91������̳

On July 14, Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef was charged with “providing support to a terrorist organisation” after 12 days in detention without any charge. His detention without charges or a trial shows the danger to civil liberties posed by federal and state “anti-terror” laws.

Pressure from unions over the exploitation of foreign workers employed under the 457 visa scheme for temporary workers has forced the Howard government to tighten some of the regulations.

“Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has admitted that securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq.” This was how the BBC reported Nelson’s July 5 comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on the release of a review of Australia’s “defence strategy”.

Fifty delegates from the Queer Collaborations student conference, held in Hobart from July 9 to 13, rallied on July 12 in solidarity with Northern Territory Indigenous communities that are being invaded by federal police. The conference voted to support the Indigenous community in the NT against the Howard government’s interference. The rally then marched to Liberal Senator Eric Abetz’s office to hand him the statement written by the elders of the Mutitjulu people, which asked for community assistance but not police intervention.

Fifteen of the 20 workers at the Esselte site in Minto, in Sydney’s south-west, have been on strike for four weeks. The stationary company has been trying to force its employees onto Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs — individual contracts) for two years.