Inside the system
Get out of jail free card for rich drunk drivers, Be alarmed—AFP leave a bomb at Sydney Airport, NSW police remove Aboriginal children at gunpoint, PM for Indigenous Affairs axes Indigenous tutoring program, Muslim banned from speaking at Sydney Uni, Government funds Israeli fortifications for Sydney school, Sex industry workers excluded from welfare benefit
Private GP visits trial—Americanisation by stealth
Since November 2013 Australia’s largest private health insurer, Medibank Private, has been operating a “trial” allowing its members to get priority deluxe GP services at six clinics in Queensland. With over 30,000 consultations already completed, the scheme represents the introduction of a US-style two-tiered primary healthcare system by stealth.
AMA co-payment compromise a sick joke
A co-payment compromise plan by the Australian Medical Association has rightly been slammed by leading welfare and healthcare organisations. Under the plan, released in August, a minimum $6.15 co-payment would apply to all patients with an exemption for concession card holders and people under 16.
Answer to Liberals’ 457 changes is solidarity with migrant workers
Not surprisingly, the Coalition’s “independent” inquiry into 457 visas has recommended a number of changes all designed to make it easier for bosses to work the 457 system.
Two deaths too many: Close Manus Island
The death of 24 year-old Iranian asylum seeker, Hamid Kehazaei in Brisbane on 5 September has again brought home the horror of offshore processing.
Morrison holds asylum seekers hostage to TPVs
The cracks in Morrison’s offshore processing regime are growing wider, as the Immigration Minister pushes harder for the re-introduction of Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs).
In mid-August, on the eve...
Ausreo workers win pay rise after ten week lockout
After a ten week lockout, striking workers at Ausreo’s Wetherill Park factory in western Sydney have won a victory against management. Ausreo supplies concrete reinforcement materials to the building...
NTEU at UNSW gears up for strike action
National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) members at UNSW have voted to stage a four hour strike on 20 October if management does not commit to a fair workplace agreement.
NSW union delegates push to revive budget campaign
Unions NSW used a meeting of around 250 delegates to announce plans for a community-based state election campaign. But a group of rank-and-file activists won a resolution calling for a “Your Rights at Work style campaign including regular mass work-day rallies and stoppages and combined unions delegates meetings to oppose Abbott’s budget measures”.
Uni Vice-Chancellors push for higher fees
After passing the lower house, the government’s higher education reforms are now set to be decided in the Senate in October.
Don’t let Abbott slash renewable energy target
Tony Abbott is coming after renewable energy, with plans to junk the Renewable Energy Target (RET).
New war on Iraq no humanitarian mission
The US has stepped up its bombing in Iraq after President Obama announced plans to “degrade and destroy” the jihadist group the Islamic State (IS).
Scottish independence could shake the British elite
As Solidarity goes to press, the people of Scotland are voting on independence from Britain.
A narrow lead for a “Yes” vote in some polls has sent the entire British...
Gaza punished, but Israel can’t eradicate resistance
As Palestinian children in Gaza restarted school on 14 September, the number of their classmates slaughtered during Israel’s recent war stood at approximately 500, while upwards of 3000 had been injured.
How the unions struck to save Medicare
Kent Ireland examines the union campaign to defend Medibank from Liberal PM Malcolm Fraser, and how it led to a national general strike
Israeli academic: ‘a regime based on brutal military occupation’
Israeli academic Marcelo Svirsky, now at Wollongong Uni, explains his opposition to Zionism and why he supports BDS, in a speech from Solidarity’s Keep Left conference
Deciphering Marx’s Capital
Alex Callinicos’s new book Deciphering Capital argues that Karl Marx’s main work is still vital to understand how to change the world
Exposing the phoney ‘deaths at sea’ argument
There is a strong sense of déjà vu for refugee rights activists. Many of the battles waged against the Howard government, like opposing long-term detention and Temporary Protection Visas,...
