Developing the Hunter

What is the Hunter Development Corporation doing?

What is the Hunter Infrastructure Investment Fund?

May 8^th 7pm  Newcastle City Hall

The Hunter Region is becoming a ‘hot spot’ for development nationally.  Population growing strongly with many more people to come. Mining is booming.  Tourism is increasing.  High-tech industries such as aerospace, defence, energy technology, health and education are becoming a major component of the regional economy.  But the infrastructure to support all this development is lagging behind.  In a region that was already lacking in multiple areas, the cracks are beginning to show.

Many believe there has been insufficient planning in the past, and this is still not being done properly. Is the region getting an appropriate ‘infrastructure dividend’ from the current resources boom?  And what is being done to develop the region for the ‘post-coal’ era?  Will there still be critical infrastructure deficiencies?

One of the major ‘players’ in regional development is the Hunter Development Corporation. The HDC’s role includes the development of large parcels of state land across the region. The HDC also has responsibilities for Infrastructure derived from its involvement with the Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund (HIIF), set up in 2010. The HIIF Board has been tasked to develop a 20 year infrastructure plan for the Hunter Region.

At the New Institute’s next public forum Bob Hawes, the HDC’s General Manager, will explain what the HDC is doing at present, including planning for land outside of Honeysuckle.  He will also discuss what approach will be used through the HIIF to develop appropriate priorities for infrastructure spending in the Hunter.

Following this, Architect Phillip Pollard will discuss the challenge of appropriate regional development from an environmental planning perspective.  There will then be interactive discussion between both speakers and the audience addressing the need for community involvement in these decisions.

This meeting will be of interest to anyone concerned about appropriate development of the Hunter Region.  All Welcome!

THIS FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC 

VENUE:  Hunter Room, Newcastle City Hall

DATE: Tuesday 8th

 May 2012  

TIME: 7.00 till 8.30pm   ADMISSION: $5 Donation

FURTHER DETAILS:  www.newinstitute.org.au  or Angie at 0422401129

 Click the logo to download a flyer for this event.

Until recently, Newcastle has been a ‘ten-minute city’. Traffic jams were unknown, roads were uncrowded, and it was a short drive anywhere.  Suddenly, it seems to have changed. A number of traffic flow ‘hot-spots’ have formed, that short trip from home to work is taking longer, and parking is chaotic or almost impossible. Level crossings and rail corridors divide the city. The future development of the Hunter depends on solving these problems.

The Hunter Independent Public Transport Inquiry (HIPTI) has been investigating possible transport strategies for Newcastle and the Hunter Region, and is about to produce its report. Meanwhile, the NRMA has also been investigating the region’s transport and traffic challenges.

At the next public forum hosted by Newcastle-based think-tank The New Institute, prominent architect Edward Duc and economist Howard Dick shall present the findings of the HIPTI review.  NRMA Director and Newcastle businessman Kyle Loades shall present the findings of the NRMA’s investigations and recommendations about transport options for the region.

These presentations will then be followed by public discussion, including commentary from other interest groups.  The discussion shall be facilitated to ensure that particularly contentious issues (or personalities) do not sidetrack the debate into unproductive repetition of entrenched views.

This forum aims to move discussion of the transport challenges facing Newcastle and the Hunter Region away from bitterly entrenched and polarised positions, and onto consideration of feasible and realistic options for the region’s future.

THIS FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC 

VENUE:  Hunter Room, Newcastle City Hall    

DATE: Tuesday 10th April  2012  

TIME: 7.00 till 8.30pm  ADMISSION: $5 Donation

FURTHER DETAILS:  www.newinstitute.org.au  or Angie at 0422401129

NEXT MEETING:

May 8th:-  Infrastructure and Development – What’s happening to the Hunter Development Corporation, and the Hunter Infrastructure Investment Fund?

 Click the logo to download a flyer for this event.

Obama’s America:

A Critique of the Critics

Michael Ondaatje March 13th, 7pm Newcastle City Hall

Barack Obama’s aura has faded. In the media, the President is attacked mercilessly by opponents, who point to sluggish economic growth, a stubbornly high unemployment rate, ballooning federal deficits and mounting debt as evidence of a failed, even disastrous, first-term agenda. Republicans call him a socialist. The left see him as a Wall Street puppet. Independents think he’s a wimp.
In the next public forum hosted by Newcastle-based think-tank The New Institute, Dr Michael Ondaatje challenges these assessments of Obama by looking beyond the media spin and carefully scrutinizing the President’s actual record of governance, at home and abroad.

