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Employment in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria is heavily dependent on brown coal for electricity generation.

In Copenhagen, Sydney-based climate justice advocate Natasha Verco and US activist Noah Weiss faces charges under Denmark’s “terrorism” laws. Verco faces up to 12-and-a-half year jail for her role in organising protests against the United Nations Copenhagen climate summit in December.

“Save Straddie: National park, not mining”, was the main banner displayed outside the Queensland Supreme Court building on March 26, as Friends of Stradbroke Island, other conservation organisations and Indigenous residents of the island protested against moves to establish an industry to quarry and remove sand from the island.
Hundreds of residents of the urban slum village of Kampung Guji Baru in West Jakarta besieged the office of Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo from early in the morning on March 18 to reject the planned eviction of their settlement.
Johnny Ray’s Downtown
By Perry Keyes
CD, Laughing Outlaw Records
www.perrykeyes.com, $24.95
The same weekend that Tasmanian Labor Premier David Bartlett congratulated the Tasmanian Greens on their “slick” electoral campaign — comparing it to that of US President Barack Obama — the NSW Greens refused to take part in an anti-war rally, afraid it reflected too heavily on the president.
A few months before the March 20 state election, the South Australian Labor Party was riding high in the opinion polls and the Liberal opposition was in disarray. But by election day, the result was too close to call. It wasn’t until four days after the election that Premier Mike Rann could claim a narrow victory for Labor.
February 4 marked 11 years since Hugo Chavez first assumed the presidency in Venezuela, following a landslide election victory that swept the country’s discredited traditional parties out of power.
The Danish government is Australian activist Natasha Verco and US citizen Noah Weiss, who are standing trial and facing a potential 12-and-a-half-year jail sentence for organising a protest during the December United Nations climate summit. This follows a global trend.

What would be the cost of eradicating poverty in this country? What would be the cost of solving homelessness or unemployment? Could Australia afford to provide universal, free healthcare and education? Is there enough material wealth here to move to a safe, low-carbon economy?

Australians are being invited to join a special delegation to Venezuela this September to witness an important event for the country’s pro-poor Bolivarian revolution.
On March 1, elected Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM) members became the only Malaysian politicians to publicly declare their assets.