Web updates

Labor’s small target strategy fails to dent NSW Coalition

NSW Labor is in crisis, with leader Jodi McKay resigning after last week’s Upper Hunter by-election loss. McKay took the small target strategy to the extreme, essentially disappearing from public view. It didn't pay off.

Rally calls for justice after police kill Gamilaroi man in Gunnedah

More than 100 family and friends of Gamilaroi man Michael Peachey rallied in Gunnedah. Michael was killed by NSW police. As his grandmother said: “No one wants to help us. Why? Is it because we’re Black? Is it because we’re poor?”

Liberals returned in Tasmania but no joy for Morrison

The Tasmanian election has seen a Liberal government returned for a third consecutive term but overall the Liberals suffered a 1.5 per cent swing against them.

Refugee activist found not guilty on incitement charge

Refugee Action Collective Victoria member Chris Breen has been found not guilty on the charge of incitement.

Sexism, rape, private schools and the Liberals: a sexist elite overseeing a sexist system

The rape allegations, harassment and cover-ups of assault within the Liberal Party, coupled with a viral petition about sexual assault by Sydney private school boys, have exposed the cesspools of sexism and misogyny within the Australian ruling class.

‘Porter must go’: Students rage against sexism and rape

A rally led by survivors and young women, many of them high school students, took to the streets in Sydney on Friday to call for an end to sexual violence and for Christian Porter’s sacking.

Sauce workers’ anger boils over

About 100 workers are on indefinite strike at McCormick sauces factory in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton South after five years without a pay rise.

Hundreds protest against anti-trans website

Staff, students and members of the NTEU union are organising against a transphobic website published at the University of Melbourne.

Stop the Liberals’ attacks on people with disability

This year the government plans to introduce changes to the NDIS that will restrict the range and amount of supports disabled people can access through NDIS funding.

South Australia set to finally decriminalise abortion but women still not in control

A Bill to remove abortion from the criminal law passed in South Australia’s lower house in the early hours of 19 February by 29 votes to 15.

Parliament House rape highlights sexism at the heart of the system

The rape of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins by a colleague at Parliament House has exposed the depth of sexism and contempt for women at the heart of the Morrison government.

Facebook v Murdoch—Battle of the media giants tramples voices of dissent

The decision by Facebook to ban news from feeds in Australia took millions by surprise and highlighted the company’s power to control what we see.

Victorian lockdown highlights gaps in public health system

The snap Victorian lockdown in response to a COVID cluster at the Holiday Inn at Melbourne airport marks a further failure of the state’s under-resourced public health system.

More stalling from union as Smeaton Grange starves

Smeaton Grange workers are facing further attempts to delay action, wear down workers and wind up the dispute.

Mass revolt needed to stop Myanmar coup

Myanmar’s military junta has staged a coup, detaining National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and key party officials before a new session of parliament could open.

Locked out for 11 weeks, but Smeaton Grange workers reject Coles’ redundancy plan

In an incredible vote yesterday, UWU members at Smeaton Grange Coles distribution centre have voted—for the sixth time—to reject Coles’ redundancy offer.

Vale John Passant

It is with great sadness that Solidarity members have learned of the loss of comrade John Passant.

Victory as La Trobe Uni drops attack on Safe Schools co-founder

In a concerning attack on academic and political freedom, Roz Ward, co-founder of Safe Schools, was suspended from her position at La Trobe university for misconduct on 1 June. In...

Let them stay, close the camps: How can the refugee campaign win?

The High Court decision that offshore processing is lawful has triggered a wave of protest, from the churches to the Labor Party. If we can harness the opposition, we...

Tax avoidance is big business

The Australian Tax Office released the Corporate Tax Transparency Report in December. This first report specifically names the companies who paid new tax.

Yeronga teachers strike to support asylum seeker Mojgan Shamsalipoor

In a wonderful show of solidarity, staff at Brisbane's Yeronga State High School walked off the job yesterday in support of asylum seeker and student Mojgan Shamsalipoor, currently detained in the Darwin Immigration Detention centre.

Paris tragedy is the bitter fruit of war and racism

The mass killings in Paris were horrendous acts. They will only allow France and other powers to respond with more violence and more anti-Muslim racism.

Letter from Paris—from Charlie Hebdo to Paris killings: France’s ‘war on terror’ and the backlash

Friday night’s horrifying carnage in Paris has caused revulsion around the world. But the response of French political leaders will only fan the flames of violence and retard the possibility of peace, writes Nick Riemer.

Turnbull—a new salesman but the same agenda

Just two years into his term as Prime Minister, Tony Abbott has been toppled by his own party. This is cause for celebration for all those disgusted with his...

Don’t let Hutchison’s divide and rule: restart the strike; fight for every job

The week-long protest and strike by Hutchison MUA members has been an inspiring show of determination and defiance. There was fantastic solidarity from other port workers and other unions...

Port workers fight sacking in new war on the waterfront

A ship was in but cranes were idle at the Hutchison container terminal at Sydney’s Port Botany on Friday morning while security guards lined up across the gate. Workers, many of whom had been sacked the night before, were gathered in a group across from the entrance while MUA flags and banners lined the fence.

Counter-rallies outnumber racist Reclaim Australia

Reclaim Australia has been humiliated, with its second round of racist anti-Muslim protests a flop. Practically everywhere they were outnumbered by anti-racist counter-rallies, and could only draw one or two hundred people.

OXI! NO vote in Greece can strike a blow against austerity

Syriza’s decision to refuse the austerity deal offered by the Troika and to call a referendum on the proposals is a major step forward. It is a product of pressure from the left and the workers’ movement to stand firm on saying “no” to austerity.

The Killing Season: failing to explain Labor’s crisis

The ABC’s The Killing Season explains nothing, yet exposes everything, about what is wrong with Labor today.

Abbott ​fuels Reclaim Australia — the left ignores that at its peril

On July 18-19, Reclaim Australia will mobilise for hate-filled demonstrations around the country for the second time. It’s very important that they be challenged. That is why Solidarity has helped initiate the counter-rallies.

Parliament house cleaners lay down their brooms

It was a moving moment. On International Cleaners Day, 41 striking cleaners walked out of Parliament House.

Same-sex marriage in sight as Abbott gives in

After years of stalling, same-sex marriage now looks possible before the end of the year. Tony Abbott has signaled his willingness to allow a conscience vote so long as the legislation is moved as a cross-party bill.

Abbott keeps his cuts amid budget smoke and mirrors

Tony Abbott is desperately praying that this year’s budget will save his skin. But the budget cuts from last year remain in place, and even his new spending on childcare relies on taking money allocated elsewhere for families and new mothers.

Netanyahu re-election exposes racism at Israel’s heart

In March Israelis voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. The result shows how clearly the Israeli state relies on deep racism and savagery towards Palestinians.