Turning to the Republican primaries, he will also look at the political alternatives to Obama – Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul – and weighs up what a conservative-led America would look like as the 2012 election looms.

Who will win the election? And why? Employing rigorous critical analysis, this lecture will attempt to answer these burning questions.

Dr. Michael Ondaatje is Senior Lecturer and Head of History at the University of Newcastle. He is a prize-winning researcher and teacher, and a regular media commentator on American history and politics. In 2011, Michael was also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute, Oxford University.

THIS FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC VENUE: Hunter Room, Newcastle City Hall
DATE: Tuesday 13th March 2012
TIME: 7.00 till 8.30pm ADMISSION: $5 Donation

FURTHER DETAILS: www.newinstitute.org.au or Angie at 0422401129

NEXT MEETINGS:

April10th :- New Transport Options for Newcastle – Ed Duc, Kyle Loades (NRMA); May 8th:- What’s happening to the Hunter Development Corporation, and the Hunter Infrastructure Investment Fund?

     Click the logo to download a flyer for this event.

 

The New Institute is proud to commence 2012 with a very special event.

On 15th of February 1942, the ‘impregnable’ British Garrison of Singapore fell to a much smaller number of Japanese troops.  The shock waves of that event changed the direction of Australian foreign policy and continue to resonate, while the fate of the captured Australian soldiers in Changi, the Burma Railway and elsewhere is legendary.

In recognition of the seventieth anniversary of these events, the New Institute brings together two speakers with very different perspectives.

Professor Wayne Reynolds, Historian at Newcastle University, will review the strategic and military situation at the beginning of 1942, when Germany and Japan seemed all-powerful.  This overview of the ‘big picture’ will provide the background for the personal story of second speaker.

Peter Hendry AOwas a Doctor in the Australian Army who was captured at the fall of Singapore and became a prisoner in Changi.  Sent with ‘slave labour’ teams to the Burma Railway, he worked as a Doctor in the most primitive and horrific conditions imaginable, where thousands died.  Despite all he went through, he survived and has lived a long life of achievement since then, and remains an active contributor to the community in his nineties.  At this forum, he will tell of his experiences as a POW during the war and on his return to Australia.  There will then be time for questions and discussion with both speakers, to reflect on the impact of these events.

This event is a rare opportunity to meet with, and hear from, a remarkable Australian speaking from experience about one of the most important events in Australia's history.  It should not be missed.

THIS FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC 

VENUE: Newcastle City Hall, Hunter Room.

DATE: Tuesday 14th February 2012  TIME: 7.00 till 8.30pm

ADMISSION: $5 Donation

FURTHER DETAILS:  www.newinstitute.org.au  or Angie at  0422 401 129

Click the logo to download a flyer for this event.

 

If you have an event you believe would be of interest to other visitors to this site, why not add it to our ‘Newcastle Events‘ calendar?

All you need to do is click ‘Newcastle Events‘ link in the menu bar above and then follow the link to the online calendar.  Once there, click the ‘Add Event’ link at the calendar and fill out the relevant fields.  Your event will appear once approved for publication.

We look forward to helping to keep everybody up to date with some of the great things happening in Newcastle.

What a gorgeous night it was in Newcastle last night to farewell 2011 and bring in the New Year. As the site statistics below show, as well as the good numbers we have had physically attending our events throughout 2011, we’ve also had over 5000 unique visitors to our website.

 

As you can see from the visit duration statistics below, a large number of visitors found plenty to read about on our site, with around 2000 visitors staying for at least 30 minutes and over 2000 spending at least an hour on site.

Australian IP addresses still provide the largest number of visitors, but, as the figures below show, we’ve had a significant number of visitors from the USA and other countries.

Thanks again to all of our supporters throughout 2011. We look forward to seeing you in 2012 at our events, or engaging with our site. Don’t forget that you can use the buttons our website to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. Or, you can always use the Contact page on the site, or click the Comment link. Please be a part of the conversation as we move ahead into a New Year.

Thank you to the large audience who came along to our November event last week to hear about ‘The church and THAT problem – what is the way forward’  Speakers and audience members dealt sincerely and sensitively with some of the deep seated issues around this topic.  This was our second event in our new venue at the Hunter Room in City Hall and we thank everybody who has been a supporter of our activities throughout the year.

