One quarter of a million people are trapped between a concentration camp and a war zone, said Nish Vivekananthan, a young Tamil speaking on the current situation in Sri Lanka, at a public meeting on February 19 in Footscray.
Issue 784
News
In minutes released of its February 17 board meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia flags that its cuts to official interest rates may slow. It seems that the financial gurus at the RBA are unhappy that their cuts to interest rates (passed on only in part by the banks to home-buyers, and even less to credit-card debtors), have failed to stimulate enough spending.
Resistance members set up an Israeli military checkpoint outside Flinders Street train station to call on the state government to not renew Connexs contract to run Melbournes train system.
One month after 400 people entered an Upper Florentine exclusion zone to protest against the logging of old-growth forests in Tasmania on January 18, charges of trespass have been laid against 11 people.
Telstra workers, members of the Communications Plumbing and Electrical Union and the Community and Public Sector Union, took 24-hour strike actions nationally (except Victoria on account of the recent bushfire tragedy) on February 9.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) plans to shed thousands of full-time jobs and drastically increase outsourcing in areas including debt collection, tax refund management and business activity statements as part of a new efficiency drive, according to the February 13 Australian Financial Review.
SYDNEY— After a week of morning community assemblies at Circular Quay, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has won a collective agreement with the private operators of the new fast ferry service to Manly.
Such is the outrage caused by Israels latest attack on Gaza in December-January that even some local governments in New South Wales have passed, or are considering, motions condemning the attack and calling on the Australian government to ban the sale of any military material to Israel.
On February 13, more than 100 people rallied outside the Moorabool Street 7-Eleven in the heart of Geelong, Victoria.
Analysis
As the world economy spirals down into its deepest crisis since the great depression, the writings of Karl Marx have made a return to the top seller lists in bookstores. In his native Germany, the sales of Marx’s works have trebled.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on February 18 showed that retail sales increased by 0.8% (seasonally adjusted) in the December quarter.
The key United Nations report used as the basis for climate change policies in many countries, including Australia, seriously underestimated the dangers of global warming, one of its leading compilers has warned.
On February 13, Australian troops killed five children and injured at least two other adult civilians in a night-time “operation” in Afghanistan’s southern Oruzgan province.
Warrick Jordan is a member of the Huon Valley Environment Centre in Tasmania and is one of the Triabunna 13 (13 forest activists being sued by logging giant Gunns' Ltd). Jordan spoke to Green Left Weekly’s Susan Austin about his activities and the relationship between forests and climate change.
Looking back at the growth of the climate movement, it is clear we have made significant progress.
Federal Labor’s proposed internet filtering policy is an attack on freedom of speech and needs to be stopped.
The following statement is by Yingiya Guyula, a Yolngu man from North East Arnhem Land. His family is based in Millinginbi and Gapuwiyak.
Flag raising ceremonies will mark the 33rd anniversary of the Saharawi Republic in most states for the first time in Australia, as a gesture of solidarity and friendship with the people of Western Sahara.
The following letter was endorsed by 300 participants at a public meeting in Sydney on February 6 and sent to federal ministers and Labor backbenchers.
The federal government’s $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan stimulus package passed the senate on February 13 with the support of the Greens, Family First Senator Steve Fielding and independent Nick Xenophon.
World
The latest brutal attacks on Gaza have had a perverse effect on Israeli politics. Extreme right wing political parties have gained greater support in the recent Israeli elections.
On February 9, 40 students from Glasgow University occupied its computer science research building. This was just one in a series of university occupations by students across Britain — involving as many as 24 campuses at one point — in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Five children were shot dead by Australian troops on February 12, near the village of Sarmorghab in Oruzgan province.
The health of Zimbabwean human rights activist Jestina Mukoko has deteriorated as she enters her third month in jail.
For us there is no valid definition of socialism other than the abolition of the exploitation of one human being by another, insisted Argentinean-born revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara at the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria, 1965.
The article below is a statement released on February 16 by the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) in France on the situation in the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, which are still French-run colonies (French Antilles). It is reprinted from http://monthlyreview.org/mrzine.
World food production will decrease by as much as 25% by 2050 due to “environmental breakdowns” associated with climate change, according to the United Nations.
After the June 27, 2008 putsch by Robert Mugabe, signs were always there that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were headed for surrender. It officially happened on January 30 when the party hoisted a white flag on top of its Harvest House headquarters.
Published below is a statement initiated by young Tamil Australians for Australian citizens add their name to in order to protest against the brutal and genocidal war being waged by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) against the Tamil people.
The article below is an abridged editorial published by the US Socialist Worker on February 18. Visit http://www.socialistworker.org.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and others on the Italian right have had much to say recently about various medical matters.
Today we opened wide the gates of the future
Truth against lies [and] the dignity of the homeland has triumphed, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insisted to tens of thousands of celebrating supporters after Venezuelans voted to amend the constitution to end term limits on all elected politicians allowing Chavez to stand for re-election in 2012.
If the gloomy predictions are to be believed, this crisis of capitalism will potentially prove worse than that of the 1930s Great Depression.
Culture
Belching Out the Devil: global adventures with Coca-Cola
By Mark Thomas
Ebury Press, 2008
363 pages, $34.95 (pb)
By Mark Thomas
Ebury Press, 2008
363 pages, $34.95 (pb)
The Last Albatross
By Ian Irvine
Simon & Schuster, 2008
383pages, $29.95
By Ian Irvine
Simon & Schuster, 2008
383pages, $29.95
The Challenge and Burden of Historical Time: Socialism in the Twenty-First Century
By Istvan Meszaros
Monthly Review Press, 2008
480 pages, $59.49
By Istvan Meszaros
Monthly Review Press, 2008
480 pages, $59.49
Message Stick: Voices From The Cape — Documents the "Community Prophet" approach to engaging young Indigenous people from the at-risk community of Aurukun, inspiring them to use their voices again using film. ABC, Friday, February 27,
Editorial
Less than a year ago, it was widely held among mainstream economists that the world economy was doing fine, and that, in the face of any eventual problems, Australia would be secure.
General
The 22 November 2008 edition of the Green Left Weekly (GLW #776) contained an article written by Margarita Windisch entitled ALP, media targets militant ETU unionist.
Resistance!
Its no secret that students are increasingly working late shifts after school to get by.
From December 2008 to January 2009, activists travelled to Cuba for the Southern Cross Solidarity Brigade from Australia and New Zealand, organised by the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society.
Resistance member Ash Pemberton was in Cuba for the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution. He spoke to Green Left Weekly’s Jay Fletcher.From December 2008 to January 2009, activists travelled to Cuba for the Southern Cross Solidarity Brigade from Australia and New Zealand, organised by the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society.