Vale Ray Jackson: tireless fighter for justice and Aboriginal rights

It is with deep sadness that Solidarity has learnt of the passing of Uncle Ray Jackson overnight. The news is a serious blow to the movement for Aboriginal freedom and to the struggle for socialism.

Counter-rallies confront anti-Muslim “Reclaim Australia”

The racist, anti-Islam “Reclaim Australia” rallies managed to attract a few hundred people on Easter Saturday—but they are a dangerous sign that months of Abbott’s official racism and dog-whistling is giving encouragement to the far right.

Shock result as Queensland rejects austerity, Abbott left reeling

It was an astonishing result. Despite their enormous majority in the Queensland parliament, Campbell Newman and the LNP have followed the Victorian Liberal government to be thrown out of office after just one term.

Interview: Katerina Thoidou on a Syriza victory and what happens next

Jimmy Yan spoke to Katerina Thoidou, an ANTARSYA candidate and member of SEK, about what a Syriza victory in the elections might mean and the state of the movement against austerity.

“Struggle is now a part of our working day”: Interview with ERT workers on the eve of Greek election

Since the shut-down of the Greek public broadcaster ERT in 2013, the workers' occupation there has become a symbol of mass resistance to austerity. On the eve of historic elections on January 25, Solidarity spoke to a group of workers at the station about their expectations and hopes for the struggle ahead.

Charlie Hebdo—the issue is Islamophobia not free speech

Tony Abbott, along with racists and the right-wing everywhere, have leapt on the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s office in France to scaremonger and beat up Islamophobia.

Scare campaign continues as Martin Place siege ends

The hostage drama in Martin Place has ended, with the gunman and two hostages dead. The loss of innocent lives, and the injuries to others, are a tragedy.

Blame Abbott—don’t blame Muslims

The media have launched a torrent of anti-Muslim scaremongering in response to the hostage situation in Sydney’s Martin Place.

Students celebrate deregulation’s defeat, but the fight’s not over

Students around the country are celebrating the defeat of the Liberals’ higher education reforms, which would have cut funding by 20 per cent and sent university fees soaring.

Liberal defeat in Victoria puts Abbott in a sweat

Denis Napthine’s government has become the first one-term government in Victoria since 1955, in a defeat for his cuts to TAFE and war on public sector workers.

Penrith rejects vicious anti-Muslim campaign

Muslims and anti-racists have won a victory in a battle against bigotry in Penrith, outer Sydney, after the application to build a Muslim community centre was approved by Penrith Council.

Cheating thrives in the corporate university

Making money out of writing essays is just the flip side of a corporate education system that is more concerned with money than it is with real learning.

Gough Whitlam: Australia’s most radical Prime Minister?

Gough Whitlam’s death at 98 has brought tributes from the usual suspects—including Malcolm Fraser and Tony Abbott, who both despise(d) the social reforms associated with the Whitlam Labor government. The Whitlam era, for many, is a golden age of Labor, and for that reason it is worth considering the real legacy of the Whitlam government.

New terror laws will let ASIO off the leash

The government is using hysteria about terrorism to deliver a major boost to ASIO and police powers. It has devised an enormous number of new and modified anti-terror laws that make it easier to conduct surveillance and charge people with terrorism-related offences.

Terror raids fuel Abbott’s Islamophobia

Raids by 870 Australian Federal Police (AFP) and state police smashed their way into properties across Sydney and Brisbane yesterday, executing 28 search warrants in pre-dawn raids, billed as “the biggest counter-terrorism operation in Australia’s history”.

NSW union delegates push to revive budget campaign

Unions NSW used a meeting of around 250 delegates yesterday to announce plans for a community-based state election campaign. But a group of rank-and-file activists won a resolution calling...

Abbott’s opportunism over MH17 stokes imperialist tensions

The shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 over rebel held territory in eastern Ukraine is a terrible tragedy. But it is very clear that Abbott is trying to use the disaster to halt his falling popularity.

How Muckaty won against waste dump

Warlmanpa people fighting attempts to dump nuclear waste on their land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory are celebrating an historic victory.

Strike out Abbott’s budget

Tony Abbott’s budget has been met with outrage right across the community. We need to call on the ACTU to hold nationally coordinated industrial action until Abbott backs down.

Egyptian court jails leading Revolutionary Socialist Mahienour el-Massry

A court in Alexandria has jailed leading Revolutionary Socialist Mahienour el-Massry for two years and fined her over £4,000. She has now gone missing in the prison system. Her family went to visit...

Liberals’ aim to boost racism, not free speech

The Liberals’ moves to water down the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) will give confidence to racists everywhere. Attorney General George Brandis has cited the court finding against notorious right-wing media celebrity Andrew Bolt in 2011 as the trigger for the changes.

Racist policing reignites fight against Intervention in Alice Springs

On 28 March over 500 people, most of them Aboriginal, marched on the Alice Springs police station under the banner “say no to racist laws and racist policing”.

After March: Grassroots resistance and union action can drive out Abbott

Every week Tony Abbott’s government unveils new horror plans. To get him out, we need to build ongoing grassroots resistance.

Right-wing Thai protesters want to get rid of democracy

Thailand is again being shaken by political crisis, with protesters disrupting voting during the recent elections and paralysing Bangkok by blocking major roads and invading government offices.

Hands off Medicare, stop Abbott’s cuts: United action can beat the Liberals

OVER 1000 people joined a demonstration in Sydney today to demand Tony Abbott keep his hands off Medicare and stop his planned wave of cuts to services and jobs....

Media corruption frenzy boosts Abbott’s attack on unions

Tony Abbott has seized upon reports alleging corruption in the construction union to press his case for a Royal Commission and a new round of union busting.

Australia’s Timor oil grab exposed in spy scandal

Following the Abbott government's arrogance over the Indonesian spying scandal, there have been fresh revelations of a disgraceful Australian government spying operation in East Timor. The operation was a...

Nationalise Holden — we need a fight to save every job

After 64 years manufacturing cars in Australia, making billions in profit, and taking billions in government subsidies, General Motors Holden has announced its Australian factories will close in 2017....

Blacktown shows how to beat Liberals’ privatisation plans

Up to 200 unionists and members of the Blacktown community attended a town hall meeting hosted by the United Services Union on December 2 to protest cutbacks and closures...

Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

Nelson Mandela was a giant in the fight against racism—and the world’s most famous prisoner. He was a symbol of defiance against injustice that inspired a great movement of...

Millions join national strike across Indonesia

Over two million workers struck across Indonesia on Thursday and Friday last week. The workers want a 50 per cent wage rise as well as healthcare and an end to contract work and outsourcing.

Support Greek anti-fascists against neo-Nazi inspired court case

Greek socialists are facing a court case from a lawyer who supports the fascist party, Golden Dawn, and need your support. --- Three members of the greek Socialist Workers Party (SEK),...

