Sarah Hathway from Socialist Alliance was declared elected to Windermere Ward of the City of Greater Geelong on June 28. Sue Bull reports.
Issue 1384
News
“Trans rights are human rights” hundreds of people chanted as they raised their voices against bigotry. Peter Boyle reports.
Hundreds of Health Services Union members at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital walked off the job in support of their claim for a fair pay rise. Jim McIlroy reports.
Pressure on the City of Greater Geelong not to close libraries and cut services is mounting. Jackie Kris reports.
Whistleblower David McBride and John Shipton, father of jailed journalist Julian Assange, called for his immediate release from Britain’s Belmarsh prison. Renfrey Clarke reports.
Public housing residents and activists gathered on the steps of Victorian Parliament to demand Barak Beacon Estate in Port Melbourne is saved. Jordan AK reports.
Green Left journalist Isaac Nellist is joined by refugee rights activist Chloe as they go through the latest news from Australia and around the world.
Labor’s new cashless welfare bill was supported by the Coalition and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. Isaac Nellist reports.
The family of a man shot in the back by NSW Police, while he was suffering a severe severe psychotic episode, say there must be justice and reforms so that this deos not happen again. Kerry Smith reports.
The Central West Environment Council has called on New South Wales Labor to close production at Newcrest’s Cadia Holdings’ gold mine, near Orange, to protect the community from toxic dust poisoning water tanks. Tracey Carpenter reports.
More than 150 staff and students at the University of Melbourne supported a 24-hour strike over a management plan to fund a staff pay rise from their superannuation. Jordan AK reports.
For the last five days Blockade Australia has been taking coordinated disruptive action across three major ports, to protest Australia’s lack of climate action. Kerry Smith reports.
The Voice to Parliament bill has passed and Australians will vote on enshrining a Voice in the Constitution in the next six months. Pip Hinman reports.
The Community and Public Sector Union has stepped up its campaign to restore the Commonwealth Employment Service, which was abolished in 1998. Jim McIlroy reports.
Green Left journalist Isaac Nellist is joined by refugee rights activist Chloe DS as they go through the latest news from Australia and around the world.
The No New Gas Coalition is against Northern Territory Labor’s decision to frack the Beetaloo Basin and set up a new gas hub at Middle Arm. Kerry Smith reports.
A support crowd formed a “wall of gay” outside the Maylands Library to support drag story hour and counter the handful of bigots. Petrina Harley reports.
Sydney Road was blocked by campaigners calling for accessible tram stops before any more level crossing removal works are undertaken on the Upfield line. Darren Saffin reports.
Public housing tenants were emotional as they told a rally they did not want be removed from their homes of several decades. Jim McIlroy reports.
Analysis
The Greens leadership is wrong to focus on getting more MPs and that its someone else’s job to do the “street heat” it knows is needed, argues Sam Wainwright. The changes we urgently need will only come from sustained extra-parliamentary mobilisations.
Daniel Ellsberg revealed last December that he had been the WikiLeaks “backup” for releasing the documents that were eventually published in 2010. Binoy Kampmark reports on his conversion to whistleblower and support for Julian Assange.
The Greens have shown that Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund bill would not guarantee funding for public, social and affordable housing nor would it tackle out-of-control rent rises. Alex Bainbridge reports.
Isaac Nellist argues that rent controls have been used around the world to deal with skyrocketing rents.
Budget measures to raise the tax on tobacco products are supposedly about “harm minimisation” and discouraging smoking when it’s another attack on the poor. Isaac Nellist reports.
I am not a NIMBY: I am not against progress. There is room for more housing by repairing and adding to existing public homes. Karyn Brown gave this speech to a public housing rally.
Why all the hype about artificial intelligence? Could chatbots destroy humanity? Ernst Merkenich takes a look at the dangers of misuse, bias and inaccuracy.
Strong, organised people-powered action, not government initiatives, are the reason for the drop in countries using the death penalty. Joel MacKay reports.
Suzanne James talks to investigative journalist Michael West about the PricewaterhouseCoopers secrets-for-sale scandal.
The spectacle of Coalition MPs weaponising Brittany Higgins’ allegation of rape in Parliament House is stomach churning. Pip Hinman reports.
World
Four million low-cost homes were delivered to Venezuelan citizens in April last year as part of a national social housing program, despite attempts by the United States to cripple the country's economy, reports Jim McIlroy.
Green Left spoke to Maysoon Elnigoumi, a member of the Sudanese community in Western Sydney, on June 9, to find out more about the grassroots responses to the humanitarian crisis. Susan Price reports.
At least 16 people were killed, hundreds injured and more than 500 arrested, following three days of protest in Senegal in early June, prompting fears of a further crackdown, reports Leo Earle.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington DC on June 21, reports Malik Miah, receiving a royal welcome despite his right-wing, anti-Muslim and anti-democratic policies.
Turkey — a member of NATO and the Council of Europe — carried out a targeted assassination of local political leaders in North-Eastern Syria, on June 20, reports Sarah Glynn.
Green Left’s Jacob Andrewartha spoke to Aishik Saha, an activist with All India Students Association and a researcher on digital and algorithmic labour, about the development of artificial intelligence under capitalism.
As Pacific communities protest the Japanese government’s plan to dump more than a million tonnes of radioactive waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, Australian anti-nuclear activists highlight the complicity of Australian uranium exporting companies, reports Peter Boyle.
Thousands of troops belonging to the Wagner Private Military Company, a mercenary force linked to the Russian regime, crossed back over the border from Ukraine and marched towards Moscow, on June 23. Russian leftist and former local councillor in Moscow, Alexandr Zamyatin explains why.
Phil Hearse explains how the global climate and migrant crises fuel fascism and war.
Finland and Sweden applied in May last year to join the NATO military alliance. Vijay Prashad looks at why Sweden's membership is being blocked.
Dick Nichols analyses the recent local and regional elections across the Spanish state.
At least 298 passengers who drowned after the Andriana capsized off the Greek coast on June 14 were from Pakistan. Farooq Sulehria looks behind this tragic loss of life.
As Israeli settlements grow throughout the West Bank, incidents involving settlers are at an all-time high, reports Médecins Sans Frontières. With Israeli forces failing to prevent violence and sometimes enabling it, Palestinians are more exposed to brutality than ever.
As Sri Lanka approaches the anniversary of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation in July last year, following a popular uprising, the social struggle continues, reports Janaka Biyanwila.
Culture
Mat Ward looks back at June's political news and the best new music that related to it.
From peasant farms to world history to cities in crisis, Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus presents six important new books for greens and reds.
Bill Nevins interviews Paul Tran, author of the acclaimed poetry collection All the Flowers Kneeling.
Janaka Biyanwila reviews Sand (Munnel in Tamil), directed by Visakesa Chandrasekaram, which screened at the Sydney Film Festival.
Portraits of Protest: The Kangaroo Point 120 is an exhibition featuring photos from the 2020 campaign to free 120 refugees imprisoned in the Kangaroo Point Motel in central Meanjin/Brisbane, reports Alex Bainbridge.