2013

The ACT has become the first state or territory in Australia to recognise same-sex marriage, in a move that increases the pressure on Tony Abbott and is an important blow against homophobia. Darlene Cox, who is making plans to marry her partner in the ACT, told ABC, “It’s fantastic, it feels great. This is about enhancing my rights.”

We won! Fightback halts tutorial cuts at ANU

Australian National University (ANU) students have set an example in the fight against cuts.

Burnside’s appeals to the powerful won’t win refugee rights

Julian Burnside is a long-term supporter of refugee rights as a lawyer and is a general opponent of the demonisation of refugees. However, his recent proposal for a “Tasmanian solution” is a mistaken attempt to accommodate to government and business views on refugees and appeal to their economic interests.

Punching a hole in Operation Sovereign Borders

The grin has come off Scott Morrison’s face. Journalists openly jeered and Morrison squirmed as his lies about a pregnant Rohingyan woman on Nauru were exposed at his 8 November press briefing.

Sydney Uni anti-racism debate: We need a united fight

The formation of the autonomous Ethno-Cultural and People of Colour Collective (EPOC) at Sydney University has raised an important debate about fighting racism.

Charity man Twiggy not as generous as he makes out

Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest and his wife Nicola were all over the national media in mid-October after donating $65 million to Western Australian universities, Australia’s single largest philanthropic gift.

Teachers in NT vote for more strikes to stop cuts

More than 1800 school teachers in the NT staged a 24-hour strike on 12 November against job losses and cuts estimated to total $47 million next year.

Victorian teachers take action against performance pay

The Victorian Liberal government is set to roll out a form of performance pay for teachers and schools staff.

RMIT digs in for more strike action

University staff continue to pay the price of the cuts to higher education imposed by Labor in April and happily supported by the Liberals. Federal funding to universities will fall by 2 per cent in 2014 and 1.25 in 2015, with a total loss to the sector of $900 million.

Miley Cyrus, sexual exploitation and raunch culture

The controversy over Miley Cyrus’s performance at the MTV Video Music Awards showed all the problems with the ongoing objectification of women.

Pakistan enraged by US drone killings

The United States has again arrogantly defended drone attacks in Pakistan after killing Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and five others in an attack in North Waziristan. The strike enraged the Pakistani government, coming just as peace talks between the Pakistani government and the group were set to start.

Strike against austerity hits education in Spain

In late October, tens of thousands of students and education workers across Spain went on strike against the latest round of savage cuts and reforms. The “Green Tide”, a growing movement in defence of public education, filled the streets two days in a row chanting “Down with the reforms!” and “More public, less private!”.

Sexism and the myth of male benefits

The resurgence of feminist organising has led to renewed debate about who benefits from sexism, and who has an interest in fighting it, writes Amy Thomas

The Marikana massacre and South Africa since apartheid

The end of Apartheid has not delivered change for South Africa’s black working class. Marikana showed the new divide in the country, writes Lucy Honan

West Papua, Australian complicity and the fight for freedom

Australian support for repression in West Papuans is driven by foreign policy, says Tom Orsag

1913 Dublin lockout: a model of fighting unionism

One hundred years on Phil Chilton argues that the Dublin lockout was a model of effective, militant unionism—but it also showed the problem of the union bureaucracy

One of 20th century’s greatest crimes: Inside Indonesia’s anti-Communist purge

The Act of Killing, Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer

Legally Brown—not much to laugh at

Legally Brown, SBS One

Inside the system

Commission of cuts Abbott's sweeping Commission of Audit, announced in October, is a brazen farce designed to pave the way for cuts and privatisations. The five person Commission is stacked...

Things they say

Telling quotes from the rich and powerful

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.

Abbott can’t hide his rule for the rich agenda

Tony Abbott has been trying to avoid the media in his first month as Prime Minister. But more and more of the Coalition’s real agenda is emerging. The unfolding MPs’...

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...

Little at stake in Labor leadership battle

The Labor leadership contest between Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese has been put forward as a major step to rejuvenate Labor, by giving members a say in the party....

Strike one against Liberals’ school cuts in WA

Teachers, Education Assistants and parents are fighting back against the Liberal’s cuts to education in Western Australia. Over a thousand education assistants rallied outside state parliament on 3 September, just...

NT bus workers head resistance to public sector assault

Bus drivers in Darwin have held two 24-hour strikes in the last few weeks, with more that 40 drivers walking off the job to march to the NT Parliament. The...

Tensions mount: Morrison tries to stop the media but he hasn’t stopped the boats

Abbott and Morrison have wasted no time putting the boot into asylum seekers. The day after being sworn into office, Abbott directed the Immigration Department to only issue temporary protection...

West Papuan asylum seekers returned to PNG

Seven West Papuans who requested asylum when they arrived in the Torres Strait have been denied the chance to make a protection application in Australia. Two days after arriving,...

Fighting Abbott’s climate denial: why we shouldn’t defend the carbon tax

Tony Abbott says repealing the carbon tax will be his “first order of business” in the new parliament. Labor and the Greens have said they will oppose its repeal,...

Has the carbon tax cut emissions?

The Greens claim the carbon tax has reduced emissions by over 8 per cent since it came into effect. The most recent government figures do show that for the first...

