Issue 997

News

  • Manus Island breakout follows no-resettlement news

    The statement below was released by the Refugee Action Coalition on February 16. *** Report from Manus Island indicate a major protest and breakout has taken place on Manus Island late this afternoon. The most recent reports indicate that the riot squad has been mobilised and that the perimeter fence has been breached. Protests have been building all day, but escalated after a meeting (around 2pm Manus time) was held to answer asylum seeker鈥檚 questions about resettlement.

  • Abbott鈥檚 Aboriginal policy: more police and truancy cops

    At a major speech in parliament on February 12, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government was 鈥渟erious about Aboriginal policy 鈥 no less serious than it is about stopping the boats鈥. He pledged to close the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous outcomes in health, education and employment.

  • Seaspray locals condemn fracking ban loophole

    Seaspray locals have pledged to resist resources company Lakes Oil, which has applied to undertake horizontal drilling for tight gas near the Victorian town in East Gippsland. The state government has a moratorium on fracking 鈥 hydraulic fracturing underground to release gas held in rocks or coal seams. But it does not apply to horizontal drilling, which in some cases can be enough to release gas from the rock.

  • Temporary visas introduced by stealth

    Immigration minister Scott Morrison has circumvented the Senate block of Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) by making use of a different type of visa 鈥 Temporary Humanitarian Concern visas (subclass 786) (THC). Labor and the Greens blocked Morrison鈥檚 attempt to reintroduce TPVs in December when they voted it down in the Senate. Morrison initially tried to cap permanent protection visas in response, but was later forced to lift the cap.

  • Residents rally to 'Save Ashfield Park'

    Several hundred residents and supporters rallied in Ashfield Park, in Sydney鈥檚 inner west, on February 9 to protest against the WestConnex road development. Rally organisers said: "WestConnex intends to widen Parramatta Road in order to create an entrance to the planned westbound tunnel under Parramatta Road. We stand to lose a 10-20 metre stretch of Ashfield Park. "Ashfield Park may be used as a depot for trucks and heavy machinery for up to seven years. Now is the time to protest."

  • PHOTOS: Justice for T J Hickey 10th anniversary protest

    "February 14 is celebrated as a day of of love by many people, but for us it is a day of grief" said one of the Aboriginal speakers at the start of the rally and march to mark the 10th anniversary of the killing of Aboriginal youth TJ Hickey in a police pursuit in Redfern. The protest began at the spot in where TJ was impaled on a fence after being thrown off his bicycle. The Hickey family, including mother Gail, where out in force. "Its been 10 long years but I am not giving up the fight," she said. Photos below by Peter Boyle

  • US farmer gives warning over coal seam gas

    A farmer from Wyoming, who featured in the documentary Gasland, is touring Australia to warn locals about the health and environmental consequences of fracking for coal seam gas (CSG). John Fenton will speak about his experience of living with polluted ground water, polluted air and other effects of the gas industry. Fenton鈥檚 first meeting will be on February 22 in Sydney and will include 10 meetings in areas most affected by CSG mining, including regional NSW, Brisbane, Wollongong and Melbourne.

  • Refugees denied legal rights and deported

    As a 65-year-old Afghan Hazara man fights to avoid deportation, refugee rights advocates grow increasingly alarmed by reported 鈥渞ound ups鈥 of hundreds of asylum seekers who are being threatened with imminent deportation. Immigration minister Scott Morrison confirmed last month that the government was re-detaining people who had been denied refugee status and have apparently exhausted their appeals. Refugees reported from detention centres across Australia that those who have been 鈥渟creened out鈥 were being told to pack up and prepare to be removed.

  • Moreland joins 鈥榯rains not tunnels鈥 campaign

    Residents of Moreland in Melbourne's inner north have joined the campaign against the unpopular East West Link tollway tunnel. A community rally is planned for  March 30. Some of the local groups most affected by the tunnel in Moreland are sporting clubs. The Brunswick Zebras soccer club, the Brunswick Cricket Club and the Royal Park Reds cricket club face losing access to sports grounds while the tunnel is being built.

  • Protest points to removal of Aboriginal children

    Sixty people rallied outside NSW parliament on the February 12 anniversary of former prime minister Kevin Rudd鈥檚 apology in 2007 to the Stolen Generations, to protest against what they say is a continuation of unjust removals of children from Aboriginal families.

  • NT gov't to further cut bilingual education

    The Northern Territory government released the draft report of the independent Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory on February 7.  The government鈥檚 website says the review aimed to 鈥済et an informed understanding of the impact of current programs and initiatives鈥. If the report鈥檚 recommendations are indicative of government intent, education for remote Aboriginal children in the NT looks set to suffer more blows.

