Australia

This speech was given at a rally for marriage equality held in Sydney on October 12. *** Today we are out in force to stand up to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and to speak out against the Liberals' mad attack on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI). And yes, it is a full scale attack. Liberal Party governments all over this country are doing everything in their power to destroy 50 years of progress towards equality for LGBTI people.
About 100 members of the Sudanese community rallied in Sydney's Belmore Park on October 3 to protest against the military regime's crackdown on human rights in their home country. Speakers condemned the repression last month by the regime of President Omar Al-Bashir against crowds protesting sharp rises in fuel prices.
Funny placards at rally against education cuts

Last month 20,000 people rallied against education cuts by the state government.

Aged care

There is a perception in Australia that once people reach a certain age or become unable to care for themselves, the government will take care of them no matter their social or financial circumstances.

Sri Lanka war refugees 2009

The opening session of the new parliament in Canberra next month will be met by a national convergence of refugee rights activists and campaigners.

Wetlands

New regulations restrict coal seam gas (CSG) companies from residential housing areas in NSW, but do little to protect the rural landscape.

A socialist educational conference, “How to make a revolution”, is being held in Brisbane over December 13 to 15. This conference is being organised by Resistance Socialist Youth and the Socialist Alliance, and aims to be an event that gives young people the skills and perspectives to radically change the world.
Uncle Kevin Buzzacott on the Freedom Flotilla

Sydney’s Refugee Action Coalition released the statement below on October 12.

How could a former agent of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s notorious secret police, who is facing charges of kidnapping and forced disappearances and whose bail conditions prohibited them from leaving Chile, now be living in Australia? This is the question many have asked after the recent broadcast on SBS Radio of an interview with former National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) agent Adriana Rivas. In the interview, Rivas says she began working at DINA in 1974.
Student and staff march Sydney University 2013

After a hard-fought industrial campaign, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) at the University of Sydney has just voted to accept a new workplace agreement.

Abortion rights activists will mobilise in Melbourne on October 12 to oppose threats to women’s access to abortion from the federal government and anti-choice groups. The rally, to be held at the steps of the Victorian parliament, is a counter-rally to the annual "March for the Babies", which will be staged on the same day. Pro-choice activists will also protest the controversial "Zoe’s law", currently under debate in the NSW parliament.
Refuge groups are concerned for the welfare and security of seven West Papuan asylum seekers flown overnight from Horn Island to Port Moresby. The seven who arrived in Boigu Island in the Torres Starit on September 25 are fleeing Indonesian military and police. One West Papuan accused of promoting West Papuan independence and involvement in an independence ceremony on September 12 has been arrested by Indonesia police, while others are being hunted.