Community campaign challenging East West tunnel plan

A community campaign is fighting the Victorian Liberal government’s planned East West toll link tunnel. The multi-lane road tunnel will cost $6-8 billion and involve the demolition of...

Low paid women workers: Abbott’s first target

Tony Abbott has quietly rushed to attack the wages of aged care workers and childcare workers. Predominantly women, they are some of the lowest paid in the country. The Coalition...

Tecoma v McDonald’s: Community resistance to a corporate world

The campaign to stop the infamous corporate bully McDonald’s from setting up shop in Tecoma has become another symbol of the battle between real democracy and capitalist greed. To residents...

Zoe’s law an attack on abortion rights in NSW

Anti-abortionists are lining up behind a bill in NSW that threatens to set a legal precedent defining a foetus of over 20 weeks as a living person. The bill, known...

Workers the victims in US shutdown circus

In a sign of the chaos and instability that now afflicts the world’s sole superpower, the US government had been “shut down” by the right-wing Republicans’ refusal to pass...

Protests force Greece to act on fascist Golden Dawn

The growing opposition to Golden Dawn and its increasingly brazen attacks have forced the Greek government to act. Last month a Golden Dawn member stabbed to death Pavlos Fyssas, an...

Strikes and resistance have Greek government on the brink

The Greek government again faces collapse with a new wave of strikes against the austerity being imposed by the Troika of the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank. Health...

Bangladesh ablaze with garment workers’ anger

A mass strike wave of garment workers hit Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka in September. Hundreds of factories shut down on Wednesday September 25 as the workers took to the streets to...

Whatever happened to Labor’s Left?

The lack of any distinct policy differences between Labor’s Left and Right candidates in the leadership contest exposes the degeneration of the Left faction writes James Supple The contest for...

Syria, war and imperialism: Why the main enemy is at home

The history of socialists’ opposition to war provides insights for today, argues Geraldine Fela British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama have been forced into an embarrassing...

The New Guard: When Australia’s rulers flirted with fascism

As Australia suffered a major economic crisis in the 1930s, sections of business and the ruling class began to encourage a growing fascist movement, writes Tom Orsag In recent years...

Inside the world of the corporate vultures

Antony Loewenstein’s latest book explores the corrupt and destructive alliances between governments and multi-national corporations. Loewenstein labels this vulture capitalism, where unaccountable corporations are more powerful than states and...

Inside the system

Newman's G20 police state, VC's collusion with police at Sydney Uni, Taxpayer junkets, Australia's role in Pinochet coup and BHP boss's $700,000 payout to move house Cracking bones then cracking...

Things they say

She was being unpleasant and it was my way of saying “Stop being a bitch”. Julie Bishop, the Foreign Minister and the only woman in Cabinet, explaining why she famously...

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 his government will do. But Abbott won’t...

Seats saved—but where now for The Greens?

The highlight of the election for The Greens was the return of Adam Bandt to the House of Representatives. It was a vote against the tide, as nation-wide, The...

Labor’s useless policies gave Abbott his chance

Labor’s explanation for their election loss is to decry “disunity” in government ranks brought on by the leadership debacle. Others, like The Greens’ leader Christine Milne, have echoed these...

Abbott’s plan of attack: what can we expect?

Tony Abbott outlined precious few plans for government before the election. His immediate plan is to implement new punitive refugee policies. He wants to introduce legislation to repeal the...

Mad cap Clive a beneficiary of discontent

One of the shocks of the election was the performance of Clive Palmer’s new party. It took 11.3 per cent of the vote in Queensland and looks set to...

Cruel new government, cruel new refugee policies

Tony Abbott has made asylum seekers a touchstone for the success or failure of his Coalition government. One of Abbott’s first declarations was that within three years, he would...

TPV refugee speaks: ‘it was a psychological battle’

Tony Abbott is planning on reintroducing Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs), a Howard government policy initially proposed by Pauline Hanson. TPVs mean that those granted refugee status will be denied...

Why refugee activists should support open borders

Thousands of people have rallied in recent months to welcome refugees arriving in Australia by boat. Yet there remains a common sense idea that we need to set some...

Sydney Uni staff determined to break pay cap

Sydney University staff will strike for three days in early October, after a decision at a members meeting of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on campus. Staff have...

Four hundred sacked miners vow to fight

Four hundred workers have been stood down by a Queensland coal mine, in a dispute the mining union says could become the “Patrick’s of the outback”. The company is refusing...

Australia’s brutal history of colonial rule in PNG

Australia is again imposing its wishes on PNG today through having it warehouse refugees. Australian direct colonial control of PNG lasted from 1906 to 1975. Like European colonialism everywhere,...

Don’t bomb Syria: no Australian support

US air strikes on Syria have been delayed to allow President Bashar Al-Assad the chance to surrender his stockpiles of chemical weapons. But US President Barack Obama is still...

Syrian dictator Assad is no anti-imperialist

The Syrian regime has postured as part of an “anti-imperialist” alliance with Iran and Hezbollah and is seen as a supporter of the Palestinians. But it has never consistently opposed...

Who’s who in Syria’s revolution?

The Syrian revolution began with peaceful mass demonstrations in the city of Deraa in April 2011. More than 60 protesters were shot in the first fortnight. Local Coordinating Committees (LCCs) In...

