Call it a case of wishful thinking. Early last month, News Corpse’s Australian newspaper reported, “Fairfax Media should axe its Melbourne and Sydney daily print editions and focus on e-readers and online to boost earnings, a report says. An analysis from Macquarie has found dropping print editions of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and delivering content via e-readers such as Apple’s iPad could boost earnings from the two papers to $55m — $5m more than the bank’s 2010 forecast.” Not surprisingly, News did not report that Hardigan or his boss Rupert Murdoch had any plans to axe their own print editions of the Australian or the Daily Telegraph.

Judging by the old fashioned newspaper wars that are still raging here in Sydney, the publishers aren’t really paying too much heed to their trade organisation’s dire forecasts. Here in Darlinghurst 2010, Fairfax has been littering our back lanes with throw away copies of their real estate supplement, the Domain. In response, News has been dumping both the Wentworth Courier and Central Magazine at almost every last outlet available to free distribution newspapers in the inner east, making Central even more irrelevant.

The battle for the eastern suburbs’ advertising market escalated into an all out war in late 2007 – when the ACCC voided the Courier’s advertising contracts with real estate agents. Under the terms of that contract, real estate agents were obliged to commit 75% of all “house for sale” ads to the Wentworth Courier. Most of the ads were paid for by vendors, who were unaware that the agents were receiving commissions for the sale of their house as well as a commission for selling ads into the Wentworth Courier. Following complaints from the Hub and other local newspapers (including the Sydney Morning Herald), the ACCC ruled that “the contracts directly limit the volume of print display advertising that real estate agents advertising properties in the eastern suburbs can place with competing publications.”

Three years later, in an all out jihad against “the Eastern Suburbs real estate bible”, the Fairfax media empire has launched a predatory pricing war to attract the lucrative local real estate media market away from Rupert Murdoch’s Wentworth Courier. Last week, Fairfax announced it had achieved a net profit of $282 million for the recent fiscal year, compared with a net loss of $380 million in the prior year.  Fairfax has been using its profits to undercut the Courier, subsidising losses while selling ads in Domain below what it costs to market, edit, design, distribute and ultimately print a tabloid newspaper: making it impossible for any independent local market player from the Spectator to the Beast to the Bondi View to participate in the lucrative, local real estate advertising market. Not that the ACCC would give a damn. In a town where Woolies and Coles dominate the entire food chain, anti trust laws in Australia are a joke.

By comparison, just across the lagoon, last month in California, a state appeals court upheld a land mark predatory pricing case against a large national newspaper chain (funded by global banking interests). A state appeals court upheld a $21 million damage award to the Bay Guardian, saying its principal competitor, the SF Weekly, had engaged in predatory price-cutting by selling ads below cost. For years the SF Weekly, a subsidiary of the Village Voice newspaper group had been luring advertisers away from the established, local player by selling ads below cost in order to drive their competitor out of business. From San Francisco to Sydney, newspaper publishers continue to aggressively fight for their share of a shrinking print pie. In a world of competing media outlets and ever new technologies, there is little doubt that newsprint will go the way of junk mail and the am radio, like other old fashioned media, newspapers will continue to compete for market share in an ever changing media landscape.

Meanwhile, down on Oxford Street, the fight between Australia’s two gay national chains has reached a feverish pitch.   Struggling to attract commercial rates in their glossy SX Magazine, Evolution Publishing has responded to the Sydney Star Observer’s foray into Melbourne by launching a new depression era tabloid called the City Voice (no relation to this newspaper). Ads in the wafer thin City Voice are reportedly being sold as cheap as woodchips in what can only be termed a predatory pricing strategy that is bound to generate even more pulp friction in a brutally competitive market.

When considering the importance of acting outside an election cycle, we must first consider whether these cycles really ever end. Politicians campaign indefinitely, and that can be a good thing for those campaigning for change. Politicians are constantly seeking our approval – responding to polls and seeking to shore up votes – no matter how far away an election is. Certainly, politicians listen to us more intently during the weeks leading up to an announced election. But all that means is that we have to speak louder outside this period, and when we do, we can certainly achieve the same aims.

