Green Left Weekly issue #816

Time to revive the refugee rights movement

At first, the flow of people fleeing horrors like the Sri Lankan government’s concentration camps for Tamils and Afghanistan’s killing fields didn’t test the capacity of the Christmas Island detention centre

Michael Moore versus capitalism

In France, you pay nothing to go to college. In Britain, the National Health Service is free. And in Sweden, any woman who gives birth receives two years of paid maternity leave.

Australian Tamil: allow refugees in

Justice and Freedom for Ceylon Tamils is a human rights action group based in Melbourne. It was formed in 2007. A spokesperson for the group, Nagamuthu Wickiramasingham, told Green Left Weekly that Tamil refugees had good reason to flee the brutal Sri Lankan regime by boat.

John Pilger: Peace awards and Obama’s wars

US President Barack Obama, winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, is planning another war to add to his impressive record.

Military budget could pay for renewables

Admit it: you’re just a little disturbed when industrialists, fossil-fuel lobbyists and the Liberal and National parties thunder that big, quick cuts to carbon emissions would bankrupt Australian business. Well, aren’t you?

Carbon scam exposed in Bolivia

Greenpeace recently released a report that clearly shows why Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) offset projects will neither address climate change nor stop deforestation.

Emergency rescue worker speaks: refugee solidarity on the high seas

The fatal explosion on board a boat carrying 47 Afghan refugees in April created a storm of controversy in Australian politics and the media.

Honduras: Deal signed for Zelaya’s return, but struggle continues

After more than 120 days of mass resistance by the poor majority against a coup regime that overthrew elected President Manuel Zelaya, the regime has finally signed an agreement for Zelaya’s reinstatement.

Pakistan: Carnage accompanies Clinton’s visit

A three-day official visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Pakistan occurred against a backdrop of carnage. Within hours of her arrival on October 28, a car bomb exploded in a crowded market in Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Pakistan: The threat of religious fundamentalism

Once again Pakistan has become the focus of world attention. Every day there is news about the latest suicide attack or military operation, with killings, injuries and displaced communities.

Tamil refugees — escaping from hell

While two boat loads of Tamil refugees fleeing Sri Lanka push their case to be admitted into Australia, two reports on Sri Lankan atrocities against Tamils have been released without a word from the Australian media or government.

Venezuela: Power workers fight against bureaucracy

A 14-month struggle by Venezuelan electrical workers for an industry-wide collective contract culminated with the resignation of the president of the state-owned electricity company Corpoelec on October 22.

Gay Bangledeshi couple denied asylum

A gay Bangladeshi couple have been battling to gain citizenship in Australia for 10 years. The Refugee Review Tribunal knocked back their claims three times, and three times a higher court has overturned the rulings.

Cuba tops the class in UN development report

The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report 2009 was released on October 5. It again highlighted some of Cuba’s extraordinary achievements.

Indonesian unions: ‘Give protection and aid to the refugees’

The following joint statement by the Confederation Congress of Indonesia Union Alliance and the Working People’s Association was released from Jakarta on October 27.

Mark Steel: United action need to confront BNP

There’s something touchingly innocent about the argument that the far-right British National Party (BNP), which won two European parliament seats in June, should be allowed space in the mainstream media as this will “expose their ignorant ideas”.

Rallies defend Ark Tribe

October 30 was a national day of action in support of South Australian building worker Ark Tribe.

Socialist Alliance conference to prepare for struggle

Watching the terrible plight of the Tamil asylum seekers aboard the Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking last week brought home the depressing continuity in policy and perspective between the previous John Howard Coalition government and Labor rule under PM Kevin Rudd.

A thousand people rally for school

A lively rally of 1000 people marched through Yarraville Village on October 24, demanding the reinstatement of their local high school. The school serviced the Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville area.

Adios, Mercedes

The revered Argentinean matriarch of protest music, Mercedes Sosa, died in Buenos Aires on October 4. She was 74.

‘In the front line of what is right and moral’

On October 26, 150 people rallied at Federation Square to demand the Australian government accept the 78 Sri Lankans asylum seekers currently moored off Indonesia’s Riau Islands.

Big union gathering demands strong OHS laws

More than 1500 workplace representatives and union officials attended the annual Victorian Occupational Health & Safety Reps Conference on October 28 in Melbourne.