Fijian sugar workers win international solidarity

Fijian sugar workers, who have gone without a pay rise for seven years, are poised to strike against Fiji Sugar Corporation to win higher wages. According to the Fiji...

Revolutionary victimised by Egyptian military

The Egyptian military is moving to deepen its crackdown on opposition, hoping to wipe out the revolution that has swept the country since February 2011. Well-known labour lawyer and Revolutionary...

First term fightback: How struggle nearly buried Howard

As Abbott takes the reins, James Supple looks at the mass anger against Howard’s cuts and racism that nearly toppled his government in its first term John Howard's election in...

Reform or revolution: 40 years since the coup in Chile

The coup in Chile showed how far the ruling class will go to maintain their rule, and why only workers’ power can challenge them, argues Ken Olende Chile's experiment with...

The real roots of Labor’s crisis

The explanation for Labor's unpopularity this election goes deeper than recent history, writes James Supple Labor's primary vote this election sunk to 33.8 per cent, its lowest vote since the...

Undesirable alien: Zuzenko and the early days of the Communist Party of Australia

Undesirable: Captain Zuzenko and the workers of Australia and the world Kevin Windle, Australian Scholarly Press $39.95 RRP Alexander Zuzenko arrived in Brisbane in 1911, exiled after taking part in the 1905...

Editorial: Rudd’s same old ways sinking Labor

In all likelihood, Labor will not be saved at the election by Kevin Rudd’s return. The hopes that Rudd could at least keep Abbott out are fading fast. Rudd’s...

Rudd’s PNG deal is already unravelling

One month after the PNG solution was announced, almost 3000 asylum seekers had arrived in Australia. Only around 300 of them have been sent to Manus Island. At best...

Labor member speaks out: PNG is no solution

Kevin Rudd's PNG deal has produced revulsion at the Labor party. There is now a debate inside the refugee campaign about how to relate to Labor party members and...

Fight Rudd, Fight Abbott—Building the refugee movement after the election

Since Kevin Rudd’s announcement of Labor’s PNG plan to expel all asylum seekers to PNG (and now also Nauru), thousands of people have turned out across the country in...

‘Stopping the boats’ doesn’t save lives at sea

Labor has attempted to defend its PNG policy and its efforts to stop refugee boats by saying it wants to prevent asylum seeker deaths at sea. Labor Left MPs...

Justice for Jessie: 457 worker needs our solidarity

Jessie Cayanan, a 457 visa worker from the Philippines, faces deportation after being ripped off by the company that brought him here. Filipino migrant organisations in Melbourne rallied in...

CFMEU election ads encourage xenophobia

The CFMEU’s election advertising against 457 visas shows the appalling xenophobia that some unions are playing with. The union is running TV ads that claim “temporary overseas workers” will...

Six days of solid strikes at Sydney Uni—we can win

Sydney University saw its sixth day of strike action this year on August 20, as National Tertiary Education (NTEU) and Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) members pursued their...

Victorian universities can strike for a better deal

Members of the National Tertiary Education Union are taking action for new union collective agreements at all eight Victorian universities, but the campaign hangs in the balance as Solidarity...

Case dismissed—solidarity wins for Bob Carnegie

In a significant victory for workers’ solidarity, the Federal Magistrate’s Court has dismissed all charged against union activist Bob Carnegie. The verdict was delivered as thousands of workers in...

ANU students occupy: ‘no ifs, no buts, no tutorial cuts!’

In early August, students at the Australian National University (ANU) showed the Dean of Arts exactly what they think of her policy to axe tutorials. Over 250 students marched...

Murdoch’s anti-Labor crude is media’s default setting

The day after the election was announced Rupert Murdoch’s Sydney mouthpiece, The Daily Telegraph, splashed the headline “Kick this mob out” over a photo of Kevin Rudd. That Murdoch is...

Indonesian socialist speaks on the workers’ fightback

Sultoni Farras is the head of the Indonesian trade union federation Progesip and a leader of the union alliance Sekber Buruh. For his work organising a strike in a...

Imperialism, sectarianism and Syria’s revolution

Joseph Daher is a member of the Syrian Revolutionary Left Current and runs the blog syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com. He spoke with Solidarity’s Mark Goudkamp about the Syrian revolution. How would you characterise...

Fighting fascism and racism in Greece

Katerina Thoidou is a Greek activist and socialist. She is on the Steering Committee of KEERFA (United Against Racism and the Fascist Threat), a campaign group fighting Greece’s neo-Nazi...

Australia: Imperial master of PNG

The PNG “solution” is the latest episode in Australia’s history of imperialist domination of PNG, writes Tom Orsag Kevin Rudd’s deal to send refugees to PNG shows Australia’s neo-colonial attitude...

Why Labor got it so wrong

Labor’s six years in power have either disappointed or outraged its supporters. David Glanz looks at why Labor has been so useless On the night in 2007 that Kevin Rudd...

The myth of conservative Australia

Many think the right-wing policies of the Coalition and Labor represent the conservatism of Australians. Eliot Hoving shows that this is not the case Greens Leader Christine Milne told The...

Was misogyny to blame for Gillard’s demise?

