Rachel Evans, Sydney
On July 17, 60 environmentalists heckled PM John Howard at Sydney's Convention and Exhibition Centre where he told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia conference that Australia was to become "an energy
Issue 676
News
Graham Matthews, Sydney
On July 18, NSW police minister Carl Scully, accompanied by assistant police commissioner Graeme Morgan, held a media conference to announce the final results of strike force Enoggera — the police task force charged with
In the wake of the sacking of 1000 warehouse workers in Sydney and Melbourne by Coles, the company has further betrayed those sacked. After suggesting that positions would be available for those workers wanting to be redeployed, it announced on July
Pip Hinman
"The Australian government is not doing enough to rescue my wife and children", Rami Abdallah said on July 20 as he was about to leave Sydney for Beruit. "I am involved in my local community, I have given my all to Australia, yet the
Alex Bainbridge
Central Sydney was filled with throngs of people — many from the Lebanese and Palestinian communities — as 20,000 people marched on July 22 to protest the bitter injustice of Israel's latest offensive against Lebanon and
Simon Cunich, Sydney
Students inflicted a small blow to the Australian military machine on July 18 when they stopped a department of defence briefing at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
The defence department was on campus to promote
MELBOURNE — Engineers cannot ignore the social impact of their work and must take responsibility for it, Monash University professor Don Schauder told 45 engineers and others attending the first Australian meeting of the Society on the Social
CANBERRA — As part of their "Clean start for cleaners" campaign, members of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union marched through the streets on July 20 before occupying the lobby of a major building owned by the Deutsche Bank group.
Peter Boyle
I'll tell you all the news.I lived in a suburb,a suburb of Madrid, with bells,and clocks, and trees ...And one morning all that was burning,one morning the bonfiresleapt out of the earthdevouring human beings —and from then on
Fred Fuentes
Several hundred participants in this year's Students of Sustainability conference marched through the streets of central Brisbane on July 14 to celebrate the conclusion of the conference.
The marchers raised awareness of some of the
The National Union of Workers has condemned a decision by Nestle to shed 44 jobs — one-third of its work force — at the Purina PetCare factory in the small central-western NSW town of Blayney.
NUW state secretary Derrick Belan said on July 20
Ben Edwards, Sydney
People in eight cities and towns across Australia are taking action to protest against the federal ban on same-sex marriage, which was passed with Coalition and Labor party support on August 13, 2004.
The Australian government
In GLW issue #675 an article incorrectly referred to Ali Kazak as the head of the Palestinian delegation in Canberra. He no longer holds this position.From Green Left Weekly, July 26, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.
SYDNEY — A website exposing lazy politicians was launched on July 19 at the Penrith campus of the University of Western Sydney by Big Brother's Tim Brunero.
The first target of the site, <http://www.lazypolliewatch.com>, is federal MP
Mel Hughes, Sydney
This year's Queer Collaborations (QC) conference, held at the University of New South Wales on July 3-7, was attended by 250 people, most of them university students.
The conference — Australia's largest national forum for
Emma Brown, Melbourne
On July 18, 65 people who attended a public meeting organised by the Victorian Peace Network heard a firsthand account of recent events in Lebanon and Palestine from Dr Bernard Sabella, a recently elected Fatah member of the
The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU) is mounting a legal challenge to laws that require employers to dock the pay of workers who take part in "unauthorised" industrial action, according to the July 17 Age.
Under new workplace
Sue Bolton, Melbourne
Back in March, federal finance minister Nick Minchin was sprung telling the right-wing HR Nicholls Society that the federal government had plans to introduce further changes to industrial relations laws after the next federal
Annolies Truman, Perth
Cuban and Australian unionists pledged to step up mutual solidarity at a public meeting on July 15 with Gilda Chacon, head of the international section (Asia-Pacific Region) of the Cuban Federation of Workers.
