The Illawarra's peak union body, the South Coast Labour Council (SCLC), has called on the Australian government to pull troops out of Afghanistan and pursue an independent foreign policy.
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On October 20, 50 people attended a forum, 鈥淧olitics, the Union Movement and the Illawarra鈥, organised by the South Coast Labour Council (SCLC).
Speakers included Darin Sullivan, president of the NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union; Naomi Arrowsmith, Illawarra organiser of the Australian Services Union; and Nicole Calnan, regional organiser of the NSW Teachers鈥 Federation.
鈥淗istory was made early today on the other side of the world鈥, said Grant Morgan, an Auckland-based organiser of the Kia Ora Gaza convoy bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of Israel鈥檚 siege. Kia Ora is a six-person New Zealand team that has joined the Viva Palestina covoy.
鈥淭he vicious Israeli siege of Gaza has been broken by an international aid convoy of 400 volunteers from 30 countries driving 150 vehicles carrying vital medical supplies worth NZ$7 million.鈥
Out-of-favour Manchester United star Wayne Rooney must look in the papers every morning and think: 鈥淗ow does [Liberal Democrat MP and business secretary in the Tory-Lib Dem coalition] Vince Cable get away with it?
鈥淛ust like me, a year ago he was a national hero, the embodiment of hope, and now he鈥檚 a bumbling fool and revealed as a cheat. But he's allowed to carry on as he pleases and isn鈥檛 even substituted.
鈥淚 want a transfer to the Liberal Democrats.鈥
One hundred people gathered in Brisbane鈥檚 King George Square on October 22 to commemorate the tragedy of the SIEV X, an Indonesian fishing boat bound for Australia, which sank on October 19, 2001, drowning 353 asylum seekers 鈥 146 of them children.
Ron Guy has been pre-selected by the Socialist Alliance to run for the seat of Melton in the Victorian state election in November.
Guy was born in Bacchus Marsh where he lives with his partner and son. He has been an Australia Workers Union (AWU) delegate for more than 15 years.
Guy was one of the main instigators of setting up the Arts co-operative Maribyrnong River Edge Artists Movement, believed to be one of the longest running arts co-operatives in Australia.
On October 20, thousands of students and workers marched on Downing Street in London to protest against the savage cuts in social spending announced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, Counterfire.org reported that day.
The protest was organised by the Coalition of Resistance, Camden Trades Council and the People鈥檚 Charter.
The cuts in public spending announced by British chancellor George Osborne that day amount to 81 billion pounds.
The following statement was released by the Socialist Alliance in Australia. Visit www.socialist-alliance.org for more information.
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Socialist Alliance salutes the millions of French workers and students who have taken to the streets in a wave of sustained demonstrations and strikes against the Sarkozy governments鈥 attack on pensions.
The federal Labor government has announced plans to move some children and families out of refugee detention, but will not change its policy of locking up unaccompanied children who arrive in Australia by boat.
On October 20, Wollongong Students Against War occupied the University of Wollongong鈥檚 Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC), bringing its operations to a halt for a few hours.
SAW is waging a campaign against military research on campus, such as the DMTC鈥檚 work on the Joint Strike Fighter project with the US. SAW also organises opposition to the occupation of Afghanistan.
For more information visit .
Since October 12, France has been gripped by intensifying mass opposition by workers and students to proposed counter reforms to the country鈥檚 pensions system by the right-wing government of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Public opposition to the attack has been highlighted by three national strikes each involving millions of people, two national student strikes and a growing wave of indefinite strikes in a range of industries 鈥 most notably the crippling shutdown of the oil industry.
Just 8% of the world鈥檚 population owns 79.3% of the world鈥檚 total wealth, a by the research wing of the giant Swiss bank, Credit Suisse found, Sam Pizzigati said on the A World of Progress blog on October 18.
Further, 35.6% of all wealth is held by just 0.5% of the world鈥檚 4.4 billion adults.
On the opposite end of the scale, 68.4% of the world鈥檚 adults get to share just 4.2% of global wealth.
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