Issue 964

News

  • Anti-privatisation protest at Brisbane May Day rally

    The biggest Labour Day march in Australia took place in Brisbane on May 5, as thousands of unionists marched through the city in celebration. More than 30,000 took to the streets across the state over the past weekend, expressing their anger towards the Campbell Newman government. Workers from a wide range of trade unions proudly participated, with large contingents from the Builders鈥 Labourers Federation and the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union.

  • Going on strike can build strong student movement

    Austerity almost seems like the defining feature of politics today. Across Europe and the US, crippling cuts to education, health care and welfare budgets are driving millions further into poverty. Even in Australia, where our economy has been spared the worst of the financial crisis, both big parties are raising taxes on ordinary people and applying cuts to welfare and education. Last year, cuts to courses and staff at several universities, including Sydney University and La Trobe University, led to strong campaigns by staff and students to defend their education and jobs.

  • Moreland debates CCTV

    About 50 people attended a community safety forum organised by Moreland City Council on April 24. The forum was organised as part of the debate about how to make the streets safer following the murder of Jill Meagher last year. The state government鈥檚 proposal to fund installation of CCTV cameras on Moreland streets was controversial. It was strongly advocated by Moreland Mayor Oscar Yildiz, and supported by federal Labor MP Kelvin Thomson and state Labor MP Jane Garrett.

  • Ten thousand workers rally for safety in Melbourne

    Ten thousand building workers walked off the job and rallied in Melbourne's CBD on April 30 to protest against the poor safety record of construction companies such as Grocon. Unionists led by the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) marched from Trades Hall to Grocon's Swanston Street building site, where a wall collapsed and killed passers-by Alexander and Bridget Jones and Marie Faith-Fiawoo.

  • Palestine supporters vow to continue campaign for justice

    Palestine Action Group Sydney released this statement on May 2. *** Supporters of Palestine have responded to a May 2 report in the Australian that asserted that Max Brenner Israel has no direct shares in Max Brenner Australia as irrelevant to the solidarity campaign for justice in Palestine. Palestine solidarity activists are bemused that the Australian has given front page coverage to this 鈥渟coop鈥. The YouTube video of the rally in question, which took place on September 21 last year, has also just been released.

  • Stop deaths in custody groups form coalition

    Social justice and anti-deaths in custody organisations around Australia formed a new national coalition on February 10. The new group will allow for national actions to be organised when a death in custody occurs that requires a national response and coordinated action. The organisations involved include the Indigenous Social Justice Association and the Deaths in Custody Watch committee. Groups in other states and territories have expressed interest in joining the coalition.

  • Protest defends welfare centre

    About 200 people rallied outside NSW government offices on May 3 to protest the decision of the NSW Liberal government to defund the Welfare Rights Centre (WRC), an advice and advocacy service for pensioners, the unemployed and other welfare recipients. The $400,000 cut is 40% of the WRC funding (the rest coming from the federal government) and is seen as an attempt to silence a voice for the poorest sector of society. This follows federal Labor government cuts to sole parent pensions, a step which plunged thousands more women under the poverty line.

  • Children to move to high security Darwin detention

    The Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network released the statement below on April 30, in response to apparent plans to move children and women to high-security detention centres in Australia鈥檚 north and north-west.

  • No to Max Brenner shop at UNSW

    About 40 protesters rallied outside the University of New South Wales main library on April 30 to oppose the planned opening of a Max Brenner chocolate store on campus, and call for UNSW to adopt the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid.

  • Housing conference calls for system change

    New South Wales鈥 peak advocate for housing justice, Shelter, held a conference in Sydney on April 18 to look at the challenges in housing assistance facing policymakers and decide what key steps need to be taken to improve housing outcomes for disadvantaged people. NSW Minister for Community Services Pru Goward opened the conference. She said the housing situation in NSW is grim due to housing being more expensive, less plentiful and inadequately funded. People who require housing also have more needs, she said.

91自拍论坛 Fighting Fund

  • The billions that could be spent better

    The federal Labor government had a rare win when it wedged Tony Abbott and the Liberal opposition into supporting its plan to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) through an increase in the Medicare levy. But will this be enough to stop Abbott from winning the next election? If the bookies know their business, few are game to put money on this. An ALP win is at its longest odds since Sportsbet opened betting on the election result.

