News

MELBOURNE — Fifty people attended a "Noise for Darfur" rally on September 18 to call for an end to the war in Sudan. Since 2003, thousands of people have been killed and millions have been displaced by the fighting. The rally was organised by the

Sarah Stephen Conceding the situation in the war-torn country was not "settling down", immigration minister Amanda Vanstone announced on April 10 that the government would lift the freeze on processing asylum applications from Iraqis on three-year

SYDNEY — On March 20, the NSW Refugee Action Coalition held a forum about the 151 Chinese asylum seekers (of 245 detainees) being held in Villawood detention centre. Speakers included Mark Goudkamp from RAC NSW; Chin Jin from the Federation for a

The International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) is taking urgent action in support of its affiliate, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), in its fight to stop the James Hardie asbestos corporation depriving its former workers of

Reject an Iraq run by... "The enemy in Iraq is a combination of rejectionists, Saddamists and terrorists. The rejectionists are by far the largest group. These are ordinary Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs, who ... reject an Iraq in which they are no

Expert opinion I "I think the marines will enjoy working in Fallujah. But they'll be bloodied." — Lieutenant Colonel Brian Drinkwine, commander of US Army's 700-member 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, speaking to reporters after the March 24

Aaron Benedek& Susan Mullan, Sydney At very short notice, 20 refugee supporters, including Merlin Luck from Channel Ten's Big Brother program, rallied on July 14 to protest the forced transfers of asylum seekers from Sydney's Villawood detention

SYDNEY — The NSW Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA), representing the state's 70,000 rural firefighters, said it will campaign to retain the existing award protection for volunteer rural firefighters, which may be under threat from the federal

Alison Thorne Activists in the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) are mobilising to back a number of proposals to go before the union's 26-28 March National Council. Most motions were developed by activists from around the country aligned

PERTH — As part of this year's Pride Parade, held on October 29, the Cross-Campus Queer Network, the Western Australian network for queer university students, put together a parade float opposing the Howard government's anti-student union and

HOBART — More than 10,000 people marched to save Tasmania's forests on March 13. It was the largest pro-environment mobilisation in Tasmania for more than 15 years. A full report will appear in the next issue of Green Left Weekly. From Green

WOLLONGONG — With only a few days' notice, 700 people protested PM John Howard's visit on October 18, when he opened the office of a local Liberal MP. The South Coast Labor Council coordinated the action and contingents from many unions