The Misogyny Factor by Anne Summers, New South Publishing, $19.99 Feminist Anne Summers has argued that unprecedented misogyny was key to Julia Gillard’s demise as Prime Minister. Many are convinced that...

Army crackdown threatens Egypt’s revolution

The Egyptian Army has committed cold-blooded murder on the streets of Egypt. The official estimate is 830 dead, but journalists on the ground say a more accurate death toll...

Inside the system

US surveillance state strikes back at journalists The partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald has been detained under anti-terrorism laws by British authorities in a move branded “revenge tactics” by Amnesty...

Things they say

It was in the bank, your Honour. Gerard Obeid, son of corrupt Eddie Obeid, when asked where he got the money to pay for his $2.5 million house I’ll bet you...

Rudd: Labor’s saviour already turning sour

Kevin Rudd has decisively dashed any illusions that he might end Labor’s race to the right with Tony Abbott. His deal with PNG is a drastic and ruthless move...

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...

Report shows refugee numbers part of global trend

The UN refugee agency’s new Global Trends 2012 report puts refugee arrivals to Australia into context. It also shows that Australia’s recent increase in refugee arrivals has been a...

Australian imperialism, aid and the PNG solution

One of the appalling aspects of the PNG solution—and the entire Pacific Solution—is the way the Labor government has coerced poor, small Pacific countries to be complicit with Australia’s...

Nauru burns—riot on

On Friday 19 July, the Nauru detention centre burned to the ground. The flames on Nauru were the backdrop to Rudd’s announcement of the “PNG Solution”. The protest was...

Refugee crisis a chance for Greens to build

Greens leader Christine Milne was a clear voice of opposition to Kevin Rudd’s appalling new refugee plan. Her angry press conference soon after Rudd’s announcement struck a chord and...

Rudd’s party reform is an attack on the unions

Kevin Rudd has moved to entrench his control within the Labor Party with his proposed party reforms. But Rudd’s real aim is to weaken union influence in the party,...

Kevin Rudd: rhetoric versus reality

For refugee supporters, any illusion that Kevin Rudd was more progressive than Julia Gillard came crashing down after he announced his new PNG “solution”. But Rudd’s primary vote is...

Locked out Yallourn workers dig in for the fight

Seventy five power workers at Yallourn remained locked out after four weeks as Solidarity goes to print. The workers have now set up a 24-hour protest camp near the...

Nurses strike campaign challenging NSW Libs

Nurses across NSW held one of their biggest strikes in history in NSW on July 24. Over 5,000 striking nurses packed into a meeting at Sydney’s Olympic Park and...

Prepare for action as verdict looms for Bob Carnegie

A federal magistrates’ court verdict is overdue for Bob Carnegie, a union and community activist who faces 18 contempt of court charges. Justice Burnett told Bob to expect a...

SYRIZA retreats as Greek crisis deepens

The right of the Greek party SYRIZA won a victory over its left bloc at its founding conference in mid-July in Athens. The conference brought together 3500 delegates from...

Trayvon Martin case: a verdict on US racism

A verdict of “not guilty” for George Zimmerman, the white neighborhood watch volunteer who murdered black 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February 2012, was met with outrage in cities across...

Egypt’s second revolution

A mass uprising in Egypt has forced out President Mohammad Mursi just one year after he took office. The military was forced to step in and remove Mursi after over...

Workers and the poor resist fuel price hike in Indonesia

Thousands of Indonesian students, unionists and workers took to the streets in anger in June as the government forced through major cuts to fuel subsidies. The cuts mean a...

Entrenching the NT Intervention: what happened to the resistance?

Paddy Gibson looks at how the ruthless imposition of Intervention measures in the NT has undermined resistance, and what this means for the future The NT Intervention (Northern Territory Intervention...

Lessons from history: how a mass movement ended war in vietnam

Danny Hardiman looks at the lessons of the movement against the Vietnam War in Australia, and how it turned the tide of public opinion The movement against the Vietnam War...

Capitalist democracy is a system run for the rich

In our democracy the key economic decisions are not open to democratic control, but are made by CEOs and the rich, argues James Supple Disillusionment with the state of our...

Night Games: An apology for football rape

Night Games Anna Krien Penguin, $29.95 Anna Krien has achieved something quite remarkable with her terrible new book, Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport. She set out to write a “balanced and fearless...

Things they say

We do have real threats, we do have real enemies. Some of them are internal and they have to be monitored. Tony Abbott reveals a lot about ASIO at a...

Inside the system

World record bank profits The Big Four banks—ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth and NAB—ranked as the most profitable in the developed world, according to figures released by the Switzerland based Bank of...

Things they say

My excuse? I was a bit zoned out. Bad luck, every gun is loaded, every mic is on. Collingwood President Eddie McGuire on why he referred to Aboriginal footballer Adam...

Editorial: Labor is shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic

Another round of infighting has broken out inside the parliamentary Labor Party as the reality of defeat this September finally sinks in. Factional hack Laurie Ferguson—who holds his seat by...

New report shows 457 claims are scaremongering

The Gillard government is continuing its campaign of scaremongering about 457 visa workers. It has announced new laws requiring mandatory “labour-market testing” for jobs before employers are able to...