This was the last event for the New Institute in 2011.  Our program of events will recommence in March 2012.

Many thanks for your support and interest throughout 2011.  We were thrilled to be supporters at the initial TEDxNewy held at the Civic Playhouse yesterday, 12th November.

For links to some of the great ‘ideas worth spreading’ and photos and other content from the day, look for the link from our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Institute-Newcastle/264214306952732

Have a wonderful festive season and a happy and safe commencement to the New Year!

Cheers

The New Institute team.

One of the most complex and difficult social issues of recent years has been that of widespread andextensive child sexual abuse linked to churches and clergy.  There has been years of painful reporting and revelation, including the recognition that the Hunter region may have been particularly severely affected.  Lives have been devastated and families and communities torn apart. Nevertheless many victims remain silent, and some ‘non-victims’ still struggle to even talk about “THAT problem.”

For the direct victims, it is hoped that bringing the problem into the open, recognition of harm and suffering, and establishment of treatment and healing programs may bring comfort and resolution.

But what about the indirect victims, and the church(es) involved? The many ‘ordinary faithful’have a painful dilemma – torn between their faith and spiritual need to be involved with the church, but conflicted by the churches inadequacies and failings in dealing with the issue.

The next forum of the New Institute brings together two very different perspectives on this most difficult of issues.  Joanne McCarthy, local journalist, and raised as a Catholic, has been centrally involved in revealing the extent of the sexual abuse problem.  Her many articles and reports have gained national prominence.  Father Geoff Mulhearn is a Roman Catholic priest who struggles to resolve the many questions raised for both his faith, and the future of his church, as a result of the child sexual abuse issue.

Despite their differences, both Joanne and Father Geoff believe that a way must be found to deal with the child sexual abuse issue appropriately.  This is needed for the many victims, for the church itself, and for the ‘ordinary faithful’ who wish to continue to worship within the church.  They are both going to explore these painful issues at the next Public Forum of the New Institute.  The format of the discussion will be highly interactive.

THIS FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

VENUE: Newcastle City Hall, Hunter Room.

DATE: Tuesday 8^th November 2011 TIME: 7.00 till 8.30pm

ADMISSION: $5 Donation

FURTHER DETAILS: www.newinstitute.org.au or Victoria at 0408 588550

Newcastle‘s Intellectual, Social and Creative Infrastructure

Across Australia, Newcastle is perceived as a strong working and sporting city, with an increasingly recognised good environment and a high quality of life.  Problems of physical infrastructure – such as transport – need to be addressed.

But successful cities in the future will not be centres of mining and manufacturing:- they will be centres of ideas, innovation, and creativity.  This requires a different type of infrastructure:- the ‘ideas infrastructure’ – networks of people stimulating each other’s creativity, sharing ideas, and building influence.

There is already a great deal of creative and ideas activity in Newcastle, but the challenge is to improve recognition and connectedness – to build linkages and synergies between these groups, to increase the overall ‘ideas capacity’ in the city, and particularly to increase the national recognition and influence of Newcastle as a centre for innovation.

The New Institute’s next public forum will bring together a range of contributors to address the topic of ‘Building an Ideas City” – the challenge of developing Newcastle’s intellectual, social and creative infrastructure.

In a forum loosely based on the ABC’s ‘Q and A’ over a dozen different groups representing perspectives from business, social, industrial, arts, communication and media perspectives shall join together to address this challenge.

The evening also aims to build interaction between the invited groups, the general public, and the “Ideas Community” of Newcastle;  and to foster initiatives to build the infrastructure to support the development of Newcastle as a recognised “Ideas City” in the future.

The venue in Newcastle City Hall also provides opportunities for socialising in nearby pubs and restaurants after the forum.  This is a great step forward in the development of the New Institutes activities in Newcastle.  All Welcome!!

THIS FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC 

VENUE:  Hunter Room, Newcastle City Hall  (NOTE NEW LOCATION)  

DATE: Tuesday 11th October  2011  

TIME: 7.00 till 8.30pm  ADMISSION: $5 Donation

FURTHER DETAILS:  www.newinstitute.org.au  or Victoria at 0408588550

NEXT MEETING: The Church after THAT Problem.  Joanne McCarthy, Fr Geoff Mulhearn.  Newcastle City Hall, November 8th

 

 

This New Institute Forum aims to involve a range of stakeholders in:-

• identifying the current intellectual, social and creative activity in the region,
• understanding the factors which support or act as barriers to the development of increased innovation, social and creative activity in the region.
• building a framework to increase the recognition, coordination, activity and linkages in the ‘ideas and creative’ sector of the region.

