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One month after 400 people entered an Upper Florentine “exclusion zone” to protest against the logging of old-growth forests in Tasmania on January 18, charges of trespass have been laid against 11 people.

Less than a year ago, it was widely held among mainstream economists that the world economy was doing fine, and that, in the face of any eventual problems, Australia would be secure.

Telstra workers, members of the Communications Plumbing and Electrical Union and the Community and Public Sector Union, took 24-hour strike actions nationally (except Victoria on account of the recent bushfire tragedy) on February 9.

The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) was set up a year ago to review the Australian health system. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s pre-election promise — “to end the blame game between Canberra and the states when it comes to health and hospitals” — merely registered the obvious fact that the hospital system is in crisis.

World food production will decrease by as much as 25% by 2050 due to “environmental breakdowns” associated with climate change, according to the United Nations.