Despite George W. Bush’s controversial bailout package (see page 5), we have by no means seen the back of the current economic crisis. Up to 1000 more banks are expected to close across the US and firms are being bailed out across Europe. This is the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

THE BUSH Administration finally gathered support for a US$700 billion plan to bail out US banks—no less than US$2000 for every person in the United States. After one false start, the Congress followed the Senate in passing the bailout package.

OVER 3000 Brisbane construction workers walked off the job for a mass stopwork meeting in central Brisbane on September 12.

NSW TEACHERS are still seeking a salary raise of 5 per cent or more and an end to restrictions on transfers. The October state council meeting of the New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF) is to consider renewed state-wide industrial action over both issues.

PUBLIC SECTOR workers rallied in Brisbane on September 30 to protest over the state government’s paltry 3.25 per cent wage offer. Over 3000 workers participated in the rally.

A COLD, wind-swept day did not stop over 120 Melbourne Uni staff and students joining a protest against university management’s plan to sack 20 academics in the arts faculty. The protest was called by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), the union representing most staff at the university.

ALMOST THE first words uttered by the new premier Nathan Rees were along the lines of “I’ve been briefed by Treasury. It’s worse than I thought. We could lose the AAA credit rating. We’ve been living beyond our means. We’ll have to tighten our belt. Sale of retail electricity will go ahead.”

On October 5 a community protest gathering of over 300 people was held in Alice Springs to voice opposition and outrage at the Northern Territory government’s consent to uranium exploration of the Angela and Pamela deposits.

WORKERS AT Telstra have voted to reject the collective non-union agreement the company was trying to force on them. This is a major defeat for Telstra’s efforts to cut unions out of the workplace.

ON OCTOBER 6 Palm Island man Lex Wotton faced the Supreme Court in Queensland. He is charged with “riot involving damage or destruction of property”. If convicted he faces life imprisonment.

IN HIS final report to the government, Professor Ross Garnaut echoes the calls from industry to abolish the one measure the Rudd government has in place that will actually make any difference in the climate crisis: the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) of 20 per cent by 2020.

As the banners telling us “History is coming!” went up all over Melbourne getting ready for the AFL grand final, the verdicts came down in the trial of the Barwon 12. Twelve men were charged with being members of “a” terrorist organisation planning “a” terrorist act. Seven were found guilty, four were found not guilty and one is left in prison limbo because the jury couldn’t decide about him.

A WAVE of violence by right-wing paramilitaries in Bolivia left at least 30 people dead and government buildings ransacked across the country’s eastern provinces.

IRAQ WAR resisters in Canada received an important victory in late September. On September 22 Jeremy Hinzman and his family successfully appealed their deportation order. The family was scheduled for deportation the next day.

IN JULY [the Zimbabwean International Socialist Organisation] reaffirmed our long-held position of the likelihood “of an elite political settlement between the ruling party and opposition around a western supported full neoliberal economic programme”. That has been proven correct with the recent formation of a “unity government”.

Academic and author Elaheh Rostami-Povey visited Sydney recently, speaking on her research in Afghanistan under the US-led occupation. Below we reprint part of a speech she gave

THIS IS shaping up to be the bloodiest year on record since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began in 2001.

THE REVIEW into the intervention in the Northern Territory, released in mid-October, has called for an end to blanket welfare quarantining and suggested the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA).

WHILE THE restoration of the RDA would force some changes to the Northern Territory welfare quarantine legislation, it is likely that these would be modelled on the Queensland intervention legislation.

OVER 200 people from around Australia travelled to join hundreds more from the NT in a protest convergence against the NT intervention in Mparntwe-Alice Springs from September 29 to October 3. Activists camped at the “prescribed area” Mt Nancy town camp, in solidarity with all targeted Aboriginal communities.

With the US economy in tatters, questions are being raised about what caused the crisis and what it will mean for people around the world. Feiyi Zhang looks at the economic turmoil and what it reveals about the health of capitalism as a whole

Kevin Rudd and many in the mainstream press once said that Australia’s economic relationship with China would provide a cushion in the current economic crisis. Tom Barnes examines the state of the Chinese economy and whether this is still true

Review: The Racket

Review: Waltz With Bashir
Directed by Ari Folman, Limited cinema release

FURTHER DETAILS about Labor’s new IR laws confirm that the new government will retain the bulk of WorkChoices. Legislation will be introduced into parliament before the end of the year.

Review: The Wire

WHEN US presidential candidate Barack Obama was asked his favourite TV show and character, his answers were The Wire and Omar Little (more on him later).