GLW issue 834, published 2010-04-21.

Australian Tamils vote in independence referendum

This article first appeared at TamilNet. * * * More than 10,000 Tamils in Australia registered to cast their votes in the referendum across Australia over April 17 and 18 on the creation of independent Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka, reported SBS Australia, citing organisers.

Morales tells summit: capitalism biggest threat to Earth

COCHABAMBA: Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma condemned the capitalist system in the opening session of the 1st World Conference of the Peoples on Climatic Change on April 20. Morales, in his April 20 intervention in the inauguration, stated that capitalism is the main enemy of the Earth, only looking for profits, to the detriment of nature, and that capitalism is a bridge for asymmetries and inequality.

'Get rid of mandatory detention!'

BRISBANE — Fifty people gathered in Brisbane Square on April 16 to speak up for refugee rights. The action was sponsored by the Refugee Action Collective, and demands include that the government immediately resume processing Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum claims and respect its international obligations.

Groups unite for World Refugee Day

Twelve groups supporting refugee rights met on April 10 to discuss the possibility of joint actions.

Further

Australian News

Rally unites against racism, for refugees

On April 11, in response to a rally by the far-right Australian Protectionist Party (APP) in opposition to refugee rights organised that day outside Villawood Detention Centre, activists held a protest in solidarity with the imprisoned asylum seekers and against racism .

Activists defend forests and koalas

A coalition of community environmental groups has been trying to stop logging in the Mumbulla State Forest in the NSW far south east, with a blockade of about 90 people. The forest contains the last known koala colony between Canberra and Victoria.

The logging is being carried out by Forests NSW, a public trading enterprise under direct control of the NSW state government. Ninety-five percent of felled trees are to be processed at the Eden woodchipping mill, owned by South East Forest Exports (SEFE).

Further Australian News

International News

Hungary: Right make gains

Hungary’s nationalist Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) party has won 17% of the vote in national elections, placing it third after the right-wing Fidesz party and the incumbent governing Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP).

Hungary's nationalist Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) party has won 17% of the vote in national elections, placing it third after the right-wing Fidesz party and the incumbent governing Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). Fidesz's result of 52.8% in the first round translated into 206 seats in the 386-seat legislature.

Sudan: US backs election farce

It was hailed as the first “competitive”, “open”, “multi-party” elections in Sudan in 24 years, but there was little free, fair or open about the national poll that began on April 11 and was boycotted by opposition parties.

Further International News

Comment and Analysis

Nuclear power: no solution to climate change

On March 4, the first IQ² debate was held in Melbourne on the topic “Should Australia embrace nuclear power?”.On March 4, the first IQ² debate was held in Melbourne on the topic "Should Australia embrace nuclear power?".

Arguing the pro-nuclear case, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation chair Ziggy Switzkowski and Erica Smyth, chair of uranium mining company Toro Energy were joined by NASA climate scientist James Hansen.

Sam Watson for Senate: 'We will not compromise our principles'

Sam Watson is a Murri leader and the Socialist Alliance Senate candidate for Queensland in the upcoming federal election. He told Green Left Weekly’s Jim McIlroy about the main issues facing Aboriginal people in the lead-up to the election.

Further Comment and Analysis

Editorial

Human rights overboard

Australians voted out the Howard Coalition government in 2007. But the Labor government's decision to suspend processing new refugees arriving by boat from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka means John Howard's racist refugee policies have been revived.

General

Green Left fighting fund: Mega-rich get richer

According to new research, Australia's richest 1% of taxpayers — those earning more than $197,000 — accounted for 9.8% of total income in 2007-08, up from 8.8% in 2002-03.

Green Left takes a one-week break

This issue is a two-week issue, to allow GLW staff and campaigners to take part in the Resistance 2010: The World Can’t Wait! conference. The next issue will be dated May 5.

Further General

Write on: Letters to the editor

Cultural Dissent

Mexico's living hell, courtesy of the USA

La Frontera: a Journey into the Borderlands of Mexico and the United States
Available as podcast

The never-ending drug war

The Strength of the Pack: The Personalities, Politics & Espionage Intrigues that Shaped the DEA
By Douglas Valentine
TrineDay, 2009

After 40 years, the "war on drugs" is about to become the longest continuous war in US history. In The Strength of the Pack, Douglas Valentine explains why dismantling the US$44 billion a year Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) juggernaut is unlikely to happen as long as the US attempts to maintain a world empire.

Further Cultural Dissent

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