Gadigal Country/Sydney

Scuffles broke out in Parramatta mall on May 5 as police and Lord Mayor Tony Issa forcibly shut down a Tamil hunger strike protesting the Sri Lankan government’s genocide of the Tamil people.

Blacktown ALP NSW MP Paul Gibson has openly urged Premier Nathan Rees to make public transport free.

A public meeting on April 21 organised by the Beyond Nuclear Initiative and the Sydney Nuclear Free Coalition, at the University of Sydney, attracted 100 people.

The successful April 18 “Stop the Sell-Offs!” public meeting of the Sydney Power to the People coalition (pictured) gave the campaign against the privatisation of NSW public services a strong boost.

Attendees at the World at a Crossroads conference, held in Sydney on April 10-12, remarked that the conference could not have been better named.

RailCorp NSW has announced that it intends carrying out a staff review at CityRail stations under provisions in the current enterprise bargaining agreement. This could mean massive job cuts, including up to 71 positions at Central station alone, according to the April 7 ABC Online.

The NSW government has decided to pour $5.1 million into the expansion of a rifle range in the state’s Southern Highlands, despite opposition from residents.

Qantas workers at Sydney Airport struck for four hours on March 30. Workers held a mass delegates’ meeting to respond to plans to outsource jobs at Sydney, Launceston and Hobart airports. Baggage handlers, ramp, fleet and catering staff at airports in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth also took industrial action.

More than 3000 workers, organised by the Public Service Association, marched on NSW Parliament House on April 2 to oppose the planned privatisation of the Goulburn and Cessnock jails.

Leader of the International Socialist Organisation Zimbabwea and former MP for Highfield in Harare, Munya Gwisai, along with two representatives of the external relations committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Le Vinh Thu and Le Gia Kien, are the latest additions to the growing international speaker line-up at the World at a Crossroads conference.

The struggle against the privatisation schemes of the NSW government is beginning to revive. On April 2, an angry demonstration of prison officers besieged parliament house, protesting against prison privatisation plans.

New laws have been passed in the NSW parliament that allow police to conduct secret searches of people’s homes, including the examination of computers. The new laws build on anti-terrorism legislation, but the new powers are for crimes as minor as growing a few cannabis plants.