  • Workers call for developer to pay debts

    A builder who donated $200,000 to the Liberal Party last year has gone into administration owing sub-contractors and suppliers an estimated $30 million. The collapse of Steve Nolan Constructions affects five building sites in the northern suburbs of Lindfield, St Leonards, Roseville and Gordon, where apartment blocks are being built for developer, the Ralan Group.

  • Police charged with on-duty rape receive bail

    Two police officers have been released on bail in Mackay after being charged with raping a woman while on duty. The constables, aged 28 and 29, were charged after an internal police investigation. Little information about the crime itself has been released. But it is apparent there were at least 38 witnesses. The officers have been released on bail under condition they report to the district head of the Police Force and stay away from the witnesses.

  • VicForests figures show state subsidy for logging

    Victorian state government enterprise VicForests tabled its annual report in parliament in October last year, revealing that, for the sixth year running, the corporation had failed to pay a dividend to the state for being allowed to log publicly owned forests.

  • Rally calls for repeal of anti-bikies laws

    More than 500 people protested against the 鈥渂ikie鈥 laws in Brisbane on February 11. The crowd included unionists, Indigenous and community activists, members of motorcycle clubs, and family groups, who rallied in King George Square before marching through the city to parliament house.

  • Protesters force one-day logging halt in Toolangi

    Two protesters chained themselves to a gate, preventing VicForests contractors from accessing a logging coupe for the day in the Toolangi State Forest north of Melbourne, on February 7. The Toolangi State Forest is one of the few areas of forest unburned by the 2009 Black Saturday fire. Environmental campaigners have called for its incorporation into a proposed . It has been estimated that only 1% of the old growth tall forests of the central highlands area is left.

Analysis

  • Manus Island violence product of inhumane policy

    The consequences of the inhumane policies by successive Coalition and Labor governments to make life as unbearable as possible for asylum seekers are unfolding on Papua New Guinea鈥檚 Manus Island.

  • 91自拍论坛 and the long fight for climate action

    As approaches its 1000th issue, more than 20 years after it first hit the streets, we will be looking back at some of the campaigns it has covered and its role as an alternative source of news. This week we look at climate change. *** When 91自拍论坛 Weekly first hit the streets in 1991, the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica was the biggest climate-related worry for most people. Twenty-three years later, most people accept that climate change is, to quote Kevin Rudd, the biggest moral challenge of our generation.

  • Carlo's Corner: Abbott's truth purely accidental

    There are some cynics who argue that Tony Abbott is a lying scumbag who wouldn't know the truth if it was tattooed on Rupert Murdoch's arse. Or, to put it another way, if it was right in front of his face.

  • Royal Commission targets unions and penalty rates

    The Tony Abbott government has announced another Royal Commission into corruption in building industry unions. But Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Dave Oliver said the terms of reference for this Royal Commission 鈥渁re narrowly directed at unions and will not adequately deal with corruption or unlawful behaviour by businesses or employers鈥.

  • Privatisation leads to higher prices, unemployment

    Australia鈥檚 central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia, gets its powers from the Reserve Bank Act (1959). Its two primary functions are to ensure the stability of the currency and the provision of full employment. Besides managing Australia鈥檚 gold and foreign exchange reserves, it supposedly meets these objectives by setting the cash rate to meet an agreed medium term inflation rate, which is now set at a target band of 2% to 3%.

  • End of the age of award entitlements

    In its written submission to the four-yearly review of the award system, the federal government has called on the Fair Work Commission to introduce comprehensive changes that will include cuts to minimum award rates of pay and conditions.

  • Higher profits v. job security

    Australia's latest official unemployment figures only confirmed what everyone already knew 鈥 jobs are being destroyed by the thousands. The announcement of Toyota's plan to close down car-making, after a decision by General Motors Holden and Ford to do the same, dominated the headlines. But a host of other lesser known manufacturing companies are also shutting down. An unemployment rate of 6% and rising is not as bad as in other parts of the world, but it doesn't tell the full story.

World

  • Spain's dispersion policy kills Basque prisoner

    The Basque political prisoner Arkaitz Bellon was found dead in his jail cell on February 5, more than 1000 kilometres from his home. The body of the prisoner from Elorrio, who was 36, was found in his bed. Jail authorities say 鈥渉is death points to natural causes鈥, but they will carry out a more detailed investigation. Bellon's lawyers and family have petitioned for a doctor they trust to be present at the autopsy. Bellon spent 13 years in prison for acts of sabotage and had the date for his release was set for next May.

