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John Bellamy Foster, the keynote speaker at the upcoming "World At A Crossroads" Climate Change Social Change conference - to be held in Melbourne University and Victoria Trades Hall on September 30-October 3, 2011 - is the co-author (with Fred Magdoff) of a newly published book entitled What every environmentalist needs to know about capitalism.

Sydney Stop The War Coalition held a street-theatre protest in Darling Harbour on July 29 outside a $1000-a-head speaking engagement for former British PM and war criminal Tony Blair. The protesters held a mock trial of Blair, who was charged, tried and convicted of making fraudulent excuses for the invasion of Iraq, the murder of a million Iraqi people, profiting from the proceeds of crime and other crimes against humanity.

To mark the 28th anniversary of the 1983 Black July massacre of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, Australian Tamils held a solidarity rally in Melbourne on July 23. More than 200 Australians assembled at Federation Square to condemn the human rights violations taking place in Sri Lanka and to raise a voice for an international investigation into war crimes by the Sri Lankan government.

An enthusiastic group of community campaigners was chosen to run for the September 3 council elections in Wollongong. About 100 people attended the preselection meeting for Community Voice at Thirroul Community Centre on July 24. CV was formed about a month ago. The process was simple, democratic and transparent — values at the core of CV’s platform. Part of the reason for the formation of CV was to bring a community focus to council, standing against the entrenched corruption of local politics that culminated in the sacking of Wollongong council in 2008.

Ballots on motions authorising industrial action have taken place among members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) in three government departments. In the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Customs Service, more than 80% of voters supported industrial action. However, the number of people that voted in each case fell slightly short of the 50% required for “protected industrial action” under federal industrial laws.

A protest for refugee rights outside the offices of security company Serco, in Coronation Drive, on July 29 called for the end of mandatory detention of asylum seekers and criticised Serco’s management of Australia’s detention centres. More than 40 people attended the protest, which was organised by the Brisbane Refugee Action Collective (RAC).

Members of forest conservation group Code Green held a direct action protest at a woodchip mill at Bell Bay in northern Tasmania on July 29. The protest temporarily shut down the mill, which is owned by logging company Artec. One protester chained herself to a truck loaded with native, old growth logs. Code Green said the action was meant to highlight “the continued destruction of Tasmania’s natural environment, and the government’s unwillingness to create real peace in the forest”.

If you were sexually assaulted by a member of your school sporting team, would you want to cheer for them when they played? Would you expect your school to uphold your rights over those of your attacker? If the school failed to uphold your rights, would you then expect the courts to find in your favour if you sued? The answers to these questions should be obvious, but this is not an exercise in rhetorical questioning.

WikiLeaks editor in chief Julian Assange delivered a video address to a forum at the Splendour in the Grass music festival on July 29. The transcript and video of his speech appears below.

Peacebus.com released the statement below on July 28. * * * Graeme Dunstan (68), the convener of Peace Convergence 2011, will be in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on July 29. He will be facing charges arising from his role in assisting Bryan Law in his “ploughsharing” of a brand new $36 million Australian Army Tiger helicopter at Rockhampton airbase on July 21. The charges, include two counts of willful damage — one of unauthorised entry, and one of possession of tainted property, namely a digital camera.

Five members of the Monash Refugee Action Collective gained access to the roof of the campus centre at the university’s Clayton campus on July 27, as part of a protest against the Gillard government’s treatment of asylum seekers. The students hung several banners over the side of the building, including statements of their support for asylum seekers, their stance against mandatory detention and the “Malaysian solution”. The activists were joined by supporters on the ground who handed out leaflets and made speeches to other students.

UPDATE July 28 — Indymedia, via the Melbourne Refugee Action Collective, reports the asylum seekers' rooftop protest at the Darwin's Northern Immigration Detention Centre was stopped by force at 4.30pm on July 27. The collective said it, "condemns the use of force to end a legitimate protest for human rights and demands that no charges be laid on the refugees, and that it does not negatively affect their visa claims."