On June 12, the South Australian-based manufacturing company Clipsal announced it would sack 200 permanent workers and close its Nurioopta plant based in the Barossa Valley. The company indicated that there would likely be unspecified flow on job cuts in its labour hire workforce.
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Bill Zhang, a Chinese refugee, killed himself after his forcible deportation from Australia, according to a June 16 ABC report. Zhang spent two years in Australias Villawood refugee prison.
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I am not the least bit superstitious, but I can get suspicious. Like when Victorian community group Your Water Your Say (YWYS) failed its court challenge against the federal and state government decision to build a monstrous and unnecessary $3.1 billion desalination plant in Wonthaggi.
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Fifteen activists calling for a rapid conversion to renewable energy protested at the $2600-a-head Queensland Coal Conference 08 on June 16.
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Brisbane’s very successful Green Left Weekly Winter Fiesta on June 14 helped take our 2008 Fighting Fund to $101,936. Since the last issue $7921 has been collected in the form of donations and proceeds from events like the Brisbane Winter Fiesta. Proceeds from fundraising events in Newcastle and Melbourne also made a significant contribution.
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Between June 10-13, NSW Nurses Association (NSWNA) branches met to consider the state governments paltry offer of a 3.9% wage rise over one year, with strings attached.
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Resistance activist Naomi Rodgers-Falk and Socialist Alliances Margaret Gleeson led a roundtable discussion with 25 others on Solutions to the global food crisis at Northey Street City Farm on June 8.
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Tim Anderson’s new documentary on the East Timor-Cuba health cooperation program is an inspiration. The Doctors of Tomorrow, which was launched at a screening on June 12 hosted by NSW Greens MLC John Kaye, was filmed in both countries, and documents the human face of Cuba’s profound international solidarity.
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Opponents of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam on the Mary River, inland from the Sunshine Coast, are preparing for a mass protest march to the Queensland ALP state conference on June 21.
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As Green Left Weekly goes to print, public school teachers in South Australia are planning to strike on June 17. It will be the first all-day stopwork the SA Australian Education Union (AEU) has called in over ten years.
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Who says Australians are too laid back, lazy and spend most of their time holidaying? This myth has been shattered with the findings of a global survey conducted by online travel company Expedia, which revealed that of all study participants Australians were the least likely to take their annual leave entitlements.
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A morning rally of 50 in City Place on World Environment Day, June 5, demanded action for sustainable transport. Renee Lees from Cairns Action for Sustainable Transport (CAST) pointed out that the current Cairns transport plan proposes only that a minimum of 10% of passenger travel should be by public transport by 2036.