Former Nauru refugee: “We can’t let this happen again”

On 26 August 2001, the MV Tampa rescued Palapa 1, with 438 asylum seekers on board (369 men, 26 women and 43 children). In September 2001, the Howard government...

Bridging visas mean life in limbo for asylum seekers

Since the Labor government announced the re-opening of offshore detention on Nauru and Manus Island on 13 August last year over 19,000 asylum seekers have arrived by boat. The...

Hall Greenland: “The best opposition to Abbott is The Greens”

Hall Greenland, a longtime left-wing activist, is The Greens candidate for the seat of Grayndler in Sydney’s inner west. Hall participated in the Freedom Ride for Aboriginal rights and...

The other foreign workers—exploitation, racism and international students

The collapse of Swan Cleaning has brought to light the exploitation of international students in Australia. Nearly 2500 workers, most of them international students, have lost their jobs. Because...

Victorian teachers’ rage is stoppered (for now)

Victorian AEU officials lowered the coffin of our EBA campaign into the ground in June with one final and successful push for a yes vote to an atrocious agreement....

Fight for jobs stalls—now Sensis want to police behaviour

Sensis has launched a new attack on its workers, with management proposing to introduce a new behaviour based pay system. Sensis management are confident to go on the attack...

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...

Imperialism a growing threat to Syria’s revolution

Syria's revolution, which was inspired by the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, has now become a full blown civil war open to growing imperialist interference. But it retains...

Wave of anti-Muslim hate follows attack in Woolwich

British politicians and the media have been singing from the same Islamophobic song sheet following the murder of British soldier, Lee Rigby, in Woolwich. This has fed a wave...

Send in the clowns: the politics of Bob Katter and Clive Palmer

David Glanz looks at what’s behind the rise of maverick Bob Katter’s Australia party, and mining billionaire Clive Palmer’s Palmer United Party On 13 May, the ABC’s Q&A program saw...

“We want bread and roses too!”

100 years ago, in one of the most famous strikes in US history, women and migrant workers in Lawrence challenged oppression and proved their ability to organise and fight,...

Aboriginal child removal rates skyrocket: a new Stolen Generation

One of the first acts of the Labor government in 2008 was to apologise to the Stolen Generations. Then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said “the injustices of the past...

Six years of shame: Aboriginal assimilation and the NT Intervention

Six years after Howard sent in the troops to Aboriginal communities to begin the Northern Territory Intervention, Paddy Gibson surveys the impact of assimilationist policies On June 21 2007, Liberal...

Latin America’s new left governments—on the road to socialism?

Latin America’s Turbulent Transitions By Roger Burbach, Michael Fox and Federico Fuentes Zed Books $34.95 The new millennium has seen the rise of new left governments across Latin America, from the more...

An apology for American wars and racism

The Reluctant Fundamentalist Directed by Mira Nair Coming to DVD Mira Nair’s film The Reluctant Fundamentalist is particularly outrageous viewing in light of the racist backlash to the Woolwich murder. Nair’s protagonist...

Weather Underground: dead end strategy for fighting US power

The Company You Keep Directed by Robert Redford In cinemas now The political commotion of the late 1960s and early ‘70s gave rise to many radical organisations, including America’s Weathermen, whose ex-members...

Inside the system

Police kill the mentally ill New statistics from the Australian Institute of Criminology show almost half of all people shot dead by Australian police over the last 22 years had...

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...

Labor’s budget cuts begin Abbott’s work early

Rather than use their last budget to provide real change, Labor have imposed sweeping cuts that Abbott will be happy to keep when he more than likely comes to...

Inside the system

Victorian Libs: Austerity for us, pay rises for them CUT, CUT, cut has been the mantra of the Victorian Liberal state government—for us, not them. The Napthine government has revealed new...

No need for cuts if Labor would tax the rich

Labor tells us that there have to be cuts elsewhere to fund any new social spending programs. Universities have felt the axe to pay for the Gonski schools spending....

Labor’s budget hits workers with cuts and new costs

Working class and poor people expecting relief from Labor’s budget did not get any. Disappointment rippled through households as it became clear that they were the targets of a...

Abbott: WorkChoices wolf in sheep’s clothing?

Keep quiet on industrial relations—until now, that was the Coalition’s plan for sweeping to power come 14 September. But after coming under serious pressure from business groups and the...

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...

Strike four shuts down Sydney Uni

Sydney Uni staff took their fourth day of strike action this semester on 14 May. Once again the university was successfully shut down, with even less people visible on...

Gillard and Gonski leave private schools inequality untouched

Many people have welcomed Julia Gillard’s plan to boost funding to public schools. But the scale of the money continuing to go to private schools ensures an already drastically...

Thousands strong construction rally demands safety at Grocon

Ten thousand construction workers and supporters marched to demand improvements to workplace safety on Grocon sites in Melbourne on 30 April. Grocon workers are fighting the company’s refusal to...

Wave of opposition among Victorian teachers to leadership’s pay deal

A groundswell of opposition is building against the Victorian teachers union (AEU) recommended deal. Teachers and support staff are furious about the union officials’ dishonesty with the numbers—presenting the...

Bangladesh—workers murdered by bosses’ greed

Rescue workers at the collapsed Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, gave a brief cheer following the disaster as they heard the building’s owner had been arrested. But the moment passed...

