Around 250 people gathered on September 23 to voice their anger at the ongoing occupation of Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon by the imperialist coalition of the killing. A letter to the crowd on behalf of Jack Thomass family said: If Jack had not been targeted it would be someone else. This is why solidarity with the Muslim community is so important right now. The rally marched to Trades Hall, where a fundraiser for Doctors for Iraq and Human Appeal International was held later that afternoon.
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Academics may be given limited access to books banned under anti-terrorism laws, federal attorney-general Philip Ruddock said on October 2. His comments came after University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Glyn Davis wrote to Ruddock seeking clarification on the laws.
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Nelson Davila, Venezuelas charge daffaires in Australia, addressed a 100-strong meeting on September 22 organised by the Socialist Alliance and the Lebanese Communist Party in Australia (LCPA), held at the Lebanese Cultural Centre in Brunswick.
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On September 23, Jayme Magana, a young activist in El Salvadors Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, addressed a community meeting about the oppressive conditions in El Salvador. A short documentary by Salvador Castro about political struggles in the country was also shown.
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Fed up with Australia Post’s cuts to country jobs and services, country postal workers and supporters protested outside Australia Post’s Melbourne headquarters on October 6.
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Melbourne-based human rights group Civil Union Action! held a snap action on October 6 outside the Victorian ALP headquarters to denounce Premier Steve Bracks' confirmation that the state government opposes civil unions for same-sex couples. The Labor government has ruled out a debate before the November 25 state election on independent MP Andrew Olexander's civil unions bill.
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Workers at the Tronics factory in Thomastown voted to return to work on October 6 after management agreed to an 11.5% pay rise over three years, maintenance of existing conditions and an acceptable disputes-settling procedure. During the preceding three weeks the workers had taken strike action for a total of eight full days and three half days.
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The third annual national gathering of the Australian Coalition of West Papua Support Groups on September 16-17 affirmed the right of the people of West Papua to self-determination and decolonisation.
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MELBOURNE — On October 5, 80 people from a range of trade unions protested outside the new Australian Industrial Relations Commission headquarters in Exhibition Street. The opening was attended by federal workplace relations minister Kevin Andrews. Protest organiser Dave Kerin from Union Solidarity told the rally that workers will fight the Howard government’s unfair laws all the way, and that bad laws needed to be broken.
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RMIT University academic Robert Austin is facing the sack for rescheduling classes on August 10 so that students could attend a protest against the government’s “voluntary student unionism” (VSU) legislation.
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On August 19, young environmental activists led a different sort of demonstration against global warming. Juliana Qian and Lachlan Campbell-Type, with a small group of supporters, thanked commuters at train stations for using public transport.
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At its August 24 executive meeting, the Australian Council of Trade Unions decided to postpone the planned national day of action against the federal government's anti-union laws to November 15.