ADELAIDE -- Eight progressive clubs at Adelaide University joined forces for Social Justice Week, August 3-10. The ecumenical Student Christian Movement initiated the project, which was taken up by the ANC Solidarity Group, Amnesty International, the Committee in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean, Friends of the Earth, the Gay and Lesbian Society, Resistance and Youth in Solidarity with the Philippines.
BRISBANE -- Protesters from the Stop AIDEX Campaign and the Newstart Opposition Group picketed Bob Hawke as he arrived in Brisbane on August 12. The protest continued on August 14 outside the Brisbane Exhibition, where protesters handed out leaflets on the AIDEX military exposition, scheduled for Canberra in November.
MELBOURNE -- An angry crowd of around 100 protested outside the County Court on August 14 after Judge Jones commented that a prostitute who had been kidnapped and raped at knife- and gun-point would not have suffered as much trauma as a “chaste” woman. Jones made the comments while sentencing a man to three years' jail for rape. With remissions, the man could serve less than a year.
The welfare workers' union (ASWU) will hold a stop-work meeting on August 28 to protest against the Kirner government's cutbacks to public services, ASWU president Joan Eddy told a meeting of 20 representatives from community and public sector groups on August 14. The groups came together to form the More Not Less Campaign, which will hold a rally against the state budget begin outside the Victorian parliamentary offices on August 27.
PERTH -- About 30 representatives of environmental groups in schools and universities attended the WA conference of the Environmental Youth Alliance on August 11. There were workshops and proposals for activity on issues including resource security legislation, threats of mining in national parks, AIDEX, uranium, rainforest preservation and endangered species.
Amnesty International held a flag-raising protest on August 17 in solidarity with separatist activists from Irian Jaya. More than 100 people attended the ceremony, which highlighted the plight of Dr Thomas Waingaai, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Jakarta.
SYDNEY -- Building unionists and Greenpeace protested outside the Standards Australia Termite Control Seminar on August 14, against draft standards for termite control which
recommend the use of deadly organochlorine pesticides. Mark Oakwood of Greenpeace accused Standards Australia of “pushing a toxic barrow” when effective non-chemical treatments for termite control are available.
Students at Sydney and Macquarie universities demonstrated against their vice-chancellors on August 12 and 14, respectively, to highlight these officials' support for user-pays education while they themselves enjoy subsidised housing and other perks.
