91��̳ - Angus McAllen

Huge protest for action on climate change

Chris Petersen — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 11:00:00 +1100

Over the weekend of November 27-29, more than 140,000 people took part in marches in 55 towns and cities across Australia as part of the global protest in the lead-up to the United Nations COP21 climate talks in Paris. The protests promoted a 100% renewable energy future and climate justice.

The kids are alright: Millennial politics, democratic socialism and Bernie Sanders

Angus McAllen — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 11:00:00 +1100

Across the US young people are pouring into the polling booths. The contest is not the Presidential election — that is still some months away. Instead they are lining up to vote in the primaries for the Democratic Party. In particular they are turning up to vote for an old Jewish radical from New York.

Liberals attack anti-bullying campaign

Angus McAllen — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 11:00:00 +1100

Politicians in the Coalition government are attempting to destroy a campaign aimed at making schools safe for queer youth. Urged on by arch-conservatives such as Senators Corey Bernardi and Eric Abetz, the federal education minister Simon Birmingham has announced a federal review into the funding of the Safe Schools program. This program is an attempt to eradicate homophobic and transphobic bullying from schools and encourage diversity and tolerance among young people.

A World to Win: Everything for Everyone!

Angus McAllen — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 11:00:00 +1100

In our “A World to Win” series, Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance members have expressed their desires for a different future. From universal basic income, green economies and reproductive rights, we have discussed demands that can change the trajectory of our current world towards somewhere greener, freer and more just. In this final article of the series, Angus McAllen raises the demand of “Everything for Everyone”, an idea of a society without classes, inequality and poverty. ***

Radical Ideas Conference to build youth resistance

Angus McAllen — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance will host its second Radical Ideas Conference over December 4 to 6 in Sydney. Following the success of last year’s conference, hosted in Geelong, Resistance activists say this conference will help energise young people to struggle against corporate power, environmental destruction and social exclusion. The conference will have workshops and panels including discussions on topics such as combating the austerity agenda of the 1%, fighting back against racism, Islamophobia and colonialism and the struggle for environmental justice.

Protesters call on Queensland government to honour promises

Angus McAllen — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Protesters rallied outside Queensland’s parliament on September 16 to demand the Palaszczuk government honour its election promises and protect the Great Barrier Reef. This comes after several victories for the environment movement, with major banks pulling out of the Carmichael Coal mining project that, if approved, would greatly increase Australia’s coal production and damage to the Great Barrier Reef.

Harnecker tackles complex path to 21st century socialism

Angus McAllen — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

A World to Build: New Paths Toward Twenty-First Century Socialism Marta Harnecker Monthly Review Press, 2015 US$19, paperback The emergence of diverse, complex and popular social projects in Latin America — several of which have involved winning governmental power —- is arguably the most important phenomenon shaping radical politics in the 21st century. The political practices of popular movements and political parties engaged in these revolutionary projects can inspire and educate radicals and activists all over the world.

Resistance members join fight for Divestment at UQ

Angus McAllen — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 10:00:00 +1000

The University of Queensland Resistance Club has joined with other student clubs to call on the university administration to divest money from fossil fuels. The university has an undisclosed amount of money invested in projects whose emissions jeopardise the future of the young people that UQ is supposed to be educating.

Socialist youth conference big success

Sarah Hathway — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:00:00 +1100

Resistance and the Socialist Alliance held a joint educational conference called “How to Make a Revolution” for young people in Brisbane over December 13 – 15. About 80 people from around the country attended over the weekend, mostly young people wanting to discuss all things political, activism and more importantly what strategies socialists should be using in Australia to take the movement forward. Throughout the conference there was a running theme of mass action strategy, and the importance of forming alliances with the broadest layer of people to win demands.

Delays on equality empower the conservatives

Angus McAllen — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 10:00:00 +1000

The conservative right has launched a last ditch campaign to swing public opinion away from support for marriage equality. The Marriage Alliance, a new organisation dedicated to opposing what it sees as a threat to “family values”, was launched on August 2. Backed by wealthy businesspeople, the campaign hopes to scare people away from marriage equality by raising vague but menacing threats about damage to children and loss of “rights and freedoms”.

