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Twenty-one police cars swarmed on the inner-western suburb of Flemington on November 28 after allegations a teenager of African descent swore at two police cars on patrol.

Stuart Baanstra, a Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) activist, refused to sign the 2006 census due to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) refusal to record same-sex married couples. On November 27, Baanstra faced the Magistrates Court for refusing to sign the census. Baanstra pleaded guilty with mitigating circumstances. His lawyer, Natalie Ross, who was working pro bono, asked for charges to be dismissed under Section 19b of the Crimes Act.

To cries of “Barry’s back, Howard’s out”, sacked union delegate Barry Hemsworth marched through the gates of Botany Cranes on November 29 to reclaim his job after 441 days picketing outside the crane yard.

While the tyrant reign of John Howard is over, another is just beginning. The need to fight a Rudd government is quite clear. Many of Kevin Rudd’s so-called “reforms” are just slight changes to Howard’s monstrosities.

ABC Online reported on November 29 that the Australian Capital Territory’s attorney-general, Simon Corbell, intended to introduce a bill that would give legal recognition to same-sex “civil unions”.

The Federation of Community Legal Centres has criticised Victoria’s Office of Police Integrity (OPI) and the Ethical Standards Department (ESD) for allowing “police corruption, misconduct and violence to go unchecked” despite “several damning reports and public hearings” this year, said Will Crawford, a federation spokesperson, on November 28.

Speakers at a 100-strong rally supporting the November 17 national day of action for Indigenous rights condemned the Howard Coalition government’s “emergency” intervention into Northern Territory Aboriginal communities and expressed disappointment with the ALP for its “me-too” approach

For over a decade now, Australian universities have been under attack. PM John Howard’s whittling away at the public funding of tertiary education came to a head in 2005, with the implementation of the Nelson Review. The review promoted a shift away from government funding of universities, which meant that they had to seek funding elsewhere — fee-paying students and big business.

Members of grassroots climate change action group Rising Tide chained themselves to a coal train on November 19 to stop the train reaching the port of Newcastle, the world’s largest coal export port, with a record 80.8 million tonnes being shipped in the 2006-07 financial year.

Chickenhawk-in-chief "I would say that we would always try diplomacy first. In other words, I've committed our troops into harm's way twice, and it's not a pleasant experience because I understand the consequences firsthand." — Emperor George

Two years on, the full impact of “voluntary student unionism” (VSU) is now being felt at Australian universities. Legislation to implement VSU was introduced in 2005 by the Howard government, despite the opposition of much of the student population. Its intention was to defund student organisations and cripple their ability to take effective political action in support of their members’ interests.

The Wilderness Society (TWS) has lost its Federal Court appeal, in which it argued that then-federal environment minister Malcolm Turnbull’s assessment of the Tamar Valley pulp mill was inadequate. The appeal was dismissed by three judges on November 22, but TWS spokesperson Greg Ogle said the it would not give up campaigning. “The pulp mill is no closer to being built today than it was yesterday”, he said.