Malaysian elections stolen: people power the answer

Malaysia’s ruling party managed to narrowly hold power in elections in May, but only as a result of a rigged electoral system and widespread fraud. Over 50,000 protesters expressed...

Venezuela’s election too close for comfort

The close outcome of Venezuela’s election on April 14 following the death of former leader Hugo Chavez poses challenges for the future of the country’s experiment with “21st century...

Migrant workers in Greece fight back after racist shootings

Three farm supervisors opened fire on a crowd of 200 migrant workers, shooting 33, eight of them seriously, on a farm near the southern Greek village of Manolada in...

The pull of parliament: can The Greens learn Germany’s lessons?

The conservatising influence of parliament is having its effect on the The Greens. James Supple argues they must heed the warning from the history of the German Greens The Australian...

Understanding immigration and 457 visas

The increased use of 457 visas is part of a broader shift in Australia’s migration program over the past few decades, explains Penny Howard Australia’s immigration rules have always served...

Marx’s theory of alienation: A world where workers have no control

Alienation: an introduction to Marx’s theory by Dan Swain Bookmarks This useful little book provides a very good introduction to Marx’s theory of alienation. For Marxists, the term alienation has a special...

Dead Wrong: Latham’s recipe for killing what’s left of Labor

“Not dead yet: Labor’s post-left future” Quarterly Essay 49 By Mark Latham, Black Inc $19.99 Former leader of the Labor Party, Mark Latham, has made a name for himself as a...

Budget billions keep asylum seekers in detention

The Gillard government has locked in spending of $7.5 billion over the next four years to detain asylum seekers in Australia and offshore on Nauru and Manus Island. That...

Inside the system

MP Kate Ellis says starving single parents to work is ‘fantastic’ Employment Participation Minister Kate Ellis has crawled into a moral sewer, describing the Gillard government’s success in starving 4000...

Gillard’s cuts hit single mothers and students, but the rich get off

Labor's decision to rip $2.8 billion out of universities is a further nail in its electoral coffin. It sums up the problem with this government: its failure to tax...

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...

Sydney Uni at the centre of resistance to Gillard’s cuts

What happens at Sydney Uni in the fight against Gillard's cuts will be key. Last year we waged a successful campaign against job cuts, saving half the jobs management...

Gillard’s savage uni cuts – build the fight back

Labor's outrageous new plan to rob universities of $2.8 billion dollars to fund the Gonski school reforms has hit a nerve. Our education is already characterised by over-sized classes, over-worked...

Gillard’s savage uni cuts: build the fightback

Labor's outrageous new plan to rob universities of $2.8 billion dollars to fund the Gonski school reforms has hit a nerve. Our education is already characterised by over-sized classes, over-worked...

Canberra 457 workers’ dispute shows how to fight for rights

A group of 457 migrant visa workers in Canberra have shown how to stand up against exploitation and demand equal rights. The group of mostly Korean workers employed in...

Action needed to stop Sensis job cuts

One hundred and fifty people attended a second lively rally to save jobs at Sensis, Telstra’s directories arm, in early April. Sensis workers again took unprotected strike action for...

Victorian teachers: Half a victory is not enough

The Victorian teachers union (AEU) is recommending a deal to members that, while it does mean a pay rise averaging above 2.75 per cent a year, most teachers will...

Protest campaign saves James Price Point

On April 13, resource giant Woodside Petroleum announced that it was pulling out of a planned $45 billion gas processing plant development at James Price Point in the Kimberley,...

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...

Hazaras facing death in Pakistan, Australia puts out ‘not welcome’ sign

The wave of killings of Hazaras in Pakistan has escalated this year, with over 200 killed in just two horrific bombings. Yet our government wants to stop Hazaras trying...

Income Management expansion in effort to break boycott

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has launched a further expansion of the Income Management system, sparking plans for protest. Income Management quarantines 50 per cent of Centrelink payments, so it...

US militarism is ramping up Korean tensions

Imperialist bullying by the US has pushed the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war, not the actions of the North Korean regime. The West blames the declarations from...

Mass strike fights low pay and long hours on Hong Kong docks

Dock workers in Hong Kong are into their third week on strike, demanding their first pay rise in 15 years and an end to horrific exploitation. Around 450 crane operators,...

Cyprus ‘bail in’ won’t halt the Euro crisis

Cyprus is the latest Eurozone economy to require rescue from a major financial collapse. Its two largest banks—the Bank of Cyprus and Laiki—faced bankruptcy without a massive injection of...

Right-wing Labor’s in freefall: so why are union leaders backing Gillard?

Union leaders are leading the campaign to support Julia Gillard as the leader of the Labor Party and in the federal election. James Supple asks why At much cost, Labor...

How Thatcher waged war on the unions

It was no surprise that some of those most overjoyed when Margaret Thatcher died were those who fought her the hardest, and suffered the most—the British miners. David Douglas,...

The meaning of Margaret Thatcher

From first to last Thatcher was a warrior—a warrior for the ruling class and for free market capitalism. When Thatcher first served as a minister in the Heath Tory Government...

