News

BY OWAIN LEWIS-JONES& RUTH RATCLIFFE DARWIN — At a public meeting on February 5, addressed by activists from the Refugee Freedom Bus, a range of groups and individuals decided to form a Refugee Action Network (RAN). The first meeting was

Just behaves like one "I do not feel like a dill." — Australian Defence Force chief Admiral Chris Barrie, speaking at a February 27 press conference at which he finally acknowledged what all his subordinates had been telling him for more than

PERTH — Four hundred people marched through Perth city centre on March 2 demanding the closure of all refugee detention centres. Organised by a broad organising committee initiated by the Refugee Rights Action Network, the

SYDNEY — Police arrested four student activists on February 28 during the University of Sydney's orientation week. The four arrested had joined around a dozen others in an anti-Liberal sing-along next to the Liberal student club

BRISBANE — The government's so-called "anti-terrorism bill" will massively strengthen the powers of the Australian security Intelligence Agency (ASIO), Ross Daniels, Amnesty International activist and lecturer at Queensland

SYDNEY — Sister Susan Connolly has counted 22 lies about refugees that have been spread by the federal government, she told the "People vs Philip Ruddock" public meeting held in Granville Town Hall on February 20. Organised by

LISMORE — The refugee solidarity movement in the Northern Rivers region has grown rapidly. Around 400 people attended pro-refugee meetings in the space of four days. The February 15 launch of the Lismore chapter of

SYDNEY — "How many more lies do we have to endure until the refugees are free?", Free the Refugees Campaign's (FRC) Paul Benedek, the 300 people who rallied outside the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre on February 22. "No more!",

DARWIN — "Resistance called this high school walkout to demonstrate our anger at the federal government's treatment of the world's most desperate people", Resistance organiser Chris Atkinson told Green Left Weekly. Students from

MELBOURNE — Fifty people attended a Socialist Alliance barbeque in Northcote's Jika Jika Community Centre on February 16 to launch the alliance's election campaign for the Darebin council. The Socialist Alliance is standing

MELBOURNE — May 1 is set to become "no-war May Day" after the February 5 meeting of the M1 Alliance. Adopting a call to action, the alliance is planning protests based around three slogans: no war on refugees; no war on the

SYDNEY — On February 22, the NSW Socialist Alliance surmounted the final legal barrier to having its name printed next to its candidates on ballot papers in the 2003 state elections. The barriers were erected by the NSW