Border policing kills: saving lives starts with welcoming the boats
The more lives lost at sea, the shriller become the hypocritical cries of “stop the boats”. At the time of writing 6000 asylum seekers remain stranded in the Malacca...
Budget smoke and mirrors, but Abbott keeps his cuts
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.
Childcare changes entrench unfair market system
The Liberals’ changes to childcare will only entrench a market approach that is expensive and has failed to provide places where they are needed.
Shorten shows he’s useless for stopping Abbott
Last year Bill Shorten’s budget reply turned the Liberals pale, as he lashed out at Abbott’s cuts and promised to block the worst attacks in the Senate. This year the Labor leader delivered a pathetic, uninspiring speech that showed why he’s widely considered useless.
Public servants strike against Abbott’s cuts
Public servants are staging one-hour rolling strikes in a dozen agencies this month, as their union, the CPSU, ramps up what it says is the largest campaign of industrial action in 30 years.
Groomed for war
In 1914 Australia was a nation that had been grooming and schooling its young males in military skills, and introducing their families to martial experiences, since 1911, writes Rowan Cahill.
New Greens leader no break from the past
Richard Di Natale’s sudden ascension to The Greens’ leadership appears to mean the status quo remains—but that’s not what the left and the movements need.
Union House facing demolition as university expands corporate vison
The University of Melbourne has announced plans to demolish Union House, which currently houses the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) and other student spaces and collectives.
Abbott’s climate inaction on display—but emissions trading no alternative
Tony Abbott’s contempt for climate change has again been on display over the efforts to lower the Renewable Energy Target. Meanwhile, with his Direct Action policy is underway, it continues to be widely, and rightly, derided.
Syria between both Assad’s and IS’s counter-revolution
What began in Syria in March 2011 as peaceful pro-democracy protests inspired by the Arab Spring’s demands for democracy and social justice has become a nightmarish military quagmire.
Syriza backsliding in Greece as EU tightens the screws
Greece narrowly avoided default in May by scraping together the €750 million debt repayment due to the IMF. The European Union is tightening the screws, demanding the new radical left Syriza government capitulate to accept further austerity in exchange for another bailout.
British Labour’s compromises with austerity hand Tories power
The UK is set for further austerity and anti-immigrant racism following the re-election of David Cameron’s Conservative government.
Populism, anti-politics and the left
Anti-political movements and new left parties like Podemos and Syriza are only inconsistent opponents of the system, writes James Supple
Assimilation and the push to close communities
Paddy Gibson looks at the renewed push to close remote Aboriginal communities.
Karl Marx and the First International
Christian Høgsbjerg shows how Karl Marx made a vital contribution to found the first international workers’ organisation and how he fought to ensure its militant trajectory.
