News

  • Opposition to IR laws grows in the suburbs

    Stuart Martin, Melbourne The depth of opposition to the federal government's proposed changes to industrial relations laws has spurred the formation of a number of suburban groups committed to defending trade unions and working conditions. The

  • Green Left Weekly $100,000 Emergency Appeal

    'A voice for the voiceless' — former Nauru detainee Sarah Stephen Ghulam Haider, a 25-year-old Hazara from Afghanistan, fled from the Taliban and sought refuge in Australia. As punishment, he spent three years in the tropical hell of Nauru

  • Anti-war campaigner assaulted

    SYDNEY — A Socialist Alliance campaign stall at Merrylands shopping centre in Sydney's west was attacked on August 20 by an individual yelling "traitors" and "communists". The campaign stall, which focused on the federal government's attacks on

  • Liberal students wreck women's room

    Courtney Ruge, Melbourne On August 11, a day after the national protest against voluntary student unionism (VSU), the women's room at Melbourne University was vandalised. The August 12 Age reported that "furniture was upturned, paperwork was

  • Mildura workers to speak out against Howard

    Sue Bolton, Melbourne A union and community rally and picnic will be held in Mildura on September 3 to inform people in the Mallee Murray region about the federal government's plans to strip workers' rights. The event will encourage locals to join

  • Prisoner rights activists banned

    Matthew Holloway, Hobart Prison Action Reform calls for better treatment of inmates at Hobart's Risdon Prison. It has been a strong voice about the reality of deaths in custody, and the poor living conditions and violation of human rights in the

  • Loose cannons

    Hope yet for Flat Earth Society "Part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought... You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas and the answer is yes." — Emperor George Bush II, August 1,

  • Mamdouh Habib speaks at UWS Bankstown forum

    Maurice Farrell, Sydney A lunchtime forum at the University of Western Sydney's Bankstown campus on August 17, featuring former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib, attracted 200 people. The open-air forum — on the issues of war, terrorism

  • Gunns renews effort to sue protesters

    HOBART — Tasmanian logging company Gunns has renewed its efforts to sue protesters for alleged trespass, sabotage and destruction of logging property, by filing a third claim for damages in the Victorian Supreme Court on August 15. However, in a

  • Protesters clown against ban

    SYDNEY — On August 24, anti-corporate clowns will descend on Sydney's police headquarters, bearing a message for assistant police commissioner Bob Waites. On August 18, Waites decided to close the Opera House forecourt and the Botanical Gardens to

  • Australians show solidarity with Cindy

    Pip Hinman According to Australian peace activist Donna Mulhearn, Cindy Sheehan's anti-war vigil outside US President Bush's ranch "has re-energised the anti-war movement in the US, inspired more than 1000 people to make their way to Crawford, and

  • Resistance protests uranium mining

    HOBART — August 19 protest against uranium mining in Australia, organised by the socialist youth organisation Resistance. Many passing motorists honked their horns in agreement with the protesters' signs.From Green