Seven strikes seal key conditions at Sydney Uni

After seven days of strike action this year Sydney University staff have won a deal that reduces casualisation, protects and strengthens existing conditions and avoids a pay cut. Members were...

Labor leadership “battle”: Where are the Left’s policies?

The Labor leadership contest between Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese has been put forward as a major step that can rejuvenate the Labor Party and give Labor members a...

No mandate: Abbott can be beaten

Tony Abbott, a right-wing neo-liberal infamous for his misogyny and social conservatism, is moving into The Lodge. Millions are horrified about what this government will do. But Abbott won't...

Stop the bombing of Syria

The US is preparing to bomb Syria, with the full support of the Australian government and backing from France and other countries. But Western intervention can only make the...

Fighting Rudd’s PNG plan: building the protests, building the campaign

At less than a day’s notice, thousands of people turned out to rally and march across the country following Kevin Rudd’s announcement of the disgraceful PNG solution. The protests...

Fortress Australia: Stop Rudd’s horror plan

Labor’s plan to shut out asylum seekers completely and finally fulfils the project started by John Howard and the Immigration department in 2001—to create a Fortress Australia that denies...

Rudd’s back, but Labor’s business as usual’s no threat to Abbott

Labor has turned back to Kevin Rudd in a last desperate attempt to save itself and prevent Tony Abbott from winning the election. The desire for self-preservation amongst Labor...

Why the NTEU is right to back The Greens

In late June the NTEU National Council decided to support Greens candidates in the federal election for the first time. This is an important shift that has the potential...

Greek TV station under workers’ control: “We’re here to win!”

A workers' occupation of the Greek ERT state broadcasting corporation was the only media outlet broadcasting in the country today, Wednesday. Journalists across the rest of the Greek media...

Turkey’s revolt, Islam and the military

A small protest that began with 50 people in Gezi Park, Istanbul, to save it from becoming a shopping mall, became the spark for weeks of resistance against Turkey’s...

Sydney Uni: five strikes in, staff show they can win

Staff at Sydney University from the NTEU and CPSU held their fifth successful day of strike action this year on 5 June as they face off against the aggressive...

Nation-wide protests fight Gillard’s university cuts

The $2.3 billion cuts to universities have unleashed a wave of anger across the country. A national day of protest on budget day organised by the National Tertiary Education...

Sydney Uni strikes shake management

The strike campaign by Sydney Uni staff has already begun to force the intransigent, nasty management to back down from some aspects of their attack on staff conditions and...

Hunger strike exposes detention injustice

Twenty seven refugees with adverse ASIO security assessments exposed the detention regime with a ten day hunger strike at Broadmeadows detention centre in Melbourne. The refugees have won a...

Labor in meltdown blaming anything but their own policies

Labor sent itself spiralling further into self-destruction last week with its botched coup against leader Julia Gillard. The whole affair was marked by miscalculation and stuff-up, with Simon Crean...

Join the pickets at Sydney Uni! Strike back for our education

Sydney Uni staff are preparing for a two day strike, following the 24-hour strike that paralysed the university on 7 March, with classes cancelled and hundreds of union members...

Sensis workers fight for jobs

In February, Sensis workers in Melbourne staged a 150-strong rally to protest against the company’s plans to cut 689 permanent positions and 100 temps. Three hundred and ninety-one jobs...

Blame the bosses, not foreign workers: Gillard steps up scapegoating of 457s and foreign workers

It is now clearer than ever that the attacks on 457 visa workers are being used to whip up xenophobia against foreign workers. Last week Julia Gillard added her...

Mardi Gras police violence—how far have we really come?

The YouTube video exposing the brutal attack by NSW police on Jamie Jackson at the recent Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras has raised question marks over so many common...

Sensis workers show how to fight for jobs

Workers at Sensis yesterday staged a 150-strong rally for jobs in Melbourne, demanding the company back down over its plans to cut 689 full-time positions and outsource 391 jobs...

Protests ensure Wilders’ racism meets strong challenge

Dutch Islamophobe Geert Wilders hoped his Australian tour would further the spread of his racist anti-Muslim politics. But after he was dogged by protests and opposition, he told tour...

Sydney Uni strike: the fight for our education is on

The Sydney University National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is set to strike in week one of classes, following the return of their industrial action ballot. This marks the beginning...

‘Aussie’ jobs or jobs for all? Fight the bosses, not 457 workers

The picket of Melbourne’s City West Water construction site, effectively demanding the sacking of 457 visa workers, shows just how dangerous and divisive the unions’ “Aussie jobs” campaign really...

Hands off Bob! Unions take a stand for victimised trade unionist

“A spiteful attempt to intimidate every community activist who may in future wish to assist workers in obtaining justice”—this is how a leaflet distributed to Victorian building sites by...

Solidarity needed: defend union rights in Indonesia, support Sulthoni Farras and Bona Ventura

Trade union activist Sulthoni Farras, a leader of the Indonesian union federation Progresip, union alliance Sekber Buruh, and member of Indonesian political organisation KPO PRP, is in danger of arrest...

Chinese journalists strike against censorship

Journalists at the influential, liberal-leaning newspaper Southern Weekly in Guangdong province staged a two-day strike against government censorship on January 7 and 8, the first such strike at a major newspaper...

Catastrophic fires—pathetic climate policies the elephant in the room

With a new record-breaking heat wave producing catastrophic fires across the country, why is there so little discussion about climate change? The severity of the heatwave has set off alarm...

Sign on statement: Support Dr Jake Lynch’s Academic Boycott of Israel

Sign a statement in support of Dr Jake Lynch and the Sydney University Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies' support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel, and demand...

Rising workers’ movement in Indonesia beats back low pay and contract work

Indonesia is being shaken by a strike wave, with a growth in workers’ confidence to fight against low wages and insecure casual contracts. Particularly in the industrial area of...

Argo: flawlessly reproducing US propaganda on Iran

Argo, Ben Affleck’s gripping, highly entertaining and commercially successful thriller, depicts a little-known episode within the infamous 444-day hostage crisis that followed the Iranian Revolution. Without ...

US school shootings: a broken, violent system pulled the trigger

The massacre of 28 people, including 20 young children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut is deeply sad and chilling. How could this happen?

Uprising of protest can stop Israel’s terror

Israel is again unleashing terror and death on the people on Gaza. But this new war comes amid a very different regional backdrop to the last Gaza war in...

Europe rocked by general strikes in Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece

Workers walked out in general strikes across Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece as well as parts of Belgium on November 14. In Spain this is the second general strike in...

The Greens’ direction in debate at national conference

The Greens’ national conference in November saw a continuation of efforts to drag the party rightwards in an effort to seek electoral “respectability”. The party’s more moderate federal MPs,...

Support Bob Carnegie: Defend the right to protest and strike

Bob Carnegie, a community organiser in Brisbane, is being sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars by construction firm Abigroup following a strike at its Queensland Children’s Hospital site. Campbell...