  • Gaza rallies for critically ill prisoner

    Sit-ins to support Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been held every week since 1995 in the courtyard of the International Committee of the Red Cross鈥檚 Gaza office. Recently, they have been followed by rallies outside the office for Ibrahim Bitar, a sick detainee in Israel鈥檚 Nafha prison. Ibrahim鈥檚 brother Mamdouh said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e garnered internal support for my brother, and created this popular campaign. It started within our family. It鈥檚 a symbol of all the sick detainees.鈥

  • Egypt: Online letter campaign calls for defence of democratic rights

    The letter below was published at , where you can go to add your name. * * * TO: President Adly Mansour; Prime Minister Hazem el Beblawi. We the undersigned, condemn the Egyptian government鈥檚 arrest, detention and torture of activists exercising their right to legally and peacefully protest.

  • Thailand: Small minority seeks to hold nation to ransom

    In the general elections held on February 2, 44.7 million people were eligible to vote. On the day, 20.4 million cast their vote. Kasian Tejapira, a lecturer at Thammasat University, has estimated that there were about 12 million people who could not vote due to the right-wing thugs blocking polling stations and using violence to disrupt the election. This indicates there were about 32 million in total who wanted to vote. This compares to 35 million people who voted in 2011.

  • Basque left party Sortu congratulates 91自拍论坛 for 1000 issues

    From Sortu, left-wing party of supporters of Basque sovereignty, we would like to congratulate 91自拍论坛 Weekly on publishing 1000 issues to date; a long journey, during which it has provided a truthful coverage of world events. We would like to express our thanks for the attention your publication has paid to news from Euskal Herria (the Basque Country), especially events of recent years, which have created a new political situation in our country and are bringing us closer to a just and lasting peace.

  • Canada: Fresh gas line explosion amid fossil fuel expansion

    A rupture of the TransCanada PipeLines (TCPL) gas line occurred in the middle of the night on January 25 near the village of Otterburne. A huge fireball erupted into the night sky and burned for many hours. The explosion tore a large crater in the ground. Several thousand homes in 10 small communities were left without gas heating during temperatures that dipped to minus 30C. It took days for full service to be restored. The pipeline brings gas from Alberta to the US across the Manitoba-Minnesota international border. It feeds parts of southern Manitoba along the way.

  • Venezuela: Gov't shows restraint, resolve in face of anti-Chavista mayhem

    The statement below was released by the on February 14. * * * The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) views with great alarm the violence perpetrated against the democratically elected government and civilians in Venezuela that has resulted, as of February 12, in three confirmed deaths, 61 persons wounded and 69 detained.

  • Greece: Left ahead in new poll

    A new opinion poll shows left-wing opposition Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) party ahead of the ruling conservative New Democracy by 1.5%, on February 12. The survey showed SYRIZA leading with 30% support. A poll published in January put SYRIZA at 31.5% and New Democracy at 28%.

  • Venezuela: Gov't applies new prices, profits law

    The period allowed for businesses to adjust their prices to the government's new 鈥渇air prices鈥 law ended on February 10. The government has a wave of inspections planned to ensure the measure is applied. The Law for the Control of Fair Costs, Prices and Profits aims to stop price speculation, product hoarding and other activities that are destabilising the Venezuelan economy and contributing to its ongoing economic problems. Further, a maximum profit margin of 30% has been established across the economy to stop companies over-charging.

  • Venezuela threatened by far-right violence

    The released the statement below on February 13. * * * The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network condemns the recent violent actions instigated by far-right 91自拍论坛 of the opposition in various cities across Venezuela. The first opposition-led protests were initiated on February 4 in the city of San Cristobal, in the western state of Tachira. Two students were arrested for alleged breach of the peace during a demonstration. The students were released the next day.

  • Venezuela: Right calls more protests after deadly clashes

    Venezuela's opposition have continued staging violent demonstrations amid calls for calm from across the political spectrum. In an address to the nation late on February 13, President Nicolas Maduro said there were fresh reports of violent demonstrations, including attacks on government run medical centres. He urged for national 鈥渄ialogue鈥 and said he would present a 鈥減lan of living together and peace鈥 the next day. The president provided few details of the plan, but said he would seek support from cultural icons including sports people, poets and others.

  • Bosnia: Mass protests sparked by workers' resistance

    Anti-government demonstrations broke out in Tuzla, Bosnia on February 6. They were led by workers who had been laid off by the owners of newly privatised factories. Contracts agreed at the time of the state sell-offs stipulated that the new owners were to invest in their companies. Instead, they started stripping the assets and sacking their workers.

