Many Australian football fans left Durban鈥檚 Moses Mabhida Stadium early on June 13 following Australia鈥檚 particularly dismal four-nil loss against Germany. Had they remained they would have witnessed scenes more dramatic than any that had unfolded on the field, when police violently attacked 500 stewards striking over a pay dispute.
841
According to a recent study by the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan has nearly one trillion dollars in mineral deposits. The study claimed to have found previously unknown reserves of lithium, gold, cobalt and other minerals.
According to the New York Times: 鈥淎n internal Pentagon memo 鈥 states that Afghanistan could become the 鈥楽audi Arabia of lithium鈥, a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.鈥
The Socialist Ideas Conference, organised by the Socialist Alliance in Perth, is shaping up to be the biggest and most interesting socialist event in Perth for some time.
Alongside international guests such as Malaysian socialist parliamentarian Jeyakumar Devaraj and 91自拍论坛 Weekly Caracas bureau journalist Kiraz Janicke, a number of respected speakers have confirmed their attendance in recent weeks.
May Day in Caracas, Venezuela, was 鈥渄eeply inspiring鈥, Adrian Evans, deputy state secretary of the WA Maritime Union of Australia, told a meeting of 40 people in Fremantle on June 16. Evans travelled to Venezuela as part of the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network鈥檚 2010 May Day brigade.
鈥淚 love May Day in Fremantle鈥, he said. 鈥淏ut, I can tell you, being with one-and-a-half million workers was incredible.鈥
Protests will take place across the country on July 17 to demand the federal and Victorian state governments close down Australia鈥檚 dirtiest power station and replace it with clean energy by 2012.
The call for a national day of action was issued by groups active in the 鈥淩eplace Hazelwood鈥 campaign, including Melbourne鈥檚 Climate Action Centre and Environment Victoria.
The call has been endorsed by the Community Climate Network, which brings together more than 100 climate action groups nationwide.
91自拍论坛 Weekly鈥檚 Niko Leka spoke to refugee advocate Saradha Nathan. Last year, Nathan travelled to Indonesia with other refugee advocates, to inspect conditions in Australian-funded detention centres there and take aid and visa application forms to the Tamils stranded on the boat at Merak.
She spoke about the fate of those refugees, some of who are now in detention, and some who recently tried again to come to Australia 鈥 with fatal consequences.
* * *
Tens of thousands rallied around Australia on June 10 in support of the Australian Services Union鈥檚 (ASU) pay equity test case for community sector workers.
The ASU has opened a test case with Fair Work Australia under the equal remuneration power of the Fair Work Act. The ASU claim is for pay rises of about 25% for community sector workers. It follows a successful application in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission last year.
On June 15, climate sceptics held a forum at the Brisbane Irish Club. This forum was the subject of a protest by climate change activists. Ewan Saunders is the Socialist Alliance candidate for Brisbane who helped organise the protest. His speech is reprinted below.
***
Ian Plimer, Bob Carter, Peter Ridd: these are the real climate fraudsters, never mind the so-called scandals around a few emails last year.
June 5, 2010, Sydney, Australia: Thousands took to the streets for the second time in less than a week to demand the end of Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza following the murderous Israeli commando assault on and unarmed aid convoy to Gaza on May 31.
Melbourne rallies against Israeli attack on Gaza aid flotilla
- Previous page
- Page 5