About 1500 people joined an Occupy Sydney rally at Town Hall on November 5, making it the largest of the three Occupy Sydney marches so far. Members of the Maritime Union of Australia and other unions filled out the crowd.

Noam Chomsky, in Sydney winning the 2011 Sydney Peace Prize, spoke at the #OccupySydney meeting to inspire and continue the campaign against neo-liberalism.

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW released the statement below on November 4. * * * The Nature Conservation Council of NSW is calling on the federal government to commission its own modelling of the carbon pollution from coal seam gas exploration and production rather than relying on claims made by industry. “We in Australia have vitally important decisions to make over coming months about our own transition to a clean energy economy and the part we play in global carbon emissions,” Chief Executive Officer Pepe Clarke said today.

The next “Freedom Wave” to Gaza is on its way. Sydney based youth worker Michael Coleman joins delegates from several countries on the Canadian boat Tahrir as it sets sail for Gaza.

EMERGENCY OCCUPY SYDNEY PROTEST AT THE SUPREME COURT Defend our right to protest! The NSW police are taking Occupy Sydney organisers to the Supreme Court on November 4 to try to ban our planned march through the Sydney CBD.

Another horrific tragedy has struck a group of refugees taking the final-resort option of boarding an unseaworthy boat to try to reach Australia in search of asylum.

The Stop the War Coalition Sydney, Stand Fast and Peacebus.com released the statement below on November 1. * * * Prime Minister Julia Gillard has urged Australians not to be overly concerned about the incident that left three Australian soldiers dead and five wounded in Afghanistan on October 29.

The NSW Nature Conservation Council held it's annual Environment Awards on October 29. The awards celebrate and acknowledge the inspiring contributions made by environmental groups and individuals over the past year.

The statement below has been officially endorsed by the general assemblies of Occupy Brisbane, Occupy Melbourne and Occupy Sydney. Read more coverage on the Occupy movement here. * * *

“It’s great to see the sense of coming together shown in your camp here,” Murri community leader Sam Watson told a gathering of about 40 people at the Occupy Brisbane camp at Post Office Square on October 29. Watson spoke at a special forum as Occupy Brisbane entered its third week at the square. The work of the camp has continued to develop and expand, as up to 40 tents now occupy the park, and an “OccuLibrary” has been added to the “OccuPlay” childcare tent. General assemblies are held every evening to discuss issues facing the occupation.

The second Sunday forum of the Free University of Occupied Brisbane discussed “creative forms of protest” on October 30 in Post Office Square. Phil Monsour from Justice for Palestine talked about the boycott divestment and sanctions campaign against apartheid Israel.