The following appeal for solidarity with the Pakistani peoples struggle for democracy has been initiated by Melbourne civil liberties lawyer Rob Stary.
Analysis
“When Ken Fry came back from a funeral several years ago he complained that one of the speakers ’went on about the bloke as though he was a blessed saint … I hope they don’t go on about me like that when I go …’.”
Labor leader Kevin Rudd and IR spokesperson Julia Gillard have fallen into the trap set for them by PM John Howard. By accepting the need to crack down on unionists in order to make Labor look respectable to big business, Rudd and Gillard have given credibility to the Coalitions witch-hunt about the union threat to the economy.
No housing crisis in la-la land
Writing in the Australian Financial Review, former Labor leader Mark Latham opines that the "housing crisis" is completely manufactured, a creation of people who are having trouble upgrading from two- to three-car
As the federal governments Northern Territory intervention grinds on with an escalating price-tag and concomitant obfuscation from politicians and bureaucrats about its actual implementation, we are beginning to see media reports especially from the rampantly pro-intervention Rupert Murdoch stable of support for the measures from the affected communities. While most of these refer to whitefella bureaucrats or store managers, the most cherished, obviously, have been apparent endorsements from Indigenous people as each new phase is rolled out. Most recently, weve seen the same pattern as welfare quarantining has started to come into effect in some communities.
What about your preferences?
At its November 1 meeting the Socialist Alliance national executive decided its recommendation on preference flows for "above-the-line" voting for the Senate. It also urged all SA House of Representatives campaigns to
The idea that we build something much better than capitalism had been around for generations but, 90 years ago in Russia, for the first time an alliance of workers and peasants made a revolution that was to frame the course of history ever since
In a striking piece of political theatre, on November 5 federal workplace ogre Joe Hockey promised to resign from a re-elected Howard ministry if the government changed Work Choices (significantly). “They can run all the scare campaigns they want”, Hockey said, “but the bottom line is if we are making any substantial changes to our laws, then I will resign.”
Les Malezer, chair of the UN Global Indigenous Caucus, which was responsible for drafting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, spoke to a packed meeting in the Redfern community centre on October 28. Our wealth is that of our Indigenous values: land, culture and spirit, he said. Not in assimilation, not in power, not in dollars, not in telling our people what they should do, or running organisations that do the same. Our wealth is in our lands, territories and resources. And the forced theft of these means that there must be reparation.
The Victorian Socialist Alliances lead candidate for the Senate, Margarita Windisch, gave this speech to the monthly meeting of the Melbourne branch of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).
In the lead up to the federal election, your guide to whats really happening behind the spin of the official campaign.
There is an idea promoted by the ALP, aimed at obfuscating the partys true nature, which is often used by ALP left-wingers to justify their continued allegiance. Its what may be called the generational myth, and it goes like this: previous generations of ALP leaders and membership have always been more progressive, have more clearly seen the light on the hill, and its only the partys current leadership that has sold out.
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