News

  • Big turnout for Qld May Day

    Sue Bolton, Brisbane There were big turnouts for May Day marches across Queensland on May 1. Brisbane's march of 35,000 was much bigger than the usual May day turnout of 10,000. The Builders Labourers Federation had a 2000-strong contingent, and

  • West Papuan flag raised outside Indonesian embassy

    Alex Bainbridge, Sydney Sixty supporters of West Papuan self-determination held a flag-raising ceremony outside the Indonesian consulate in Maroubra on April 30. Joe Collins from the Australia-West Papua Association told the gathering that such

  • Eyewitness reports on Palestine

    Nick Everett, Canberra On May 2, 60 people attended an eyewitness report on Palestine co-sponsored by Green Left Weekly and Australians for Justice and Peace in Palestine. The forum was addressed by James Crafti, a member of the socialist youth

  • May Day in the Northern Rivers

    LISMORE — In an action organised by the Northern Rivers Unionist Network, around 40 activists gathered on May 6 to mark May Day, entertaining passers-by with street theatre, and building the June 21 Lismore leg of the Your Rights at Work on the

  • Blue Mountains May Day toast

    KATOOMBA — The Blue Mountains branch of the Socialist Alliance and Green Left Weekly held a May Day toast on May 1. Thirty people watched Actively Radical TV's newly released documentary about the campaign against the Work Choices laws, and were

  • Clash over call for more ACT police

    Dale Mills The national push for more police officers and powers has led to a public clash between Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner Mick Keelty and ACT minister for police Simon Corbell. Keelty, a regular on TV concerning the "war on

  • Protest against rip-off of guestworker

    CANBERRA — On May 5, Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union members protested outside the swish Holy Grail restaurant. The restaurant's owner owes $10,000 in unpaid wages to Dario DeGuzman, a Filipino guestworker. "Community pressure is

  • Loose Cannons

    A Commander of Bush's Empire "Captain John Peterson, chief of staff to the commander of the US Navy in the Middle East, received a CBE. His citation praises his role of leading British and American forces in 'the campaign to secure Iraqi oil

  • More action needed to defeat Work Choices

    Sue Bolton Large protests in France, Nepal, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands over the last few weeks have forced back-downs from their respective governments. Can Australian workers do something similar and force the Coalition to withdraw its

  • Legal action for West Papuan refugee

    Law firm Mallesons Stephen Jacques has taken legal action against the Howard government to force it to make an immediate decision on the application for refugee status of David Wainggai, the only one of the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers who arrived

  • NSW combined delegate meetings

    John Gauci, Sydney At the April 27 Unions NSW meeting it was reported that four Sydney-based combined delegate meetings would take place at the following locations: May 18, 10am — Masonic Centre, Sydney and Blacktown RSL; lMay 15, 10am —

  • 'Charity no substitute for justice'

    KATOOMBA — The federal government's changes to family support, sole parenting payments and child care were the subject of a robust discussion at a 60-strong forum organised by the Katoomba branch of the ALP on April 22. The forum was addressed by