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'Asset recycling' bill held up in the Senate

The Tony Abbott government's "asset recycling" bill 鈥 in effect an incentive for the privatisation of public property by state governments 鈥 has been stalled in the Senate. Amendments moved by the Greens and the ALP were declared unacceptable by the government so parliament went into the winter recess before the bill was voted on.

Carlo鈥檚 Corner: Where can we get whatever drugs Clive Palmer is on?

Amid asylum seeker polices that grow crueller and more surreal by the day, plans to turn the unemployed into virtual slaves and Christopher Pyne let loose on education, there is, without a doubt, one big question in Australian politics in 2014. And that is: What drugs is Clive Palmer on? And where can we get some? 鈥楥oz that bloke is clearly off his chops. You never know what the hell he鈥檒l pull next, which makes me worry about what will happen when he finally comes down. Some poor aide is going to have to explain what he got up to.

Students protest women鈥檚 services cuts

The Students for Women Only Services Group held a vigil in Sydney on July 24 to protest against the recent decision to defund specialist women鈥檚 and children鈥檚 refuge centres in NSW. The vigil was attended by about 300 people. Speakers included Asian Australian Alliance convener Daphne Lowe Kelley, United Muslim Women Association CEO Maha Abdo, NSW Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi and Labor MLC Sophie Cotsis.

Indonesia: Jokowi wins brings hopes for change

Joko Widodo, or 鈥淛okowi鈥澛燼s he is popularly known, was confirmed by Indonesia鈥檚 electoral commission on July 22 as the winner of the presidential elections. Jokowi defeated, sacked Suharto-era general Prabowo Subianto, by 57% to 43% of the nearly 130 million direct votes cast on July 9. Prabowo has sought to challenge the result. However, supporters of Jokowi, whose campaign aroused enthusiasm among ordinary people hoping for change from elite-dominated politics, are intent聽on defending what they see as a chance for significantly more democratic reform.

Australian unions condemn Israel鈥檚 assault on Palestine

These two resolutions were passed on July 25. *** Australian Education Union The Australian Education Union (AEU) Victoria Branch condemns Israel鈥檚 latest horrific assault on the people of Palestine, which has resulted in over 750 deaths in the past three weeks 鈥 the overwhelming majority of the dead being civilians, and many of them children. The AEU supports the peaceful community protests called in solidarity with the people of Palestine, to be held on August 1 at 5pm, outside the State Library in Swanston Street, Melbourne.