Issue 1032

News

  • Petition calls for Bishop not to meet Mexico's president over missing student crisis

    Protests continue to grip Mexico over the fate of 43 students from Ayotzinapawho were abducted -- in police vehvilces according to eyewitnesses -- Guerrerro state on September 26. Mexico's Attorney-General Jesus Murillo Karam says three detained 鈥渄rug traffickers鈥 had confessed to killing the students -- including burnig them alive. Dozens of police were arrested over allegations they had had students over to a drug cartel. Iguala mayor Jose Luis Abarca, accused of ordering the attacks, resigned on October 24.

  • Whitlam鈥檚 memorial - It's still time for change

    About 1700 people packed Sydney Town Hall, and an overflow crowd of thousands filled the adjacent square, for the official memorial service for former Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on November 5. Sprinkled through the crowd were people who still had their iconic 鈥淚t's Time鈥 T-shirts and badges from the 1972 election that brought the Whitlam government to power. It was a memorable gathering not just because of the passing of this former PM, but because Whitlam has come to symbolise a long-lost era of progressive reform in this country.

  • Womens refuges get funding reprieve

    A small number of inner Sydney women's refuges flagged for closure received news on October 30 that their state government funding has been reinstated. However, other city and regional refuges continue to face closure or loss of specialist services for women, including Aboriginal women and young people, following their transfer into the hands of churches and charities.

  • Large rally declares Lismore gas free

    About 8000 people from across NSW鈥檚 Northern Rivers region gathered in Lismore on November 1 for a rally to declare the region gasfield free. Protesters marched through Lismore CBD to demand the government cancel all petroleum licences in the region. It then officially launched four large signs at each of the roads leading into the region, proclaiming: "Gasfield Free Northern Rivers 鈥 protected by community.鈥 Organiser Elly Bird said: "This community is saying loud and clear that they want full cancellation of the licenses across the region, and nothing less will serve.

  • Aboriginal communities rally against land grab

    About 300 Aboriginal people and supporters from around NSW rallied against legislation being pushed through state parliament that threatens the land rights of coastal Aboriginal communities. On November 3, Hyde Park was awash with Aboriginal flags and community members, young and old, representing many of the 120 Aboriginal land councils across the state. They were there to protest against the Crown Lands Amendment (Public Ownership of Beaches and Coastal Lands) Bill. The bill was introduced by Minister for Natural Resources Kevin Humphries last week.

  • Millers Point residents oppose sale of Sirius apartments

    Residents of Millers Point public housing are supporting the campaign to stop the sell-off and possible demolition of the iconic Sirius apartments in the nearby suburb of The Rocks. The Save Our Sirius (SOS) campaign was launched on November 2 with an open day at the Sirius apartments building. The Sirius apartments were designed by Tao Gofers in 1975 for the NSW Housing Commission. Sitting beside the southern approaches to the Harbour Bridge, the apartments look out to Circular Quay and the Opera House.

  • Conference discusses future beyond coal and gas

    Almost 300 people gathered near Ipswich in Queensland for The Sunrise Project's Beyond Coal and Gas conference from October 24 to 27. The event featured more than 100 workshops and drew people from all states and territories as well as international visitors. There was a huge diversity of people and organisations including campaigners, activists, researchers, traditional owners and youth.

Analysis

  • People power can stop the East West Link

    This statement was released on November 6 by Sean Broklehurst, the Socialist Alliance candidate for Pascoe Vale in the November 29 Victorian elections, and Sarah Hathway, the Socialist Alliance candidate for Geelong. It refers to the project, set to cost at least $15 billion, to link Melbourne鈥檚 Eastern Freeway and City Link, with the major part of the project being a 4.4 kilometre tunnel. ***

  • Petition calls for arrest of Turkey鈥檚 president

    Australians for Kurdistan began this petition on Change.org. It asks the Australian federal attorney-general to arrest Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he visits Brisbane for the G20 summit on November 15. It also asks the attorney-general to remove the Kurdistan Workers Party from the list of terrorist organisations. To sign the petition go to * * *

