Issue 1275

News

Sydney Knitting Nannas and Friends rallied outside the offices of the Independent Planning Commission on August 6 before marching to NSW Parliament, reports Jim McIlroy.

Workers at the Woolworths Distribution Centre at Wyong have voted to accept an improved offer from their employer and return to work, reports Kathy Fairfax.

The University of Melbourne once enjoyed a reputation of being the highest-ranked tertiary institution in Australia. Now, it has been exposed as being among the top tertiary educational institutions for wage theft, reports Leo Crnogorcevic.

The Gumbaynggirr Conservation Group has forced the New South Wales Forestry Corporation to stop logging prime koala habitat in four bushfire ravaged state forests, reports Kathy Fairfax.

Intensive care doctor Vanessa Carnegie has made an impassioned call on the federal government to allow Priya, Nades and their children to be allowed to return to live in Biloela in Queensland.

MPs and Reuter’s former bureau chief in Baghdad have again called for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to be released, reports Carrie-Ann Smith.

The UWU says that the Woolworths Distribution Centre at Wyong in NSW is using its COVID-19 plan to lock out workers without disrupting the supply chain, reports Kathy Fairfax.

Analysis

Rachel Evans reports the words of Tane Chatfield's mother and father in the front of Lidcombe Coronial Court on the final day of the inquest into his death in custody in 2017.

Shaming is a counter-productive way of dealing with those who flout the rules. But, as Alex Bainbridge argues, it is designed to deflect attention from the systemic failures in dealing with COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought systemic inequality to the fore. Pip Hinman writes that there is one group who are particularly at risk — older women.

Casual workers without access to sick leave and savings need more than the welcome payments from the Victorian government, say Darrin Saffin and Chloe DS.

Young people already know about insecure work. Darren Saffin and Chloe DS argue that the federal government needs a plan for sustainable, permanent jobs and housing that is not prohibitive.

 

World

A series of coordinated protests across South Africa took place on August 1, writes Angela Chukunzira, raising a range of demands including for a universal basic income, universal health care and mass testing to fight COVID-19.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified by lies that form the bedrock of the United States' war propaganda in the 21st century, writes John Pilger.

President Donald Trump has targeted the Black Lives Matter movement as “left wing anarchists” and “terrorists”. But the real agent provocateurs are in the White House and its federal agencies, writes Malik Miah.

Barry Sheppard speaks to Green Party of the United States presidential candidate Howie Hawkins.

Peoples’ Democratic Party MP Leyla Güven is seen by many as an embodiment of Kurdish women and a symbol of resistance in Turkey and across the world, writes Susan Price.

Culture

Comics, graphic novels, narrative drawing, illustrated fiction are a growing arena for serious social and political commentary. Andrew Chuter reviews five that are a must read for activists today.