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Ali Wazeer: A socialist elected to Pakistan's parliament dominated by capitalists and feudal elites

Ali Wazeer, a central committee member of The Struggle group, has won a seat in the national parliament with 23,530 votes on July 25. His closest rival for the seat, from a religious alliance, got only 7515.

A key leader of the Pashtun Tahafaz Movement (PTM), Wazeer was one the organisers of the mass meetings organised in major cities that demanded fair compensation to the victims of the “war on terror”. This campaign also demanded the release of all “missing” persons, or else that they be tried in court.

Behind Pakistan’s most rigged elections ever

In his election victory speech on July 26, Imran Khan gave a sober talk that ran contrary to the violent language he used throughout the election campaign, notes Farooq Tariq from Lahore.

Khan’s Pakistan Tereek-e-Insaf (PTI) “won” 116 seats in the National Assembly out of the 342 seats, of which 278 seats are contested directly on the First Past the Post (FPTP) system.

Women take on BHP and win — a feminist herstory that needs telling

Below is an abridged version of a speech delivered by socialist unionist Robynne Murphy to this year’s ACTU Congress. Murphy spoke alongside three women from the Electrical Trades Union, who had formed the “Sparkettes”, a network to support other women in their union.

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I worked at the steelworks in Port Kembla for 30 years, during which time I was involved in a long campaign with mainly migrant women for the right for women to have secure and well-paid jobs.

Fighting for a world without sexism: ending gendered violence 

An event continuing the open discussion on solutions to gendered violence was held on July 31 at the Resistance Centre in Melbourne.

Guest speakers were Sumaiya Muyeen, PhD in Gender and Cultural studies; Margarita Windisch, feminist activist and Socialist Alliance member; and Pia Cerveri, Women's and Equality Co-lead organiser at Victorian Trades Hall. An open discussion was held afterward.

Union raid leak by Michaelia Cash’s office referred to Commonwealth Prosecuter

Minister for Jobs and Innovation Michaelia Cash may find herself in front of a court if the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) decides to lay charges over leaks from her office regarding a raid on the Australian Workers Union (AWU) last October.

The Australian Federal Police is referring material such as witness statements, emails, text messages and phone records to the CDPP over the next few weeks.

NSW government to fund greyhound prize

Just two years after announcing a ban on greyhound racing, only to reverse it six weeks later, the NSW government announced on July 31 it will provide $500,000 in prize money to the industry to create the richest greyhound racing event in the world.

The inaugural Million Dollar Chase will consist of a series of qualifying finals in regional areas, before culminating in a finals series at Wentworth Park.

Photos: End Rape on Campus

Students at universities around Australia are holding protests to demand campuses free from sexual violence on August 1.

More than 16% of homeless people have full-time jobs

Statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Stastics on July 24 show 28,600 or 16.5% of people experiencing homelessness in Australia have full-time jobs.

The figures also show more than one-third of homeless people aged over 15 are employed in some capacity.

A total of 61,500 people are employed in some way, but their wages do not pay enough to put a roof over their head.

Nearly half the homeless population — 45.6% — is either in work or looking for work, and the unemployment rate for people experiencing homelessness is 22.5%.

Right-wing rampage in Brexit Britain

Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May is in dire trouble and likely to be voted out of office by her own MPs when parliament returns in September, writes English socialist Phil Hearse.

Behrouz Boochani offers a devastating insight into Manus hell

No Friend but the Mountains, written by Kurdish journalist and human right activist Behrouz Boochani who has been jailed on Manus Island since 2013, stands out among the genre of prison literature.

Justice for the kanakas: Australia’s ‘invisible’ Melanesians

Among the first laws passed by the new Australian parliament in 1901 when the Commonwealth of Australia came into being was the Pacific Island Labourers Act, ordering the deportation of black Melanesian workers known as kanakas.

Other aspects of what became known as the White Australia Policy have since been rectified, but this shameful stain on our past has yet to be properly addressed.

Israel attacks new Freedom Flotilla seeking to aid Gaza

Israeli forces seized a boat on July 29 that was carrying nearly two dozen activists and journalists aiming to break Israel’s maritime blockade on Gaza.

The boat is part of the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which describes itself as “a grassroots people-to-people solidarity movement composed of campaigns and initiatives from all over the world working together to end the siege of Gaza”.