Voting, while arguably the most powerful way of holding our representatives accountable, isn’t the be-all and end-all. There is much we can do to shape political outcomes and indeed, some of our biggest wins have come outside the direct election period. Take for example the fight to legalise the early contraceptive medication known as RU-486. The drug was banned in Australia in 1996 but a campaign was waged and a bill passed, lifting the ban and transferring power of approval to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Working with the peak body Reproductive Choice Australia, GetUp coordinated a national petition calling on all Federal parliamentarians to end the ministerial veto over the use of the drug RU486, and let the experts decide whether this drug should be available in Australia. In 2006, in a very rare and quite wonderful occurrence – we met with female senators from all five of the major parties to present a petition. This campaign, while waged not in an election year, successfully took the politics out of medicine.

So too was our campaign to end the unjust and ineffective “detention debt” regime imposed on immigration detainees. This policy saw the Government charge ex-immigration detainees for their time in detention, at the rate of around $125 a day. At the time, Australia was the only country in the world that charged asylum seekers for their detention costs. But a bill passed in 2009 ended that practice, and waived all existing debts for current and former detainees. It wasn’t simple thought – with that bill in danger of not passing due to opposition from the Coalition and Senator Fielding. With the bill set to face a vote, a GetUp delegation descended on Canberra with affected refugees. It was enough to tip the balance and the law overturning this crippling policy was passed. Just another example of what can be achieved outside the small window we’re provided with every three years.

Importantly, we need to remain active outside the election campaign not just because policy victories can be achieved, but because policy victories must be achieved. Some things just can’t wait three years for action. Chief among these is climate change. Without action, in the next three years we will reach an irrevocable tipping point and that will have a devastating impact on the environment and our economy. We need action now, and GetUp and others will continue to fight despite the fact an election might be three years away.

That said, the uncertainty delivered by this election means we could be back at the polls at any moment. With this in mind, we must stay engaged and active. We must stay on top of the decisions being made and we must stay on top of our politicians. They will sink as low as we allow and only rise as high as we demand. To this end, we should all be active outside an election cycle and work to keep our representatives honest.

Simon Sheikh is national director of GetUp! GetUp is an independent, community advocacy organisation attempting to enlist like-minded people who want to bring participation back into democracy.

Australia’s media has been quick to dub this the “Latham Effect”, referring to the former Labor leader-turned-journalist’s call to cast blank ballots, during his 60 Minutes special.

“They say voting’s compulsory in Australia,” said the former leader, “but it’s not compulsory to fill them out.”

“You can put it straight into the ballot box totally blank, that’s what I’ll be doing on Saturday and I invite you to do the same.”

“It’s the ultimate protest vote,” he added.

But the river runs deeper than that, and even prior to Latham’s comments, online organisers were already using Facebook to call on people to “Vote Donkey 2010.”

The “Informed Donkey Vote” page urged Australians to cast donkey votes, reasoning that “in its current form, [the Australian parliament can] never succeed in anything that approaches genuine representation of the people.”

The group, and ones similar to it, were critical of the election process, and campaigns of the major parties, because they saw them to be disingenuous, populist, and highly stage-managed , leaving neither party worth voting for.

“I think there was an element of [protest in] this election,” said University of Sydney’s Professor Murry Print.

Print has conducted research for the Youth Electoral Study, a series of papers funded by the Australian Electoral Commission to examine young Australians perceptions of the election process. His study found some disturbing trends.

According to one study, if the compulsory element of voting was removed, only 50 per cent of young Australians (age 18-25) would bother turning up on election days. However, it was noted that it this wasn’t because they felt apathetic towards political issues, as is commonly stated, but rather because they didn’t believe voting would accomplish anything – either because no major party had engaging policies, or because no politician would fulfil their election promises.

In other words, the mass blank ballot didn’t happen because of Latham, it happened because people are sick of choosing between two parties, and one stinking pile off crap.

