Analysis

In May, visiting US ecologist Bill McKibben spoke at a packed forum at the University of Sydney. He put a compelling case for emergency action on climate change. In short, we must act now and act decisively. Otherwise the planet will become uninhabitable.

“I would have been concerned if it was a dog or some other animal who died in those conditions, but since it was only a black-fella …”

The Rudd government will send a 40-member delegation, led by deputy prime minister Julia Gillard, to an “Australia Israel Leadership Forum” in Jerusalem on June 25-26. The government’s decision is yet further confirmation of its desire to outdo the former Howard government in blind support for Israel.

At first glance, the climate change policy decided at the June 2-4 Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) national congress looks serious. Global warming is “the policy challenge of our time”, it declares.

“Say it loud, say it clear! Racists are not welcome here!” chanted protesters at the steps of Federation Square in Melbourne on June 10.

The morning air is crisp and the smoky air wafts over the strike camp in the shadow of the imposing Hazelwood power station in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley. We receive a warm, country welcome from two emergency services officers (ESOs), Mick and Brian.

More than 200 people packed into the Brisbane city hall on June 1 for a public forum on why individual rights in Australia needed to be enshrined in a Human Rights Act.

The June 2-4 Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) congress passed a series of motions calling on the federal government to abandon plans to build a radioactive waste dump in the Northern Territory.

With more than 20,000 extra US soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan, a member of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) argues that eight years of foreign occupation has made life worse for ordinary Afghans.

Marion Scrymgour — the highest ranking Aboriginal member of any government in Australia — quit the Northern Territory Labor Party over its Aboriginal policy on June 4. As an independent, she now holds the balance of power.

Three months after wining a state election, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has been given the green light by the June 6-7 ALP state conference to push ahead with her $15 billion sell-off of state-owned assets.

On the morning of May 31, international students in Melbourne began a powerful protest against the recent street violence that has targeted South Asian international students in particular.