  • Cambodians urge Australia to not resettle refugees there

    A campaign organised by Cambodians has led the country鈥檚 first vice-president of the National Assembly to urge Australia to back down from its bid to resettle refugees there. Kem Sokha said in a letter to the Australian Ambassador to Cambodia, Alison Burrows, that the deal to transfer up to 1000 refugees from Nauru could have 鈥渘egative impacts which would possibly be caused by economic, social situations鈥. Joyce Fu, who works for NGO Corner Link and was part of organising protests and petitions calling for the refugee deal to be abandoned, said Cambodia was ill-equipped for the plan.

  • G20 comes to town: People's movement responds

    Brisbane is almost in lockdown as preparations get under way for the G20 Summit over November 15 and 16. Road closures began a week before world leaders and their media lackeys were due to arrive. Manholes and utility service grates in footpaths in the CBD and around the G20 venue in South Brisbane have been sealed as a precaution against sabotage.

  • Aboriginal communities resist government attacks

    Aboriginal activists in Western Australia are gearing up for a rally on November 12 to protect remote communities in the face of federal government attacks. It will follow a September 16 rally against state government threats to Aboriginal heritage and an October 23 rally against ongoing Black deaths in custody. The federal government announced on September 24 that it would withdraw funding for 180 remote Aboriginal communities in WA. It will grant $90 million to the WA government for a two-year 鈥渢ransition period鈥.

  • Newcastle residents blast ammonium nitrate facility

    The Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) held a hearing on October 29 to allow the community to express their views on Incitec鈥檚 proposal to build an ammonium nitrate production facility in Newcastle. All 18 speakers slammed the proposal as presenting an unacceptable risk of a catastrophic explosion that could threaten the lives of thousands of people in the city. Speakers ranged from explosives expert Tony Richards to the Socialist Alliance, the Greens, and several community groups from Stockton and Mayfield, as well as members of the public.

  • Tony Abbott鈥檚 selective concern about corruption

    Sarah Hathway and Sean Brocklehurst are running as candidates in the Victorian election. They released this statement on November 7. *** The federal government's concern about 鈥渃orruption鈥 is very selective. For many months, there have been calls for a royal commission into the Commonwealth Bank and ASIC to investigate how thousands of people were stripped of their life savings as a result of fraud by dodgy financial planners working for the bank.

  • Denis Napthine calls for CFMEU to be deregistered

    The witch-hunt into unions descended into farce last month as the Royal Commission鈥檚 attempt to justify its existence instead showed that it is an inquiry compromised by its politically motivated construction and damned by its own incompetence. The week began with Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) assistant secretary Tim Lyons attacking royal commissioner Dyson Heydon and senior counsel assisting Jeremy Stoljar for confusing workplace bargaining with corruption and failing to understand the role of unions they had been asked to investigate.

  • The war on dissent in Queensland

    鈥淭he Battle of Brisbane.鈥 These were the words that greeted readers of Queensland鈥檚 Courier Mail on October 28. The article, taking up the front cover and several subsequent pages, dealt with the alleged threat of violent protests at the G20 summit to be held in Brisbane on November 15 and 16. The police, according to the Courier Mail, should meet the protesters with brutal suppression. The actual threat of violence was left vague. In many ways, the phrasing of the subhead for the piece told it all: 鈥淐ops vow to crush G20 ferals鈥.

World

  • Brazil's MST: 'Our challenge is to fight for structural reforms'

    In an interview with 's Iris Pacheco, Alexandre Conceicao, a national leader of the Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST), said social movements played a fundamental role in the October 26 re-election of President Dilma Rousseff, the candidate of the Workers' Party (PT). Dilma won 51%, defeating her main rival, Aecio Neves. The interview, below, was translated by Federico Fuentes. * * *

  • Colombia: Right-wing groups threaten victims, undermine peace talks

    Representatives of victims of Colombia's decades-long civil war, who are taking part in the peace talks in Cuba, issued a statement on November 2 requesting more protection from the Colombian government. They were responding to death threats and warnings from right-wing paramilitary groups. The talks are taking place between the Colombian government and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

  • Mexico: New protests after claims 43 students were executed

    The protests over the 43 missing students in Iguala, who are now said to have been assassinated and burned, have continued in Mexico City. Hundreds of Mexicans protested overnight on November 8 in Mexico capital. They expressed theri outrage in relation to statements given the day before by the head of the attorney-general's Office, Jesus Murillo Karam, who said the 43 students were executed and burned in Ayotzinapa.

