Gadigal Country/Sydney

About 50 shopping centre cleaners and their supporters rallied on July 13 outside the Westfield head office in Market Street to demand a better deal on pay and conditions. The protesters chanted, “Hey Westfield, listen up! The cleaners are standing up!” and, “What do we want? Clean Start! When do we want it? Now!” They were also protesting an assault on a union organiser at a protest outside the building the previous day.

The Australian Labor government remains committed to big military spending - currently over $80 million per day. Australia's military spending will continue to be the highest regionally and, per capita, second only to the USA, the world's biggest military spender.

Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) members, friends and supporters joined a commemoration at Granville Town Hall on June 30 for five leaders and activists who passed away in recent months. Those remembered were Mohamed Ibrahim Nugud, the SCP general secretary from 1971 until his death; Al Tijani Al Tayeb, founding SCP member and editor of the party’s newspaper for five decades; trade union leader Min Alla Abdel Wahab; popular revolutionary singer and songwriter Mohammed Wardi; and Mohamed Al Hassan Salim Homid, a revolutionary poet.

The Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition released the statement below on June 29. * * * Julian Assange has sought diplomatic sanctuary and political asylum with Ecuador. Why? Because he has finally given up hope that the Australian government will defend him and WikiLeaks from a relentless US-led campaign of intimidation, including:

Teachers and public servants held a lunchtime protest on July 3, 2012 outside the NSW government offices to protest the O'Farrell Liberal-National government's attacks on public education and on public sector jobs. 

The problem of homelessness, high rentals and unlicensed boarding houses in Sydney’s inner west — often though of as one of the wealthier areas of Sydney — is growing, said Paul Adabie, acting director of the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre (NNC). Adabie told Green Left Weekly these acute housing problems faced by the most disadvantaged and vulnerable.

On June 27, tens of thousands of teachers took strike action against moves by Barry O'Farrell's NSW Government to attack public education and outsource 'responsibilities' to principals.

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has reneged on a pre-election promise to refuse access for hunters to NSW national parks, a move that will put parks users in danger and potentially set back feral animal eradication programs. The Coalition government is pushing through changes to the NSW electricity sector, seeking to privatise state-owned generators. Without the numbers to push the privatisation bill through the upper house, O’Farrell back-flipped and supported a bill by the Shooters and Fishers Party.

More than 1000 striking teachers had to watch proceedings outside as teachers packed out Sydney Town Hall (capacity 2000) for a mass stop-work meeting called to discuss the fightback against the NSW government's latest attacks on public education. Those who could not fit in the lower and upper levels of the Town Hall took part in the meeting via video-link from Town Hall Square. Mass meetings were held in 29 other regional centres. They voted to continue the campaign with possible further strikes and mass demonstrations.

Co-editors Jeff Sparrow and Antony Loewenstein discuss their new book with contributors Tad Tietze and Larissa Behrendt at the June 14 launch at Sydney's Gleebooks.

Short version (1.42 min, easier to share): NSW firefighters held their first all-out strike in 56 years on June 21, 2012 to protest attacks on workers compensation rights by the O'Farrell Liberal-National state government. Firefighters sealed off Macquarie Street, Sydney, and hosed down Parliament House.

Churchgoers all over Sydney heard official statements from their denominations on June 17 with a firm and united message: “Marriage is only for heterosexual couples.” I needed to see this for myself, so I and four gay Christian friends summoned our courage and attended the evening service at St Andrew's Cathedral.