Socialist Alliance candidate Liam Flenady, who will run in the March 24 Queensland state election, announced the party's key policy pledge on February 4.
The policy said: 鈥淪et up a new Queensland State Bank: Provide low-interest loans to householders, farmers and small business. Stop the private banks ripping off the community.鈥
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Recent national figures published by the Sydney Morning Herald show the rate of youth unemployment in Australia is well above the national average, hitting 17.3%.
The is more than triple national unemployment, which stood at 5.2% in December. Almost one in five people aged 15 to 19 and not studying are out of work.
Well, it is only February and one thing is certain: a federal election doesn鈥檛 have to be called until as late as November 2013, but the Tony Abbott-led Coalition smells blood and, as far as they are concerned, they are in election mode.
This means if you are dark-skinned, downtrodden or desperate, you had better look out. You are right in the Coalition鈥檚 firing line, and just behind them is a desperate Labor government (led, for now, by Julia Gillard) eager to play the futile game of blunting attacks from the right by joining in.
Activists from Western Australia鈥檚 Refugee Rights Action Network traveled more than 800 kilometres from Perth to the remote Leonora detention centre over January 27-29. The journey sought to draw attention to the 160 unaccompanied minors locked up in the detention centre.
Immigration minister Chris Bowen had previously promised that all children would be moved out of detention centres by June last year.
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Nearly 10 years of a mining boom has made big changes to Australia鈥檚 economy and environment. Resource companies have made record profits.
This has given Australia鈥檚 rich mining billionaires an inflated sense of entitlement. When the Resources Super Profits Tax (RSPT) was proposed we saw Gina Rinehart speaking to an anti-tax rally from the back of a truck along with fellow billionaire Andrew Forrest, who wore a high-visibility work shirt as though he was just another struggling worker.
Five anti-nuclear activists travelled from Australia to attend the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World held in the Japanese port city of Yokohama, over January 14鈥15.
The conference was attended by 11,500 people over the two days including 100 international participants from 30 countries.
Port Kembla Coal Terminal workers began a week-long strike on February 1. The action is a result of management scaling back conditions during negotiations over a new enterprise agreement. BHP Billiton operates the coal terminal on behalf of its owners, which include Xstrata, Peabody Energy, Gujarat NRE and Centennial Coal.
Management鈥檚 latest offer triggered Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) delegates to take industrial action. About 100 workers had previously voted to approve a seven-day stoppage from February 1, unless management made a late offer
This year, the rules of the game have changed drastically. The ALP now supports marriage equality, and the Greens submitted its to a senate inquiry on January 26.
The problem is the numbers in parliament.聽The ALP has allowed a conscience vote, which means its MPs can vote against party policy, while Liberal Party members are required to vote against marriage equality.聽
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Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Ruthlessly Targets Children
Joel Bakan
Random House, 2011
277 pages
Parents who read Joel Bakan's new book, Childhood Under Siege, may find themselves un-liking Facebook.
In it, the law professor 鈥 whose previous book The Corporation was made into Canada's biggest-grossing documentary 鈥 describes the effect of the social media giant's applications on his 13-year-old daughter.
February 1 was the day of the most vibrant climate rally seen in Melbourne for some time, with nearly 500 protesters overflowing from the steps of the state parliament house to call on the federal and state governments to revoke their , Victoria鈥檚 proposed new coal-fired power plant.
The rally, called by grassroots climate collective , was held principally to influence the federal government, which is currently reviewing HRL鈥檚 Howard-era $100 million grant.
The statement below was posted on the Observer Tree blog on February 3.
The trees are coming down. Against a backdrop of grey skies and at times torrential rain, to a soundtrack of chainsaw, wood chipper and howls of protest and grief from anguished residents and exhausted protesters, the magnificent, healthy, 80-year-old iconic cathedral arch of the Laman Street Fig Trees in Cooks Hills, Newcastle, is being reduced to wood chip as this goes to press.
Sixty riot police guard the area, which is bordered by a double ring of tall temporary perimeter fencing. Onlookers shrieked in outrage and amazement as a large bird鈥檚 nest was fed into the mulcher.
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