Brimstone Bishops

Britain: Mass protest against war in Afghanistan

The Stop the War Coalition-organised demonstration on October 24 brought the centre of London to a standstill. It was a landmark demonstration, led by Lance Corporal Joe Glenton — the first serving soldier in the British army to join an anti-war march.

Cuba: World opposes US blockade again

The administration of US President Barack Obama administration tried to defend the nearly half-century-old US economic blockade on Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) October 28. The result was another overwhelming vote, 187-3, telling Washington that enough’s enough.

INDIA: Vale Dr K. Balagopal — human rights fighter

With the death of Dr K. Balagopal at age 52 on October 8, India and in particular his home state of Andhra Pradesh, have lost an untiring worker for human rights.

Racism is not a ‘special measure’

The following abridged statement was released on October 29 by Aboriginal people from Northern Territory communities targeted by the federal government’s NT Emergency Response laws.

Riding inflation, frozen wages

It seems like only yesterday we were being exhorted to spend. Pensioners, parents, homebuyers and workers were plied with “free” money from the Labor government and asked to go and spend it to save the economy.

Rudd expands refugee detention centre

The Rudd government plans to double the capacity of Christmas Island detention centre to maintain its of policy mandatory detention of all refugees that arrive by boat.

Six hundred jobs to go at Bridgestone

On October 23, tyre manufacturer Bridgestone Australia announced to a shocked workforce that the Adelaide factory would be closing in April 2010. Six hundred workers will lose their jobs.

Tasmania: Private ferry service shambles

The Tasmanian ALP government is facing another political crisis stemming from its pro-business politics. This time it is over the contract it signed with shipping operator Southern Shipping to provide a 50 kilometre ferry service between the Bass Strait islands and Bridport, on the Tasmanian mainland.

The bloody price of playing with prejudice

Every time capitalist politicians play with racist prejudice against asylum seekers, there are violent consequences. I'm not just referring to the threatened forceful disembarkation of the Tamil refugees from the Oceanic Viking, which is outrageous. The bipartisan anti-asylum seeker rhetoric in Canberra is also very likely provoking more racist violence across Australia.

Uruguay: Frente Amplio set for victory

The re-election of Uruguay’s Frente Amplio (FA — Broad Front) government, and the defeat of the right-wing National Party candidate and former neoliberal president Luis Alberto Lacalle, came one step closer on October 25.

Women march to reclaim the night

A vibrant and noisy crowd of about 300 women rallied at the State Library in Melbourne to demand an end to violence against women.

Working-class hero honoured

On November 2, 1923, 636 members of the Victorian police force went on strike. All were sacked and replaced by volunteer strikebreakers.

Aboriginal ‘welfare apartheid’ denounced

A protest picket outside the Sydney office of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd demanded an end to the racist NT intervention on October 29. The intervention was initiated by the previous Coalition government and continues under the ALP. It imposes welfare apartheid on NT Aboriginal communities and threatens Indigenous land rights.

‘No shooters in national parks’

SYDNEY — "No shooters in national parks", and "Hunters: Our parks and animals are not fair game", were two of the placards carried by 300 people outside the NSW state parliament on October 27.

‘Support Solar Systems!’

On October 30,100 people rallied at Victoria’s parliament house against the federal government's failure to support Solar Systems before its administration deadline expired.

Greens mayor: ‘Save our ferries’

SYDNEY — Leichhardt Council, and Greens mayor Jamie Parker, will host a public meeting on November 7 to show support for Sydney Ferries against a state government proposal to privatise the service.

Union attacked over ‘unlawful’ strikes

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) — the new name for the Howard government-established Workplace Ombudsman – has launched its first prosecution against a union for “unlawful” industrial action.

Wildcat TAFE strikes against ruling

SYDNEY — Teachers at the Sydney Institute of TAFE held a wildcat strike on October 29 after the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) ruled teachers must sacrifice work conditions in return for a 12.5% wage rise over three years.

Write On

Class war in feudal England

Summer of Blood: The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 By Dan Jones Harper Press, 2009 238 pages, $49.99 (hb)

Stories about the human condition

The Scourge of Termite-ists By Allan Scarfe Seaview Press, 2009 260 pages, $22.95 Contact Seaview Press at www.seaviewpress.com.au