  • Bolivia: Morales opens new rural schools, community centres

    Bolivian President Evo Morales has handed over three new schools and two roofed outdoor community centres in the Sacaca Municipality of the southern Potosi Department. 鈥淲e are going to continue working, your vote has not been in vain,鈥 said Morales, who was re-elected on October 12 with more than 60% of the vote. In the Caripuyo municipality in Potosi, Morales also inaugurated a market and an electrical system for the Caripuyo community.

  • Venezuela: Global social movements push climate action

    Delegates from environmental groups from around the world gathered on the Venezuelan island of Margarita this month as part of the country's 鈥淪ocial Precop鈥. The event was coordinated by the Venezuelan government in a bid to take the 鈥渧oice of the people鈥 into the United Nations talks on climate change scheduled for December in Peru. Over several days, movements and activists put the final touches to the 鈥淢argarita Declaration鈥 that was drafted in July after four days of debate and discussion.

  • British firefighters back Kobane, slams Turkey

    The statement below was released by the British (FBU). *** The FBU Executive Council is appalled by the ongoing siege of the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobane in northern Syria by Islamic State (IS) forces. The executive council notes: 鈥 The IS attack on Kobane and resistance of Kurdish and other local forces. 鈥 The role of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE (all British/US allies) in building, assisting and encouraging the growth of IS.

  • Burkina Faso: 'Get out Blaise! Sankara lives!'

    An incredible political transformation has been taking shape in the 鈥淟and of the Upright or Incorruptible People鈥, Burkina Faso. Twenty-seven years after the assassination of revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, Burkinabes turned out in their hundreds of thousands, for several days of protest. Chanting 鈥渆nough is enough鈥, it echoed a long history of trade union activism against political repression in the country, as well as protests staged through the Balai Citoyen collective. After four days of the popular anger, president Blaise Compaore vacated his post.

  • New leaked TPP chapter published by WikiLeaks

    The statement below was on October 16 after it published a from the proposed TransPacific Partnership trade deal. The TPP is being negotiated behind closed doors by the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei. ***

  • France: Protests erupt after green activist killed in anti-dam struggle

    The controversial Sivens dam project in south-west France has been temporarily suspended after the death of 21-year-old activist Remi Fraisse while protesting at the site on October 25. An autopsy found that Fraisse had likely died from a police stun grenade that hit him in the back. Protests erupted across France in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

  • Israeli settlements double in four years

    The number of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land have doubled in the past 54 months, UN Commission on Human Rights member Cees Flinterman said ton October 31. that day that Flinterman presented the fourth stage of a report monitoring activity of Israel's practices in Palestinian territory.

  • Rebellious Catalonia moves to vote, defies Spanish court

    Millions of residents of Catalonia will indicate their preference for the future political status of their country, one of the 17 鈥渁utonomous communities鈥 (regional governments) within the Spanish state, in the November 9 Catalan 鈥減articipatory process鈥. The 鈥減rocess鈥 will present voters with the same ballot paper as the original non-binding consultation adopted by the Catalan parliament on September 26 鈥 which was immediately suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court. Its asks: 鈥(1) Do you want Catalonia to become a state? (2) If yes, do you want that state to be independent?鈥

  • Elections boost Tunisia's right wing

    Tunisians are now enjoying the pleasure of thinking up the most improbable 鈥渟cenarios鈥 of political alliances between political Islamists, militant secularists and left wingers. Why? The Tunisian parliamentary elections of October 26 did not produce a majority party and rumours are everywhere. For the left, the results have posed serious problems.

