The Socialist Alliance (SA) has criticised recent state government changes to the Liquor Control Act as an infringement of civil liberties.
Under the changes, police have the power to issue 鈥渂arring orders鈥, which ban an individual from licensed premises without incurring a criminal conviction.
鈥淕iving police the power to issue barring orders to patrons of licensed premises is tantamount to dishing out punishment before a person has been found guilty,鈥 said SA spokesperson Alex Bainbridge.
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One government 鈥 that of Bolivia 鈥 stood alone against the world at December鈥檚 UN climate conference in Cancun, Mexico. It dared to reject an agreement endorsed by 191 other nations.
And Bolivia was right to do so. Cancun was a step backwards for action on climate change.
Pablo Solon, Bolivia鈥檚 ambassador to the United Nations, explained his country鈥檚 stance in the December 21 Guardian: 鈥淭he text replaces binding mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with voluntary pledges that are wholly insufficient.
Resistance members joined a protest march through Sydney on January 15 in support of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks.
Rally goers chanted "Down with hypocrisy, we want democracy" and "Wikileaks is here to stay, we'll defend it all the way" as they marched from Town Hall to Hyde Park.
Resistance member and Socialist Alliance NSW Legislative Council candidate Patrick Harrison said: "Wikileaks must be defended, governments can't be allowed to get away with lies 鈥 the people of the world need the truth."
Seventy asylum seekers held at the Darwin detention centre have donated the small amount of cash they had to the Queensland flood appeal, said SBS on January 14.
Asylum seekers held at Sydney鈥檚 Villawood Immigration Detention Centre also showed their support for the victims of the Queensland floods in a symbolic action on January 17.
The detainees in Villawood painted a large banner that read: 鈥淒ear Queenslanders: we asylum seekers are with you in this difficult times with flooding.鈥
Socialist Party member Anthony Main on January 11 became the second socialist elected to the City of Yarra council.
The Labor mayor for Yarra, Jane Garrett, resigned after she was elected to state parliament in November. This left a vacancy on the council, which Main has filled.
He was elected after a count back of votes tallied at the last council election.
Main told 91自拍论坛 Weekly that of the nine councillors, three are Greens, two are Labor, two are right-wing independents and, now, two are socialists.
Hundreds of Aborigines and supporters are preparing to defend the kutalayna Aboriginal site in Tasmania鈥檚 lower Jordan Valley, in a protest that some say has the potential to be as big as the huge Save Franklin River protests of the 1980s.
In dispute is the route of the Brighton bypass highway, north of Hobart. The Tasmanian government is pushing ahead with a bridge that will damage the historic site. Aboriginal activists and their supporters want the bridge to be moved at least 300 metres away.
Already the campaign has drawn support from high-profile figures.
A fresh federal government inquiry was announced on January 14 into the alleged torture of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib.
This follows the release of independent evidence supporting Habib鈥檚 claims and the recent undisclosed compensation settlement the Australian government made with him in December.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard had asked the inspector-general of intelligence and security Vivienne Thom to conduct the inquiry after new evidence was presented supporting Habib鈥檚 allegations that Australian officials were involved in his torture in Egypt in 2001.
When I met Kathir (not his real name), in the maximum security stage of Villawood Detention Centre just before Christmas, he had been on hunger strike for five weeks.
The Tamil refugee from Sri Lanka was protesting against ASIO鈥檚 negative security clearance assessment of his asylum claim. This assessment 鈥 made entirely in secret 鈥 allows him to be held indefinitely.
Hundreds of people attended the funeral service of Mavis Mary Moore on January 21. May, as she was known, passed away on January 17, aged 86. She lived a life dedicated to social justice and caring for friends, community and family.
Unionist Paddy Gorman delivered the eulogy. He said: 鈥淢ay was a remarkable woman, one of a kind, who inspired many. She and husband Fred were a formidable team in the struggle for workers鈥 rights and social justice.
鈥淢ay believed in equality for all and had complete contempt for the rich and powerful who exploited working people.鈥
Lawyers for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange have accused Swedish authorities of secretly planning to extradite him to the US as soon as it has built a criminal case against him.
Lawyer Mark Stephens told the media on January 12: 鈥淲e are hearing that the Swedish are prepared to drop the rape charges against Julian as soon as the Americans demand his extradition.鈥
Ten-year-old Tamil refugee Brindha faces deportation to Sri Lanka after being rejected by the immigration department, the January 3 Australian said.
In March 2010, she told 91自拍论坛 Weekly the International Organisation for Migration was treating refugees 鈥渓ike animals鈥.
At the time, she was onboard the Jaya Lestari, a boat packed with 254 Tamil asylum seekers who had tried to reach Australia for protection from persecution.
People who grew up in Queensland can tell you about the afternoon storms that heralded the start of summer. Like clockwork, shortly after the kids finished school, the clouds would start to gather.
And then that strange quiet, before a great gust of wind would send leaves swirling and branches swaying. And then the rain would come.
Huge droplets of rain that would smash down for maybe an hour, maybe more 鈥 and then it was over.
Sure enough the next day it would come again 鈥 the monsoonal downpours that would cool everything down after a sweltering summer鈥檚 day.
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