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By the mid-1880s, all of the Australian colonies had passed education Acts based on the principal of 鈥渇ree, compulsory and secular鈥 education. This mirrored similar legislation in Britain where the Factory Act of 1833 had made it unlawful for children under nine years of age to be employed in textile factories. In 1878, the Factory and Workshops Act extended this to all factories and limited the working hours of children under 14 years of age.
Latest polls suggests Bolivian President Evo Morales will be reelected for a third term in a landslide victory on October 12. One week before the vote, Morales' support hit 57.3%. The latest statistics from pollster Tal Cual Comunicacion Estrategica indicate a huge win for the left-wing Morales, first elected in 2005 on the back of huge protests against neoliberialism.
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate By Naomi Klein Simon & Shulster, 2014 Award-winning author and activist Naomi Klein, who wrote The Shock Doctrine and No Logo, is back with her long-awaited new release: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate. Now, she is taking on the biggest issue of our time 鈥 climate change, and exploring the implications of the climate crisis for social change today and into the future.
Swan Island Peace Convergence released this statement on October 2. *** Before dawn on October 2, eight peace activists entered the top secret Swan Island military base near Queenscliff, Victoria. The group entered the base to nonviolently disrupt preparations for the imminent war in Iraq. Four of the activists were discovered, detained and assaulted by SAS soldiers on the base. The treatment of the activists by the SAS bordered on torture.
Residents and supporters of the Save Millers Point campaign protested outside the auction of another public housing property on October 8. About 30 protesters gathered outside Ray White Real Estate in Double Bay, holding placards and chanting, "Aristocrats, shame on you."
In an atmosphere of manufactured hysteria about 鈥淢uslim terrorists鈥 in our midst, the Coalition government has introduced sweeping attacks on civil liberties in Australia. Prime minister Tony Abbott declared that the 鈥渂alance between freedom and security may have to shift鈥 and that 鈥渢here may be more restrictions on some so that there can be more protection for others鈥.
NSW鈥檚 Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O'Kane, released on her review into coal seam gas (CSG) in the state on September 30. Former premier Barry O鈥橣arrell commissioned the review 18 months ago in response to intense public opposition to the industry.
The latest by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found department stores suffered a 2.9% fall in business in August, in seasonally adjusted terms. Indeed, overall retail trade was flat and was only saved from collapsing by people still buying food and basic necessities.
Since 1971 the Leadbeater's possum has been a faunal emblem of Victoria. This possum is now critically endangered due to loss of habitat from decades of clearfell logging and bushfires. The Leadbeater's possum is restricted to small pockets of remnant old growth mountain ash forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria, north-east of Melbourne.
There are times when farce and living caricature almost consume the cynicism and mendacity in the daily life of Australia's rulers. Across the front pages is a photograph of a resolute Tony Abbott with Aboriginal children in Arnhem Land, in Australia鈥檚 remote north. "Domestic policy one day," says the caption, "focus on war the next."
Police removing the plastic sword.

So it turns out the 鈥渟word鈥 confiscated during the September 18 terror raids in Sydney's north-west 鈥 you know Australia's largest terror raids ever 鈥 . That would be the 鈥渟word鈥 the cops had placed in a plastic bag that the media made such a big deal out of to terrify us all with the 鈥渢hreat鈥 of a 鈥渞andom beheading鈥. Plastic. It was a fucking plastic sword.

Steve O鈥橞rien is standing as a candidate for the Socialist Alliance in the Newcastle byelection on October 25. The sitting Coalition MP, Tim Owen, resigned in August after he admitted he lied to the Independent Commission Against Corruption about accepting an illegal $10,000 donation from a property developer. O鈥橞rien said: 鈥淎 strong vote for a socialist would send a powerful message to the political establishment that Newcastle is not for sale and that Newcastle people support the public sector.鈥