Young people must unite and fight racism and fascism

Angus McAllen — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 10:00:00 +1000

On July 19, Reclaim Australia will lead a coalition of conservative, Christian fundamentalist and fascist organisations in another set of rallies to “defend Australian values” from “Muslim invasion”.

Federal budget launches new attacks on youth

Angus McAllen — Fri, 22 May 2015 10:00:00 +1000

This is how Tony Abbott explained the new work-for-the-dole measures in the latest federal budget to the Queensland Chamber of Commerce: “That person can do up to four weeks of work experience with your business, with a private sector business, without losing unemployment benefits so it gives you a chance to have a kind of try-before-you-buy look at unemployed people.”

Capital, youth and the urban revolution

Angus McAllen — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Around the corner from where I used to live in northern Brisbane, there was an abandoned flourmill. It had been abandoned for decades, left to slowly decay, and became home to pigeons, homeless people and drunk young people trying to scale its enormous silos and inner frameworks. The story of the mill is one of capitalism as a whole, of post-industrial decay in advanced capitalist societies where wages have become too expensive. Work moves offshore, or into the outer suburbs, and the mill decays.

Youth poverty draft in Australian armed forces

Angus McAllen — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 10:00:00 +1000

In recent difficult economic times, with youth unemployment at record rates, there is still one major state institution which is always recruiting — the military. As they have in the past, the armed forces are trying as hard as possible to present an attractive job prospect to the youth market. The offer of a career, job stability, qualifications and training can often seem too good to pass up.

The global struggle of students and youth

Sarah Hathway — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 10:00:00 +1000

For young people today, the international situation can seem hopeless. The world seems increasingly filled with chaos and crisis, as austerity and war impoverish and immiserate increasing numbers of people around the globe. The situation facing young people today, in Australia and around the world, is difficult to say the least, and it is important to confront such a situation seriously and with determination.

Students protests spread across Europe and beyond

Angus McAllen — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 11:00:00 +1100

The London School of Economics (LSE) was occupied by students on March 17. The occupation, still going as of March 28, has since spread to King's College London, University of Arts London and Goldsmiths University of London. More than 100 students took over the school, which has been associated with neoliberal economic theory for decades, and declared that the central university administration building has been transformed into the Free University of London.

Youth unemployment and poverty rising

Angus McAllen — Fri, 02 May 2014 10:00:00 +1000

Youth unemployment has risen to double the national unemployment rate, a new report by the Brotherhood of St Laurence has found. The overall unemployment rate is 6%. But for 15 to 24 year olds it is 12.5% and in some areas as high as 20%. The rates of youth unemployment have risen for the past two years. The length of time young people are unemployed is also rising. Young people who choose to study at university are also facing a life of poverty.

France: Students strike, blockade against racist deportations

Angus McAllen — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 11:00:00 +1100

Thousands of high school students have confronted authorities in Paris after several asylum seekers were deported by the French government. Protests broke out on October 17 with students building barricades in the streets and occupied their schools, as well as engaging in clashes with riot police. The students were opposing the deportation of several of their peers who had been stolen away by the racist French government.

Greece: Troika austerity drives social conflict

Angus McAllen — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 10:00:00 +1000

New strikes have hit Greece as anger flares over the latest deal pushed onto Greece by the Troika of European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. Thousands of public sector workers from the ADEDY union took to the streets on July 15 as part of a general strike calling for the rejection of a raft of new austerity measures being put to the parliament by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Canada: Indigenous people launch blockades against fracking

Angus McAllen — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 11:00:00 +1100

First Nations people have blockaded motorways on October 17 in Rexton, New Brunswick in Canada's west in protest against the violation of their traditional homelands by colonist mining companies seeking to commence fracking for shale gas. Protsters from the Elsipogtog First Nation were joined by other local residents to stop shale gas exploration over fears it would lead to environmentally damaging fracking processes.

