Victoria鈥檚 scorching January heatwave has focused a lot of attention on the problem of coping with the immediate fallout from climate change.
According to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, in the period January 13 to 23 there were 139 deaths in excess of the expected average. There were reports of homeless people being forced away from airconditioned areas as they sought relief from the relentless heat.
http://m.smh.com.au/victoria/anger-over-spike-in-deaths-during-record-victorian-heatwave-20140126-31gxb.html
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The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA)聽has approved plans to dump 3 million cubic metres of sand and mud in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
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This waste will come from dredging the sea floor during construction of the Abbot Point coal terminal near Bowen and will be dumped about 25 kilometres away within the boundaries of the marine park.
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Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt initially approved the proposal, before passing it on to the聽GBRMPA聽to make the final decision.
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The Refugee Action Coalition released this statement on February 5.
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The daily protests by hundreds of asylum seekers on Manus Island that began on January 25 have now spread to all four compounds inside the detention centre.
Since January 25, up to 500 asylum seekers in the Oscar compound, the most deprived of the compounds, have been staging daily protests.
On January 30, the protests extended to Mike compound. And on January 31, hundreds more asylum seekers were in involved in protests in all four compounds.
On February 3, 50 communications sector workers and community members gathered outside the Geelong Mail Centre to protest the proposed privatisation and downsizing of Australia Post.
These changes would see further job losses in the already hard-hit Geelong region.
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The meeting was attended by representatives of the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union of Australia, the Community and Public Sector Union, Geelong Trades Hall, Socialist Alliance and the Australian Labor Party.
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Food giant Coca-Cola Amatil has threatened to close the SPC Ardmona fruit canning company in Victoria, unless the federal government and Victorian government give it $25 million each in assistance.
The company wants to spend $161 million on upgrading and restructuring its manufacturing facilities in Shepparton. If the plant is closed, about 3000 jobs in the Goulburn Valley, and many small orchard farms, would be lost.
Talking about music might sound strange for people who live in refugee camps and are deeply burdened with many other problems needing to be voiced.
But the huge role music played in the Saharawi people's struggle for independence leaves me with no choice e but to try to talk a little about the magical role revolutionary songs are playing in my people鈥檚 daily fight for self-determination.
Outspoken British crust-punk pioneers Doom have a stonking new album out and are heading to Australia. Guitarist and founding member Brian Talbot, aka Bri Doom, spoke to 91自拍论坛 Weekly's Mat Ward.
Electrical Trades Union Victorian Secretary Troy Gray wrote this statement on the ETU Facebook page on February 6.
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Australian Workers Union Secretary Paul Howes is slitting the throat of Australian workers for his own political ambitions.
Recent headline grabbing statements by Howes have more to do with his naked ambition to be a politician and his resolve to distance聽himself from the AWU skeletons, than any attempt to improve the lives of working people or his own members.
The movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel has captured headlines around the world after actress Scarlett Johansson signed a promotion deal with Israeli company SodaStream.
Johansson signed the deal to become SodaStream's first 鈥済lobal brand ambassador鈥 on January 1. A Super Bowl halftime commercial starring the actress airing on February 2.
However, the deal resulted in an instant furore due to the company's use of an Israeli occupied industrial settlement zone in Palestinian West Bank to make their home soda machines.
Queensland woman Sheila Oakley has been left blind in one eye after being tasered by police outside her home on February 6.
Oakley underwent surgery after the metal barb from the Taser hit her in her left eye, the Guardian reported on February 7.
A senior constable, who is reported to be a qualified Taser instructor, fired the Taser.
Police said the woman was holding a table leg when they arrived at her home.
Well it's my first day back at work and already the year has started with the predictable attack on workers that usually accompanies conservative governments in their first term of office.
They always claim that unions are corrupt and should have special laws to prevent them from being involved in workplaces or politics.
War criminal and former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who died on January 11, led an infamous Israeli army terror group in the 1950s. Called Unit 101 and nicknamed the 鈥渁vengers鈥, it operated without uniforms.
The unit countered Palestinian resistance with terror attacks. It carried out many outrages inside Israel and across its borders.
In August 1953, Unit 101 attacked the refugee camp of El-Bureig in Gaza. About 50 refugees were massacred. In October 1953, Sharon鈥檚 unit attacked the Jordanian village of Qibya.
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