Green Left Weekly issue #825

Behind the lies of climate deniers

It seems bizarre that when the science of human-caused climate change is more worryingly conclusive than ever, climate denial could enjoy a resurgence. After all, no climate denier has published a peer-reviewed article in a scientific journal in the past 15 years.

Indigenous walk-off spokesperson: ‘We need to take the power back’

Richard Downs is a spokesperson for the Alyawarr people from the Ampilatwatja community in the Northern Territory. Last year, he travelled the country on a speaking tour to publicise the situation for Aboriginal people in the NT since the 2007 NT Emergency Response legislation (known as the NT intervention) was brought in by the previous Coalition government. Under the intervention laws, the military was sent into Aboriginal communities.

West Papua: Protests for vote despite violence

On January 27, 1500 people marched in Timika demanding a referendum on the future status of West Papua, a former Dutch colony that has been occupied by Indonesia since 1962.

Abbott's sexual conservatism

When, after destroying Malcolm Turnbull, the Liberal Party took a surprise turn and embraced Tony Abbott as leader, there were those on the left who greeted the news with combined incredulity and glee.

Haiti: Restore democracy — let Aristide return

In the aftermath of Haiti’s January 12 earthquake, the dispatch of US and United Nations troops was given priority — even at the expense of rescue teams and medical aid.

Venezuela: Challenges of 21st century socialism

Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution, led by President Hugo Chavez, has set “socialism of hte 21st century” as its goal. The process of change faces big challenges from outside and within. William I. Robinson, from the Latin American and Iberian Studies Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, spoke to Chronis Polychroniou, the editor of Greek daily Eleftherotypia. The interview is abridged from Znet.

Green Left Weekly fighting fund: The Packer name to live on — thank god!

James and Erica Packer have just had a baby. Luckily this time it's a boy.

Pressure on living standards growing during ‘recovery’

Increased interest rates, declining working hours and stagnating wages are still chipping away at working people’s living standards, despite small falls in the official unemployment rate in November and December.

Vancouver Winter Olympics — A festival of corporate greed

On February 12, the corporate sporting behemoth known as the 21st Winter Olympic Games will open to great fanfare here. In a time of economic hardship and government cuts to social programs across Canada, huge sums of public money have been spent to stage this uber spectacle.

Honduras: Massive protests as Lobo takes power

On June 28 last year, US-trained military officers overthrew elected President Manuel Zelaya. This sparked sustained mass resistance from the poor majority, angry that the rich had overthrown a president who had carried out pro-poor reforms and sought to begin a democratic process to change the pro-elite constitution.

Honduras: The resistance is in the streets

Hundreds of thousands of Hondurans took to the streets on January 27 to protest the inauguration of Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo, who was the victor in fraudulent elections held last November. Jeffery R. Webber spoke during the march with Rafael Alegria, a key leader in the National Resistance Front Against the Coup (FNRG) and a Honduran leader of the international peasant movement, Via Campesina. This is reprinted from MRZine.

New Zealand: Unite takes on minimum wage

Unite is the fastest growing private sector union in New Zealand. Since being formed in 2004, it has grown to 8000 members.

Superannuation rip-off

This will come as little surprise to most workers, but their workplace superannuation is being systematically rorted and they are on the losing end of the “bargain”.

Aboriginal summit calls for new way

The New Way Summit on Aboriginal rights was held at the Australian National University, Canberra from January 30 to February 1. It was attended by 150 people, plus around 600 who hooked in via phone and internet links.

Christmas Island refugees under lock-down

A number of refugees in the Christmas Island detention centre remain in a state of lock-down, following an argument over a pool table on November 21.

Merak refugees holding-out for justice

The Indonesian foreign affairs department was expecting a visit from an Australian “people smuggling envoy” when three refugee rights activists were apprehended and detained at Port Merak.

No national schools’ testing in 2010!

There can be no National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy tests in 2010. The Australian Education Union’s national conference in January reaffirmed that, if NAPLAN data was used by the media to publish league tables, teachers would not co-operate in implementing the tests this year.

Defend free speech on the internet — block the filter

The South Australian government recently passed laws requiring anyone wanting to make a comment about the upcoming state election on the internet to publish their real name and postcode. This strikes a bold blow against the right to anonymity.

Abbott’s climate policy: let the polluters play

On February 2, opposition leader Tony Abbott released the Liberal-National Coalition’s climate policy. For the Coalition, just as for the Rudd government, there’s one thing that’s irrelevant to climate policy — climate science. In Abbott’s 30-page document, the global warming crisis doesn’t rate one mention.

Fast food workers under attack

Fast food workers have lost a promised rise in Sunday penalty rates, and nightly overtime for retail staff will be cut, after a ruling by Fair Work Australia.

Seafarers demand unpaid wages

The crew on board the Tien Hau in the South Australian regional port of Wallaroo have had to resort to fishing for their meals. The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) is calling for the $47,000 backpay owed to them in to be paid in full.

