Issue 1291

News

Young Gomeroi leaders led a passionate protest in opposition to Santos’ plan to drill 850 coal seam gas wells on their Country in north-west NSW, reports Zebedee Parkes.

Thailand's royal excesses were mercilessly parodied in street theatre in Sydney, reports Peter Boyle.

What started as a 24-hour strike for a fair redundancy package has become indefinite industrial action by workers at Coles’ Smeaton Grange depot, reports Jim McIlroy.

Geelong Trades Hall Council has decided it will seek broader interest in a new campaign for a sustainable green jobs, reports Tim Gooden.

Jim McIlroy reports that the Transport Workers Union has warned Qantas on its latest job cuts, saying it will “hurt the airline deeply”.

Rainbow Rebellion marched and chanted through the city’s street on November 28 as part of Pride Week, reports Petrina Harley.

Supporters of West Papua's struggle for self-determination took part in a Morning Star flag-raising ceremony at Leichhardt Town Hall, reports Peter Boyle.

Tickets to Women of Steel, which premiered in Perth on November 26, sold out some two weeks in advance, reports Sam Wainwright.

Janet Parker reports that the 30th annual Silent Domestic Violence Memorial March was held in Perth.

WA Police brutally attacked senior protesters, among others, at an Extinction Rebellion action highlighting the need to tackle the growing climate emergency. Petrina Harley reports.

John Shipton, the father of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, has called on the federal government to follow its own rules, reports Jim McIlroy.

Stop Adani protesters took their anti-coal message directly to the first international one-day match of the cricket season, reports Coral Wynter and Jim McIlroy.

Rachel Evans reports on a protest to mark Transgender Remembrance Day and oppose a transphobic bill being pushed by One Nation in NSW.

Climate-concerned residents organised actions calling for 100% renewables in Parramatta and Newtown as part of a national day of action against the federal government's gas-led recovery. Kerry Smith reports.

Kerry Smith reports that actions were organised to #ProtectOurFutureNotGas on November 28, rejecting the Coalition government's gas-led recovery plan. Here is a collection of some of the best protests photos from the day.

Analysis

PM Scott Morrison is using a nationalism-charged diversion to take the focus off the Brereton report's findings into Australian special forces war crimes in Afghanistan, argues Pip Hinman.

Far-right activist Phillip Galea has been jailed on terrorism charges after threatening to commit violence against left-wing activists and Muslims. Sue Bolton discusses what it will take to defeat such extremists.

Jon Strauss discusses the legacy of the Labor government-sponsored Prices and Incomes Accords of the 1980s and 1990s.

The union-bosses-government working groups to discuss industrial relations reform have not delivered and the PM has signalled new IR laws before Christmas. Sarah Hathway argues union leaderships need to get prepared.

A school strike for climate in Sydney in March 2019. Photo: Zebedee Parkes

As spring exited into summer with record temperatures in much of New South Wales and South Australia, public support for strong action on the climate continues to grow. Margaret Gleeson reports. 

The Murdoch media is an impediment to democracy

While Kevin Rudd’s petition for a “strong” and “diverse” news media has proved to be very popular, Alex Bainbridge suggests a royal commission won't solve the fundamental problem.

Farmers have the potential to become carbon sequestration heroes but are being failed by the major parties, argues David Bell.

Communities and farmers say the billions being allocated on raising dam walls is not a “solution” to the latest drought or to long-term climate change. Tracey Carpenter reports.

World

Venezuelans are set to vote in elections like no other in the country’s recent history when they go to the polls to elect a new National Assembly on December 6, writes Federico Fuentes.

Thanks to an international campaign, climate activist Baba Jan and three fellow political prisoners were finally freed on November 28, writes Susan Price.

All around the world, supporters of the long struggle for West Papuan self-determination raised the Morning Star flag of independence on December 1, writes Peter Boyle.

The current upsurge of COVID-19 infections in the United States is, by far, the most serious of the pandemic to date, writes Barry Sheppard

Unidas Podemos is engaged in a thuggish operation against members of the Forward Andalusia coalition, writes Dick Nichols.

Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara has always been illegitimate. Responsibility for the resumption of war lies with the United Nations, argue the Socialist Alliance.

Despite police repression and the COVID-19 pandemic, workers, farmers and their allies participated in a nationwide strike against recent neoliberal reforms pushed through by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People's Dispatch reports.

In interviews with African Americans who did not vote, many said their lives have not, and will not likely change under Donald Trump or Joe Biden, writes Malik Miah

Diego Maradona will always be remembered as the football god who played on the side of the poor, writes Federico Fuentes.

Culture

Returning from his time as a US Army Special Forces medic in Afghanistan and Iraq, Graham Barnhart had much to think about and utilised poetry as his sounding board, writes Barry Healy.

Ash Brennan Conjola

Ash Brennan will never forget New Year’s Eve 2019 when he lost his house to a raging firestorm in Conjola Park. Peter Boyle spoke to him about his new film, We are Conjola, which will have a special online release this New Year's Eve.

Barry Healy reviews two books – one a novel, the other a narrative history – that reveal the personal costs of Vietnam's fight, first against French colonialism and then the US-led invasion.

Political albums artwork November 2020

Mat Ward looks back at November's political news and the best new music that relates to it.