protect species and prevent extinction and in doing so create momentum for the necessary big renewables build. Moreover, any development in the oceans must consider the impacts on marine life and follow strict regulatory controls."

Read more about opposition to offshore wind in the South West from The Last Place on Earth: 'The anger is blowin' in the wind'.

Subscribe and support our work for $5 a month.

Links:

'Reviewing the ecological impacts of offshore wind farms' - Scientific paper

Greenpeace statement on proposed Bunbury offshore wind zone

'Against the Wind: A Map of the Anti-Offshore Wind Network in the Eastern United States' - report by Brown University Climate and Development Lab

'The network of conservative think-tanks out to kill the switch to renewables' - Renew Economy

Doppelganger by Naomi Klein

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Both state and federal governments have handed down budgets in the past fortnight that include big surpluses and electricity credits for all.

Is federal Labor taking its cues from WA, and how will that work out for them? And what does WA really have to show for all those iron ore royalties?

In this episode, hear Shire of Ashburton President Audra Smith talk about her Pilbara community's disappointment with the state budget. They've been waiting for a new hospital at Tom Price since it was promised back in 2021, and the budget papers suggests they'll be waiting a while longer.

This episode was recorded on Wednesday 15 May.

Read more on the WA state budget from The Last Place on Earth:

• 'Forgotten' Pilbara town waits for promised hospital as another budget passes by
• Someone, please invade Perth
• WA banks another $3.2 billion in surplus - but would it be better off spent?

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Pro-Palestinian protests around the world are escalating, and Western Australia is no exception.

From Columbia to Curtin University, students are pitching tents to demand their administrations cut ties with Israel.

Meanwhile, hundreds continue to join picket lines at Fremantle Port in an attempt to disrupt Israeli shipping line ZIM.

Are these tactics working? And when it comes to global issues like Palestine, can what happens in a place like Perth really make a difference?

In this episode, you'll hear from Western Australian organisers and protesters on why they're willing to get disruptive for Palestine.

Subscribe to The Last Place on Earth to stay up to date with our new and articles, as well as the podcast.

Support independent media in Western Australia by becoming a paid subscriber.

For more on recent pro-Palestine protests, see our news coverage:

• Pro-Palestinian activists arrested at Fremantle Port picket
• Curtin students set up encampment to demand uni divest from Israel

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The Last Place on Earth takes you undercover at a conference linked to a shadowy network of right-wing thinktanks. Find out what Basil Zempilas wants to ban, who Gina Rinehart looks up to, and which Labor MP Tony Seabrook recently treated to a lamb lunch and a tour of the paddocks.

'Australia: The Road Ahead' was held last week at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle and involved a number of organisations including The Atlas Society, The Institute of Public Affairs, the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation, The Centre for Independent Studies, and The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation.

As the Australian conservative movement identifies woke attacks on the foundations of Western civilisation coming from all directions, does it have a map for the road ahead?

Links:

Desmog Climate Disinformation Database entry on the Atlas Network

What links Rishi Sunak, Javier Milei and Donald Trump? The shadowy network behind their policies - by George Monbiot

Arise the bootfluencer! Gina Rinehart’s new hire - Mark di Stefano

The Last Place on Earth has a new website - where you can become a supporter of the project.

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Ballardong Noongar campaigner Desmond Blurton joins The Last Place on Earth to talk about what he's been hearing over the course of this summer from loved ones in prison. Plus, Jesse and Gerard debrief the WWE Elimination Chamber and peruse the first two editions of 7West Media's The Nightly.

Find Des Blurton on Instagram or TikTok.

Bernard Keane in Crikey: 'A Nightly vote of no confidence in Seven’s influence'

Chip in to Jesse and Gerard's Bail Support Fund: www.lastplaceonearth.com.au

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In this week's episode of The Last Place on Earth:

• Why is Albo scrawling vows on the arms of journalists?
• What's the best way to sneak truth-telling about Palestine onto the ABC?
• Why is 7West media doubling down on traditional media with a nightly newpaper?

SHOW NOTES:

'Reckless' by Angie McMahon

'The heavy price of keeping the west happy', by Paul Kelly in The Australian

'Power without profit: why Stokes retains the failed Seven network' by Bernard Keane in Crikey

'Stokes’ Seven takes on News Corp with nightly newspaper, supported by Gina Rinehart' by Calum Jaspan in WAToday

SUPPORT Gerard and Jesse's Bail Support Fund on Patreon.

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