Socialist candidate: make public transport public again

Morning commuters at Laverton and Seaholme stations may have thought they had gone back in time on February 3. Usually the only staff are roving squads of ticket inspectors. Instead, commuters found a uniformed tram conductor riding the trains with them — giving out information on how the public transport system can be improved and made free.

El Salvador: Mining giant sues entire country

Pacific Rim are a Canadian multinational firm seeking to exploit the “El Dorado” gold deposits in El Salvador's rural north.

Geelong socialist: council should protect workers’ rights

Bronwyn Jennings, Geelong teacher and community campaigner, is the Socialist Alliance candidate in the Cowie ward by-election for the Geelong City Council, which is currently underway by postal vote.

Pakistan: Workers and peasants march together

An historic gathering took place in Faisalabad, the third largest city in Pakistan, on January 29.

South Africa: Australian mine would destroy area

A February 4 Daily Dispatch Online article said soil fertility expert Xolobeni said the proposed heavy minerals mining project at Xolobeni is located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province in one of the “most environmentally sensitive habitats” ever investigated for mining in the country.

Poem: Sorry means you won’t do it again

An Australian view of Pakistan

Simon Butler represented the Socialist Alliance at the Labour Party Pakistan’s January 27-28 conference. He also addressed the 10,000 strong rally of workers and peasants on January 29 on behalf of the Alliance. The article below is abridged from the Pakistani News on Sunday.

Britain: Pope opposes anti-homophobia laws

“Gay-rights campaigners and secularists called on Tuesday for protests during a visit to Britain by Pope Benedict XVI this year after he condemned equality legislation seen as friendly to gays”, AFP said on February 1.

Crime body granted access to medical files

On January 29, the federal court granted the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) access to confidential medical files held by the largest medical clinic servicing remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory — breaking doctor-patient confidentiality.

Cuba: Copenhagen has no legitimacy

The letter published below was sent by Cuban first deputy environment minister Fernando Gonzalez to Yvo de Boer, who is the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, The December UN climate summit in Copenhagen ended in a farce with an “agreement” drawn up behind close doors by a select group of rich nations, which tried to force it on the rest of the world.

Illegally wed in Sydney’s bushland

I had the good fortune to attend a lesbian wedding in Sydney’s Waterfall National Park on January 10. Activist Georgina Abrahams married Journey, her partner of five years, in a ceremony conducted by a monk, Dada Prana, and a nun, Didi, of the Ananda Marga.

Indigenous survival and resistance — Australia and Latin America

Forty-five people attended a public forum called "Indigenous Survival and Resistance: Solutions — Rudd vs Chavez and Morales” in Sydney’s Resistance Activist Centre on January 30. The forum was co-sponsored by Socialist Alliance and the Sydney Latin American Social Forum.

Rudd slammed over delayed report card

The federal opposition and the Australian Greens have both slammed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for delaying his promised report card on Indigenous affairs for a second year in a row, saying it is a telling indicator of the government's commitment to Indigenous people.

Sydney group campaigns for justice in Juarez

In early December, there was a call from Mexico for artistic activities to occur in March 2010 around the world.

Turkey: General strike for Tekel workers

As a result of a joint decision taken by six union confederations in Turkey, millions of workers stopped work February 4 in support of workers from the closed-down Tekel leaf tobacco factory, a MRZine report that day said.

US strengthens Middle-East military presence

Perhaps one of the most breathtakingly hypocritical moments of the past year was when US President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel peace prize.

Doctors call for inquiry into Australia's war on Iraq

The Medical Association for Prevention of War has called for an independent inquiry into Australia’s involvement in the Iraq War.

Protesters in court for defending heritage

HOBART — A group of Aboriginal activists faced court on February 4 over a protest that halted work on the Brighton Bypass in November.

Socialist councillor launches Freo Report website

PERTH — Socialist wharfie Sam Wainwright, elected in October to the Fremantle council, has launched a website to keep residents up to date about the key issues facing the council.

Star City workers strike for wage justice

SYDNEY — Workers at the Star City Casino continued their campaign for wage justice by striking over January 30–31. The workers have now voted against accepting the casino’s paltry 2% pay rise offer three times.

Tamils face court

MELBOURNE — A pre-sentence hearing began on February 2 for three Tamil men who have pleaded guilty to providing money to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a group that fought for three decades for self-determination for the oppressed Tamil people of Sri Lanka.

Write on

45 years of John Coltrane’s cultural revolution

In February 1965, John Coltrane released A Love Supreme, still regarded as a jazz landmark. It broke all contemporary sales records and opened a door to a new musical era still echoing today

Boring jobs and overbearing bosses

In & Out of the Working Class Michael D. Yates Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2009 217 pp, $19.95.

Leninism for the 21st century

Lenin Rediscovered: What Is To Be Done? In ContextBy Lars T. Lih, Haymarket Books, Chicago 2008840 pp., $89:95 pb.