Liberal Party operatives have been busted at polling booths on election day dressed in green and handing out fake Greens Party pamphlets which indicated they should preference the Coalition ahead of Labor. An official from the Australian Electoral Commission who was present at the Oxford booth in Bennelong, where such tactics were observed and filmed, said of the tactic, “It’s dirty, but it’s legal.” My colleague Emma James and I were there in our capacity as reporters for the ElectionWIRE youtube channel [http://www.youtube.com/electionwire]. What we saw was a blatant attempt to deceive greens voters, and to convince them the Greens wanted them to preference Liberal ahead of Labor, when the opposite was the case.

A young man at the booth, later named in an online comment about the video as Aryan Shahabi, was dressed in a green T-shirt, matching the shade used by the Greens in their campaign material and volunteer outfits, with the words “The Green Army” on it in white, in a font similar to that used by the Greens. When directly asked if he was from the Liberal party he replied, “I’m not sure.”

He was handing out fliers which, bearing the Greens website and a large photograph of Bob Brown, appeared to be from the Greens. These pamphlets, did say, in fine print at the bottom on the back “Authorised by Mark Neeham, Liberal Party”, but much more prominent was a quote from Mr Brown urging voters to “decide for themselves” who to preference, and a table, comparing Liberal Party policies favourably to Labor’s on “Carbon Reduction,” “Local Environment” and “Greener Homes”.

An AEC staff member at the booth identified as “Tim” said that earlier in the day there had been more than one of the Libs in Greens clothing, and that a confrontation had erupted between them and members of other parties culminating in “yelling”. Upon conferring with the District Returning Officer, however, he was told to take no action. Similar tactics have also been reported in the Queensland electorate of Ryan, with faux green pamphlets saying “put Labor last”, and reports have circulated that “Green Army” volunteers were also at polling booths in the seat of Grayndler in Sydney’s inner west. Labor has also been accused of misleading tactics, with operatives in the seat of Lindsay allegedly dressing in a manner that implied they worked for their Liberal opponent.

“The Fringe is irreverent, an alliance of rebels, an alternative to the traditional and the conservative,” says Festival Director, Kris Stewart. Council partner Sam Iskander, the Mayor of Marrickville Council, stresses that here, “’Culture’ is an inclusive term that embraces creativity, community, and diversity.”

The schedule certainly has diversity in spades. Some big names will jump out at you – like Canadian hip hop legend Buck 65; Aboriginal singer-songwriter Ali Mills; internet sensation Jeffree Star; Lena Cruz of Priscilla fame in Bitter/Sweet; the Bohemian Masquerade Ball; Sydney Underground Film Festival in its fourth year – while others will become an acquired taste.

Small theatre productions like Coffee are comprised of one actor, one director and one musician, in one small space (School of Arts), all about one huge human obsession: caffeine. Recently formed risqué cabaret troupe Dansatori from the South Coast’s Stanwell Park are slinging in with Pistol Whipped, a, “Neo-noir world, filled with technical and acrobatic dance.” The Fringe Festival, alongside initiatives like Short, Sweet+Dance, may become one of the few places outside of large, funded dance companies, where up-and-comer dancers can find a stage – and an audience.

This is true also of niche hybrid creations, that struggle to find a place to play, and recognition. At Newtown Theatre, Caterpillars Can Fly is a dual Vietnamese-Australian production from Stretch Mk1, using puppetry, pantomime and audience participation. Clock Radio Symphony is a harmony that ditches humans in favour of digital and flick-clock radios, to be held at PACT Theatre. Flowing on from previous successful runs, we will also get a chance to see clowning show A Tiny Chorus hot on the heels of their Adelaide and Melbourne Fringe runs, as well as subtlenuance’s A Thing of Beauty, Deli Chicks, and Stories from the 428 – a story that most frequenters of King St will know all too well.

