Over the weekend of 5-7 December, more than 150 people attended the Sixth Socialist Alliance national conference, held in the Geelong Trades Hall. The conference opened against the backdrop of the Alliance’s promising results in the November 29 Victorian local government elections, in which its candidates scored up to 18.9%.
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The incumbent ALP faction has scraped back in to retain control of the 43,000 strong NSW Public Service Association (PSA) after elections held on December 5.
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On December 13, 100 people gathered on the Town Council lawns in Alice Springs to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The action was organised by the Intervention Rollback Action Group (IRAG) and endorsed by the full council of the Central Lands Council.
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On 10 December, marking 60 years from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as the world celebrated Human Rights Day, the Sri Lankan state continued its denial of basic human rights to the Tamils of north-east Sri Lanka.
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Socialist Alliance has condemned the axing of contract positions at BlueScope Steel at Port Kembla that will see hundreds of workers out of work by Christmas.
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Over 5000 workers attended a protest rally outside the headquarters of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) in Melbourne on December 2.
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In a major backward step, Queensland Rail (Q-Rail) will cut livestock freight services to many Queensland farmers, according to a report on Queensland ABC local radios Country Hour on November 5.
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“Poor Human Nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name! Every fool, from King to policeman, from the flathead parson to the visionless dabbler in science, presumes to speak authoritatively of human nature. The greater the mental charlatan the more definite his insistence on the wickedness and the weaknesses of human nature. Yet how can anyone speak of it today, with every soul in a prison with every heart fettered, wounded, and maimed?” — Emma Goldman
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On November 24, around 600 pensioners atttended a mass meeting called by the Fair Go for Pensioners (FGP) campaign at Melbourne Town Hall.
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“World at a Crossroads: Fighting for Socialism in the 21st Century” is a four-day conference to be held in Sydney on April 10-13 (the Easter long weekend) next year.
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Almost 2000 Victorian TAFE teachers voted on November 25 to continue their industrial campaign for a new enterprise agreement, which will include a further stop-work meeting in February 2009. Teachers from regional centres were joined at the meeting by metropolitan TAFE colleagues.
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On February 3, the first sitting day of federal parliament in 2009, thousands of climate protesters will encircle Parliament House, peacefully demanding the government take real action on climate change to ensure a safe climate future.