Analysis

  • ASIO should stop harassing activists

    I received a knock on the door on April 16 from two members of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, better known as ASIO. The two told me they would like to have a conversation. When I asked what they wanted to speak about, they told me they were doing their job 鈥 protecting 鈥渘ational security鈥 鈥 and had a few questions about my involvement in political campaigns in Sydney. Apparently the latest threat to 鈥渘ational security鈥 is 鈥減olitical violence鈥 in the activist community.

  • John Pilger: Suffering of Aboriginal people continues

    Eleven miles by ferry from Perth is Western Australia's "premier tourist destination". This is Rottnest Island, whose scabrous wild beauty and isolation evoked for me Robben Island in South Africa. Empires are never short of devil's islands; what makes Rottnest different, indeed what makes Australia different, is a silence and denial on an epic scale.

  • Street art explores refugees鈥 鈥榲oiceless journeys鈥

    It has been four years since the Tamil rebels were crushed by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The Sri Lankan government, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, still denies that any human rights violations occurred. In March, a called on the Rajapaksa government 鈥渢o conduct an independent and credible investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.鈥 This has fallen on deaf ears.

  • James Hansen's nuclear junk science

    James Hansen resigned from his position as director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in April to devote more time to campaigning to cut global carbon emissions. In addition to his scientific research on climate change, Hansen has been arrested several times in recent years at protests against coal mining and tar sands mining. Bravo James Hansen 鈥 precious few scientists and academics live and breathe their politics as he does.

  • Mining boom faces bust

    Economic forecasting agency BIS Shrapnel has reported that engineering work, spurred on by the mining boom, would be about $128 billion in Australia this financial year. It may be easy to suggest that, despite the rumours, the mining boom is set to continue long into the future. However, the report was quite downbeat. ABC Online said BIS Shrapnel predicted that a "slowdown in mining investment and its related infrastructure is expected to reduce activity by 5.4% next financial year 鈥 engineering construction will be 20% below this year's peak by 2016-2017."

  • Why Manus and Nauru detention centres must be closed

    The smuggling of cameras inside detention camps on Nauru and Manus Island by the has added to pressure on Labor to answer for the shocking conditions in which men, women and children are being held. Footage that was aired on April 29 showed rows of muddy tents, derelict amenities and ablution facilities and image after image of people who are losing the will to live.

  • Letters to the editor: Tribute to Bernie Rosen

    Anyone who reads 91自拍论坛 Weekly would probably know Bernie Rosen was an inexhaustible letter writer and so it seems fitting to compose one in his honour. Although it should be said that Bernie鈥檚 emphasis on letters later in his life was no doubt in part because his other favoured forms of political campaigning, such as door-to-door canvassing, newspaper distribution and public oration, were less and less physically possible for him. Letters were his way of engaging in the class struggle until the very end of his 88 years.

  • Carlo's Corner: The NRA has a point, if you just get drunk enough to consider it

    People of the world, freedom is under attack! And as shocking as it might seem, this threat to liberty is emerging from within the 鈥淟and of the Free鈥 itself. Yes, there was actually a bill put to US Congress that sought to increase the background checks on individuals seeking to buy semi-automatic rifles of the sort that Sandy Hook mass murderer Adam Lanza used to gun down 20 children in December.

  • Jock Palfreeman should be hailed, not jailed

    In a different world 鈥 in a better world 鈥 Jock Palfreeman would not be in a jail serving a 20-year sentence. Instead he'd be awarded a medal for great courage, principle and instinctive support for victims of racist violence. He would not be locked away in a jail in Bulgaria. He鈥檇 be toured around as an example of the sort of person we should all aspire to be. One who stands up for the underdog, who refuses to tolerate oppression and injustice.

  • How we can win marriage equality

    Years of campaigning and mass protest have culminated in another round of victories for the worldwide movement for equal marriage rights. In the past month, a further three countries have voted to allow people of the same sex to marry. A vote in Uruguay鈥檚 parliament on April 11 made it the second country in Latin America to allow marriage equality, joining Argentina, which changed its law in 2010. New Zealand鈥檚 parliament was the site of a moving scene on April 17 when galleries packed with supporters burst into song as the parliament passed the Marriage Amendment Bill.

