News

Qantas workers at Sydney Airport struck for four hours on March 30. Workers held a mass delegates’ meeting to respond to plans to outsource jobs at Sydney, Launceston and Hobart airports. Baggage handlers, ramp, fleet and catering staff at airports in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth also took industrial action.

Omar Hassan is the Education (public affairs) officer for Monash University’s student union. He is also a member of Students for Palestine. On March 31, the Monash Student Council (MSC) sanctioned Hassan for his involvement in the group.

Leader of the International Socialist Organisation Zimbabwea and former MP for Highfield in Harare, Munya Gwisai, along with two representatives of the external relations committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Le Vinh Thu and Le Gia Kien, are the latest additions to the growing international speaker line-up at the World at a Crossroads conference.

New laws have been passed in the NSW parliament that allow police to conduct secret searches of people’s homes, including the examination of computers. The new laws build on anti-terrorism legislation, but the new powers are for crimes as minor as growing a few cannabis plants.

On March 23, 100 students attended a demonstration at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)_organised by the Islamic Society, as part of a long-running campaign for a dedicated Muslim prayer facility on the city campus.

Attempts by the Australian Zionist lobby to discourage audiences from hearing visiting Israeli anti-occupation activist Jeff Halper, which included pulling an advertisement from the Australian Jewish News and cancelling a meeting at a Sydney synagogue, only served to gain media publicity for his speaking tour.

The reintroduction of a rail-based public transport system for Cairns and promotion of rail freight in far-north Queensland were the key themes of a 100-strong public meeting on March 18.

Dozens of actions were held outside the offices of MPs nationwide on March 27 to protest the Rudd government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).

The Australian Greens’ March 21-22 national council meeting in Perth discussed the party’s climate change policy. The council called on the Rudd government to adopt stronger emissions reduction targets.

The Western Community Action Network (WeCAN) held its first public forum at the Footscray Town Hall on March 19.

I attended Powershift 2009, which brought 10,000 young people together in Washington DC to demand serious action on climate change, and have a few observations to make about the North American youth climate movement.

Hundreds of progressive activists and socialists from around the globe will descend on Sydney over Easter, for this year’s most important discussion on capitalism’s crises and the socialist solutions.