Australia

More than 200 supporters chanted “One law for all!” as construction worker Ark Tribe entered Elizabeth Magistrates Court through an arc of union flags and banners on June 9. He faces charges that could lead to a six-month jail term or a $22,000 fine.

Greens Senator Bob Brown announced on June 8 that Forestry Tasmania was demanding he pay $240,000 owed to them in legal costs before June 29 or else they would start bankruptcy proceedings against him.

On May 29, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told radio 3AW that his government has “absolutely no plans to make any change” to the superannuation preservation age — the age at which workers may access the superannuation paid into a super fund by their employer.

A satirical group of Wollongong “billionaires” and representatives of the fossil fuel industry gathered in the city centre on June 10 for a “Stand up for Big Polluters” rally. They demanded “profits before people and the planet”.

Police arrested four climate change activists on June 9 after their protest stopped production for five hours at Australia’s largest aluminium smelter at Tomago, near Newcastle.

On May 31 in Melbourne, 5000 angry students marched against the increasing number of violent attacks on Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students.

“Hey Gillard, you can’t hide! You support genocide!” chanted protesters outside the June 11 Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Sydney. The luncheon was addressed by deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Premier Anna Bligh’s push to privatise Queensland’s public assets is just how former National Party premier Joh Bjelke Petersen ruled Queensland said state secretary of the Electrical Trades Union, Peter Simpson.

Recent protests by Indian students in Australia have drawn global attention to a resurgence of racist violence in Australian cities. An Indian student lies in a Melbourne hospital recovering from serious stab wounds to his abdomen, while others live in terror.

NEWCASTLE — Fifty people marched on the Newcastle legal district on June 10 to protest changes to the Family Court system initiated by former PM John Howard.

SYDNEY — More than 160 people, mostly from Sydney’s Latin American and Arabic communities, celebrated 61 years of Palestinian resistance on June 6.

Joe de Bruyn, national secretary of the Shop Distributors Alliance and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) and fervent Catholic militant had some novel advice on how to resolve the debate about the Australian Building Construction Commission (ABCC) within his Labor Party.