Analysis

On April 3, the Queensland mines minister Anthony Lynham and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk approved the three mining leases of Indian multinational Adani for the Carmichael coalmine and rail project in the Galilee Basin. Federal approval was granted by federal environment minister Greg Hunt in October.

The fault in the out-of-service Basslink power cable connecting Tasmania to mainland Australia has reportedly been found, and repairs are expected to be completed by June. Meanwhile, a battery of diesel generators has been deployed and a mothballed gas power station re-opened to supplement the state's dwindling hydro-electric dams which are below 14% capacity.

Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance released this statement on April 1. * * * Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance (RYSA) is strongly opposed to the federal government's moves to restrict and gut funding to the Safe Schools Program. The program was designed to counter homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools, and is a vital lifeline for young queer people in Australia.

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, a prominent member of the Aboriginal community of Utopia, said on April 1 that elderly Utopia residents were starving because they were not receiving adequate nutrition from their daily care packages provided by the Barkly Shire Council. “The whole community including children and the elderly go without food, often on a daily basis,” she said in a press release by advocacy group Concerned Australians. "What I saw appalled me, even my dogs are fed a hell of a lot better than old black people are being fed," she told AAP.

Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance released the following statement on April 1. * * * Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance joins with young people around the country in condemning several proposals by the federal government which seek to relocate financial problems of the state onto the backs of young people. The proposal to lower the income at which the government can start to collect study loans from students comes after a Grattan Institute report found that a significant portion of students will never earn an income high enough to repay their debt.

The Socialist Alliance released this statement on April 8. * * * In the wake of the recent demonstrations of thousands of people in Timor-Leste's capital Dili and in other places around that country, the Socialist Alliance joins in support of the Timorese people's demand that the Australian government end its illegal occupation and plunder of Timor's rightful exclusive economic zone.

In a re-run of scenes at Matagarup (Heirisson Island) over the past four years, WA police raided the island camp early on April 5. The Nyoongar camp and and homeless people's refuge in the Swan River was then raided again later in the day and the following morning.

In all the media hype about Malcolm Turnbull's recalling of parliament in April and talk of a double dissolution election, it is easy to lose sight of the “trigger” — the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill (ABCC bill). I recently heard an ABC Radio National commentator talking about the use of the ABCC bill as the trigger.

That the Australian government can find $6 million to fund a film aimed at convincing asylum seekers to not come to Australia and yet cut more than $50 million from Screen Australia speaks volumes about its priorities.

Opponents of Shenhua-Watermark's mega coalmine in the Liverpool Plains in north-western NSW have been given a boost by the Chinese government-owned company's annual report released on March 24, which hinted it may not proceed.

On March 18, a day that was supposed to be the National Day of Action Against Bullying, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced devastating attacks on a crucial anti-bullying program.

The Daily Telegraph exposed the latest example of political correctness gone mad by revealing in a March 30 front page exclusive that the University of New South Wales is teaching students that Australia was “invaded” by Britain and was not actually “discovered” by Captain James Cook.