How the Fringe will fit in Sydney’s already packed festival diary is yet to be seen. As Eryn Jean Norvill, of A Tiny Chorus and veteran of the circuit mused, “Every festival has a different vibe.” Judging from the sheer wealth of talent on the line-up, Sydney’s vibe is that it is well and truly ready for a cheeky peek at the underground. As the program suggests, we can only suck it and see.

To reverse the image of the state government as a corrupt train wreck beholden to interest groups, Premier Kristina Keneally has proposed dramatic electoral funding reform. This would place a $2000 limit on individuals donating to candidates and a $5000 limit on individuals donating to parties.

City of Sydney Labor councillor Dr Meredith Burgmann has welcomed Keneally’s proposals.

“I think the main benefit is that the public needs to see democracy and justice happening,” Dr Burgmann said. “It won’t if it sees large amounts of money being donated to parties.”

Dr Burgmann has pointed to developer donations as the most corrupting influence for members of local government. She insists that her campaign used no funds from developers, alcohol or cigarettes.

Some councillors may not welcome the ban of corporate donations. According to the Electoral Funding Authority, Liberal councillor Shayne Mallard received at least $11,000 from companies owned by the hotelier George Thomas in 2008. In June 2009, Mallard voted on development applications for two of Thomas’ hotels. He was cleared of any misconduct in February of this year.

However, Dr Burgmann points out that the only problem with cutting all donations is that, “You then need large amounts of public funding.”

It could be argued, however, that major parties are already floating on the money of citizens, with Australian Hotels Association injecting four donations worth $130,000 to NSW Labour in the financial years 2008-09.

The insidious nature of corporate donations was vocalised by Rob Monson, son of a lung cancer victim, in a question to Tony Abbott on the ABC’s Q and A on August 16.

“What I want to know in all good conscious and especially as a former Health Minister, will you continue to lead a proud political party that still accepts donations from those corporate killers?”

“But where do we draw the line?” Abbott deflected. “Do we refuse to take money from the motor industry because cars can kill under the wrong circumstances?”

This would be a smart response if the Liberal Party had accepted any donations from the motor industry in the financial year 2008-09. According to the Australian Electoral Commission, it did not. Tobacco companies, however, contributed a princely sum of $83,000 to support the Liberal campaign.

Large political donations place control over political processes in the hands of corporations, not individuals. The independents on whom the election may now hinge have listed electoral funding reform as one of their seven requests to Labor and the Coalition. Independent senator for South Australia, Nick Xenophon, has perhaps summed up how political donations are affecting Australian politics. “If you give a politician a $1000 donation you’re a supporter but if you give them a $100,000 then you’re an owner of that politician.”

But in May ABC pulled the plug on an independent film documenting daily life of Palestinians living under Israel’s military occupation in the West Bank.

Now thanks to the power of public pressure, the ABC is reconsidering whether to broadcast Inka Straface’s documentary Hope in a Slingshot.

Letters are flying thick and fast to the ABC asking the broadcaster to air Straface’s film.

Inka Straface, now living in Malta, returned briefly to Sydney last week to garner support for her film.

Hope in a Slingshot follows the filmmaker’s travels through the West Bank, showing the despair people suffer during long waits at checkpoints, being stopped by the separation wall, the clashes with soldiers, imprisonment and arbitrary curfews.

The film has a strong focus on Israeli pro-peace activist, a point of view rarely seen in a conflict that is often depicted as binary.

One of the strengths of the film is giving space to different view points, especially Israelis who are critical of their own government and committed to peace.

The reason given by ABC’s director of television, Kim Dalton, for pulling the film, was that an opposing viewpoint must be shown to meet the broadcaster’s charter of impartiality.

Straface, speaking last week at Politics in the Pub on a panel on media bias, asked, “What did they want to show? People living happily under occupation?”

“Do they want to give the impression that this a just war, with equal power on both sides?”

Straface was critical of the way the conflict is often presented as having only two points of view when, as her film depicts, even among Israelis there is a diversity of positions.

“Is the pro-peace point of view considered too dangerous to broadcast without a counterpoint?” Straface wondered.