New round of protests at Sydney Uni over rent hikes and Koori Centre

In late October, around 100 students marched through Sydney University to demand affordable student housing. The protest was organised by students who live at Sydney University Village (SUV) alongside...

European general strike on November 14: International Socialist Tendency statement

The decision by unions in Greece, Italy, Portugal, the Spanish state, southern Cyprus and Malta to call a one-day general strike as part of a European-wide day of action...

The Greens’ fight to “replace the bastards”

Solidarity distributed this leaflet at The Greens' national conference in Sydney on November 1-5, discussing some of the issues in The Greens' focus on parliamentary influence and the potential...

Marikana miners’ support campaign: an urgent call for international solidarity

Please consider supporting this important call for solidarity with South Africa's Marikana miners. On the 16th August, South African Police fired live ammunition at striking miners at Lonmin’s Marikana mine,...

ACT election: Greens pay price for rush to join government

The recent ACT election ended badly for the Labor-Greens governing partnership, with a 7.3 per cent swing and two extra seats for the Liberals. This should be an embarrassment...

Fight the neoliberal university: stop the Sydney Uni Village rent hike

According to recent studies, 60 per cent of university students live below the poverty line and one in every eight regularly goes without food. Yet despite this epidemic of...

Police violence and racism on display in attack on Muslim rally

Police, politicians and the media have unleashed a wave of anti-Muslim racism in response to the protest in Sydney against a film that mocks Islam. In words designed to...

Aboriginal communities statement: “Shires out, stop the Intervention – community control now!”

Following the Northern Territory elections last month, a community meeting of Aboriginal residents and traditional owners from Kalkaringi, Dagaragu and Lajamanu are calling for an end to the hated...

Open letter: free Somyot and support democracy and union rights in Thailand

Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, 50, is an editor of Voice of Taksin (translated as “Voice of the Southerners/ Voice of the Oppressed”) magazine and a prominent labour rights activist in Thailand...

Round two in the Victorian teachers’ fight against Baillieu

An unprecedented 40,000 Victorian teachers and Education Support Staff stopped work on Wednesday 5 September. It was the second, and the biggest, strike in the campaign to win more...

Grocon humbled as construction workers defend union rights

For ten straight days, hundreds of construction unionists have blockaded Grocon’s Myer Emporium construction site in the heart of Melbourne. Construction workers have drawn the line against Grocon boss...

Latrobe students defy Open Day protest ban

Over 100 students protested at La Trobe University’s Open Day on August 26 against savage cuts to humanities, defying threats to suspend or expel students who joined “unauthorised” demonstrations. In...

Labor’s shame: Howard’s Pacific hell holes return

Labor has re-opened one of the darkest chapters in Australia's history of refugee policies. In a final capitulation, Julia Gillard has embraced the Howard government's Pacific Solution, forcing laws...

Sign-on statement: welcome 457 visa holders into the unions

Gina Rinehart's Enterprise Migration Agreement (EMA) for her Roy Hill project has sparked debate over the issue of "Aussie jobs" and 457 visas. This statement of union activists, anti-racists...

Militancy wins: Toll workers show how to fight

Workers employed by Toll at the Coles warehouse in Somerton, Victoria, have shown that militancy wins. After a two-week strike, the workers, covered by the National Union of Workers...

Labor victory in Melbourne shows the challenges ahead for Greens

Labor breathed a sigh of relief after holding off The Greens in the July 21 by-election for the state seat of Melbourne. Victorian Labor feared that the series of...

Victorian building workers ready to resist Baillieu’s union busting

In early July, around 8000 construction workers joined a strike and rally against Victorian Liberal Premier Ted Baillieu’s new anti-union building code, which came in force three days earlier....

“It’s not fair what’s happening—we we want our rights!”: Support the Toll workers

Workers at the Coles Somerton warehouse run by Toll have been on indefinite strike since Tuesday 10 July. The workers, who are covered by the National Union of Workers...

Gurindji People of Daguragu and Kalkarinji: “This Intervention must be abolished…”

The Gurindji people at Daguragu and Kalkaringi have been fighting the Intervention with protests, including strike action, since its introduction. Here we reprint a statement calling on the Labor...

Victorian teachers show we want to fight

More than 20,000 Victorian teachers went out on strike on Thursday 7 June, and more than 11,000 tried to cram into the Hisense Arena for the mass strike meeting—but...

Fairfax workers stand up to job cuts with snap strike

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Rinehart migration deal: To fight for jobs, we have to fight together

The announcement of an Enterprise Migration Agreement (EMA) that will allow Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill project to employ 1700 overseas workers has produced a wave of controversy. But foreign...

Egyptian presidential elections: stop Mubarak’s man

Egypt's Revolutionary Socialists argue that the revolutionary movement in Egypt must do everything it can to keep Mubarak henchman Ahmad Shafiq from winning in the next round of the...

Surplus obsession locks in cuts and failure on services

Labor’s obsession with a budget surplus has delivered more cuts and an on-going failure to fund services. Despite its talk there is only peanuts for spending on schools, dental...

As VC’s axe falls, Sydney Uni rebels

On the same day the axe fell on academic jobs at Sydney University, students and staff hit the streets in a day of anger, and successfully blockaded a Senate...

Carbon tax: Help or hindrance in stopping Abbott?

Solidarity distributed this leaflet at the 2012 national Climate Action Summit, held this weekend in Sydney Support for the carbon tax has damaged the climate movement, and with it the...

Storm of protest against job cuts rocks University of Sydney—and there’s more to come

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German MP speaks on solidarity with Greek workers: “My no in the Bundestag is a yes to resistance”

Kate Davison interviewed Christine Buchholz, German Federal MP for Die Linke ("The Left" Party) and supporter of Marx21, about their efforts to build solidarity with Greek workers facing severe...

Queensland election disaster—Labor only has itself to blame

Labor has suffered its worst defeat in Queensland in more than a century, crashing to a 26.9 per cent primary vote in the state election. The party's embrace of...

Zimbabwe socialists face jail for showing film about Egyptian revolution

A magistrate in Zimbabwe convicted six socialists of “inciting public violence” on Monday March 19. Some 160 supporters in the public gallery showed their outrage. The six plan to...

Sydney wharfies take solidarity action against NZ union busting

Defiant solidarity action by Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) members in Sydney has delivered a boost to sacked wharfies in New Zealand. Workers took industrial action against a scab-loaded...

Action against union-busting effort on NZ docks spreads to Sydney

A major union dispute has erupted in New Zealand at the Port of Auckland, with 300 union workers sacked and replaced with scabs. Now the dispute has spread, with...

Statement: Solidarity with workers in Greece

This statement on Greece, signed by organisations in the International Socialist Tendency and others, explains the vicious austerity policies facing the Greek people and offers solidarity in the Greek...

Rudd vs Gillard: it’s tweedledum vs tweedledee

The leadership showdown between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard is a contest completely lacking in substance—and in any serious policy differences. No matter what the outcome, the problems at...

