If you were sexually assaulted by a member of your school sporting team, would you want to cheer for them when they played? Would you expect your school to uphold your rights over those of your attacker? If the school failed to uphold your rights, would you then expect the courts to find in your favour if you sued?
The answers to these questions should be obvious, but this is not an exercise in rhetorical questioning.
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Ballots on motions authorising industrial action have taken place among members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) in three government departments.
In the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Customs Service, more than 80% of voters supported industrial action. However, the number of people that voted in each case fell slightly short of the 50% required for 鈥減rotected industrial action鈥 under federal industrial laws.
An enthusiastic group of community campaigners was chosen to run for the September 3 council elections in Wollongong.
About 100 people attended the preselection meeting for Community Voice at Thirroul Community Centre on July 24. CV was formed about a month ago.
The process was simple, democratic and transparent 鈥 values at the core of CV鈥檚 platform. Part of the reason for the formation of CV was to bring a community focus to council, standing against the entrenched corruption of local politics that culminated in the sacking of Wollongong council in 2008.
Members of forest conservation group Code Green held a direct action protest at a woodchip mill at Bell Bay in northern Tasmania on July 29. The protest temporarily shut down the mill, which is owned by logging company Artec.
One protester chained herself to a truck loaded with native, old growth logs.
Code Green said the action was meant to highlight 鈥渢he continued destruction of Tasmania鈥檚 natural environment, and the government鈥檚 unwillingness to create real peace in the forest鈥.
In the very early morning of August 3, about 180 workers and volunteers from the City of Sydney鈥檚 will do a count of the 鈥渞ough sleepers鈥 in the city.
The previous count in February, when the weather was much warmer, found 363 people sleeping on Sydney鈥檚 streets. Last winter鈥檚 count was 289.
To mark the 28th anniversary of the 1983 Black July massacre of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, Australian Tamils held a solidarity rally in Melbourne on July 23.
More than 200 Australians assembled at Federation Square to condemn the human rights violations taking place in Sri Lanka and to raise a voice for an international investigation into war crimes by the Sri Lankan government.
Sydney Stop The War Coalition held a street-theatre protest in Darling Harbour on July 29 outside a $1000-a-head speaking engagement for former British PM and war criminal Tony Blair.
The protesters held a mock trial of Blair, who was charged, tried and convicted of making fraudulent excuses for the invasion of Iraq, the murder of a million Iraqi people, profiting from the proceeds of crime and other crimes against humanity.
About 80 people gathered on July 28 at the Holiday Inn on Darwin鈥檚 Esplanade for one of the federal government鈥檚 鈥渃onsultations鈥.
One woman said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit late, mate.鈥
In and numerous other works, veteran MIT linguistics professor and libertarian socialist author/activist Noam Chomsky has argued the United States is 鈥渁 leading terrorist state.鈥
According to the author of a recent diatribe in Australia鈥檚 Monthly magazine, these 鈥渧iews on American foreign policy鈥 are 鈥渕yopic鈥 and 鈥渃onspiratorial鈥 and make Chomsky an unsuitable recipient of the 2011 Sydney Peace Prize.
Accused Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik praised four Australian conservative leaders in his 1500-page manifesto, abc.net.au on July 26.
鈥淚n a manifesto posted online under the Anglicised pseudonym Andrew Berwick, the killer quoted [former prime minister John] Howard, former treasurer Peter Costello, Catholic Cardinal George Pell and conservative writer and historian Keith Windschuttle,鈥 the ABC said.
The PSM 6 鈥 six leading members of the Socialist Party of Malaysia 鈥 were released from prison on July 29 after a national and international campaign for their release.
The ABC鈥檚 on July 25 showcased the national debate around wind farms鈥 alleged negative health effects.
It patiently allowed the anti-wind power Waubra Foundation to walk the audience through their case that wind farms are a health hazard. Many people I have met are curious to know if there is any truth to the allegations.
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