News

#1 FoE criticises carbon forum BRISBANE — On September 14, Friends of the Earth Australia spokesperson Stephanie Long expressed disappointment that the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum being held in Melbourne had delivered nothing new for

Paul Oboohov, Canberra The ACT Labor government, with the support of the Liberal MLAs, rammed a bill through the ACT Legislative Assembly on May 25 to make the Gungahlin Drive extension immune from planning and environmental legislation. The

In an August 15 media release, Gippsland Trades and Labour Council secretary John Parker described the Gippsland Ports proposal to dredge the McLoughlin Channel as irresponsible. The area is prone to contain acid sulfate soils that can cause habitat

Ian Jamieson Following the death of miner Larry Knight and the rescue of two trapped miners 14 days after the April 25 rock fall at the Beaconsfield goldmine in northern Tasmania, on May 22 the state government established a special inquiry to

Well-known Indigenous activist Ray Jackson will run alongside Kylie Moon on the Socialist Alliance ticket for the Senate in NSW. Jackson is the president of the Indigenous Social Justice Association. For more information visit

BRISBANE — Queensland secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Andrew Dettmer was reelected in a postal ballot on May 19. Dettmer, who was endorsed by former Qld secretary Dave Harrison and AMWU national secretary Doug Cameron,

MELBOURNE — On August 19, 200 people attended a Justice for Lebanon and Palestine rally organised by the Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network. Speakers at the rally included Palestinian-Australian activist Nasser Mashani, Aber Chandab from the

Kim White, Sydney On May 6, 500-700 people attended the Rock the Block festival in the inner-city suburb of Redfern, enjoying five hours of Indigenous and non-Indigenous music and films. Money raised by the festival will contribute towards a new

Queensland Rail announces job cuts BRISBANE — Queensland Rail will cut more than 700 jobs from its workforce of 13,500 in the initial stage of a drastic restructure, which follows the loss of a major rail freight contract to private company

Kim Bullimore, Melbourne More than 500 Aboriginal people and supporters rallied outside the Victorian state parliament on May 10 to protest the proposed abolition of ATSIC and cuts to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services. Both the

Jenny Long, Sydney Following two weeks of rolling 24-hour stoppages, cleaners from 100 public schools and TAFE colleges across inner-city Sydney mounted community information pickets at their schools before rallying at the office of NSW education

MELBOURNE — On August 30, a picket line was held at CSR Sugar in the western suburb of Yarraville by Union Solidarity in support of sacked occupational health and safety representative Craig Marshall. A member of the Australian Manufacturing