This is the story of the legal action taken against a local councillor and then abandoned.
It prompted academic Joseph Fernandez’s statements about privacy law.
From the Great Southern Weekender Thursday, January 5, 2017.
Some new thoughts on what is and isn’t private according to Australian law.
From The Great Southern Weekender, Thursday February 13, 2018.
This is possibly the least enjoyable bit of writing I have ever done. Hmm.
Cheek: memories of a paedophile priest.
From The Great Southern Weekender. Thursday, March 9, 2017 p7.
It is tricky to explain the workings of a local council to newspaper readers when the issue is complex and councillors are deciding how to vote.
From The Great Southern Weekender, Thursday, December 1, 2016 p1 and 2.
I think I was able to pull it off this time.
However this was not the end of the matter. One councillor decided to table a motion at the next meeting to reverse the decision, which is having an effect on the conduct of the current State Election. I will post the story when time permits.
I don’t often write headlines for my own stories, but this has to be my best ever.
The City of Albany and two neighbouring shires are working to solve their waste disposal problem.
This is a serious issue for all local governments.
From The Great Southern Weekender
Just as James Joyce spent 20 years in Paris writing about Dublin, Ciaran Lynch has spent the last five in Dublin writing about Albany. A good read.
From The Great Southern Weekender September 22, 2016 p8
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p9
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This is an example of a story lead changing right on deadline.
I had written about a judgement made against a young man who had started a bushfire and was ordered to pay a six-figure sum in damages.
I interviewed the fire control officer who was pleased with this result.
My editor had already put the story “on the page” when the man’s lawyer contacted me telling me his client could not be jailed for non-payment as it was a civil matter.
From The Great Southern Weekender Thursday, August 11, 2016.
WORDS AND PICTURES BY GEOFF VIVIAN
A fun part of my newspaper job is this weekly classic cars column. It is an advertising feature with a regular sponsor and often attracts a lot of ads from other automotive businesses. Continue reading
If you catch a protected fish – in this case a large shark – you are supposed to let it go as soon as possible.
But what if you take a photograph of it first?
Anglers do this, and so for that matter do people studying fish. Continue reading
TEXT AND PICTURE BY GEOFF VIVIAN
Having just been through the disatrous bushfires at Yarloop and Wooroona and the catastrophic Esperance fire, many Western Australians are demanding to know what is being done.
Click on this image to read the story.
I would not usually go into such detail about fire control in a local paper but my editor agreed that people were in the mood to read this right now.
All through winter a prescribed burning program is reducing fuel loads in areas of bush, while giving wildlife a reasonable chance to escape to nearby intact habitat.
This is an account of a well-planned burn, how it worked and why.
I was really pleased with the pic too – nothing flash but I trust it conveyed the idea of “business as usual” burning rather than firefighting.