The unchallenged rise of anti-Tamil racism in Sri Lanka

Mark Gillespie explains how Sri Lankan socialists capitulated to the vicious racism and pogroms against Tamils that led to the ethnic cleansing of today For more than 25 years...

Australia’s war against Japan: the myth of the ‘good war’

There is nothing progressive about Australian militarism, argues Adrian Skerritt, and the Pacific War was no exception Every year the Australian government and the media frenetically promote the celebration of...

Understanding the economic crisis: putting profit rates at the centre

The Failure of Capitalist Production By Andrew Kliman, Pluto Press $39.95 Since 2007 the world economy has faced its most serious crisis since the 1930s. Its ongoing failure to recover suggests...

Things they say

Brought to its knees… civil disobedience to the point of anarchy Federal Shadow Resources and Energy Minister Ian McFarlane on the NSW coal seam gas industry We produce a men’s...

War, the army and mass popular revolt

Arms and the People Edited by Mike Gonzalez, Pluto, $30 Towards the end of the final series of the comedy Blackadder, which is set during the First World War, Captain Blackadder...

Gillard steps up scapegoating of 457s and foreign workers

Julia Gillard has added her voice to the false claims that migrants are to blame for unemployment by joining the scapegoating of 457 migrant visa workers. The Prime Minister made...

WA election sends message to Gillard—and The Greens

The Western Australian election held in early March was another straw in the wind for Julia Gillard. Liberal Premier Colin Barnett was returned with a thumping 8.7 per cent swing,...

Anti-457 campaign is an attack on foreign workers

Julia Gillard's new rhetoric about foreign workers has been welcomed by the unions, who have been leading a campaign for “Aussie jobs” against 457 visa holders. A number of...

Facts tell the real story: 457 workers are not taking jobs

Julia Gillard and union leaders haven’t let the facts about 457 visa workers get in the way of their scare campaign. But the facts reveal that 457 workers are...

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...

Protests ruined Geert Wilders’ Islamophobic tour

Dutch far-right politician and arch 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...

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...

Union roundup: Deakin Uni, WA nurses, Pacific national, Qantas airport security

Deakin Uni gears up for strike action Strike action looks likely at Deakin Uni in Melbourne, with the NTEU voting for action if there is no movement from management by...

Nauru protests win processing, Manus detainees transferred—but refugees still in limbo

A second wave of protests has rocked the Nauru detention camp since 17 February. At the height of the protests, there were around 20 people on hunger strike and...

Stop the deportations—Afghanistan is not safe

There is a determined effort under way by the Immigration department to forcibly deport a Hazara asylum seeker for the first time. In the last three weeks, the Immigration department has...

End of the agreement: Have The Greens tacked left?

Greens leader Christine Milne’s declaration that their agreement with Labor is finished has seen them tack left and attack the government’s failings much more openly. As Milne put it, “Labor...

Drugs in sport all part of competitive game

Sport in Australia is in crisis. And it is a crisis of its own making. Everywhere you look sporting codes and athletes are in trouble with drugs—in the AFL,...

Police violence at Mardi Gras—how far have we really come in the fight for LGBT rights?

The brutal attack by NSW police on Jamie Jackson at the recent Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras, exposed on YouTube, has raised question marks over common sense ideas in...

Italian voters elect for anything but austerity

The stockmarkets panicked at the Italian election result at the end of February. Neither of the major parties won enough votes to form the stable government that the EU,...

Cyprus “bailout” triggers another round of crisis

Another shockwave hit the world economy as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attempted to negotiate a “bailout” deal for bankrupt Cyprus. The deal would have involved taking money from...

Hugo Chavez 1954-2013

Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez has died after a long fight with cancer. Mike Gonzalez looks back at Chavez’s life—and the Venezuela he leaves behind If revolution is the moment when...

Why NAPLAN must go

As teachers prepare to administer NAPLAN tests again, we look at why this attempt to impose market-based “choice” in education is so disastrous

The 1973 Ford Broadmeadows strike: how migrant workers rose up

In 1972 migrant workers showed that they can be among the most determined in fighting for workers’ rights. There are lessons for us today, argues Tom Orsag The Ford Broadmeadows...

Evolution, human nature and social change

What can human evolution tell us about human nature and the possibility of social change, asks Penny Howard THERE IS a common-sense belief that it is impossible to have a society based...

World War II—people’s war or class war?

A People’s History of the Second World War By Donny Gluckstein Pluto Press $35 from Solidarity Donny Gluckstein’s A People’s History of the Second World War illuminates a crucial distinction that has long...

Fighting the market in schools: lessons from US teachers

The Future of Our Schools Lois Weiner Haymarket Books $24 The nauseating consensus between Gillard and the Liberal premiers over education policy, where they all agree that teachers are to blame for...

Debating a one state solution for Palestine

After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine Edited by Antony Loewenstein and Ahmed Moor Saqi Books In their collection of essays After Zionism editors Antony Loewenstein and Ahmed Moor rightly argue,...

Cloud Atlas connects resistance to tyranny across five centuries

Cloud Atlas Directed by Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski and Any Wachowski In cinemas now THE SIX interconnected stories which make up Cloud Atlas, a film based on the 2004 novel of the...

