News

  • 'I feel ashamed to be Australian'

    "I feel ashamed to be Australian", is the most frequently appearing comment on the online petition calling for a royal commission into the Australian government's treatment of refugees. More than 7000 people have signed on to the

  • Bulldozers thwarted for now at Sandon Point

    WOLLONGONG — Residents of Sandon Point, near Thirroul, the controversial site of a proposed upmarket housing development by Stocklands Constructions, were woken by the roar of bulldozers at 5am on February 12. Immediately "phone

  • Urgent message for NSW Socialist Alliance members

    If you have received a letter from the NSW State Electoral Office in the last six weeks requesting confirmation of your membership of Socialist Alliance, please reply NOW! To succeed, the alliance's application for electoral registration in NSW

  • Socialists excluded from Sydney Palm Sunday Committee

    On February 5, I attended a meeting of Sydney's Palm Sunday Committee on behalf of the Free the Refugees Campaign (FRC). I had received an email that day from Labor for Refugees co-convenor Amanda Tattersall that explained, "there

  • 500 rally for refugees

    BYRON BAY — People power hit the streets on February 14 when 500 people defied the rain to march for refugees' rights. It was by far the largest pro-refugee action ever held in northern NSW. Protesters chanted, "Freedom not

  • Shadow minister for racism speaks

    MELBOURNE — Julia Gillard, Labor's shadow minister for immigration and ethnic affairs, told a February 6 public meeting attended by more than 200 people that she was "not ashamed of the decisions Labor took in the run up to the

  • Loose cannons

    Sorry "I'm sorry that we didn't liquidate him." — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat. Embarrassed "He can't leave his home. He is so embarrassed about this." — Tom Skilling on his brother,

  • Qantas workers avert lockout

    SYDNEY — The two main unions covering Qantas maintenance workers, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the Australian Workers Union (AWU), won a small victory on February 4 when they forced Qantas to stop

  • Activist denied visa for stepfather's funeral

    Peter Tatchell, renowned for his fight for gay liberation and human rights, has been denied a visa to Australia. The debacle has prevented him from attending his stepfather's funeral. He was refused entry despite repeated requests

  • Students to protest for refugees' rights

    BRISBANE — Young people will vote with their feet against the Coalition government's racist and inhumane policy of mandatory detention of refugees. In Brisbane, Geelong and Sydney high school students from the socialist youth

  • Proposed Asia Pacific Social Forum

    SYDNEY — Following the success of the second World Social Forum at Porto Alegre, Brazil, activists will meet at the second Asia Pacific International Solidarity Conference to discuss the formation of a regional social forum. The

  • Trades Hall backs refugees

    GEELONG — At its February 5 meeting, the executive of Geelong's Trades Hall Council recommended to affiliated unions that they call for a more humane approach to the treatment of refugees than that pursued by the federal Coalition