News

On May 3, Adelaide lost one of its strongest defenders of human and Indigenous rights with the death of Aunty Veronica Brodie, a widely respected and loved elder of the Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri peoples of South Australia. On May 11, more than 500 people attempted to crowd into the small Centennial Park Cemetery chapel to farewell her. To accommodate the hundreds of people who had travelled from around Australia to pay their respects, chapel staff took the remarkable decision to broadcast the commemorative service over the PA throughout the foyer and hallways.

From the end of May to July 2, the largest military training exercise in Australian history will take place, involving 14,000 US and 12,000 Australian military personnel. The Talisman Sabre ’07 war games will be held at joint US-Australian “training facilities” — Shoalwater Bay in Queensland and Bradshaw and Delamere Range in the Northern Territory.

Expert opinion @column = "Insurgents in Iraq are right to try to force US troops out of the country, a former British army commander has said. Gen Sir Michael Rose also told the BBC's Newsnight programme that the US and the UK must 'admit defeat'

As PM John Howard prepares to host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) in Sydney in September — to which US President George Bush and around 21 world leaders have been invited — a debate has opened over tactics for protests against the summit.

Two Chinese detainees have been on hunger strike in the Villawood detention centre for more than 40 days. During that time, an asylum seeker in Stage One has stabbed himself. His condition is deteriorating.

On May 8, 150 unionists rallied outside the NSW parliament to protest against the move by the John Holland construction company to abandon the NSW workers’ compensation scheme in favour of the federal government’s Comcare.

Two blockades halted logging in high conservation value native forests two hours east of Melbourne on May 8, Friends of the Earth reported.

The proposed Anvil Hill coalmine in NSW is rapidly becoming a central battleground in the fight against climate change.

Students across NSW are getting organised for a “Stop Bush! Stop Howard!” student conference on June 1 aimed at building the protests when the US president comes to Sydney for APEC in September.

On May 10, 60 people attended a public meeting opposing the closure of the humanities department of the Queensland University of Technology. The meeting was held at QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus.

Well-known left-wing academic Dr Gary MacLennan and his Queensland University of Technology colleague John Hookham are facing possible suspension or dismissal without pay on charges of “straight misconduct” over their public criticism of a PhD project approved of by the QUT ethics committee.

Twelve workers have been sacked for refusing to sign AWAs (individual contracts) with their employer, Vopak Terminals, a Port Botany company that stores and handles bulk petroleum and chemical products.