Published in the South Sydney Herald, October 2016

This stand of trees on Euston Road next to Sydney Park has been earmarked for destruction to make way for WestConnex. Eventually the Baird government will take 14,000 square metres of the park and 350 trees including all those along the park side of Euston Road and Campbell Road as well as those along Sydney Park Road.

Published in the South Sydney Herald, September 2016

Recently, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, over 150 people from across Sydney gathered to launch a unique solar energy project that brings together the beer brewing expertise of Young Henrys with the solar energy knowhow of Pingala.

It’s a special collaboration – not just because it will deliver ‘solar powered beer’ – but because it allows community members to come together to invest in small-scale renewable energy.

Published in City Hub, 28 April 2016

“Don’t just take pictures, come and join us!” protesters implored to onlookers as the ‘Keep Newtown Weird & Safe’ Reclaim the Streets rally marched down King Street on a dark Saturday afternoon. A mix of beards, dresses and dreadlocks paraded as mobile speakers blasting tunes kept the rally in step.

NSW Deputy Premier Troy Grant has quietly suspended plans to charge additional licensing fees for venues that have a poor compliance rate with the states liquor laws, with big Sydney venues including The Ivy, Home Nightclub Tunnel nightclub and World Bar all set to benefit.

The fees, which were part of the package of reforms included 1:30am lockouts and last drinks, were due to be implemented in March 2016. This is despite being announced in January 2014, and promised to be implemented in the first part of that year.

On Sunday 10 April Fairfax reported that serving officers in the NSW Police Force have been trolling and harassing NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong on social media.

This is an excerpt of an opinion piece written by NSW Greens spokesperson on WestConnex Jenny Leong, published in New Matilda on 30 Jan, 2016

Corruption, dodgy deals and vested interests have unfortunately been synonymous with NSW politics for a long time. After 16 years of ALP rule, which saw government ministers delivering sweet deals for big business, developers, coal mining companies and their mates, the NSW public made it clear that enough was enough.

The Coalition was elected on a landslide in 2011, only to be exposed for having some rather dirty laundry of their own.

But when Mike Baird stepped up to lead the state nearly two years ago, there was at least a sense that those dark days were behind us and that things would change. Surely, we would see an end to in-house corruption, improvements to governance, and increases in transparency and improvements to independent oversight – all cornerstones of a functioning democracy.

There’s an opportunity to reform NSW rental laws in 2016, with the Review of the NSW Residential Tenancies Act.

Although rental properties are people’s homes, too often they are used as a way for dodgy landlords to maximise profits, at the expense of tenants’ security and safety.

NSW Greens spokesperson for Tenancy and Rental Housing Jenny Leong has asked renters to share their ‘Rental Horror Stories’ on Facebook, as part of the Greens’ campaign for renters’ rights. Renters can also share their rental experiences via an online renters’ survey. The stories that are submitted will be used to identify the biggest problems with the current rental system.

Written by Chris Standen for the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The approach used in Australia for assessing the "economic benefits" of urban  transport projects was devised by highway agencies in the 1960s to justify  the massive cost of urban motorways. This has given us the urban sprawl,  car-dependence and high transport costs with which we are encumbered  today.

This opinion piece by Jenny Leong appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on August 5th 2015.

Some of my first experiences of Sydney, as a newly arrived teenager from Adelaide, came in the early hours of the morning. As a waiter in Circular Quay, our nights out began when others were starting to wind down.

Dancing in the Cross, playing pool at the Oxford, walking out of the Imperial to see the sunrise over Erskineville - these are all part of why I love this city.

These days my late-night struggle for a cab tends to start after long parliamentary sittings rather than nights out. But I love the late-night culture of Sydney, and Newtown in particular. I don't want to shut it down and lock it up.

That said, it must be acknowledged that the "vibe" in Newtown is changing. It's clear the law and order response that imposed lockouts on Kings Cross has had a significant impact on the area and on Sydney's nightlife.

Following new revelations this morning undermining the over $15 billion WestConnex project – with the government’s own modelling showing the project will not ease congestion on Sydney’s roads – Greens WestConnex spokesperson and MP for Newtown Jenny Leong has called for a halt to this tollway disaster.

“WestConnex is shaping up as the Nightmare on King St parts 1 to 15 billion,” she said.