  • United States: How Republican zealots trounced Democrat pushovers

    In the run-up to the November 4 midterm elections, Democrats filled e-mail inboxes to the brim with messages that ranged from panicky to pleading. The subject lines revealed the desperation of the Democratic establishment as it tried to drum up money and support: 鈥渉eartbreaking shame鈥, 鈥渄eep trouble鈥, 鈥渄evastating loss鈥, 鈥淭errible news鈥, 鈥渨e're BEGGING鈥, 鈥渂egging 鈥 BEGGING鈥, 鈥渒iss any hope goodbye鈥.

  • Venezuela sends Gaza third aid shipment

    Since Israel鈥檚 July-August military offensive against the Gaza strip, Venezuela has sent 50 tonnes of food and medicine to Palestine. On November 2, the Venezuelan government sent its third shipment of aid to Palestine as part of the measures ordered by President Nicolas Maduro to help Palestinians after Israel鈥檚 war. The shipment was sent by plane and consists of 10.3 tonnes of food and medicines.

  • Ireland: Huge protests against water charges, Sinn Fein top polls for first time

    More than 200,000 people demonstrated on streets up and down the country in protest against water charges. Even in the smaller towns across Ireland, people marched in their thousands, while cities crowd numbers were in the tens of thousands. About 30,000 braved incessant rain in Cork city. The march took almost an hour-and-a-half to make its way through Cork city centre. Among the politicians protesting was Sinn Fein鈥檚 Jonathan O鈥橞rien, who said: 鈥淭he government needs to recognise the numbers on the streets. People are not going to pay, it is a tax too far.鈥

  • Letter from the US: New law targets Mumia

    Mumia Abu-Jamal, the most well-known political prisoner in the United States, now has a new law directed against him personally. The Pennsylvania legislature 鈥 both Democrats and Republicans 鈥 overwhelmingly voted to adopt the 鈥淩evictimization Relief Act鈥 and Democratic governor Tom Corbett signed it into law. It came after Mumia delivered a pre-taped speech to Goddard College in Vermont on October 5. Mumia had been a student at Goddard as a youth. Students and faculty members voted to ask him to make this year's commencement address.

  • German relatives of MH17 victims sue Ukraine

    Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is determined to blame the Russian government for the tragic deaths of 298 civilians, including 38 Australians, when Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Abbott went as far as to threaten to 鈥渟hirtfront鈥 Russian President Vladimir Putin during the November 15 and 16 G20 Summit in Brisbane.

  • Europe caught in a German nightmare

    For all the supposed faults of Keynesian economics, the so-called cure of neoliberalism is proving far worse than the counter-cyclical spending disease so despised by conservatives. From the early years of the Industrial Revolution, a cycle of 鈥渂oom and bust鈥 was identified as a distinctive feature of capitalism after the first global slump in 1860. It was these crises, expected to be repeated every seven to 11 years, which led Karl Marx and Frederick Engels to predict that they would bring about the destruction of the system that engendered them.

  • United States: Young Black males 21 times more likely to be shot dead by police

    Young black males are at a far greater risk of being shot dead by police in the United States than their white counterparts, a new study has found. that Black youths were 21 times more likely to be shot dead by police, according to a ProPublica analysis of federally collected data on fatal police shootings between 2010 and 2012.

Culture

  • Melbourne festival an artistic celebration of activism

    The Bella Union, Carlton South November 15, 12.30pm Sea Shepherd, Amnesty and Refugee Action Collective are among a range of activist groups involved in the Activist Arts Festival, an initiative set to connect local communities with activist groups across Melbourne in a non-protest environment.

  • Renegades of Munk put the fun into funk

    Mark Munk Ross says he has learnt to make his music more appealing by injecting a big dose of humour into his hard-hitting songs. "I try to make them humorous, which then makes it accessible to fans that might not be that political," says the man better known as Munkimuk, the "Grandfather of Indigenous hip-hop". "But they are still digesting it, whether they know it or not," he says. "Smart game plan I think."