Terrance Briscoe: killed by police?

Eight years after the shocking deaths and police cover-ups of the killings of TJ Hickey in Redfern and Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island, there are all the signs of...

Behind the media beat-up: Tent Embassy protesters have nothing to apologise for

Protests celebrating the anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy have been subject to a vicious and distorting media campaign, after a snap protest directed at Tony Abbott and Julia...

Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists: “All power and wealth to the people”

One year from the start of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak and is now challenging the power of Egypt's military junta, Egypt's Revolutionary Socialists analyse the dynamics of...

Hands off our education: stop the staff cuts at Sydney Uni

At the end of 2011 the Sydney University administration announced 340 job cuts (150 academic and 190 general) to be finalised by February 2012. They claim that this is because of...

Egyptian trade unionists’ statement: “The factory and the square are one hand”

Egyptian trade unionists have called for demonstrations on January 25, the one year anniversary of the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. The demands of workers and protestors have not been...

Petrol protests win partial victory in Nigeria

Labour leaders in Nigeria called off a general strike on Monday of this week after the government agreed to partly reintroduce petrol subsidies. The subsidies were removed on 1...

Australia shares responsibility for asylum seekers’ deaths at sea: Refugee Action Coalition

Australia cannot evade its share of the responsibility for the tragic sinking of another asylum boat off Java, according to advocates from the Refugee Action Coalition. The boat is...

Australia waiting in the wings of PNG’s political crisis

The political crisis in Papua New Guinea split open in mid-December as two men both claimed the right to be the Prime Minister. The current PM, Peter O’Neill, was...

Labor conference fails to halt Gillard’s drive to the right

Labor’s national conference saw a greater challenge to the government’s right-wing policies than at the previous event in 2009, where then leader Kevin Rudd orchestrated proceedings to ensure there...

2.5 million strike in the UK to bring down the Tories’ cuts

It was a historic day. Britain’s biggest strike since 1926 saw the working class march firmly on to centre stage of the political arena, reports UK Socialist Worker Over two...

Egypt fights for the future of the revolution

The Egyptian revolution has reached a new turning point. People in their hundreds of thousands have returned to Tahrir square and the streets across the country, in response to...

Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists statement: Workers of Egypt, rise up!

Statement from the Revolutionary Socialists, released on November 21, 2011, calling on Egyptian workers to take strike action to help bring down the military regime. Workers of Egypt: Rise up...

Egypt’s Revolutionary Socialists: Down with military rule, down with Mubarak’s rule!

The Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists’ statement on the crisis in Egypt Down with military rule, down with Mubarak's rule! Revolutionaries have returned to Tahrir Square. Once again it is filled with young...

Support swells for Baiada workers’ fight (in pictures and video)

On the weekend, striking poultry workers at Baiada's Laverton factory and their supporters defeated police attempts to break up their picket, which has now been going strong for nearly...

Striking Baiada workers hold the line at Laverton despite police violence

Striking poultry workers have pushed back police attacks on their picket at the Baiada factory in Laverton, Victoria. Read more for the latest news on the struggle and what...

Support the Baiada chicken workers

Baiada poultry workers at Laverton, Victoria, members of the National Union of Workers (NUW), began an indefinite strike on Wednesday 9 November for better conditions, a 5 per cent...

Update: Fair Work terminates industrial action but Qantas workers still need our support

The ugly face of Australia’s 1 per cent was graphically on display over the weekend, when CEO Alan Joyce grounded Qantas and prepared to lock out its workforce. It epitomised...

As Joyce goes for anti-union lockout: Back the Qantas workers

If anyone was wondering what the 1 per cent looks like—take a look at anti-union thug and Qantas boss, Alan Joyce. A day after the Qantas CEO had his...

Occupy! Spread the spirit of resistance

On October 15, more than a million people took to the streets around the globe. From Seoul to Santa Fe, in so many different languages, the protests expressed the...

Occupy Australia—Build the struggles to fight the system

The Occupy Wall Street protests have struck a chord, voicing opposition to corporate power and disillusionment with the US political system. It has mushroomed into a movement that has...

Eyewitness in Cairo: Copts were gunned down by the military

At least 23 protesters were killed in Cairo last night, Sunday, as the army and police carried out a massacre in front of the state TV building, reports Hossam...

Bolt’s humiliation is cause to celebrate

The Federal Court has condemned Andrew Bolt’s journalism as dishonest and racist, over a series of articles he wrote in the Murdoch tabloid The Herald Sun. Bolt accused nine...

Spirit of Seattle is back as protesters take on Wall Street

US-based anti-capitalist activist Virginia Rodino reports on a protest at the heart of the system On Friday 17 September a group of largely young campaigners, artists, and students occupied Wall...

Strikes deepen Egypt’s revolution

The revolution in Egypt is gaining new momentum. The strikes that began in the summer have stepped up. The hated Hosni Mubarak is on trial. And steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz...

Coal seam gas: climate disaster brought to you by the carbon tax

Solidarity produced this leaflet for today's coal seam gas rally in Sydney. Opposition to coal seam gas (CSG) mining, especially amongst farmers in NSW and Queensland, has turned toxic. The...

A step backwards for climate action: The truth about the carbon tax

Solidarity has produced a factsheet outlining why the carbon tax package will not cut emissions, how the approach of pushing costs onto workers has given Tony Abbott an enormous...

Carbon tax deal comes at too great a cost

The carbon tax deal struck between Julia Gillard and The Greens has finally been unveiled. Gillard says it will mean a “great clean energy future”. The Greens have hailed...

Thai Election: A slap in the face for the Military, the Democrat Party and the royalist elites

Exiled Thai socialist Giles Ji Ungpakorn writes on the victory in Thailand's election for Peua Thai, the party closely allied to the Red Shirt movement The Thai election results are...

Mass strike action in NSW can stop the Liberals

Just two months after taking office, Barry O’Farrell and the NSW Liberals have shown their real face, launching a savage attack on public sector workers, something they never mentioned...

Time to fight the rise of sexism

The thousands taking to the streets for “slutwalk” rallies show the anger at the widespread and growing sexism in society—exemplified in the efforts to blame women for rape. Solidarity...

SAY YES—to a fight for renewables! A carbon tax won’t stop climate change

Rallies for climate action will take place Australia-wide on Sunday 5 June. Solidarity put together this statement about the rallies demand for a carbon tax and what it means...

Vale Bob Gould

Obituary: Bob Gould 1937-2011 Bob Gould dedicated his life to defending the rights of the working class and the fight for a socialist society and his passing is a blow to...

Message from Curtin hunger striker as protests spread

This message was conveyed to the Refugee Action Coalition by a hunger strike inside Curtin detention centre. 1500 mostly Afghan refugees are detaineed in Curtin detention centre. 300 of...

