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Socialist Alliance briefs Speakout supports refugee rights BRISBANE - A speakout on the steps of King George Square on September 14 condemned the federal government's scapegoating of refugees and called for public support for refugees in

MELBOURNE — The Socialist Alliance campaign for the federal seat of Batman kicked off on September 8 with a demonstration demanding that the federal government accept the Tampa refugees. The demonstration, held at the Preston

Market law "[W]hat we are now seeing shows what can happen when commercial imperatives rule: a law of the jungle in which consumers gain lower prices during the battle, but the strongest player emerges dominant." — Melbourne Age economics editor

BY LUKE FORMIATTI & SIMON BUTLER BRISBANE — The Labor-controlled University of Queensland Student Union has taken drastic action to prevent students from organising against the US war drive. After the University of Queensland Socialist Worker

SYDNEY - "Open the borders", "Refugees are welcome" and "Close the camps" were just some of the slogans that resounded through the city on September 9. More than 1500 people marched from Town Hall to Prime Minister John Howard's office to protest

Secondary students across the country took action in protest at the government's handling of the refugee crisis on the MS Tampa, taking part in school walkouts and rallies organised by the socialist youth group, Resistance. In

SYDNEY — Supporters of the Penrith Women's Health Centre and the Warehouse handed out leaflets around the Penrith shops, in Sydney's far-west, on August 31. The action was part of a state-wide day of action against sexual violence. A tree planting

PERTH — In February, just before it was elected to government in Western Australia, the state ALP promised it would repeal legislation enforcing voluntary student unionism (VSU) within 100 days of being elected. Two months

Build the anti-corporate movement SYDNEY — Students from all over the dispersed Penrith campus of the University of Western Sydney gathered on September 6 to discuss building the anti-corporate movement. Participants left the meeting determined

Environmentally sustainable death "Neither do you want to pollute your own environment, nor do you want to put your own policemen and soldiers at risk." — Professor Thomas Klaptoke of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany,

MELBOURNE — Five hundred people protested on September 2 against a visit by the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia, Janaka Perera. Because of the protest, Perera's meeting was shifted to another venue. Perera, a former

SYDNEY — Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) workers employed on the waterfront here held a stop work meeting on September 6 over concerns about workplace safety and government plans to replace them with casuals.