Issue 1382

News

More than 30 people took action outside Empire Energy’s Annual General Meeting in Gadi/Sydney, demanding that the company stop its plans to frack the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory. Rachel Evans reports.

More than 100 climate activists formed a human chain outside the National Australia Bank in Gadi/Sydney and a similar number in Meanjin/Brisbane, protesting the bank’s funding of coal mining projects. Jim McIlroy and Alex Bainbridge report.

Successful legal action brought by environmental groups has forced Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to announce an end to native forest logging by the end of the year. Elizabeth Bantas reports.

An exciting new range of guest speakers at the Ecosocialism 2023 conference in Naarm/Melbourne July 1-2 have been announced. Jacob Andrewartha reports.

Jordana Silverstein, author of Cruel Care: a history of children at our borders and three child refugees spoke to a Refugee Action Collective-organised forum. Chris Slee reports.

Melbourne Extinction Rebellion organised three colourful and diverse days of actions on the climate crisis. Mary Merkenich reports.

Green Left News podcast Ep 9, May 30, 2023

Green Left journalist Isaac Nellist and refugee rights activist Chloe DS go through the latest news from Australia and around the world. Music and editing by LittleArcherBeats.

Stop AUKUS WA and Walyalup Climate Action protested the Labor government’s enormous AUKUS military spending. Alex Salmon and Leonie Lundie report. 

Socialist Alliance will likely gain another councillor in Victoria if the count back in the City of Greater Geelong proceeds in line with past practice. Sue Bull reports.

 

South Australian unions, human rights, legal and community groups are campaigning against Labor’s new draconian anti-protest laws, which passed the Legislative Assembly with the Liberal’s support. Paul Petit reports.

National Tertiary Education Union members, students, families and community members joined a protest in the Wadawurrung/Ballarat CBD over an impasse in wages negotiations at Federation University. Jeremy Smith reports.

The United Professional Firefighters Union Western Australia is demanding that WA Labor negotiate, not dictate, on a new enterprise agreement. Alex Salmon reports.

Extinction Rebellion's Drum Rebellion is campaigning against the undemocratic New South Wales anti-protest laws. David Killingly reports.

Stella Assange marches with Stephen Kenny to free Julian Assange

Stella Assange headlined a protest of up to 1000 people on May 24 calling for her husband Julian Assange to be freed. Alex Bainbridge reports.

Video by Alex Bainbridge of the rally to free Julian Assange on May 24.

Labor Party members joined leftists and peace activists to speak out against militarism, AUKUS and the Quad at a protest organised by Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition on May 24, reports Alex Bainbridge.

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Australian director Gem Romuld said that the hundreds at the rally were just the tip of the iceberg of a new movement that is building against militarism. Alex Bainbridge reports.

Stella Assange headlined a 1000-strong rally calling for Julian Assange to be released immediately from Belmarsh Prison. Video by Alex Bainbridge.

The campaign against unsustainable salmon farms in Tasmania’s estuaries and oceans is growing stronger. Robynne Murphy reports.

 

Close Don Dale Now

Almost six years since the Royal Commission into the Detention and Protection of Children in the Northern Territory delivered its findings, the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre is still open. Stephen W Enciso reports.

Traditional Owners are speaking out after the ABC exposed pollution incidents from Tamboran’s exploration well on the Tanumbirini cattle station in the NT. Kerry Smith reports.

A forum at the University of Sydney marked 50 years since the beginning of the national liberation struggle by the Saharawi people in Western Sahara against Spanish and Moroccan occupation. Jim McIlroy reports.

More than 500 people protested outside two libraries at the projected closures and cuts to services. The biggest was outside the Geelong West Library, as Sue Bull reports

Local communities are fighting to stop New South Wales Forestry Corporation from logging an area critical for koala connectivity and habitat on the NSW mid-north coast. Ben Radford reports.

The NSW Health Services Union has stepped up its industrial campaign, demanding the new Labor government grant pay rises to its paramedics and other ancillary hospital staff. Jim McIlroy reports.

Analysis

Ben Roberts-Smith

Ben Roberts-Smith was meant to be a poster boy of the regiment that served in Afghanistan. But the recent defamation case cracked the image of a plaster saint, writes Binoy Kampmark.

The transfer of US naval nuclear propulsion technology to Australia under AUKUS would come with its “benefits and risks”, a US Congressional report has noted. Binoy Kampmark reports.

Fabian LoSchiavo became a very widely loved national treasure through his immense contributions to queer culture and liberation. His bravery, creativity, warm heartedness and sense of humour will be long celebrated, writes Ken Davis.

John (Jack) Rice at a Repower Port Augusta reunion in 2017. Photo: Michael Kuble

John (Jack) Rice played an important role in many organisations. He recognised the critical relationship between theory and activism. He will be greatly missed, writes Paul Petit.

Merri-bek Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton argues that councils must not cave in to pressure from the homophobic far-right and cancel LGBTIQ gatherings because that enables “drag panic”.

It has been galling to see that PwC executives' sharing of confidential information — notably tax policies — will not lead to them spending time in a prison cell. Binoy Kampark argues ATO whistle blower Richard Boyle's treatment could hardly be more different. 

It is clear that the PM felt comfortable being excruciatingly accommodating to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is one of one of India’s most accomplished sectarians. Binoy Kampmark reports.

Arrernte woman Celeste Liddle who has been engaged in Indigenous and social justice movements for a long time, says she is undecided on her vote. Below she sets out her thoughts.