Things they say

We rang everyone in December and said, ‘Please, don’t come.’ A “Labor strategist” in Western Australia didn’t want the great reputation of federal Labor harming their electoral campaign, according...

Inside the system

Welcome to our new column, Inside the System, where we collect the month's most outrageous exploits and efforts at exploitation from those at the top. Workers helping flood effort stopped—to...

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...

Labor slashes parents’ payments, but lets the miners profit

After Julia Gillard’s announcement of a September 14 election date, the spectre of an Abbott government now looms large. Millions are fearful about what a Coalition government would mean....

Born into detention: the plight of Paari and ASIO negative refugees

Paari was only three days old when he spent his first night behind the steel fences at Villawood detention center in January. Paari’s mother, Ranjini, his two older brothers,...

The slurs against Sri Lankan asylum seekers

In a further effort to outbid Labor’s already rotten refugee policy, the Liberals have promised to turn around every single boat coming from Sri Lanka, with no exception, and...

Legal hurdle for Manus Island as disgraceful conditions revealed

A constitutional challenge in Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) National Court of Justice over the Manus Island detention camp has just begun. The challenge, brought by PNG Opposition leader Belden...

“Captain’s pick” Nova Peris will make NT Labor’s problems worse

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has appointed Indigenous former-Olympian Nova Peris as the lead candidate on the Labor Party’s Northern Territory (NT) Senate ticket for the September federal election. This...

‘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...

Wild weather summer exposes Labor’s climate crimes

Wild weather around Australia this summer has put the reality of climate change into sharp relief. The whole country was caught in the grip of a heatwave that produced...

Indonesian workers’ movement rising but activists face crackdown

Last year Indonesia was shaken by a strike wave, as workers’ confidence to fight against low wages and insecure casual contracts grew. But in recent months the bosses and...

French war on Mali is not about democracy

When French warplanes began pounding the northern half of the West African state of Mali in mid-January, the French government boasted that they quickly would regain control of the...

Right wing sweeps to victory in Israeli elections

In January Israelis re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and gave unprecedented seats to far right settler parties. They now control a third of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. Their policies...

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...

Despite deal, US economy still not clear of the cliff

US debt negotiations went down to the wire in January before Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to avert the so called “fiscal cliff”. Yet little has been solved....

Capitalism isn’t working: another world is possible

We live in a world of crisis, climate change, poverty and war, says Feiyi Zhang, which is why we must fight to replace it with a new society of...

From Pauline Hanson to Geert Wilders: stopping the rise of the racist far right

The argument that protests against populist racist politicians like Geert Wilders are a bad idea ignores the lessons of Pauline Hanson’s demise, argues David Glanz Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who...

Ten years since Iraq rallies: When millions marched against the war

Jean Parker looks at why the massive February 2003 global weekend of action didn’t stop the Iraq war—and the claim that this proves protests don’t work

Egypt’s revolution and the Muslim Brotherhood

Two years on, Erima Dall discusses role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Egypt and the challenges ahead for the revolution that toppled a dictator Two years ago the Egyptian...

Lincoln, slavery and the US civil war: unwilling liberator

It was the threat of losing the Civil War that pushed Lincoln into ending slavery, not his convictions, argues Tom Orsag The new film Lincoln depicts the US President as...

Mythologising Lincoln’s opposition to slavery

Lincoln Directed by Steven Spielberg In cinemas now Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is a fantastically rendered account of the passage of the 13th Constitutional Amendment which outlawed slavery once and for all. It...

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...

Victorian teachers strike three against Baillieu

FOR THE third time in 18 months, 30,000 Victorian teachers and school support staff showed their willingness to fight Victorian Liberal Premier Ted Baillieu’s attacks with a statewide strike...

The myths behind Zionism’s claim to Palestine

The Invention of the Jewish People By Shlomo Sand Verso, $25 “Zionism is the Jewish national movement of rebirth and renewal in the land of Israel—the historical birthplace of the Jewish people....

Climate, jobs, single parents: put the heat on Gillard

Fires and record heat waves have once again driven the reality of climate change back into focus. The record temperatures across Australia have made headlines around the world. Any...

All out to support the Sydney Uni strike

Staff are preparing to strike in the first week of classes at the University of Sydney. They’re taking this industrial action to defend their wages and conditions in the...

Uni cuts: they say cut back, we say fight back!

With university education under attack through course cuts and sackings, last year’s campaign against cuts at Sydney Uni showed how to fight for our education—and win. Last year was a...

Gillard fiddles while Australia burns

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 heat wave has set off...

Support Jake Lynch: it’s right to boycott Israel

Dr Jake Lynch and other academics at Sydney University’s Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS) came under attack in The Australian newspaper recently for supporting the boycott campaign...

NT Liberals betray Aboriginal communities with cuts and more cops

The Country Liberal Party (CLP) government in the Northern Territory (NT) have launched a series of devastating cuts to public services and Aboriginal organisations in their first mini-budget, handed...

Pacific Solution: Manus Island in a state of chaos

Almost since it opened in November last year, the Manus Island detention camp has been in a state of chaos, with hunger strikes and letters of protest. On Saturday...

Protests in India take on sexism and rape

The horrific gang rape of a woman by six men on a public bus in Delhi, India, sparked angry protests across the country in December. In New Delhi, thousands defied...