Details

Date: Tuesday 11th October, 2011

Time: 7pm

Location: Hunter Room, Newcastle City Hall – (Please note that lift access for attendees with mobility issues is available by using the entry from the Wheeler Place end of the building)

Entry: A donation of $5 is much appreciated.

Background

The New Institute has been meeting in a variety of locations since 2004, with a general aim of raising the standard and quality of non-partisan discussion of public interest issues in Newcastle.  Newcastle City Council has recently become a venue sponsor of the Institute’s public forums, which will now be held in Newcastle City Hall.

In recognition of this new phase in the New Institute’s activities, our next  meeting on October 11th, will bring together a range of contributors in a panel to address the topic of ‘Building an Ideas City” – the challenge of developing Newcastle’s intellectual, Social and creative infrastructure.

Rationale

Across Australia, Newcastle is perceived as a working and sporting city, with an increasingly recognised good environment and a high quality of life. There is a need for better transport and other infrastructure to build capacity to support the region’s contribution to the national economy.  Every week the media is carrying stories building awareness of the need to invest in building this physical infrastructure for the future.

But strong and successful cities in the future will not be centres of mining and manufacturing:- they will centres of ideas, creativity and influence.  This requires a different type of infrastructure the ‘ideas infrastructure’ – networks of people stimulating each other’s creativity, sharing ideas, and building influence.

There is already a great of creative and ideas activity in Newcastle, but much of this is little-known or poorly recognised. Individuals and groups are not connecting with each other.  Myriad opportunities to build a vibrant dynamic community of new ideas are being lost.

The challenge is to improve both the recognition and the connectedness of the various diverse groups in Newcastle dealing with creativity and ideas – to build linkages and synergies between them, and thus increase the overall ‘ideas capacity’ in the city, and particularly to increase the national recognition and influence of Newcastle as a centre for ideas.

Format

The forum will be chaired by Roger Pryor, a member of the New Institute committee, who will chair a panel, in a format loosely based on the ABC’s ‘Q&A’.   After introduction, panel members will each do a brief (2-3 min) presentation of their experiences or activities in intellectual, social and creative capital.

Panel members will then field questions like:

• What are the major “structural” impediments to activity that they have encountered (i.e. other than “Lack of funding” etc)
• How linkages with other groups could produce synergistic benefits in their areas of endeavour
• What factors support or act as barriers to greater activity or investment (economic, social and creative) in these areas
• How can the supporting factors be encouraged and the barriers overcome
• What (affordable) strategies/structures could be developed in the short term to facilitate building up of capacity and capital in ideas/creativity/social innovation

• Questions and comments from the audience will also  be interpolated into the discussion.

• During the evening an opportunity will exist for any group or activity broadly addressing the issue of building an “ideas city” to promote their existence and activities, and to build greater awareness of this activity in the region.

A number of stakeholders from a broad range across the community have been invited to take part as either panellists or as designated audience contributors.

The planned outcomes of this forum should be:-

• Facilitation of interaction between the various attendees
• Improved public profile of the “Ideas Activity” in Newcastle.
• Move to identify how best to build productive and stimulating synergies and networks between the various stakeholders in the “Ideas Community” of Newcastle
• Fostering of initiatives to build the infrastructure to support the development of Newcastle as a recognised “Ideas City” in the future.

Next Steps

Based on the results of this event, next year there could be a follow-up event which focuses on people’s ideas of moving Newcastle forward to a liveable and sustainable city.
Follow @NewInstitute

Click the logo to download a flyer for this event.

 

Management Committee

Martin Babakhan;   Felicity Biggins;   Victoria Carroll,  Robyn Considine;    Bernie Curran;   Angie Dilorenzo;    Micah Jenkins  Ross Kerridge;    John Miner;    Roger Pryor;  Amanda Shirley (McLean’s Bookshop),  Krysia Walker. I

Visit the website at www.newinstitute.org.au or phone Victoria Carroll 0408588550, Angie diLorenzo on 0422401129, or Ross Kerridge on 0401522875