Image above: State election candidates (March 2007) hold up protest signage for local press, from left Fiona Byrne in marginal seat of Marrickville, and left Ann Gardner in the safe ALP seat of Maroubra.

Images below, local environs of Port Botany just east of the 3rd runway of Sydney's  Kingsford Smith Airport (aka KSA).

Image above: MP Sylvia Hale addresses the crowd, Cr Peter Olive of Marrickville Council in blue shirt in the middle. The expanded port will increase container traffic from over 1 million p.a. to 3 million and then 5 or 8 million in coming decades, and consequent $5 billion tunnel with toxic ventilation stacks and subsidence as far as Marrickville.

Image above:  DVD here: ”Botany Bay’s Big Bang,” is a two-minute video launching Marickville Greens campaign against the environmentally damaging Port Botany expansion scheme, as per more detailed listing here http://www.nsw.greens.org.au/candidates/electorates/marrickville

Image above: Gary Blaschke recently lauded with an Order of Australia (2007) for community service, holds forth  in distinctive yellow T shirt 'Save Sydney No Port stranglehold'. Gary is a member of Botany Bay & Catchment Alliance http://www.botanybay.info/ 

Leaning on a tree in the shade in the background is Dean Sewell perhaps "the best photo journalist in Australia" who works for the Sydney Morning Herald and freelance, including tsunami affected Indonesia which ran in World Press apparently. Dean tells us he has been doing a study of the area for at least 20 years.