Community solidarity shows another world is possible
Community actions in the aftermath of the floods have shown the potential for human solidarity in the face of disaster. As the flood waters began to roll across the...
Queensland flood aftermath brings a rising tide of nationalism
Politicians flogged the nationalist drum hard during the recent flood crisis. “We will hang on to our Aussie mateship and our Aussie fair go in the worst times and...
Floods and extreme weather send message on climate
This summer has seen extreme weather events across Australia. Queensland’s devastating floods were followed closely by Cyclone Yasi. Widespread flooding also occurred in Victoria, while the region around Perth...
Bowen releases Seena—now free them all
A groundswell of community concern has forced Immigration Minister Chris Bowen to back down and announce that Seena, the nine-year old Iranian orphaned in the Christmas Island disaster, will...
Unions take up fight against Indigenous housing rort
The CFMEU, Unions NT and the Intervention Rollback Action Group have launched a joint petition demanding justice for Indigenous workers ripped off under the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure...
Obituary: Vale Mark Fordham, a fighter for Aboriginal workers
The trade union and Aboriginal rights movements have been shocked by news of Mark Fordham’s death on February 2. Mark, the proud father of two young sons, died of...
Racism widens the gap in Aboriginal education
Julia Gillard's annual speech on the progress of Labor’s “Close the Gap” policy demonstrated the poisonous growth of blame the victim politics in Aboriginal Affairs.“I see Closing the Gap as...
Liberals begin their attacks on the Sydney Uni SRC
As the academic year begins, the Sydney University Student Representative Council (SRC) is under attack from the Liberals. The SRC is the student union on campus at Sydney University.While...
Gillard’s ‘solution’ to dump refugees on Timor
Leakd plans have exposed the unfair burden Julia Gillard’s “East Timor solution” would put on the tiny impoverished nation. They have confirmed that the proposal is all about Australia...
Opposition to Afghan deportation agreement grows
On January 17, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced that a Memorandum of Understanding allowing the Australian government to forcibly return asylum seekers had been signed by Afghanistan, Australia and...
School autonomy another market measure
Just before Christmas, Julia Gillard announced the next step in her free market vision for schools.
Her proposal for “school autonomy” would give school principals and parent representatives at individual schools...
NSW power privatisation: selling our services at any cost
The NSW government’s power sell-off has descended into farce. The second round of “partial privatisation”, expected to raise $2 billion, has fallen through due to a lack of bidders....
Strike movement finished Mubarak—and isn’t over yet
Hosni Mubarak's fate was sealed by the entrance of the Egyptian working class into the struggle against the regime.Strikes by property tax collectors and Mahalla textile workers in 2006-2008...
New protests fight Tunisian regime
A new wave of protests erupted in Tunisia in early February, following the revolution that brought down Ben Ali on January 14. Despite the downfall of the brutal 23-year...
Economic crisis sends Irish politics in chaos
Official politics in Ireland descended into chaos in January. The ruling Fianna Fail/Green Party coalition has collapsed and prime minister Brian Cowen is no longer leader of his own...
Fight for democracy in Haiti as butcher returns to the scene
The return of Haiti’s former dictator, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, has raised questions about continued US interference in the disaster-ravaged country.Baby Doc inherited the presidency from his father in...
Spain’s workers take on cuts—and their union leaders
January 27 marked yet another day of strikes and demonstrations in Spain. This time, workers were not only calling for an end to the Spanish government’s cuts: they were...
Egypt: from people power to workers’ power
Solidarity looks at the way forward for the revolution that toppled a dictatorThe beginning of 2011 saw revolutions unfolding across the Middle East. Masses of people, suffering decades of...
Muslim Brotherhood is a far from radical force
Western leaders could not publicly reject the call for democracy in Egypt, but as the Mubarak regime teetered and fell they reached for the one ideological weapon they could...
From Algeria to Iran, a mood of defiance is spreading
The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were justified by Western leaders with rhetoric about bringing “democracy” and “liberation” to the Middle East. But the revolts shaking the Arab world...
The hidden history of International Women’s Day
As we celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day, Solidarity looks at the radical history of women workers that it representsMarch 8 marks 100 years since the first celebration...
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: rebel women and radical unionism
Erima Dall continues our series on revolutionary women with a look at the life of a US union radical and her struggle to help organise women workersWhen Elizabeth Gurley...
Can WikiLeaks change the world?
As Julian Assange faces his extradition trial, James Supple takes a look at the role of information in the fight for social changeWikiLeaks' release of thousands of US diplomatic...
Fighting Patrick again on the waterfront
Waterside workers employed by Patrick, members of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), began rolling strike action in WA and Victoria in December to win more secure employment and...
Disputes rage on at UNSW and Macquarie unis
The campaign for a decent agreement is continuing at UNSW after more than two years of negotiations.About 40 staff were stood down for almost two months over the end...
Percy Brookfield: MP who used parliament to agitate and organise
The Best Hated Man in Australia: The Life and Death of Percy Brookfield 1875-1921
By Paul Robert Adams, Puncher and Wattmann, $34In a country where heroism is commonly deemed present...
Gillard’s carbon price proposal: shovel billions to business
Julia Gillard's embrace of pro-business policies seems to know no bounds. It was revealed in early February Labor wants to introduce a carbon price laden with compensation for coal...