  • Why class sizes matter

    In an article in the on April 20, Adam Creighton asserted that: 鈥淭eachers鈥 unions in Australia and worldwide have been astonishingly successful at hoodwinking the public into thinking smaller classes matter.鈥 As a teacher with over 30 years鈥 experience and a member of the Australian Education Union, I can say articles such as that display ignorance about what it is really like to be a teacher in front of a class.

  • CCTV won鈥檛 stop violence against women, crime

    Moreland Council is proposing to install more CCTV cameras in response to concerns about safety after the murder of Jill Meagher last year. The expansion of CCTV cameras, already a civil liberties concern, would do little to make women safer on the streets at night.

World

  • United States: Ecosocialists chart a path forward at groundbreaking conference

    The Ecosocialist Conference, a broad and enthusiastic all-day meeting in New York April 20, took a big step toward creating an anti-capitalist wing of the environmental movement. The conference was arranged in just six weeks by organizers of the Ecosocialist Contingent in the mass demonstration against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in Washington February 17. It was supported by 29 groups who subscribed to the Ecosocialist Contingent statement for 鈥渟ystem change, not climate change.鈥

  • Letter from Italy: While the old is dying, the new cannot be born

    Luigi Preiti, a 49-year old unemployed man from the Calabria region of southern Italy, walked towards Palazzo Chigi on April 28, the seat of the Italian government in Rome, holding a gun. As the military police patrolling the palace tried to stop him, Preiti went on a shooting spree. He wounded two policemen before the he was restrained and arrested by the Carabinieri. Apparently, Preiti鈥檚 intended plan was 鈥渢o kill a politician鈥 and then commit suicide.

  • Debate breaks out after San Fran Pride dumps Bradley Manning

    Jailed WikiLeaks whistleblower and US soldier, Bradley Manning, was named on April 25 as the grand marshal in this year鈥檚 LGBTI Pride Parade in San Francisco. But, amid controversy and pressure, San Francisco Pride president Lisa Williams issued a statement the next day rescinding the honour. Manning was elected by former grand marshals, who form an electoral college to choose a grand marshal each year. Other grand marshals are appointed by the SF Pride board and by a community vote. Grand marshals are chosen for making significant contributions to the LGBTI community.

  • Sri Lanka: Tamils march against land seizure

    More than 800 people rallied in Thellippazhai on April 29, a town in the north of the island of Sri Lanka. They marched towards the entrance of a nearby military zone. The Tamilnet website said the rally organisers had been warned by police that a march would not be permitted, but rally participants spontaneously decided to march regardless. They were blocked from reaching the military zone by the army and police. They were protesting against the confiscation of their land by the Sri Lankan army.

  • Ireland: Political prisoner Marian Price victim of British injustice

    Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, veteran Irish civil rights leader, said in response to the case of Irish republican Marian Price, who was returned to jail in 2011: 鈥淚t is a clear signal to everyone who is not 'on board' and who is not of the same mind as the government that no dissent will be tolerated. 鈥淣o dissent will be tolerated and you challenge the status quo at your peril.鈥.

  • Indian left party insists: 'Stop corporate plunder!'

    Australian politicians often describe India as 鈥渢he world鈥檚 biggest democracy鈥. The reality is somewhat different. I found this out when I attended the ninth congress of the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) from April 2-7. Two CPI-ML members were killed in the lead-up to the congress.

  • East Timorese doctor: 'Cuban medicine is about human values'

    When East Timor won its independence from Indonesia in 1999, the country's medical infrastructure in rural areas was almost non-existent. When then-Cuban President Fidel Castro heard about the problem at a regional summit, he offered to send Cuban doctors free of charge 鈥 as many as were needed. So began the largest Cuban medical assistance program outside Latin America. In 2010, after a six year program of study in Cuba, the first of nearly 500 East Timorese medical students graduated and took up their posts in East Timorese villages and towns.

  • Paraguay: Wealthy conservative wins poll after coup

    There鈥檚 a new president in Latin America, and his name isn鈥檛 Nicolas Maduro. The election that brought him to power was called by an illegitimate regime following a coup d鈥檈tat, and his name isn鈥檛 Porfirio Lobo. He鈥檚 a wealthy, conservative businessman, and his name isn鈥檛 Sebastian Pinera. His party ruled for over 60 years, and his name isn鈥檛 Enrique Pena Nieto.