NSW Greens right to back Israel boycott

In the aftermath of the NSW election, The Australian and right-wing politicians have mounted a witch-hunt against the NSW Greens over their support for the campaign of Boycott, Divestment...

Union fightback can stop the Liberals in NSW

Labor’s thumping in the NSW election was hardly a surprise. Disgust with its corruption, privatisation and the run down of schools, hospitals and public transport had been building for...

Statement by the Intervention Rollback Action Group in Response to ‘Action for Alice’

The Intervention Rollback Action Group condemns the racist advertising campaign being run by business owner group 'Action for Alice' and their calls for further incarceration of Aboriginal people. We are...

New carbon price proposal is the CPRS version 2.0

Flanked by Greens Senators Bob Brown and Christine Milne, Julia Gillard announced at a press conference on February 24 that she wants to introduce a price on carbon (a...

Zimbabweans face possible death sentence for discussing Egyptian revolution: urgent solidarity needed

A group of socialists in Zimbabwe face a possible death sentence for watching a video about the Egyptian Revolution. Some 52 activists were charged with treason and “subverting a constitutionally...

Libya, Bahrain and beyond: the revolt continues to spread

A storm of revolutions, uprisings and revolts continues to thunder across the Middle East. Its speed and scale is breathtaking. Following the overthrow of Ben Ali in Tunisia, and Hosni...

Don’t return survivors to Christmas Island

Refugee Action Coalition media release Refugee supporters and relatives of the survivors’ relatives again gathered at the Miowera Road gates of Villawood detention centre at 8.30am Thursday, 17...

Egypt’s revolution that toppled the dictator

The tyrant has fallen. Mubarak has gone. Israel’s man, the US’s man, the World Bank’s man, has been deposed. Mubarak has been swept away by one of the greatest...

Statement of the Revolutionary Socialists Egypt

The statement was issued by revolutionary socialists in Egypt on Sunday February 6. They have asked for it to be circulated and posted widely. They are also asking for messages of support,...

Live updates from unfolding revolution in Egypt

Judith Orr, editor of Socialist Worker (UK) is reporting live from the protests in Cairo—see her posts here

Mass protests across Egypt threaten Mubarak’s dictatorship

Thousands of people remain on the streets of towns and cities in Egypt after a day of huge demonstrations calling for the downfall of the dictator Hosni Mubarak and...

Egyptian socialist: ‘We can make Mubarak run like Ben Ali’

They said they would be there, and they were. The 25 January was declared a “Day of Anger” by democratic and socialist forces a week beforehand. The significance of...

IST statement: Tunisia shows that revolution is possible

A statement from the International Socialist Tendency, a global network of socialist organisations of which Solidarity is a part: The importance of the victory of the Tunisian masses is not...

Tunisian revolution topples tyrant – and panics Arab rulers

Revolution has ousted the corrupt Tunisian leader President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. This is the first time revolution has overthrown an Arab leader since the fall of the Shah of...

Riots rock authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Algeria

Uprisings are shaking the authoritarian regimes of Tunisia and Algeria in North Africa. Protests have raged for more than three weeks in Tunisia. High youth unemployment, poverty and a rising cost...

Spain next in line for a tough battle against austerity

The debt crisis is extending and deepening across Europe. As European governments force working people to pay for the costs of the crisis through austerity measures, more and more...

Government to blame for Christmas Island tragedy

Refugee Action Coalition media release 15 December 2010: “Government anti-refugee policy is responsible for the tragedy on Christmas Island,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. “Our heart goes...

Wikileaks exposes an empire built on lies

The avalanche of secret US diplomatic cables has raised the rage of world leaders against Julian Assange and Wikileaks to fever pitch. They have launched a concerted international campaign...

Truth is a crime in an empire of lies: defend Wikileaks

Sign the open letter initiated by Sydney Stop the War Coalition. To:  Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard Anti-war activists salute Wikileaks' courage and determination in exposing the lies about the wars...

Another suicide at Villawood demands full inquiry into detention

Refugee Action Coalition media release 16 Nov 2010 An Iraqi asylum seeker, Ahmad, is believed to have committed suicide at Villawood detention centre around midnight Monday night. Detainees found the man...

Victory in Cairns abortion case, now it’s time to change the law

It took a Cairns jury less than an hour to find Tegan Leach and Sergie Brennan not guilty on charges of procuring an abortion. It was a cause for...

Villawood refugees stage rooftop protests and hunger strikes

Updates on the situation are available at Refugee Action Coalition Sydney's website A second rooftop protest by Chinese detainees is now in progress Iranian asylum seekers are on hunger strike, with...

Unions can’t afford three more years of waiting for Labor

In 2007, the mass union mobilisations through the Your Rights at Work campaign were the central force driving John Howard from office. It beggars belief that only three years...

New carbon price committee will get us nowhere

Julia Gillard’s deal with The Greens to establish a parliamentary committee on a carbon price has been hailed as a new chance for serious action on climate change. The...

Labor slumps but there’s no mandate for Abbott

As she lost the seat of Bennelong, Maxine McKew summed up Labor’s crisis: compared to 2007, she said, Labor stood for nothing. Kevin Rudd was removed as Labor’s...

Stop the Intervention—how we built the campaign through the election

The struggles against the NT Intervention and the expansion of the nuclear industry in the NT continued to build during the election period - through the Greens campaign and...

Greens breakthrough shows potential for the left

“Together we have made history today”, Adam Bandt declared, as he became the first Green to win a lower house seat in a general election. The surge to The...

Brumby climate promises only look good next to federal government failure

Victorian Premier John Brumby’s recently announced climate policies have seen him hailed as the first Australian politician to get serious about climate change. But his promises on climate have...

NSW teacher conference pledges action if league tables produced again

The Federal Australian Education Union (AEU) held a National Symposium to highlight issues regarding NAPLAN and school rankings in Sydney on July 21. At the meeting, held in association with...

Gillard caves in to the mining bosses

Julia Gillard has capitulated to the mining companies to end their campaign against Labor’s mining tax. The speedy acceptance of her compromise deal by the wealthiest mining companies BHP...

Media release: Racial discrimination entrenched in new NT Intervention laws

The Alice Springs Based Intervention Rollback Action group (IRAG) and STICS (Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney) have condemned the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of Racial...

Flotilla slaughter exposes Israel as a terrorist state

In the early hours of Monday morning, Israeli naval ships and helicopters descended upon an international aid flotilla headed toward the Gaza strip. The trained killers of the Israeli...

Refugee groups condemn re-opening ‘worst of the worst’ detention centres

MEDIA RELEASE Refugee groups today condemned the Immigration Minster’s decision to re-open Curtin detention centre to house detainees whose visa applications have been suspended. “Given the history of Curtin and the...

Racist bashings of African youth…by Victoria Police

Victoria Police routinely racially target, taunt and bash African youths across Melbourne, according to a Legal Services report released in March. Police in Braybrook, Dandenong and Flemington - suburbs...

