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Why we should put mining in public hands

Where to start with an analysis of the mining boom in Australia? Perhaps ironically, with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). It is now holding an inquiry into the dealings of former NSW resource minister Ian Macdonald, his mate and Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid, and another mate, John Maitland, former president of the Construction, Mining, Forestry and Energy Union (CFMEU), and part owner of the new coalmine in Doyle's Creek, to the tune of $9.8 million.

What politics to unite Australia’s left?

Once again the question of left unity is on the agenda in Australia. There have been exploratory talks between the Socialist Alliance and Socialist Alternative and also between the Socialist Alliance and the Communist Party of Australia (CPA). The Socialist Alliance and the CPA worked together in a Housing Action election ticket in the Sydney City Council elections this year.

Carlo's Corner: Forget Gaza, the media are on to the real big story

For a brief moment last month, as the bombs fell and destruction spread, Gaza was a lead story for the world's media. But now the plight of 1.5 million people living in an over crowded open-air prison, routinely attacked and denied essential medicines, has made way for a far more important story: an English aristocrat is knocked up.

Tamils condemn deportations of asylum seekers to Sri Lanka

The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations released this statement on December 5. *** The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), the umbrella body of the peak Tamil associations in Australia and New Zealand, welcomes the news that the deportation of 56 Tamil refugees was halted after a dramatic hearing at the High Court in Sydney late on Monday.

Summer reading: Recommended books of 2012

For its final issue of 2012, Green Left asked staff, contributors and others to name their book of the year. Mel Barnes Co-editor of Green Left Weekly Mine-field By Paul Cleary Black Inc http://bit.ly/NdE39u In his follow-up to Too Much Luck, Paul Cleary travels throughout Australia to speak to people affected by the rapid coal and coal seam gas expansion taking place.

Stop forced deportations of Tamils

The Refugee Action Coalition released this statement on December 3. *** Tamil asylum seekers at Wickham Point detention centre in Darwin staged a 24-hour hunger strike protest on December 3 in response to increasing numbers of Tamils being screened out and returned to Sri Lanka. A plane-load of 35 mostly Tamil asylum seekers was arrested on Friday, November 30, on return to Sri Lanka and have been taken to Negombo prison, outside Colombo.

Wombarra and Scarborough declared CSG-free zones

Stop CSG Illawarra released this statement on December 4. *** Today the suburbs of Wombarra and Scarborough were declared coal seam gas-free, by a vote of residents. Local Stop CSG members have been surveying households and an overwhelming majority of respondents in these suburbs want: their suburb to remain CSG-free, a ban on CSG development in the drinking water catchment and a freeze on the industry state-wide to investigate the impacts.