Brisbane, June 18, 2010 - 鈥淭he only way to find out the truth about the behavior of the Queensland police hierarchy in the cover-ups that followed the November 2004 killing of Mulrunji on Palm Island is to institute an independent commission of inquiry run by a respected interstate figure,鈥 Sam Watson, well-known Murri rights activist and lead Senate candidate for Queensland said today.
鈥淚n the meantime the Queensland Police Service (QPS) hierarchy, beginning with commissioner Robert Atkinson, must be sacked.鈥
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Thousands of people are expected to join the World Refugee Day rallies around Australia between June 19 and June 26. In Melbourne, the rally - to be held on Sunday June 20 - has the theme 鈥淣ot another Tampa election鈥. Patrick McGorry, Australian of the Year will speak at the Museum Square to refugees, asylum seekers, human rights agency staff and volunteers, refugee advocates and activists before the marchers move off to the EMERGE FESTIVAL at Fitzroy Town Hall.
June 15, 2010 - Thousands rallied and marched around Australia in support of Ark Tribe, a construction worker possibly facing jail for simply failing to attend an interrogation by the construction industry police 鈥淪tar Chamber鈥 - the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).
Workers held an overnight vigil outside the ABCC offices in Melbourne, 500 rallied and marched in Sydney and up to 1,500 rallied outside the Adelaide Magistrate's court. Trade unionists from other parts of the country have gone to Adelaide to show their solidarity.
SYDNEY - Such is the groundswell of community anger against the Israeli commando attack on the peace flotilla to Gaza that the Campbelltown branch of the ALP passed a strongly-worded motion on June 7 including calling on the Rudd government to cut ties with Israel.
The motion also condemned the attack and the blockade of Gaza, and called for support for the solidarity protests being organised by the Palestinian community and their supporters.
The Secretariat of the World Federation of Trade Unions has today decided to call a strike for three days at all ports of the world against Israel commercial vessels to or from Israel.
By Rosamund Dallow-Smith and Pip Hinman
SYDNEY 鈥 Conservation and other groups are opposed to the NSW environment minister Frank Sartor鈥檚 National Park development bill, introduced into the NSW parliament on June 2. The plan will shift the focus of National Parks away from conservation toward development. It will also allow tourism to be formally recognised as a purpose of national parks, contravening the long-held principle that national parks were only for nature conservation and visitation.
Workers at the BHP Billiton Mt Arthur coalmine went on strike for about 26 hours on May 26 and 27. It was the first strike at the mine (formerly known as the Bayswater pit) in its 23-year operational history.
A striking worker from the mine said the reliability of coal supplied by the mine was a big selling point and the strike would damage the mine鈥檚 reputation.
The worker, who did not want his name used for fear of retribution, told 91自拍论坛 Weekly the dispute started when another worker arrived on the afternoon of May 26 and was told she had been sacked.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, called, on May 31, for the international community to bring to justice those responsible for Israel鈥檚 deadly raid on a ship bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, Countercurrents.com said that day. The raid killed at least nine people.
Venezuelan trade unionist and community educator Alexis Adarfio Marin visited Australia last month, informing many audiences of the radical changes being carried out by Venezuela鈥檚 Bolivarian revolution.
Adarfio was a guest of the Search Foundation, which hosted a range of international guest speakers at its Australian Left Renewal Conference in Sydney over May 29-30.
Sanna Andrew is the Socialist Alliance candidate for Fremantle, Western Australia, in the coming federal elections.
She joined the Socialist Alliance in 2007. She is a qualified social worker and has worked in community-based mental health service provision for more than a decade.
Andrew is also an active member of the Australian Services Union (ASU) and sits on the executive council as a representative of the Social and Community Services Sector division.
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In early March, after a three-month media bombardment about the country鈥檚 economic crisis, the Greek government 鈥 backed by conservative opposition parties, the European Union (EU)and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 鈥 announced harsh austerity measures for ordinary people.
These included unprecedented salary, pension, job and public services cuts and large-scale privatisation. The government offensive entails an enormous income transfer from workers and pensioners to big business and the State Revenue Office.
Venezuela foreign minister Nicolas Maduro said on June 2 that Venezuela鈥檚 announced cancelling of Haiti's debt of US$395 million with Petrocaribe was now official.
Petrocaribe is a program under which the Venezuelan government offers discounted oil, to be paid back over long-term low-interest loans, to Caribbean and Central American nations.
Maduro made the announcement after the World Summit on the Future of Haiti. The summit was held in the Dominican Republic with the participation of representatives from 50 countries.
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