Australia

  • John Lennon: the power of art and peace

    Forty years ago, between April and May 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began an international cultural struggle against the Vietnam War using their fame and notoriety to draw attention to their peace message.

  • A pig of a health-care system

    The first person to die after testing positive to swine flu in Australia was a 26-year-old Aboriginal man from a remote desert community. Health workers have said it is evidence of the significant gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health, and warn more deaths are likely.

  • Conference warns of dangerous climate shifts

    The biggest international scientific conference on climate change since 2007 gave an implicit rebuke to the governments of the biggest polluting nations, including Australia. Its message was that the threat is undeniable and inaction is inexcusable.

  • Privatisation: state-wide campaign heats up

    After Labor Premier Anna Bligh announced on June 2 that Queensland would be selling off $15.4 billion of the state’s assets, a June 17-18 Galaxy Poll conducted for the Brisbane Courier Mail found that 84% of people opposed the move.

  • The utes of politics

    Utes, the exchange and discussion thereof, could not be more Australian. Any Woza, Bluey or Macca will tell you that simply anything to do with utility vehicles is real men’s business.

  • Militant unions save workers' lives

    Bosses do not provide safe and healthy workplaces for their workers out of the goodness of their hearts. Capitalism’s drive for short-term profits means workplace safety is a cost that can cut like any other.

  • Traveston

    The Queensland Government is threatening to build a dam on the Mary River at Traveston Crossing. This dam will endanger the Queensland Lung Fish, flood the nesting sites of the endangered Mary River Turtle and endanger the Eastern Cod. All these

  • Tax office tries to axe conditions

    The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has called on Australian Taxation Office (ATO) staff to vote against a new agency agreement proposed by management. Voting was to place between June 23 and June 30.