Melbourne, May 12. Photos by Ali Bakhtiavandi
Australia
Supporters of the Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy in Brisbane’s Musgrave Park released the statement below on May 14.
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Brisbane City Council has turned its back on negotiations with the Brisbane Sovereign Embassy over its right to exist in Musgrave Park, South Brisbane.
This afternoon at around 4pm, Luke Bell from Brisbane City Council told the Embassy by phone that negotiations were off and that Council would be forcibly removing the Embassy in the near future.
CSG Free Northern Rivers brought 7,000 people to the streets of Lismore on May 12 in a colourful and outspoken show of solidarity against Coal Seam Gas Mining in the region. And concerns over coal mining loom not far behind in a groundswell push to renewable energy sources.
The Wilderness Society released the statement below on May 14.
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• 250 police sent to Broome; 276 to Eureka Stockade.
• Joint venture partners must speak out or be tainted by Premier’s actions.
Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has sent 250 police officers to Broome to crush community opposition to the proposed gas industrial complex at James Price Point, not far off the 276 police and soldiers sent to the Eureka Stockade to crush the miners.
Is there a surplus or is there not? Does delivering a $1.5 billion surplus in 2012-13 make Wayne Swan a “good economic manager”? Are you a winner and grinner or a loser soon to be driven to the boozer? Blah, blah, blah. Enough, enough already with the budget spins and counterspins.
You want something real to worry about from the budget? Worry about your job if you are lucky enough to still have one, and worry about what will happen to you if you lose it.
"We are all Greeks" was the proud solidarity message worn by many at the Sydney May Day march on May 6. This simple message captured the widespread solidarity felt with the working people of Greece — including the unemployed, pensioners, students and small business owners — who are being forced to pay a painful price to bail out the biggest banks in the world.
Supporters of the National Campaign for the Right To Strike initiated the sign-on statement below.
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Australian law has never provided for the unrestricted right to strike. The first Australian industrial law, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1904, penalised Australian striking workers with fines and jail sentences.
Before that, Australian workers had to comply with the British Master and Servants Act of 1837, which meant that a worker could face jail if they were absent from work for an hour without permission.
Organisers of a Sydney Palestine solidarity protest — Commemorate Al-Nakba: Protest Against Israeli Apartheid! — released the statement below on May 12.
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NSW police initiated a Supreme Court action against the pro-Palestine Al-Nakba commemoration march to be held in Sydney on May 15. The police are seeking a court order prohibiting the public assembly and procession. Protest organisers state that they will not be intimidated and will defend the right to protest in court.
Fair Work Australia’s findings into the Health Services Union (HSU) have revealed serious breaches of the union’s rules, as well as federal regulations governing registered organisations.
A May 10 rally against TAFE cuts announced in the Victorian budget attracted more than 2000 protesters in front of Premier Ted Baillieu’s office.
“Lock up Baillieu, throw away the key, we won’t stop until TAFE is free” was just one of chants the crowd roared. Lecturers, teachers, students, support staff, community groups, the Australian Education Union (AEU) and National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) joined forces to fight against the $300 million cutbacks.
On the same day that 8000 farmers, environmentalists, the Country Women’s Association and others took part in Australia's biggest rally against coal seam gas (CSG) mining, the NSW mining industry launched a website to “dispel myths” about the industry.
Website creator the Minerals Council of NSW includes the state's biggest mining companies: Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Barrick Gold, Peabody, Rio Tinto, Shenhua and Xstrata.
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