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G8 on track for 5 million deaths

Two years ago we were assaulted with the spectacle of Bono and Bob Geldof promising to help “make poverty history”. The two pop stars, both well past their use-by date, played leading roles in organising the 2005 anti-poverty Live 8 concerts and as a result scored a much-reported invite to address the July 2005 G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland. That summit adopted a debt-relief and aid plan for Africa hailed by Bono as a “little piece of history”. Geldof declared the summit a “qualified triumph” for the world’s poor. The issue of global warming also featured at the Gleneagles meeting, with the G8 resolving to “act with resolve and urgency” to tackle climate change.

Indigenous campaigner wins national environment award

Veteran Aboriginal activist Kevin Buzzacott has been awarded the Australian Conservation Foundation’s (ACF) 2007 Peter Rawlinson Award for his work over two decades highlighting the impacts of uranium mining and promoting a nuclear-free Australia.

Palestinians demand a 'just peace'

More than 30 delegates from around the world attended the Jerusalem Initiative conference held in occupied East Jerusalem to call for an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The three-day conference from June 2-4 was organised by the Palestinian People’s Party and the Communist Party of Israel and was attended by representatives from European, Scandanvian and Australian socialist parties as well as members of the international peace movement, trade unions and women’s organisations from around the world.

Young Muslims fighting to be heard

Temple of Dreams
Directed by Tom Zubrycki
Sydney Film Festival, Sat June 16, 11.50am

Protests highlight key climate issues

Activists marked World Environment Day (WED) — June 5 — with a protest in Bourke Street Mall that highlighted corporate plunder of the planet.

Iraq: Parliament threatens US forces' mandate

On June 5, the Iraqi parliament approved a law giving itself the formal authority to block the extension beyond December of the UN Security Council mandate under which US and allied foreign troops are deployed in Iraq.

Alternative national anthem, to the tune of 'Advance Australia Fair'

Australians all, let us rejoiceFor we are girt by seaWhich makes it very difficultFor would-be refugees,If any of them make it here and it's not a lot We lock them upAnd send them offSomewhere that's very hotWe lock them upAnd send them offSomewhere

Obituary: Greg Heys

Former Newcastle lord mayor Greg Heys died on June 5 after a massive heart attack.

55,000 commemorate Tiananmen massacre

Some 55,000 people demonstrated in Hong Kong on June 4 — the 18th anniversary of the Chinese army’s bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy student protesters at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Where to now for unions and the Anti-Labour Party?

The ALP deserves to be re-badged the “Anti-Labour Party” as historian Humphrey McQueen suggests, and the ALP’s public dressing down and forced resignation of Victorian Electrical Trade Union (ETU) secretary Dean Mighell reinforces this view.

No polluting pulp mill!

Tasmanians from all walks of life are up in arms about Gunns’ proposal to build one of the largest pulp mills in the world in the Tamar Valley, near Launceston.

Pine Gap trial: a case of 'national security'

The trial of the “Pine Gap Four” in Alice Springs is continuing with the Crown lawyer arguing that the jury should not be determining the reasonableness of the activists’ actions. Michael Maurice QC argued that, “Engaging in activities to disrupt the implementation of public policy can never be reasonable”.