Chacon, who
World
Gilda Chacon, head of the international section (Asia-Pacific Region) of the Cuban Federation of Workers (CTC) and a member of the Cuban parliament, is touring Australia at the invitation of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union
Zoe Kenny
The Didipio community in the province of Nueva Vizcaya on Luzon, the Philippines' largest island, is campaigning against a proposed gold and copper mine that could have a devastating impact on the area. Green Left Weekly spoke to JP
Eva Cheng
After suffering vicious cuts in real wages over the last decade, Bangladeshi garment workers' incomes have been further squeezed since January 2005 when the three-decade-old international Multi-Fibre Agreement expired, exposing textile
Following a June 12 protest for women's rights in Tehran that was brutally attacked by police, Green Left Weekly spoke to an Iranian feminist, Roshan (not her real name), about the situation facing women in Iran and the battle for women's rights.
Ruth Riordan, Istanbul
Twenty-four women have been sentenced to 12 months' jail each after being found guilty of voicing "separatist propaganda". The women, aged between 40 and 75 years, are members of the Peace Mothers initiative, which has worked
Michael Karadjis
Israel and its apologists claim that Israel's brutal terrorisation of the Lebanese people is an act of self-defence following a cross-border raid by the Lebanese organisation Hezbollah, which captured two Israeli soldiers. However,
Twenty-three years ago, in late July 1983, Sri Lanka's Tamils were terrorised by angry mobs murdering, maiming and burning their homes in an orgy of violence unparalleled in the island's history. This article is published courtesy of Eelamurasu.
Jose Pertierra
Cuba calls the shots; and Venezuela pays the bills. That is the major premise underlying the report made public on July 10 by the US State Department concerning Cuba. Its findings are as much about the Bush administration's plans for
On July 2, Bolivia held historic elections for representatives to a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the constitution, fulfilling what has long been a key demand of Bolivia's indigenous poor and social movements. President Evo Morales and his party,
Doug Lorimer
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters in Tehran on July 16 that his government considers the package of proposals presented to it on June 6 by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana an
TEL AVIV — Thousands of Israelis rallied on July 22, demanding an end to Israel's war on Lebanon and calling for an immediate ceasefire. According to the Palestinian News Agency, protesters urged Israeli soldiers not to fight in Lebanon, chanting
Kerryn Williams
Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez condemned Israel's bombing of Lebanon, commenting that "They are bombing entire cities, it is a true genocide. Where will this madness end?", according to a July 21 VHeadline.com report.
Dale T. McKinley, Johannesburg
The alliance is dead! Long live the alliance! That about sums up the politics of the organisational marriage between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of
Doug Lorimer
On July 14, General Peter Schoomaker, the US Army's chief of staff, told a luncheon in Washington sponsored by the Defense Forum Foundation that the US was in for a prolonged war against Iraqi anti-occupation guerrillas, now in its
Jim McIlroy& Coral Wynter, Caracas
Opening the new Line 4 of the Caracas Metro system on July 18, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared a vision for a "new Caracas", with major developments in the rail, road and urban planning areas. Chavez was
James Balowski, Jakarta
Less than two weeks after the House of Representatives passed the Aceh governance bill — which the government says will pave the way for greater autonomy in Indonesia's northern-most province — on June 21, the Aceh
Culture
The Power of Community, How Cuba Survived Peak OilDVD and VHS, 53 minutes$US20, Available from <http://www.communitysolution.org>
REVIEW BY BARRY HEALY
"Peak oil", the notion that the world's supply of oil is entering a period of ever
Into the Buzzsaw: Leading journalists expose the myth of a free pressEdited by Kristina BorjessonPrometheus, 2004453 pages
REVIEW BY SIMON TAYLER
"I have sympathy for friends who work in the corporate media. It's a terrible burden to be setting
A People's History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of FreedomBy David WilliamsThe New Press, 2005594 pages, $51 (hb)
REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON
"What class has most interest in the war and has made the most money by it, and sacrificed the
Message Stick : Life And Death Of The Murray — Looks at the views the traditional owners who share the Murray River have on the health and the future of the river. ABC, Friday, July 28, 6pm.
Israel's Generals: Ariel Sharon — Sharon's path is
Editorial
On July 17 PM John Howard, in an address to the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) at the Sydney Convention Centre, outlined his "vision" for Australia's energy future. "As an efficient, reliable supplier, Australia has a