Issue 1319

News

An online forum discussing the power of protest was organised by the Refugee Action Collective Victoria. Chris Slee reports.

Hall Greenland pays tribute to his friend and comrade Jack Carnegie, unionist and founder of the Greens in New South Wales.

Residents of the social housing estate Common Ground are demanding compensation for the harsh and over-policed lockdown. Rachel Evans and Robin Elhaj report.

Extinction Rebellion organised a snap action to call on governments to recognise that the reef is beyond being 'in danger'. Alex Bainbridge reports.

The New South Wales Court of Appeal has rebuffed South Korean mining company KEPCO’s bid to get its coalmine project going in the fertile Bylong Valley. Jim McIlroy reports.

Workers at StarTrack, which is owned by Australia Post, have voted to take strike action in a bid to guarantee job security. Jim McIlroy reports.

Frozen food workers in Smithton, Tasmania, have forced McCain to an in-principle agreement for a pay rise, Jim McIlroy reports.

In a shift of alliances, Inner West councillors elected the Greens’ Rochelle Porteous as the new mayor, reports Pip Hinman.

‘They are just doing this because we’re poor. That’s what it comes down to’, a resident of a locked down social housing complex said. Isaac Nellist reports.

Despite the NSW government’s admission that essential workplaces are key sites of COVID-19 transmission, it has done little to address workers’ concerns. Isaac Nellist spoke to a packer at Woolworths.

Maritime Union of Australia members employed by Qube marked 40 days of industrial action for health and safety provisions in their workplace agreement. Alex Salmon reports.

Wangan and Jagalingou representative Adrian Burragubba told an online rally that the Queensland government has refused to meet with First Nations elders. Jim McIlroy reports.

Without permanent protection the family is in danger of being forcibly returned to Sri Lanka where they will face persecution, torture and possibly death. Alex Salmon reports.

The NTEU welcomed a Federal Court decision confirming that University of Sydney staff have a legal right to be protected from disciplinary action when exercising intellectual freedom. Jeffrey Khoo reports.

Analysis

PM Scott Morrison has announced a new security ménage à trois with the United States and Britain. Binoy Kampmark reports on the latest developments in Australia's war alliance.

News Corps' calculated change of heart on climate change in the lead-up to COP26 has not fooled too many, argues Binoy Kampmark.

Peter Boyle reports on the incredible lengths the Scott Morrison government will go to protect big businesses that have shamelessly rorted JobKeeper.

On the 48th anniversary of the military coup against Chilean president Salvador Allende, never-before-seen archive posts by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service show that the CIA requested and received support. Peter Kornbluh reports.

Climate activists are continuing to demand the federal government and Labor opposition heed the climate science and pull back from their irresponsible gas-led recovery plan. Margaret Gleeson reports.

Nothing maintains the culture wars more than a conservative PM blaming the unemployed for their lack of employment to a room full of rich business people, writes Dechlan Brennan.

The fight for women’s rights and against gendered violence is union business, says the Socialist Alliance.

Walter Kaufman was his own man, a survivor, ‘at home in homelessness’. Vivienne Porzsolt recalls the remarkable life of a left-wing writer and unionist.

 

The decision to join the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan was made by one man. Joel MacKay argues that any decision to go to war should be made only after exhaustive scrutiny.

This week, the Prime Minister made clear his distain for women's right to feel safe in the home and at work by adopting only half the recommendations of a ground-breaking report. Zita Henderson reports. 

As the Berejiklian government tries to soften people up for "opening up", three residents discuss the harsh lockdown in Sydney West.

VKS PepperBall Firearm

Rights activists have condemned the use of non-lethal weapons against anti-lockdown protesters. Shane Pemmelaar reports.

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown up many surprises, but none as sickening as the political right pretending to care about people’s mental health, argues Dechlan Brennan.

Government neglect is to blame for the COVID-19 crisis disproportionately affecting First Nations communities in regional New South Wales. Rachel Evans, Paul Oboohov, Coral Wynter report.

World

It’s been one month since the fall of Kabul, writes Yasmeen Afghan. People live in constant fear, government employees have not been paid, and most people are out of jobs, especially Afghan women.

The left bloc, spearheaded by the Labour Party, has won an important victory in the Norwegian election, reports Farooq Sulehria.

An international online campaign celebrating Afghan women’s traditional dress has started after the Taliban introduced a strict dress code for female university students, reports Yasmeen Afghan.

There are growing concerns over the Pakistan establishment's influence in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, reports Yasmeen Afghan.

Residents in the United Nations-supervised Makhmour Refugee Camp in northern Iraq are angry at the criminal silence from the UN over a Turkish drone attack on the camp, writes Peter Boyle.

Members of the Iranian-Australian community are calling on Australia to support their struggle for justice for the more than 30,000 Iranian political prisoners who were massacred in 1988, writes Mohammad Sadeghpour.

Ian Ellis-Jones writes that the United States' ban on remittances to Cuba has had a detrimental impact on the standard of living of Cuban families, compounding the impact of the decades-long economic blockade.

The profits from the production and sale of COVID-19 vaccines has created nine new billionaires with a combined wealth greater than the cost of vaccinating the world’s poorest countries, report Stephen Coates and Rachel Evans.

The new Texas ban on abortion, which was upheld by the United States Supreme Court, effectively enables vigilante justice, reports Barry Sheppard.

mexico decriminalisation abortion

Mexico’s Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that laws penalising women and pregnant persons for terminating their pregnancy are unconstitutional, reports Tanya Wadhwa

West Papua activists are calling on Australia to raise concerns about the Indonesian military's human rights abuses in West Papua, when they meet with their Indonesian counterparts, reports Susan Price.

After the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, United States president George W Bush gained unlimited powers to fight “forever wars”, writes Malik Miah

In the aftermath of the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan and Taliban takeover, big challenges lie ahead as political factions jockey for power, writes Malik Miah.

In response to the repression by the Taliban, a surge of protests have started in cities across Afghanistan, reports Zohal Silaab.

Afghan women have always played an active role in the fight against occupiers, writes Yasmeen Afghan. They will not bow to the Taliban's brutalities and will fight for their rights.

Malaysia has its second unelected government after the king appointed Ismail Sabri Yaakob prime minister. Green Left' spoke to Parti Sosialis Malaysia deputy chairperson S. Arutchelvan about the political situation.

Green Left speaks to veteran Pakistani socialist Farooq Tariq about the attitudes of the Pakistani state and ruling elite to the Taliban's recent return to power.

Three weeks have passed since the fall of Kabul. If one dares to go outside, then all you see is the Taliban — with their guns roaming around — very few women can be seen outside, writes Yasmeen Afghan.

Culture

In post-9/11 Afghanistan, music and cricket became an escape from the twin violence of United States occupation and Taliban terrorism. Farooq Sulehria reports that with the return of the Taliban these cultural activities are now under attack.

Renfrey Clarke expresses the plight of the working class first-home buyer.

Deniz Agraz spoke to Christian “Bong” Ramilo, a Filipino-Australian musician and community arts worker based in Darwin, about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts sector.

book covers

Ian Angus introduces six new books for your ‘must read soon’ list.

Hans Baer reviews a new book by former Greens senator Scott Ludlam.

Ross Davidson presents two new free publications that provide some essential background to the Cuban Revolution and Washington’s implacable hostility to it.

Clayne Crawford, Sepideh Moafi and Chris Coy in the bleak but stunning The Killing of Two Lovers

Barry Healy reviews an intense and stunning thriller written and directed by Robert Machoian, set in the Utah mountains.