Judy Hannan (left)

Suzanne James spoke to newly-elected female Independent MP Judy Hannan about the opportunities for a progressive cross-bench with a minority NSW Labor government.

Alex Bainbridge writes new analysis by the Parliamentary Budget Office has found that the cost of the “Stage 3” tax cuts will be $313 billion over 10 years — a huge increase on the $254 billion previously estimated.

Given how much of the Australian media stable have been unconcerned about the prosecution of publisher Julian Assange, it was poignant to have his wife, Stella, present at the National Press Club. Binoy Kampmark reports.

Labor is rushing a dangerous amendment though parliament that would exempt the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines from important environmental protections. As Bevan Ramsden argues, this has be strenuously opposed.

Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk government has announced plans to build another children’s jail in Woodford, next door to the adult maximum-security facility. Paul Gregoire interviews Debbie Kilroy from Sisters Inside.

The Community and Public Sector Union has called on the Anthony Albanese government to scrap the punitive “mutual” obligations system, stating it “does more harm than good”. Bill Darkin reports.

Suzanne James talks to Judy Hannan, newly elected Independent MP for Wollondilly and Southern Highlands in NSW.

World

Bay Du Nord_cr_sierra_club

Canadian politics was rocked on May 31, with news that Norwegian oil giant Equinor’s Bay du Nord project, the first deep water oil project in Canada, has been stopped for a period of three years, reports Jeff Shantz.

Thai Move Forward Party

In an exclusive interview with Green Left, popular Thai dissident and scholar Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun shared his perspectives on the outcome of the May 14 general election in Thailand with Peter Boyle.

Lula Ukraine

Israel Dutra, of the Brazilian Socialist Left Movement within the Socialism and Liberty Party, speaks to Federico Fuentes about Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s peace proposal for the war in Ukraine.

Cheong Huei Ting PSM

Green Left’s Chloe DS spoke to Cheong Huei Ting, Central Committee member of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) and Coordinator of the PSM’s Environmental and Climate Crisis Bureau ahead of her participation in the Ecosocialism 2023 Conference in July in Naarm/Melbourne.

HDP-YSP joint media conference

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s win in the May 28 second round of the Turkish presidential elections has sent a wave of concern and dread through democratic circles and the large Kurdish minority, reports Peter Boyle.

The far right were the big winners in the Spanish local elections, reports Dick Nichols, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is seeking to minimise the damage by calling a general election as early as July 23.

US espionage

Secret United States government documents leaked onto social media platform Discord reveal how the US and its military is striving to reestablish hegemony — targeting adversaries and pressuring allies, report Malik Miah and Barry Sheppard.

US immigration

Title 42 of the United States’ immigration law expired on May 11, but refugees and migrants will notice little difference, writes Malik Miah.

Timor-Leste election 2023

Timor-Leste voted in a new parliament on May 21 — one which will likely see the return of Xanana Gusmão as Prime Minister, reports Leo Earle.

Chile

Chile witnessed a significant triumph for the far right in its constitutional elections on May 7, which has never been seen before in its contemporary political history, reports Hugo Guzmán.

guillermo_lasso.jpg

The United States and the corporate media is defending Ecuadorian right-wing president Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved the country’s parliament on May 17 and will rule by decree for up to six months until new elections are held, reports Ana Zorita.

LGBTIQ rights

The Republican onslaught against LGBTIQ communities in the United States is escalating, reports Barry Sheppard. So far this year, 51 anti LGBTIQ bills have passed in 18 Republican-controlled states.

Tobias Lund

Tobias Drevland Lund, an MP for Norway’s radical left party Rødt (Red Party), speaks to Federico Fuentes about the party's rise and response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Protest for Sudan in Sydney

Members of the Sudanese diaspora in Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia launched an appeal on April 28 for “urgent humanitarian assistance, support and protection of civilians” in Sudan, reports Susan Price.

Sudan IDP camp West Darfur

The Sudanese Communist Party welcomed the ceasefire between the army and the Rapid Support Forces but has warned against monopolisation of the peace process by United States and Saudi Arabia, reports Pavan Kulkarni.

France defends pensions

Racism and Islamophobia will be the key options for French president Emmanuel Macron’s new Right as it attempts to undermine the class unity shown in the movement opposing attacks on pensions, writes John Mullens.

mountain_of_dogfish

For the first time that scientists can recall, sea surface temperatures that always recede from annual peaks are failing to do so, staying high, reports Robert Hunziker.

Peter Boyle interviewed well-known Thai dissident and scholar Pavin Chachavalpongpun on the outcome of the May 14 general election in Thailand.

Grasberg mine West Papua

Grasberg mine — the largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine in the world — is central to the story of West Papua’s colonisation, writes Leo Earle.

Culture

Tongerlongeter

In Tongerlongeter: First Nations Leader and Tasmanian war hero, historians Henry Reynolds and Nicolas Clements revive the history of Tasmania's First Nations peoples' resistance to invasion and colonisation. Alex Salmon reviews.

beach

Poetry by Jepke Goudsmit.

Protest albums from May 2023

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

Scenes from the Climate Era

Belvoir St Theatre's Artistic Director Eamon Flack on telling the stories and imagining the realities of climate change.

Cover images of 'Years of Rage' and 'An Orgy of Thieves'

Maree F Roberts reviews two books that "illuminate the integrated structure of capital and politics, specifically the roll-call of personnel that constitute the co-conspirators in the 'redistribution' of wealth away from those who produce it".