Personal blog and thoughts.https://madeleineham.au/https://madeleineham.au/2025/03/10/what-ive-learnt-chatting-to-people-at-their-doors/https://madeleineham.au/2025/03/10/what-ive-learnt-chatting-to-people-at-their-doors/A few weeks ago I knocked on a stranger’s door in Wallsend. The woman who answered had lived in that house for over 50 years. When she moved there from Stockton in the 1970s it…Mon, 10 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2023/12/01/why-i-got-arrested/https://madeleineham.au/2023/12/01/why-i-got-arrested/Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, began 2023 by declaring it a ‘year of reckoning’. He called for game-changing climate action, disruption to end the destruction. No…Fri, 01 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/12/04/no-regrets/https://madeleineham.au/2021/12/04/no-regrets/Today is election day for the 2021 NSW local government elections. It’s been a long, exhausting slog and I’m glad it’s finally over but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a…Sat, 04 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/10/21/why-im-running-for-lake-macquarie-council/https://madeleineham.au/2021/10/21/why-im-running-for-lake-macquarie-council/Today I’m excited to announce that I will be a candidate in the North Ward of Lake Macquarie City Council in the upcoming local government elections on December 4. I’m currently…Thu, 21 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/09/24/real-unemployment-rate-in-the-hunter-hidden-by-low-participation-rate/https://madeleineham.au/2021/09/24/real-unemployment-rate-in-the-hunter-hidden-by-low-participation-rate/The latest detailed ABS labour force statistics have been released for the month of August. The unemployment rate in the Hunter remains well below the peak during the initial wave…Fri, 24 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/09/04/the-hunter-is-ready-to-kickstart-the-offshore-wind-revolution/https://madeleineham.au/2021/09/04/the-hunter-is-ready-to-kickstart-the-offshore-wind-revolution/The federal government is seeking to legalise the offshore wind industry in Commonwealth waters. Australia is yet to capitalise on significant offshore wind capacity despite the…Sat, 04 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/08/31/our-future-must-be-our-choice/https://madeleineham.au/2021/08/31/our-future-must-be-our-choice/The last month has been tough for so many of us. The worry, the fear, it’s made us all look again at what matters most. What we care about and the things we hold close. So here’s…Tue, 31 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/06/21/we-won-but-the-battle-for-our-university-isnt-over/https://madeleineham.au/2021/06/21/we-won-but-the-battle-for-our-university-isnt-over/Mark Vaile has announced his resignation as Chancellor of the University of Newcastle. This victory wouldn’t have been possible without the huge grassroots wave of opposition to…Mon, 21 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/06/20/labor-can-attack-the-governments-vaccine-rollout-without-dangerous-fearmongering/https://madeleineham.au/2021/06/20/labor-can-attack-the-governments-vaccine-rollout-without-dangerous-fearmongering/Right now, people seem to be more scared of the AstraZeneca vaccine than they are of COVID itself. This is a dangerous mindset that has been propagated by our nation’s…Sun, 20 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/05/24/future-generations-will-not-thank-this-government/https://madeleineham.au/2021/05/24/future-generations-will-not-thank-this-government/I have lived my whole life in the Hunter Valley, and I’m proud of our region’s coal history. My family has worked in the mines and on the rails for generations, helping to secure…Mon, 24 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/05/07/overdue-newcastle-airport-runway-upgrade-a-good-start-but-a-rail-connection-is-still-needed/https://madeleineham.au/2021/05/07/overdue-newcastle-airport-runway-upgrade-a-good-start-but-a-rail-connection-is-still-needed/The federal government has finally committed to funding a $66 million upgrade to Newcastle Airport’s runway to bring it up to international flight standard. This opens up the…Fri, 07 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/04/12/funding-irregularities-are-a-symptom-of-a-deeper-systemic-issue-in-this-state/https://madeleineham.au/2021/04/12/funding-irregularities-are-a-symptom-of-a-deeper-systemic-issue-in-this-state/Newcastle was shut out of more than $170 million in government grants in 2019. This funding irregularity is a symptom of a deeper, systemic issue that has long been present in the…Mon, 12 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2021/03/12/not-the-end-of-the-line-for-the-south-maitland-railway/https://madeleineham.au/2021/03/12/not-the-end-of-the-line-for-the-south-maitland-railway/Driving past stations like Neath along the South Maitland Railway is like looking at a chapter of our history frozen in time. Passenger services ceased on this line nearly 50…Fri, 12 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2020/12/05/coal-pride-lingers-but-power-shift-is-lasting/https://madeleineham.au/2020/12/05/coal-pride-lingers-but-power-shift-is-lasting/Growing up in the Hunter, I've been proud of a history of family in the coal industry. For all of my life, I can remember seeing endless streams of ships being pulled into our…Sat, 05 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Hamhttps://madeleineham.au/2020/02/22/striking-for-the-climate-is-our-only-power/https://madeleineham.au/2020/02/22/striking-for-the-climate-is-our-only-power/When I was three years old, Kevin Rudd described climate change as "the great moral challenge of our generation." Later that year, Rudd would lead the Labor Party to an election…Sat, 22 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMTMadeleine Ham