News

In his July 1 article in the Australian, Ilan Grapel, researcher with the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), accused Green Left Weekly and Resistance of supporting terrorism and violence by calling for Palestinians to resist oppressive Israeli rule.

The Victorian state government has been forced to reveal that over 150 state schools have been closed or merged with other schools since 1999.

A June 30 public meeting launched a community group to fight the Queensland Labor government’s planned sell-off of $15 billion worth of public assets.

The news of a military coup in Honduras reached most Resistance activists as on the morning of June 29. There was much sadness, anger and frustration but also determination not to allow yet another coup to happen against a democratically elected leader in the Americas.

An emergency protest was held on June 29 in response to the military coup that ousted Honduras’ democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya the day before. The action targeted Labor MP Duncan Kerr’s office, and demanded the federal government condemn the coup.

On July 1, 60 people attended an emergency rally againt the coup in Honduras in the Latin American Plaza in Sydney. The emotionally charged rally was called at short notice by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) and the Latin American Forum to condemn the undemocratic coup carried out by a small group of military officers, members of the oligarchy and their political agents in Honduras.

Fifteen hundred trade unionists and supporters marched through the streets of Brisbane to state parliament on July 3 to oppose the ALP state government’s planned selloff of public assets.

On April 19, a huge mob of St Mary’s people made a pilgrimage out of a church and into the Trades and Labor Council (TLC) building, home of the Queensland Council of Unions.

The NSW Supreme court of appeal ruled on July 1 that a planned expansion of the Lake Cowal gold mine in the central-west of NSW cannot go ahead for up to three months.

Twelve emergency services officers (ESOs) who work at the Hazelwood power station suspended a 12-week-long strike at Hazelwood Power Station on June 26. However, their employer, contractor Diamond Protection, has refused to allow the workers to return to work.

Over July 1 and 2, defence industry and government representatives met in Adelaide for the annual Defence Industry Exhibition (DIE).

Green Left Weekly received dozens of solidarity messages for its 800^th birthday from Australia and from around the world.