Pinkwashing does not advance queer rights

Angus McAllen — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 10:00:00 +1000

As the bombs fall on the Gaza Strip, taking the lives of over 750 Palestinians — including many civilians and children — one voice has emerged attempting to defend the Israeli regime on a very curious basis: that Israel should be defended because it is a bastion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights and dignity in a sea of nations that would deny these rights. More importantly, American LGBTI people should be thankful “for all Israel has done for us” and remember how important Israel is to the US in the region.

United States: Anger erupts over yet another Black teen killing

Angus McAllen — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 10:00:00 +1000

Another African American teenager has been murdered by the police in the United States, sparking angry protests and police repression. In Ferguson, Missouri, a generally quiet working-class community was shattered by the August 9 shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown as he went to visit his grandmother. Police had been called after reports of shoplifting from a local corner store. Brown was walking down the street when he was told to “Get on the fucking pavement”.

How to fight racism in Australia

Angus McAllen — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 11:00:00 +1100

It is not news to progressive people in Australia that this country is profoundly racist. Extensive anti-asylum seeker policies and racial vilification as government policy, the extension of the Northern Territory intervention and continued discrimination in the workplace and the wider community all means people of colour face significant challenges in modern Australia.

End the nuclear age to preserve our future

Angus McAllen — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Seventy years ago this month, the US committed two of the worst terrorist attacks in human history. The incineration of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs represented the bloody climax of World War II. The nation that committed this heinous crime soon itself came to be the only remaining capitalist superpower.

United States: Protests target Confederate flag — symbol of a racist past that never died

Angus McAllen — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 10:00:00 +1000

“Protesters rallied in Columbia on Tuesday to demand the flag's removal from South Carolina's state capitol,” the BBC reported on June 24. The protest comes in the aftermath of the racist mass murder carried by Dylann Roof on June 17 in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof, who killed nine people in a historic African American church, was photographed with the flag, which still flies over the state's capitol.

Brisbane Aboriginal embassy vows to continue the struggle

Angus McAllen — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:00:00 +1100

The Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy (BASE) celebrated its two-year anniversary on March 22. During the past two years, BASE has experienced community support and state repression in their struggle to put Indigenous sovereignty on the agenda in Brisbane and has served as a beacon for Indigenous freedom fighters across the country. Boe Spearim spoke to 91��̳ Weekly about the history of BASE, its projects, influences and future. What were the origins of the Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy project?

From Ferguson to Oakland, injustice is being resisted

Angus McAllen — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 10:00:00 +1000

In the past few weeks, several large protest movements have rocked the Untied States political establishment and the elites it represents. These social explosions seem limited and separate, but they symbolise the growing contradictions of US society and the possibilities of mass struggles in the near future.

Police charged with on-duty rape receive bail

Angus McAllen — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 11:00:00 +1100

Two police officers have been released on bail in Mackay after being charged with raping a woman while on duty. The constables, aged 28 and 29, were charged after an internal police investigation. Little information about the crime itself has been released. But it is apparent there were at least 38 witnesses. The officers have been released on bail under condition they report to the district head of the Police Force and stay away from the witnesses.

The war on dissent in Queensland

Angus McAllen — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:00:00 +1100

“The Battle of Brisbane.” These were the words that greeted readers of Queensland’s Courier Mail on October 28. The article, taking up the front cover and several subsequent pages, dealt with the alleged threat of violent protests at the G20 summit to be held in Brisbane on November 15 and 16. The police, according to the Courier Mail, should meet the protesters with brutal suppression. The actual threat of violence was left vague. In many ways, the phrasing of the subhead for the piece told it all: “Cops vow to crush G20 ferals”.

Now, students must press the advantage against Christopher Pyne

Angus McAllen — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 11:00:00 +1100

The Senate has voted down Christopher Pyne’s Higher Education Reform Bill, which would uncap university fees. This is the second time that the legislation has been struck down. It puts Tony Abbott’s government on aan uneasy footing. The defeat of the bill comes after Pyne spent weeks on a campaign to bully and threaten crossbenchers in parliament. This strategy included threatening to cut $150 million of research funding to the National Collaborative Research and Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) if the bill was not passed.

91������̳ - Angus McAllen