ADELAIDE -- Nearly 50 supporters braved rain to attend the Men Against Sexual Assault (MASA) rally at Parliament House on September 3. The rally heard from speakers including poet Geoff Goodfellow, who recited a poem linking the frustrating violence of life on the factory shop floor to violence in the home. The rally coincided with the launch of White Ribbon Week -- a campaign enabling men to show their responsibility for ending violence against women.

BRISBANE -- ``The US trade blockade imposed on Cuba is illegal and unjust. It eliminates Cuba's right to trade with the rest of the world'', a leaflet distributed by demonstrators here on the evening of September 2 explained to passing peak-hour crowds. The picket, called by the Committee in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean, drew about 50 people to the steps of King George Square, with a speak-out in the City Mall afterwards. CISLAC secretary Coral Wynter condemned the US blockade as an attack on basic human rights and warned against the US threat to invade Haiti as a ``dry run'' for Cuba.

• On August 30 some 30 activists from the pro-choice and HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibition) campaigns picketed the opening of state parliament. They received an enthusiastic response from the public. Susan Price for the Democratic Socialist Party commented, ``It is obvious from the support from the public that abortion and marijuana must be decriminalised. The Goss Labor government is at odds with the people of Queensland by not adhering to its election promises.''

MELBOURNE -- Workers from ASTA Aircraft Services have staged protests against the decision of Qantas management to contract out maintenance on four A300 Airbus aircraft to a private company in the UK. This will cost some 300 jobs at the publicly owned ASTA Avalon plant near Geelong. Workers from four unions at the plant staged an all-day picket at Qantas' city headquarters on August 22. Chief delegate Bernard Forest stated, ``Qantas has been extremely unfair in the way it has handled the whole matter. We've offered to sit down and compare the competing proposals; however they have not been forthcoming.'' The workers have pledged to run an ongoing campaign to save their jobs.

PERTH -- Amnesty International in WA is organising a fundraiser as a lead-up to the nationally organised annual Candle Day. At the Fremantle Passenger Terminal on October 1, eastern state band Tumbleweed will play along with local groups Rosemary Beads, Verona, Circus Murders, Yummy Fur and Bikini Atoll. Freda Krupenia from Amnesty told Green Left Weekly that they hope to attract and get interest for Amnesty's work from 16 to 23 year olds.

SYDNEY -- About 60 people gathered outside the US Consulate on September 2 for an emergency picket in defence of Cuba. The picket was sponsored by half a dozen solidarity and left organisations in response to the escalating US threats against Cuba. Speakers demanded that the 35-year US trade embargo be lifted and that Washington vacate Guantanamo naval base in Cuba. Further actions in defence of Cuba are being planned.

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