Refugees have temporarily pushed the global recession off the front pages, as Rudd ratchets up his racism, claiming desperate people pose an “emerging threat”. Meanwhile, the real threat of mass unemployment gathers steam everyday.
The leaders of the G20 put on a united face and declared the outcome of their London summit on April 2 a historic success.
ON APRIL 3 the Rudd government endorsed the United Nations (UN) declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Jenny Macklin, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, claims that it is a major step towards “closing the gap”. In reality the declaration serves as a façade behind which the government can continue to abuse the human rights abuses of Indigenous Australians.
Noel Pearson has resigned as Director of the Cape York Institute (CYI), with much fanfare from his legion of supporters at The Australian.
The campaign against the Northern Territory Intervention is taking significant steps forward following a recent east-coast speaking tour by women from “prescribed” communities in the NT.
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is the Rudd government’s central policy for dealing with climate change. The gap between rhetoric and reality is revealed starkly by a looking at how the scheme is supposed to work.
Organising groups in all states are preparing for upcoming climate change rallies around World Environment Day, likely to be Saturday June 13. The rallies are part of four national mobilisations this year called by the Climate Action Summit.
A united cross-union campaign against the NSW government’s privatisation fire sale is needed, as prison workers continue their fight against privatisation.
A range of protests against the G20 summit in the UK captured public anger over the economic crisis. The city financial district was brought to a standstill on the April 1 when thousands of protesters converged on the Bank of England to demonstrate against the recession, banks, war and climate change.
Smoke from burnt out buses and fire bombs filled the streets of Bangkok this month as the Thai army launched a crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters who are challenging the government.
On July 28, 2005, the Irish Republican Army ended its 30 year armed struggle against British rule in Northern Ireland. It was hailed as the most significant step in the peace process that began with the IRA ceasefire in 1994 and the Good Friday agreement signed by the British and (southern) Irish governments and Northern Irish political parties in 1998.
Following a 60 day review the Obama administration has released its “new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan”. While Obama campaigned on “change” and has since asked Pentagon officials to “avoid using the term…‘Global War on Terror’”, his “new strategy” is just more of the same.
The role the early Communist Party of Australia (CPA) played in fighting for Aboriginal rights provides clear examples of the way that a joint “black and white” challenge to the oppression of Aboriginal people can build the radicalism, consciousness and strength of the working class movement in Australia.
As China’s economy slumps, deep running social tensions are threatening to explode writes Tim Erickson
China under Mao adopted Stalin’s model of rapid industrialisation based on intense exploitation, and was never genuinely socialist, argues Shannon Price
Two hundred police moved in to break up picket lines on Melbourne’s Westgate bridge on April 15, where 39 workers have held out since December in a dispute with their employer.
Builder John Holland has now agreed to mediation with the unions in return for an end to the union pickets. The outcome was unclear as Solidarity went to press.
A BETWEEN-SHIFT mass meeting of over 100 Conrad Treasury Casino workers in Brisbane has voted unanimously to initiate a ballot for industrial action in support of their claim for 5.5 per cent for each of the next three years.
UNIONS ARE stepping up their campaign to have the Australian Building and Construction Commission scrapped, with strike-day rallies around the country on April 28.
Workers at Waterford Crystal in Ireland have secured 176 jobs in the plant after an eight week long occupation of their workplace. Their example has begun to inspire other workers to occupy in defence of jobs across the UK.
QUEENSLAND TEACHERS are set to vote for 24-hour strikes from the beginning of May. Well-attended mass meetings voted overwhelmingly to hold a publicity and industrial campaign to win their claim for wage parity with teachers in other states. Queensland teachers are currently the lowest paid on the mainland.
Review: The State of Industrial Relations
Evatt Foundation, $24.95
Review: Wasteland
Illzilla, Out now through Shock
CONSERVATIVE LOBBYISTS are claiming some success in forcing Channel Seven to cut scenes of a more passionate “lesbian kiss” from soap opera Home and Away. The demands for censorship and the general “family values” hubbub pushed by the Herald Sun and Today Tonight are stark reminders that despite recent changes to legislation concerning same sex relationships, homophobia is alive and well in Australia.
Solidarity spoke to Bill Mitchell, from the University of Newcatle’s Centre of Full Employment and Equity, above how Rudd’s stimulus spending could be targeting massive job creation
The arrival of a few asylum seekers’ boats has produced the kind of shocking anti-refugee hysteria that marked the Howard years. It was “children overboard” all over again when news broke of the tragic fire resulting in a number of deaths on a boat of Afghan asylum seekers.
