Issue 1413

News

Mano, a Tamil refugee from Sri Lanka who had lived in Australia for 12 years, committed suicide on August 27 after being denied permanent residency. Chris Slee reports.

Supporters of Palestinian rights rallied outside Fairfield City Council, calling on it to disclose and divest from any financial ties to Israel. Neville Spencer reports.

podcast graphic

Isaac Nellist and Riley Breen are joined by Nova Sobieralski to discuss Labor's attacks on the CFMEU and the NDIS amendment bill, and talk to socialist council candidate Rachel Evans

While almost all the candidates contesting the City of Sydney mayoral position say affordable housing is a critical issue, only some actually want to make the changes needed to make it so. Jim McIlroy reports.

cfmeu women march

Tens of thousands of trade unionists took to the streets around the country to demonstrate their opposition to Labor’s new anti-Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union law.

from the river to the sea

The week Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris pledged to continue to support Israel, thousands continued to protest Labor's support for the genocide in Gaza. Isaac Nellist reports. 

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Isaac Nellist speaks with Chloe DS about the encampments set up by refugees in Naarm/Melbourne and Gadigal Country/Sydney to demand permanent visas and with Ben Radford about the history and wins of the Palestine solidarity movement in Latin America. 

No Weapons for Genocide, Food not Bombs and University of Newcastle Students for Palestine protested outside the annual Hunter Defence Conference in Cessnock. Kerry Smith reports.

Australian Education Union TAFE members joined a state-wide strike on August 21, the first time in 12 years the teachers have taken strike action. Allen Jennings reports.

Labor passed its draconian anti-Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union bill through parliament on August 20, by six votes. Sue Bull and Pip Hinman report.

Thousands marched in the 45th weekend of consecutive protests for Palestine, as the official death toll in Gaza passed 40,000. Isaac Nellist reports.

Analysis

The public has largely been kept in the dark about the AUKUS acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, but some new information has come to light. Bevan Ramsden reports.

Last semester students took aim at university links with weapons companies. This semester they plan to continue the work of cutting ties with companies supporting genocide in Palestine. Alex Bainbridge reports.

War and peace have become important issues in the City of Newcastle Council elections, as Newcastle is slated to become a major weapons manufacturing hub. Steve O'Brien reports.

The Northern suburbs have been neglected for too long. Residents are also up against a risk adverse council bureaucracy, which is why it's important to support councillors who will work with them to make change. Sarah Hathway reports.

Internet shutdowns should be a real concern for all Australians, as the government can shut down access with very little justification. Emma Starr reports.

 

In a time of genocide and more wars on the horizon, you should come along to disrupt the weapons industry convention at the Melbourne Convention Centre between September 8–14, writes Elizabeth Bantas.

Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John

WA Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John has slammed Labor’s failure to act on the disability royal commission’s key recommendations, saying the party has failed the disability community. Suzanne James reports.

Labor’s new laws appointing an administrator with absolute dictatorial powers to run every branch of the Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union is the most serious attack on a union in living memory, argues Sam Wainwright.

 

Despite claims of corruption and so-called “illegality” in the Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU), Labor's new laws is aimed at nobbling one of Australia's most militant unions that has managed to protect the health and safety of workers in the very dangerous construction industry.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese may be ducking questions on Labor’s promise to reform religious discrimination provisions, but the truth is that he has abandoned another pre-election promise. Paul Gregoire reports.

Moving into an aged care residence is often a very sudden trauma for elderly people, but there are ways to alleviate that stress, argues Jack Williams.

Australia's arbitrary labelling of some global conflicts and not others as “terrorist-controlled zones” is more than an inconvenience to family holiday plans. Dal Ouba argues that it must be challenged.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has spent much of the past week dog whistling about the alleged security threat posed by Palestinians trying to flee Gaza. But Labor has rejected two thirds of all applicants. Binoy Kampmark reports.

World

protest in Jakarta

Since August 22, cities across Indonesia have been rocked by student-led protests against a proposed regional electoral law. Peter Boyle spoke to Rudi Hartono, the managing editor of a new progressive publication Merdika.id, who joined the protesters in Jakarta.

woman voting

Writer, activist and director of the Centre for Studies for Socialist Democracy Reinaldo Iturriza, discusses the competing, and inadequate, narratives surrounding Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election with Federico Fuentes.

Venezuela's supreme court

Green Left’s Federico Fuentes spoke to Antonio González Plessmann from Venezuelan left-wing human rights collective SurGentes to break down the country’s July 28 presidential election.

Town Hall meeting

Peter Boyle speaks to Singaporean grassroots activist Adi R, about the launch of the People’s Manifesto project, which aims to centre the issues facing ordinary people in the lead up to the country's election, expected this year.

women march against violence in India

Isaac Nellist spoke with Indian student activist Ipil Monica Baski about the protests breaking out across the country in response to the rape and murder of a student doctor in Kolkata.

protesters holding signs

Capitalism cannot achieve the economic, political and scientific planning and cooperation needed on the scale required to address the climate crisis, argues Barry Sheppard.

Fred Hahn and Palestine protest background

Prominent Canadian union leader Fred Hahn has come under attack again for his steadfast support of Palestinians and his work for Palestine solidarity, reports Jeff Shantz.

Pro Palestine protest in Sydney

In part two of our interview, Marxist humanist and political scientist Kevin B Anderson speaks to Federico Fuentes about why the world is becoming more bipolar (rather than multipolar) and the need for consistent anti-imperialism.

historical map of British occupied India

Marxist humanist and political scientist Kevin B Anderson speaks to Federico Fuentes about Karl Marx’s ideas on colonialism and imperialism.

elected deputies

Whatever government is formed in France will be a minority government. But mass mobilisation will be key to how things play out over the coming month, reports John Mullen.

Both Democrats and Republicans have blood on their hands

Thousands of people rallied outside the Democratic National Convention in the United States, raising opposition to the Israel-US genocide in Gaza, reports Kamala Emanuel.

protesters with a banner

Mark Baugher provides an overview of the challenges in charting a roadmap towards ecosocialism ahead of the Global Ecosocialist Network and marxmail.world on-line forum on September 10. which features Rehad Desai, Howie Hawkins, Simon Pirani and Sabrina Fernandez.

protest against far right in England

Thousands of anti-fascists mobilised to face down fascist groups threatening immigration lawyers and mosques in cities across Britain on August 7, reports Phil Hearse.

Culture

Protest albums from August 2024

Mat Ward looks back at August's political news and the best new music that related to it.

Paste up drawing by Guy Denning in the streets of Liverpool circa 2013

Described as using a “blend of street art and brutal political commentary", Guy Denning’s work is “a powerful protest, visually demanding attention to the injustices and inhumanities of our world”, reports Susan Price.

woman not really happy

Be happy. Think of your wellness. Across organisations, private and public entities, government bodies and social clubs, the cult of contrived happiness abounds with ritualistic, clotting repetition, writes Binoy Kampmark.

Two women boxing in an Olympic bout

Olympic gold medal boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting faced attacks from far-right politicians and anti-trans activists while competing in the Paris Olympics, illustrating how transphobia, racism and misogyny intersect, argues Alex Salmon.