Thailand: hundreds of thousands take to the streets to demand democracy

Update: After Democrat politicians bring weapons into Parliament and their officials throw CS gas cannisters into peaceful Red Shirt protestors outside, the Government then declared a state...

Video of Clive Spash on why carbon trading will fail

Censored CSIRO economist Clive Spash, whose controversial paper on carbon trading was censored by CSIRO management, spoke in Sydney and Melbourne on "Why Carbon Trading Will Fail" in March. Clive...

Why the climate movement shouldn’t support the Greens’ carbon tax proposal

The Greens' Proposal The Greens have proposed an interim two year carbon tax, as a transition to carbon trading. Starting at $23 per tonne this year, rising to $24 the...

Teachers union right to ban NAPLAN tests

Teaching unions around the country have pledged to ban upcoming national testing after newspapers in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne used information from the "My School" website to publish damaging...

Woodside Pluto workers defy Rudd’s IR laws

Up to 1600 workers have defied court orders and calls by the Rudd government to end strike action at Woodside Petroleum’s Pluto gas site in Western Australia. Their action only...

Workers hit back with strike action at Australia Post

Up to 20,000 union members have taken strike action at Australia Post, part of a pre-Xmas rush of strikes that also hit Sydney buses, Telstra and Qantas. Post workers...

Xmas strikes can be the start of new year of struggle

The run of pre-Xmas strikes are a welcome start in reversing years of management bullying, privatisation and job cuts. The limited revival of industrial struggle by workers marks a...

Censored CSIRO carbon trading paper – compulsory reading for climate movement

Solidarity is making Clive Spash’s paper available because we believe it should be compulsory reading for every environmental activist. NASA climate scientist James Hansen shocked many climate activists when he...

Chris Harman 1942-2009

Solidarity (Australia) joins other socialists around the world to mourn the passing of Chris Harman. International socialism has sadly lost one of its greatest thinkers. Our sympathies are with Talat,...

Refugee Action Coalition – media release

GOVERNMENT STANCE ON ASYLUM SEEKERS IS UNSUSTAINABLE JULIA GILLARD BRINGS SHAMEFUL REMINDER OF TAMPA “Julia Gillard’s claim that the Sri Lankan Tamils taken to Indonesia are Indonesia’s responsibility is a shameful...

Rudd panders to terrorism hysteria

Massive “counter-terrorism” raids in Melbourne last week have further stirred up racism against Muslims and immigrants. More than 400 police were involved in the raids, including paramilitary squads armed...

NSW teachers ban school league tables

Five hundred and fifty New South Wales Teachers Federation union delegates have unanimously voted for a series of actions to stop the publication of school league tables at their...

Inquiry needed into government response to distressed asylum seekers

Refugee Action Coalition MEDIA RELEASE   - GOVERNMENT POLICIES ARE FORCING ASYLUM SEEKERS TO USE PEOPLE SMUGGERS The drama and uncertainty that still surrounds the fate of many of the asylum seekers whose boat...

Some distressed boat people make it to land, but not all may be safe

Refugee Action Coalition MEDIA RELEASE   Some of the 74 Afghan asylum seekers feared lost at sea Indonesian waters fours days ago have made it to land. Fifteen of them are presently...

Rudd’s anti-people smuggling crusade is threatening asylum seekers lives

Refugee Action Coalition MEDIA RELEASE In the aftermath of the rescue of a 74 asylum seekers’ boat yesterday, the refugee advocate who alerted Australian border protection authorities to the distressed...

G20 trials begin–defend the arrestees

An update from the Sydney G20 Solidarity Collective Trials of the three remaining arrestees from the anti-G20 demonstrations in Melbourne 2006 began on June 30 at the County Court of...

Iran’s new fight for freedom

IRAN IS being rocked by massive people power demonstrations-the biggest since the 1979 revolution that overthrew the hated Shah.  Night after night, hundreds of thousands of people have poured...

Thousands rally nationally for renewable energy, & against CPRS

Thousands have rallied around the country calling for funding renewable energy as an alternative to the governments polluter friendly emissions trading scheme, there were climate protests in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Cairns, Hobart, Melbourne,...

People Power Rocks Iran

There is a new popular power sweeping Iran. In one of the biggest mass demonstrations since the toppling of the US-backed Shah in 1979, some one million people descended...

150,000 remember Tianamen massacre in Hong Kong

One hundred and fifty thousand people attended the Hong Kong candlelight vigil in Victoria Park to commemorate those killed in Tiananmen Square on June 4 1989. They came to...

Thousands rally against racist attacks (photos & report)

Thousands of people have marched in Melbourne today (Sunday May 31) against racist attacks on people of Indian origin living in Melbourne.  There have also been attacks in Sydney, last...

Strike hits six universities

Workers at five universities in Melbourne -- Melbourne, Monash, Swinburne, RMIT and Deakin, plus a Hawthorn college -- struck on Thursday, May 21. Staff at the University of Tasmania also...

Speech by Verity Burgmann at NTEU strike rally

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. There’s been a generally downward deterioration in our working conditions over these decades, at every level of the...

NTEU strike leaflet

Howard’s long gone – so why are uni managements still acting like Liberals? Labor was elected amid talk of an education revolution. But uni managements continue to act as if...

Statement on CPRS (emissions trading)

*No compromise with Rudd's flawed scheme. More than ever the CPRS is worse than useless* Recent developments around the Rudd government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) highlight the need for...

Open Letter to the Greens to vote against the CPRS

Scrap the CPRS A Call for Green Senators to Vote NO Kevin Rudd’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), the government’s main mechanism for reducing Australia’s carbon emissions, fails every test.  It is...

Refugee Action Coalition – media release

 MEDIA RELEASE Refugee groups wants the government to come clean on asylum boat interceptions. Government policy is creating the conditions for more tragedies Refugee groups today warned that government polices of...

Support Pacific Brands workers—defend every job

Support from Hong Kong Trade Unions for Pacific Brands workers  Workers across the country are disgusted and outraged with the announcement that Pacific Brands bosses plan to sack 1850 workers....

Charles Darwin’s discovery

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. It is also 150 years since the publication of the book that made him world famous, indeed...

NSW teachers’ deal could have gone further

NSW teachers have won a pay increase and the reinstatement of a state-wide staffing plan as part of a new 3-year-award. An initial pay rise of 4.4% will be followed...

Solidarity Discussion Paper for 2009 Climate Summit

Only a few years ago mainstream debate on climate change was still focused on debates with climate skeptics about whether the threat was real. Today climate change is a...

Stop Israel’s massacre in Gaza

Israel has expanded its murderous air attack on Gaza into a full ground assault. With all borders sealed, 1.5 million Palestinians are trapped—with little electricity or fuel and severe...

