GLW issue 757, published 2008-07-09.

Garnaut and the science of climate change

Professor Ross Garnaut’s draft review of climate change policy options for the Australian government was released on July 4, with climate change minister Penny Wong due to release a green paper canvassing policy options on July 16. Garnaut’s report looks at the “costs” and “benefits” of mitigating drastic climate change through a carbon polluting trading scheme. It suggests tax cuts and “welfare reform” to compensate low-income households, which will be hit hard by energy price rises.

Global warming: 'We need emergency action now!\'

Five thousand people attended the vibrant Climate Emergency Rally in Melbourne on June 5. Grassroots environment activists and groups came from all over Victoria to protest numerous environmentally destructive projects currently underway or proposed, demanding action instead be focused on renewable energy and public transport.

Our Common Cause: Abortion is a woman's right

Each year 80,000 abortions are performed in Australia, with one in three women having a termination at some stage in their lives.

Australian News

Rail workers vote for action

On July 3, 95% of NSW Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) members voted to take action on pay and conditions in the next 30 days, not ruling out disrupting World Youth Day.

\'Thou shalt not protest\'

In Sydney, for the month of July, you can be arrested and charged $5500 for causing “annoyance” or “inconvenience” to others (but mainly to the pope, or his supporters) in more than 600 places across Sydney — including railway stations, schools and tourist icons, such as the Harbour Bridge.

Further Australian News

International News

Malaysian socialists warn of military takeover threat

As Malaysian opposition parties and social activists, emboldened by advances in the March general elections, prepared to hold a giant protest against recent oil price hike (petrol up 41%, diesel up 67%) in Kuala Lumpur on July 6, a series of disturbing events unfolded.

Pakistan: Workers' power in Faisalabad

On June 24, more than 10,000 workers picketed a power loom factory in Sadhar Faisalabad for more than eight hours. They were demanding the arrest of the owner of the factory and his gangsters.

Further International News

Comment and Analysis

Pope visit: \'Have an enjoyable experience\'

According to the official website for World Youth Day (WYD), Sydney will “look different” from APEC. Really? With 600-plus areas now officially “declared areas”, not to mention proscribed airspace throughout July, and officials with the right to decide who is annoying and who isn’t, it doesn’t seem very different. If anything, it’s worse.

One solar-powered bus is not enough

Adelaide City Council’s zero-emissions solar electric bus, Tindo, which is the Kaurna Aboriginal word for sun, is a great example of what sustainable public transport looks like.

Further Comment and Analysis

Letters

Letters to the editor

Against the split in the Aboriginal rights campaign I am writing to protest the actions of those who walked out of the Sydney Aboriginal Rights Coalition (ARC) on June 23 to set up a rival group. This split is damaging to the movement against the

General

Green Left Weekly's $250,000 Fighting Fund: Precarious times

We live in precarious times. Consider these two announcements over the last week: 1. The Bank for International Settlements (the international organisation of the world's central banks) warned that a severe global economic downturn seems

Resistance!

Resistance\'s vision for the future

This article is based on a talk given by Naomi Rodgers-Falk to the closing session of the Resistance National Conference, held at the University of Technology, Sydney, on June 27 to 29.

Cultural Dissent

James Hansen's struggle to tell the truth

Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen & the Truth of Global Warming
By Mark Bowen
Dutton, 2008
324 pages, $49.95 (hb)

On the box

A Northern Town — With a third of Kempsey's population made up of Aboriginal people, the town is a hotbed of covert and overt racism on one hand, and Third World poverty and oppression on the other. SBS, Friday, July 11, 7.30pm. Message Stick:

Further Cultural Dissent

David Rovics: \'folk\' with a message

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