News

  • Sick Afghan boy to be 'deported'

    In a July 29 media release, the refugee rights group Project SafeCom condemned the immigration department's decision to order a sick nine-year-old Afghan boy living in community detention in Brisbane to be relocated to the detention facility on

  • Community picket takes on Australia Post

    Amanda Zivcic, Melbourne On January 25 and 27, Union Solidarity organised a community picket outside the Fitzroy Postal Delivery Centre. The picket was called in solidarity with shop steward Peter Vining, who was sacked last year. "Peter was

  • Union win on AWAs at Ballarat Uni

    Sue Bull, Geelong On July 5, unionists at the University of Ballarat voted to accept a new collective agreement. The agreement is the result of a long fight led by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) against the university and the

  • No justice, no peace!

    Brianna Pike & Norman Brewer, Sydney Aboriginal residents of the Redfern Block and anti-racist activists have rallied to defend the block, and oppose police brutality. On February 16, an impromptu public speak-out was held on the block. About 200

  • Construction union under attack

    Sarah Smith, Perth The WA branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has come under increasing attack since the federal Coalition government's Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act was passed in September.

  • Act passed to impose nuke dump

    Justin Tutty, Darwin The Radioactive Waste Management Act was passed by federal parliament on December 8 after debate was postponed to allow 20 days for an inquiry into the legislation. The inquiry was uncommonly brief — it failed to visit the

  • Edith Cowan University wins queer space

    John Vidovich & Rachel Evans After campaigning for over a year, queer students at Western Australia's Edith Cowan University (ECU) have finally won a space for the use of queer students, — as exists on most campuses. "Women's and indigenous

  • Public servants reject 3% wage-rise cap

    Bryan Sketchley, Melbourne The Victorian Labor government has offered its 25,000 public servants a pay cut (in real terms), and a reduction in working conditions, in the current round of enterprise bargaining. By scrimping on public servants'

  • 800 attend civil liberties rally

    Kamala Emanuel, Hobart "No police state" and "No to Howard's terror laws" were the mobilising slogans of a civil liberties rally held on November 12 and attended by 800 people. Organised by the Tasmanian Council of Civil Liberties, the rally was

  • Students stop defence department meeting

    Simon Cunich, Sydney Students inflicted a small blow to the Australian military machine on July 18 when they stopped a department of defence briefing at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). The defence department was on campus to promote

  • Peace activist found not guilty

    BRISBANE — After two months of deliberation, Brisbane magistrate Kerry McGuiness found Jim Dowling, a long-time peace activist and member of the Catholic Worker group, not guilty on June 1 on a charge of obstructing police when they arrested him

  • WA Labor's new workers compensation laws

    On January 29, John Kobelke, minister for Consumer and Employment Protection, released Restoring Fairness, Balance and Certainty: Workers' Compensation Reforms. The document's introduction states that it is the final stage of checking before the legislation is submitted to parliament.