  • Mark Steel: Tube strike drives media nuts

    London transport workers have been involved in industrial action against proposed job cuts. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and Transport Salaried Staffs' Association are campaigning against plans to close all 260 London Underground ticket offices, which will cut 950 jobs. Below, British comic and socialist Mark Steel looks at the media response to rail strikes in early February.

  • Venezuela: Right-wing provokes violence in time-worn practice

    History repeats itself. The time-worn tactic of the dominant class that controls the spread of information is to provoke violence and then blame it on the enemy, usually those who struggle for change. Nero did it when he burned down much of Rome and blamed it on the Christians. Similarly, US newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst used the sinking of the USS Maine in 1898 to create war fervour that led to war with Spain.

  • Britain: Ten things the floods tell us about the system

    In this piece reprinted from , Lindsay German looks at what the severe flooding in Britain tells us about the system. * * * 1) Climate change is a reality, and those who deny it are the equivalent of those who persisted in believing the earth was flat, against all scientific evidence. Sea levels are rising worldwide, weather is becoming more unpredictable and this is affecting food production, where people live and how they carry on their livelihoods.

  • Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution under threat

    The statement below was released by the British-based . * * * After days of violent opposition demonstrations in several cities of Venezuela, February 12 had been billed as the 鈥淒 Day鈥 of an offensive to overthrow the democratically elected Nicolas Maduro government.

  • John Pilger: Media complicit in war crimes

    The BBC's Today program is enjoying high ratings, and the Mail and the Telegraph are, as usual, attacking the corporation as left-wing. Last month, a single edition of Today was edited by the artist and musician PJ Harvey. What happened was illuminating.

  • El Salvador: 鈥楲eft win will empower us鈥, trade unionists say

    On a hot and breezeless day at the end of January, representatives from 83 unions across El Salvador gathered in the Casa Sindical (a shared union hall) in San Salvador to greet a delegation of international election observers. We had come to ensure that the presidential election would be free of fraud, violence and intimidation. The images and names of their fallen comrades loomed on the walls behind them in black paint. Febe Elizabeth Velasquez. Juan Chacon. Ten unionists were martyred in a 1989 bombing by right-wing death squads, targeted because they were union leaders.

  • Letter from the US: Inequality, greenhouse gases on the rise

    In his address on January 28, United States President Barack Obama highlighted growing inequality in the US. He also pledged to take steps to cut greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. So what has the Obama administration done recently on both counts?

  • Oil giant Chevron sues cartoonist in Ecuador case

    United States oil giant Chevron has filed a suit for damages against a cartoonist who ridiculed its legal antics in its ongoing case against Ecuador. The oil giant is using the US court system to seek to avoid paying US$9 billion that an Ecuadorian court ruled it owed in environmental compensation for dumping oil waste in the Amazon Basin. Mark Fiore, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist with The San Francisco Chronicle, has now been included in the ongoing legal dispute.

Culture

  • Grindcore pioneers Nausea condemn a sick system

    Seminal grindcore band Nausea released a genre-defining album in 1989's World Downfall. A quarter of a century on, they have put out its critically-acclaimed follow-up, Condemned To The System, helped by the production skills of new bassist Alejandro Corredor. 91自拍论坛 Weekly's Mat Ward spoke to Corredor about the tracks on the Los Angeles-based band's new album and his past in the Latin American hardcore scene.

  • Authors take on harmful chemicals

    Toxin Toxout: Getting Harmful Chemicals Out of Our Bodies Bruce Lourie & Rick Smith University of Queensland Press, 2013 289 pages The intrepid, and possibly just a little mad, environmental advocates Bruce Lourie and Rick Smith, are up to their old chemical tricks again in Toxin Toxout.

  • Wall Street鈥檚 wolves stripped bare in Scorsese's latest

    The Wolf of Wall Street Directed by Martin Scorsese Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler Showing at selected cinemas 鈥淭here is no nobility in poverty. I鈥檝e been rich, and I鈥檝e been poor and I chose rich every time. At least as a rich man, when I have to face my problems, I show up in the back of a limo wearing a $2000 suit and a $40,000 gold plated watch! ... I want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich! Be aggressive, be ferocious, be telephone fucking terrorists!鈥

  • Zirin: Corrupt, brutal Games with gives for everyone to oppose

    Since their founding in 1896, every Olympics has arrived with the promise to unite the world. One can still hear the lyrical words of the man who presided over the 1936 Berlin games, Chancellor Adolf Hitler, who said that he hoped his Nazi Olympics could help 鈥渒nit the bonds of peace between nations鈥. Hitler鈥檚 dreams of using the vessel of what is known as 鈥渢he Olympic Movement鈥 to create a harmonious world has tragically never come to pass, despite the best efforts of the aristocrats in the International Olympic Committee.