Within hours of the Australian Border Force 鈥 Prime Minister Tony Abbott's paramilitary amalgamation of the Customs Service and immigration department 鈥 announcing on August 28 that they would be joining the Victorian police and privatised public transport operators in Operation Fortitude to check the visa status of 鈥渁nti-social鈥 elements on the streets of Melbourne, hundreds of protesters had gathered at Flinders Street Station and social media had exploded in outrage.
1068
A delegation of Garawa people from Borroloola and their supporters gathered on September 2 at Parliament House in Darwin to present the NT government with a petition.
The petition, signed by 3600 people, calls on the government to shut down and clean up Glencore鈥檚 McArthur River lead and zinc mine upstream from Borroloola.
Freedom of Information documents recently revealed that several government departments had been aware of the high levels of heavy metals leaking into the waterways for 18 months.
Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance鈥檚 鈥淲orld to Win鈥 series aims to give voice to the ideas and demands of radical young people who are involved in the struggle to make the world a fairer and more just place.
This week, Maryam Allami and Claire Thoen discuss the struggle of transgender people against systemic oppression and the possibilities of liberation.
* * *
I don鈥檛 know about you, but I really enjoyed the August 31 episode of on the topic 鈥淐heating, Climate, War & Democracy鈥.
It was thanks to three solid lefties from overseas, Naomi Klein, Laurie Penny and Tariq Ali, who were in Australia for the Melbourne Writers Festival and the Festival for Dangerous Ideas in Sydney.
The right-winger on the panel, US Studies Centre academic Tom Switzer, had a go at red-baiting Klein. Here is their exchange:
Newcastle City Council voted on August 26 to join the global push to divest from fossil fuel.
This follows the ACT鈥檚 announcement that it would become the first Australian government to divest from fossil fuels and aim to have 100% renewable energy by 2025.
With a total investment portfolio of $280 million, Newcastle council has also told Australia鈥檚 big four banks they need to divest portfolios of assets that include coal and oil.
National Australia Bank (NAB) has decided not to fund the Adani coalmine, rail and port facilities on the Great Barrier Reef coastline.
The Korean company LG has also announced it will not buy the company's coal.
Korean electronics giant LG signed a letter of intent with Adani last year to purchase 4 million tonnes of coal from the Carmichael mine. However Adani has now lost one of its two big external customers when the letter of intent expired and was not renewed.
聽Malaysian democracy activists estimate that between 300,000 and half a million people peacefully took to the streets of the capital Kuala Lumpur for 34 hours from August 29 to 30. This is much larger than the previous mobilisations by the BERSIH (literally meaning 鈥渃lean鈥) movement for free and fair elections.
Hundreds from across NSW gathered outside AGL's HQ on September 2 to mark the 100th week of a protest first initiated by Camden residents angry that AGL is allowed to frack near their homes. AGL first started fracking in Camden, south west Sydney, in 2001.
Speakers included Jennifer Schoelpple, Anne Thompson, an original Knitting Nanna from the Northern Rivers, Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham and Julie Lyford, president of Groundswell Gloucester.
Gas company Metgasco is so determined to drill for unconventional gas in northern NSW it is prepared to make enemies of old friends 鈥 the NSW Coalition government.
On September 1, it was halting talks with Mike Baird's government and suing it for damages.
- Previous page
- Page 4