Gaza and the US war for control of the Middle East

The assault on Gaza is part of the wider US-backed "war on terror" across the Middle East. Ending the Australian government's continued backing for US wars in Iraq and...

Hamas and the struggle to liberate Palestine

The US has blamed Hamas for causing Israel’s assault. Kevin Rudd has called them a “terrorist organisation”. In fact Hamas are the legitimate elected leaders of the Palestinians. ...

Stop the siege! Protests demand justice for Gaza

THOUSANDS of people have rallied across Australia in the last week to protest Israel's recent military bombardment and siege of the Gaza strip.  They are part of a global response...

Close Christmas Island detention centre, demand refugee groups

Refugee groups today called for the permanent closure of the high security immigration detention facility on Christmas Island. “Christmas Island detention centre should never have been built and should not...

Mass movement hits Greece after police killing

Panos Garganas from Greece reports on the mass movement sparked by the police killing of 15-year old, which has detonated wider anger against the government over cutbacks in...

Greek mass movement rises up against the state

The following is an article from Workers Solidarity the paper of our sister organisation in Greece (translated from Greek) We can overthrow them! On Saturday December 6, the Police made two...

Moreland rallies for action on ABC childcare centres

About 40 people rallied in the Coburg mall in Melbourne on Saturday December 6 for government intervention to save ABC childcare centres. The speakers were Paul Slape, National Secretary of...

Turnbull’s refugee bashing condemned

Turnbull’s call for the re-introduction of temporary protection visas shows how much the Liberal opposition is in thrawl to the failed policies of the Howard era, according to refugee...

Campaign forces university into negotiations on student housing

Eviction notices given to student occupiers in the Student Housing Action Collective (SHAC) at Melbourne University have been withdrawn, with the university re-entering negotiations with the students. SHAC has been...

Jeff Goldhar: socialist whose legacy continues

When life long socialist Jeff Goldhar died in 1997, he left a bequest. Set up at the end of 1998, the Jeff Goldhar Project is now celebrating 10 years...

Thailand: a second “Coup for the Rich”

By Giles Ji Ungpakorn in Bangkok Today the Constitutional Court dissolved the democratically elected governing party in Thailand for the second time, forcing the government to resign. This follows the...

NSW teachers plan 48 hour strike in January 09

20,000 teachers at meetings around the state have voted to take 48 hours of industrial action from the start of the 2009 school year, in the event of the...

It’s as easy as ABC Julia!

Solidarity believes the federal government should take over ABC Learning Centres, CFK Childcare and any other "unprofitable" centres. For years the government has watched its subsidisation of the for-profit...

Hunger strike at Villawood detention centre suspended

Immigration detainees at Villawood detention centre in Sydney have suspended their hunger strike after three days. The Refugee Action Coalition has been releasing daily updates on the hunger strike,...

US activists interviewed on Obama’s victory

Socialist Worker in the US interviewed activists following Obama's victory for their understanding of the importance of his win Howard Zinn Historian and veteran activist Howard Zinn is the author of...

Free Lex Wotton – National Protests Nov 1 & 7

National protests have been called in response to the guilty verdict in the trial of Lex Wotton, announced this week. The first national protest on Saturday November 1, aims to put pressure on the...

It’s their crisis–why should we pay?

Leaflet distributed by Solidarity students at Sydney University seminar on the financial crisis The world is suffering its most serious financial crisis since the 1930s. Most economists believe that more...

Robbo goes to parliament

What does it do for the union movement’s credibility when its elected leader joins the government? I’d just checked my email and read that the NSW government wants TAFE teachers...

International socialist tendency statement on the global economic crisis

The extraordinary waves of panic that have swept through global financial markets in the past few weeks have filled ordinary working people around the world with a mixture of...

Market Meltdown – The crisis at the heart of the system

The era of neo-liberal market madness has crashed. It is not the end of capitalism by a long shot, but it is the end of capitalism as we have...

Explaining the toxic crisis of capitalism – questions and answers

Socialist Worker - our sister publication in Britain - answers the crucial questions raised by the collapse of leading investment banks and the recent turmoil in glabal markets "I hate...

Rights on sites

Join the campaign to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission. The Howard government set up the ABCC to cripple workers rights in the building industry. Unions are demanding...

Fairfax staff fight back

Solidarity speaks to Marcus Strom, a member of the Fairfax union house committee, about the ongoing dispute at Fairfax. What do you think was behind Fairfax's attempt to sack 550...

Right-wing attacks on government in Bolivia

Paula Pfoeffer in Cochabamba, Bolivia, reports that the Morales government in Bolivia has been under attack by right-wing forces. Authors note: I have had a number of semantic discussions with...

The Thai circus continues

The Thai political crisis took another farcical turn today when the courts ruled that Prime Minister Samak must resign because he appears on a TV cooking programme. Rather than...

2000 Union Delegates Meet To Defend Noel Washington

2000 union delegates attended a mass meeting to defend Noel Washington, CFMEU official facing 6 months jail for refusing to be interrogated by the Howard era Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC). The ABCC wanted to question him about what was said at a union meeting that took place outside of work hours.

Refugee Action Coalition: Immigration changes don’t go far enough, summit to address outstanding issues needed

“We are puzzled that the Minister seems to have pre-empted his Parliamentary Enquiry, but the changes to immigration detention announced today by the Minister for Immigration are a welcome...

APEC conviction overturned in right to protest victory

In another victory for the right to protest, one of the few court convictions over the APEC demonstration was overturned on appeal yesterday in the District Court. In the face...

Newcastle Climate Camp fosters national debate and planning on climate change

Climate Camp, a protest against the coal industry in Newcastle NSW, was a success and an important step forward in continuing to build a movement for real solutions to...

Student activists reinvigorate campaign for queer rights

Over two hundred students from across Australia converged on Melbourne University last week for the annual Queer Collaborations conference, this year themed 'Freedoms are Won, Not Given'. The conference heard...

Unions act to defend Noel Washington and scrap the construction commission

Unions in Victoria are set to escalate their campaign against the anti-union Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), a WorkChoices-era relic. For the first time since Howard introduced the ABCC a unionist, Noel Washington, will face court for refusing to attend an interrogation by the commission.

Leadership of NSW nurses’ union undermines public sector-wide pay fight

NURSES IN NSW have accepted a pay deal in exchange for a raft of “trade offs” that strip back work conditions. The nurses’ is the latest in a string...

Melbourne Climate Emergency Rally

About 4000 people rallied in central Melbourne on Saturday July 5, addressed by Greens Senator Bob Brown, among others. According to Friends of the Earth: 'We want to send...

One year on, rallies demand an end to NT intervention

On June 21, people from ten cities around Australia took to the streets to protest the ongoing NT Intervention. One year since John Howard and Mal Brough announced...

Building a Movement Against Climate Change

Solidarity has produced a climate change position paper to coincide with the Climate Camp in Newcastle in July. It runs through, in some detail, our critique of the climate...

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