The Socialist Alliances New South Wales state conference, held in Newcastle on July 21, emphasised the struggle against global warming and against the Howard governments hated Work Choices legislation.
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Psychologists call this 'projection' "If we were to allow them to gain control of Iraq, they would have control of a nation with massive oil reserves — which they could use to fund new attacks and exhort economic blackmail on those who didn't
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The NSW Labor government’s cabinet, once again intoning the chant of “terrorism”, has agreed to introduce compulsory DNA testing for anyone arrested for any offence. The leaked cabinet decision was reported in the June 22 Sydney Sun-Herald.
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On July 18, six students were arrested on the Gardens Point campus of the Queensland University of Technology when 20 police brutally attacked a peaceful protest outside the University Council, which was meeting to pass the final decision to shut down QUTs humanities and human services faculty.
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Two Tamil men, Sivarajah Yathavan and Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, who were arrested in Melbourne in May under the anti-terrorism laws, were granted bail by Justice Bernard Bongiorno on July 17.
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The decision by immigration minister Kevin Andrews to throw 27-year-old Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef into immigration detention — despite a Queensland court granting Haneef bail on charges of “recklessly” (meaning not deliberately) supporting terrorism — has further exposed the Howard government’s utter disregard for civil rights and the judicial system, and the dangers inherent in its “anti-terror” laws.
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On July 18, 100 people supported 15 striking workers at the Esselte office supply warehouse in Minto by stopping delivery trucks entering the site for seven hours.
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The global climate crisis and campaigns for environmental and social justice, including the defence of Aboriginal land rights against the Howard governments takeover of Northern Territory communities featured prominently at the Students of Sustainability (SoS) conference at Murdoch University from July 9-13. Some 300 Students and activists attended from around Australia.
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Lawyer Michael Bozic, unionist Peter McLelland and investigative journalist Wendy Bacon addressed 100 people at a July 16 Sydney public forum. The meeting was organised by the Stop Bush Coalition in the lead-up to protests during the September APEC summit, which US President George Bush will attend.
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On July 20, 80 people rallied outside the Brisbane immigration department offices to protest against the detention of Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef. The rally was called by the Stop the War Collective.
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On June 2, 1975, sex workers in Lyon, France, occupied a church for two months, an action that inspired the contemporary sex-worker rights movement. On June 2 this year, 60 sex workers and supporters held a demonstration at Circular Quay to protest against the NSW parliaments passage of the Brothels Legislation Amendment Act. Protesters described the legislation as a significant reversal of decriminalisation.
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Fords decision to close down its Geelong engine plant will have a catastrophic effect on the town. Its not just the 600 jobs at Ford that will be lost; hundreds of jobs will probably also be lost in the car components factories and various supply companies. This flow-on could mean up to 2400 more unemployed workers in Geelong.