In an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald on May 29, journalist Ari Sharp describes the film as telling “the story of Palestinians living under what it terms ”military occupation” by Israel.”

That Israel’s presence, in the West Bank and Palestine, is a “military occupation” is not even a disputed fact.

Nor even is it a contentious fact under international law that this military occupation is illegal.

The United Nations has consistently ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is illegal, and in 2006 the International Court of Justice agreed.

When journalists as Ari Sharp pit the conflict in these terms, it becomes easier to see what the justice movement is up against.

Emerging from the Sydney underground for a revolutionary inspired night at the Annandale Hotel on Saturday September 11, artRiot – one of the most radical happenings of Sydney’s first Fringe festival – will explore the power of art to be subversive and dangerous.

Already glimpses of the artRiot have been splashed on walls in the inner west, and fragments of their music has wafted over police lines at climate protests, but who knows what could happen when such an explosive collective of artists join their powers of the paintbrush, mandolin, vocal chords, video camera all fuelled by vivid imaginations and the desire to create social change.

ArtRioter, singer and banjo player with Sydney bluegrass band The Lurkers, Mithra Cox, says one of the exciting aspects of the new collective was it brought together artists from a diverse range of mediums.

“As artists we seem to come across artists who work in same medium but this time it’s a collaboration of people with the same philosophy and politics,” Mithra said.

Mithra said she and her bandmates, as artists who use their humorous and energetic style of music for political agitation, were thinking about what tangible difference they could make.

“Sometimes I fear that people will feel like they are an activist just because they’ve passively listened, but I hope people will do something as a result,” Mithra said.

“Whether it’s inviting friends to climate camp, sending a postcard to a politician, or something that will send energy out to make change, I hope if people are inspired by what they see they will act on it.”

In NSW, Greens candidate Lee Rhiannon continued her campaign right up until the final votes were cast.

“We always knew that NSW was going to be a hard seat to win,” Ms Rhiannon said.

While the final result of the election still remains up in the air, Greens leader Bob Brown was quick to call the party’s victory. Picking up seats in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and NSW, Mr Brown declared just a day after the election that with nine senators the Greens would have the balance of power.

A balance of power in the Senate puts the Greens in a stronger position to negotiate their policies and exert political power in the next term of government.

Ms Rhiannon said she was confident the Greens could meet its campaign targets.

“The Greens have been around for 18 years and in that time we have been able to earn the respect of voters,” she said.

Ms Rhiannon said the Greens will continue to hold a strong position on expanding public transport services, investment in public education, targeting climate change and seeking further electoral reform in the coming years.

Having been a member of NSW parliament for 10 years, Ms Rhiannon has led the charge in reforming policies such as political donations and freedom of information legislation.

She said the shift from State to Federal politics will be challenging, but her approach to politics will be quite similar. Ms Rhiannon said the Greens share common values across all of the states.

“We’re a confederation of parties that have different histories and constitutions, but we all work together to meet the core values of the Greens. Electoral reform is a main focus of the Greens and will remain that way,” she said.

While many people are speculating about succession in the Greens, – with many people expecting Bob Brown to hand over the role of leader – Ms Rhiannon has publicly denied that she is looking to lead the party.

“I ruled it out when it was first put to me,” she said.

Ms Rhiannon said she believes the Greens will be able to act constructively with other parties without compromising their principles.

Computer hackers will be putting there skills to use this weekend at the University of NSW for Crisis Camp, a 24 hour “hackathon” which aims to produce software to assist those involved in rescue and aid efforts in Pakistan.

The effort follows a similar event which has already taken place in the Silicone Valley, and will coincide with Crisis Camp Toronto.

“A lot of the software thats being developed is to help people on the ground report where a crisis is happening” says Martin Bliemel, a UNSW lecturer and co-organiser of the event, “similar software was used to report brush fires which happened here during [the black Saturday bush fires].”

‘Crisis Camp: Hacking for Pakistan’ will be taking place at the University of NSW, over the 4th and 5th of September. To register visit pkfloods-sydney.eventbrite.com