Hundreds of childcare workers rallied on the steps of the Victorian state parliament on November 17. The rally was organised by United Voice as part of its Big Steps campaign, a national push to improve wages and conditions in the childcare industry.
After speeches from union delegates and the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the crowd marched to the Victorian Treasury gardens.
947
Adding to the list of punitive 鈥渓aw and order鈥 measures that has been implemented in Victoria over the past few years is the latest installment of this agenda: the proposed 鈥渁nti-bikie鈥 laws, which are inspired in part by the federal 鈥渁nti-terrorism鈥 laws.
While popularly justified on the basis of combating 鈥渂ikie gangs鈥, the聽Criminal Organisations Control Bill 2012 is better understood as a bill that can limit the ability of citizens to engage in democracy, civil society, and of citizens to associate with one another.
The Wilderness Society .
* * *
Western Australian Environment Minister Bill Marmion鈥檚 approval of the James Price Point gas processing precinct in the Kimberley is so completely flawed that Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke can only reject the WA assessment, which breaches the Strategic Assessment Agreement between the two governments in many ways.
Simon Butler, coauthor with Ian Angus of , gave the speech below to a November 17 seminar in Sydney, organised by the Nature Conservation Society of NSW.
* * *
The violence Israel has unleashed on the Gaza Strip is not a war.
On one side there is a highly militarised state, with one of the best equipped armed forces in the world, generously subsidised by billions of dollars in Western military and non-military aid. On the other side there are 1.5 million people, subjects of this state, which has herded them into a walled ghetto on which it imposes a starvation siege.
Staff and students from across all six University of Western Sydney (UWS) campuses protested on November 21, in opposition to university management plans to axe several courses.
Among the courses to go are Arabic, Spanish, Italian, the Bachelor of Communication sub-majors in writing, performance and animation, and the entire Economics degree. Along with these, the jobs of 29 academics in the School of Business and a further 25 in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts will be cut.
To start with, why do the news channels ask Tony Blair for his advice on conflict in the Middle East? It鈥檚 like asking Gary Glitter for advice on what to do about Jimmy Savile.
But somehow it fits with the rest of the coverage. A report yesterday morning began with the sentence: 鈥淩ockets have continued to be fired from both sides...鈥 Then, to illustrate this, we saw a demolished building in Gaza in which 11 people had perished, and a woman in Israel standing next to her car with a smashed windscreen.
Let's start with a fact. On November 16, the 鈥渋nto ruins鈥. The stadium also headquartered the centre for youth sports programs throughout the Gaza Strip.
This is the second time Israel has flattened the facility. The first was in 2006 and the people of Gaza have spent the past six years rebuilding the fields, stands and offices to keep the national soccer team as well as club sports alive in the region.
* * *
Abdel Jabbar Madouri has been a militant in Tunisia from his early secondary school days. He was jailed three times (in 1987, 1993 and 2002) because of his political activism. After every arrest, he was tortured, then sentenced to more than 12 years in jail.
Madouri spent four years living underground during the Ben Ali regime, which was overthrown in January last year -- sparking the 鈥淎rab Spring鈥. He was also deprived of the right to work or to obtain a passport.
- Previous page
- Page 4