We have known for some time that the death of Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez was probably coming soon. But that did not make it any easier for many of us when it came.
Cynics, and worse, have started to pour scorn on the mass grief in Venezuela and around the world.
Chavez wasn't just a leader of a revolution in a faraway Latin American country. He was a hero and champion of people all around the world precisely because he broke so radically from the ugly mould of most 21st century politicians.
Australia
About 1500 people took part in a short-notice march to oppose police violence against two young men after the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.
Video footage showing a tall policeman throwing a handcuffed youth to the ground with shocking force and putting his boot on his head. This ignited angry memories of police violence at Sydney’s first-ever Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 1978.
Photos by Peter Boyle.
About 100 people attended a gathering at the Plaza Latinamericana in central Sydney to farewell Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, who died on March 5 in Caracas.
The gathering, called at short notice by members of the Latin American community in Sydney, heard several speakers hail the life and achievements of Venezuela's revolutionary leader.
Venezuelan Ambassador to Australia Nelson Davila addressed the crowd by phone from Canberra.
Mallacoota — love it. If you’ve been there, you do. It’s remote, in the heart of the Croajingolong National Park in East Gippsland. People come and they return, to enjoy unspoilt wilderness and peace, to walk, swim, surf, fish, paddle a canoe.
It’s a place to breathe and see how it used to be. This haven of forest, lakes, birds and native animals, ocean and miles of pure unsullied beaches, dolphins and whales passing by, hasn’t been privatised or resort-ised. It does have the biggest, publicly owned, affordable camping park, which is adjacent to the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.
This week on campuses across the country, Resistance members are opening their books and getting back into study. Our “Bachelor of Revolutionary Activism” will be open to anyone who is interested in getting an education in socialist ideas.
Classes will include a discussion on Marxist-feminism. Others will be about how we can save our environment, or how best to support the Palestinian people. It’s a little bit different in each city or campus, but there will be common themes. Everywhere Resistance will be putting forward an alternative vision on how to run the world.
This statement was released by Socialist Alliance on March 8.
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The demands of the first-ever International Women's Day rally in Australia, in 1928, were equal pay for equal work, an eight-hour day for shop assistants, the basic wage for the unemployed and annual holidays on full pay.
A lot has been won through struggle since 1928, yet women in Australia today still have to struggle some of these issues:
About 1500 people rallied in Sydney on March 8 in protest against the alleged police violence at this year’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
Bryn Hutchinson, a former co-convener of Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH), alleges that five police officers slammed him to the ground, kicked him, shackled him and beat him when he tried to cross Oxford St after the parade had finished.
Hutchinson was then taken to Surry Hills police station and charged with “assaulting a police officer”. Hutchinson says he was handcuffed during the alleged attack by the officers.
Dozens of people gathered in Sydney on March 6 to remember the life of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and express solidarity with the people of Venezuela.
People used the opportunity to speak about the progress the Venezuelan revolution has made in providing healthcare, education and employment for millions of people in that country, as well as using the country's natural resources to raise the living standards of people internationally.
The Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition released this statement on March 4.
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On March 2, the Sydney Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition (SAWC) entered their 100-people walking float in Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade. Supporters came from all over Australia to help raise awareness of the plights of Bradley Manning's and Julian Assange.
Participants in the first section of the float held up an image of Bradley and chanted “Free Bradley Manning”, whilst carrying banners displaying the website bradleymanning.org.
The National Tertiary Education Union released this statement on March 7.
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University of Sydney staff are on strike today — for the first time in a decade.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is taking action over stalled enterprise agreement negotiations.
“We’d rather not take industrial action in the first week of semester but management’s contemptuous approach to staff claims has left us with no alternative,” said NTEU Branch President Michael Thomson.
Lock the Gate have launched a new campaign our Call to Country that calls for national reforms on coal and gas ahead of the 2013 federal election. As part of the launch on March 7, members will be visiting every electorate office in the country. Our Call to Country Together, we share this one continent that holds us safe. An island home as vast as it is diverse, as wild as it is beautiful, from its red heart to its golden beaches. Our place of endless summers and easy laughter, of hard work and happy chances.
Students supported teachers and staff in their one-day strike at the University of Sydney on March 7.
Read a statement by the National Tertiary Education Union explaining the reason for the strike.
Photos: Peter Boyle.
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