1053

Students take to the streets on budget day

Photo: NSW Education Action Network/Facebook. Students took to the streets on May 12, budget day, to call for free education and an end to the fee deregulation bill.

Spain: Barcelona Together fights for people-first city councils

A commentator for the mainstream Barcelona daily La Vanguardia reported on May 9 on a conversation he overheard in a lift between two 鈥渆xecutives of a certain age鈥. They were talking about an opinion poll giving the radical, movement-based ticket Barcelona Together the lead in the March 24 election for Barcelona City Council. Executive A: 鈥淗ave you seen that [incumbent Barcelona mayor Xavier] Trias is losing?鈥 Executive B: 鈥淵es, [lead candidate for Barcelona Together Ada] Colau is winning.鈥
Prince at the 2015 Grammy awards.

US musicians add voice to Baltimore protests

鈥淭he death of Freddie Gray while in police custody and the ensuing unrest surrounding it have prompted another round of musicians to speak out on the value of black lives and on racial issues in America,鈥 the Los Angeles Times said on May 5.

Visitors restricted at Melbourne detention centre

People who regularly visit refugees and asylum seekers detained in the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation in Broadmeadows have reported that the rules for visiting have recently become much more restrictive. Visitors must now give 24 hours notice. They must give the names of the specific detainees they wish to talk to, and are not allowed to talk to any others. This makes it hard for them to make contact with new arrivals in the detention centre. Requests to visit are often refused on the pretext that the visiting room will be full, whereas in fact the room is often half empty.

Time to end poverty for the unemployed

The Anti-Poverty Network South Australia released this statement on May 11. *** This year marks the 21st anniversary of the last time Newstart Allowance was raised in real terms. Since the 1994 federal budget, when Newstart was raised by a mere $2.95, the level of the payment has stagnated, falling increasingly behind the rest of community, and creating widespread poverty for unemployed people.