  • Letter from the US: Guantanamo hunger strikers chose death over injustice

    Facing a huge hunger strike by desperate prisoners at the US military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, President Obama has acknowledged that the prison should be shut down. He said the same thing more than four years ago when he was running for his first term, but did nothing after he was elected. In recent years, the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo has receded in public consciousness in the US. The hunger strike, which began in February, has begun to change that.

  • Bolivia expels USAID on May Day, 'nationalises its dignity'

    Bolivian President Evo Morales told a May Day demonstration in La Paz that his government would expel the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the that day. The US government-funded agency provides funds and training to groups around the world that support US interests. In countries such as Bolivia and Venezuela, USAID has funded groups involved in bids to bring down elected governments.

  • Philippines: Solidarity on May Day with Venezuela's revolution

    On this May 1, a day of international working class solidarity, we in the Philippine labor and progressive movement, stand with the Venezuelan working class and the people of Venezuela in their struggle to elect the government of their choice to pursue their demands and goals for Socialism of the XXI century. We congratulate Nicholas Maduro from the Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela on his election victory and condemn the destabilisation campaign conducted by the US backed opposition coalition of Capprilles to undermine the election results and the newly elected government.

  • Bangladesh: Huge May Day march mourns dead, demands justice and change

    Thousands of workers paraded through central Dhaka on May Day to demand safety at work after the collapse of garment factory on April 24 -- the country's worst industrial disaster. The collapse killed 402 people and injured 2500. A huge procession of workers on foot, lorry and motorcycle wound its way through central Dhaka waving banners, beating drums and chanting "direct action" and "death penalty" for the owner of the factory. From a loudspeaker on the back of a lorry, one participant said: "My brother has died. My sister has died. Their blood will not be valueless."

  • Venezuela: Large May Day marches amid new labour law, minimum wage rise

    There were large marches in Caracas by supporters and opponents of venezuela's revolutionary government on May 1, as well as smaller ones around the country, to mark International Workers Day. Government supporters celebrated a minimum wage rise and a new labour law that extends workers' rights. Government opponents, however, demanded a 鈥渇air wage鈥. President Nicolas Maduro marched with the pro-government march in Caracas, while opposition leader Henrique Capriles marched with his supporters in the eastern part of the capital.

  • May Day marked with big workers' protests around the world

    Tens of thousands of workers in Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Turkey and scores of other countries across the world marched en masse for May Day. More than 50,000 low-paid workers rallied in the streets of Jakarta today to demand better pay and improved working conditions.

Culture

  • Who said what?

    A selection of this week's politically-relevant entertainment news: Snoop Lion Defaces Defenceless Barack Obama With New Snoopify App; Unmanned Drones To Deliver Delicious Beverage Relief To Punters At Music Festival; As I Lay Dying Singer Arrested Under Suspicion Of Hiring Hitman To Kill Wife; Rapper Lauryn Hill Sentenced To 3 Months Jail For Unpaid Taxes; Singer Charli XCX Says Sexism Makes Collaborations Tough.

  • Guitar Center workers fight for a living

    Lately it seems that we can鈥檛 get away from the hard, simple fact that art requires labour 鈥 both in the actual creation and in the conditions that make it possible. Where there鈥檚 labour there鈥檚 normally a lot of hard work and sacrifice. And where there鈥檚 hard work and sacrifice, there鈥檚 normally some bastard at the top looking to squeeze as much as they can out of those of us who actually work. Much as some of us would love to act like art exists in a separate realm from all of this, it doesn鈥檛.

  • Dave Zirin: First openly gay athlete in North America a cause for celebration

    Hearing the news made me feel like I'd accidentally walked into a wind tunnel. For as long as I had written about this issue and as many times as I had said in recent years that this will happen in a matter of months if not weeks, it still hit me like a triple shot of espresso cut with a teaspoon of Adderall. Thanks to the courage of 34-year-old NBA veteran Jason Collins, we can no longer repeat endlessly that no active male athlete in North America has ever come out of the closet.

  • Tall Man a richly compelling drama

    Despite the cold I ventured out to La Mama - a small, quirky and iconic theatre in Melbourne to see Tall Man, a new work by the infamous Melbourne theatre posse Real TV 鈥 the partnership of writer, Angela Betzien and director Leticia Caceres. Within seconds I was transported into the hot, seething heart of the Australian bush, deep in the Dee Ranges of Central Queensland.