Despite facing political censorship and other obstacles, the 1500-capacity Sydney Town Hall was packed out for charity concert for Gaza by the Voce Caelestium emsemble, reports Khaled Ghannam.
Issue 1415
News
Refugees who have been living on temporary visas for 12 years have established a protest camp outside the office of Labor MP Julian Hill in Robinson Street in Dandenong. Chris Slee reports.
Independent Peter Chen edged out Rank-and-File Action candidate David Brophy by six votes for president of the National Tertiary Education Union University of Sydney Branch. Valerie Chidiac and Sandra Kallarakkal report.
Monash University management has raised the price of parking, arguing it will encourage staff and students to travel more “sustainably”. Brenna Dempsey argues it will affect those less well off, who have to drive.
In one of the biggest protests in 50 years, nurses and midwives across NSW walked off the job for a 15% pay rise and safer working conditions. Kerry Smith reports.
Building workers’ unions from around the world are speaking out in solidarity with the Construction Forestry and Maritime Employees Union after Labor placed the construction division into administration and sacked elected officials. Fred Fuentes reports.
The Australian-Kurdish community is very concerned for Çiğdem (Lenna) Aslan's wellbeing after she was arrested in Turkey just before boarding a flight back home to Australia. Peter Boyle reports.
Climate activists and organisations say environment minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to approve the expansion of three thermal coal mines in north-western NSW will “supercharge climate change”. Kerry Smith reports.
Join protests to mark 12 months of Israel’s continued genocidal assault on Gaza.
There were mixed results in the NSW local government elections, with campaigners reporting that cost-of-living, housing and the war in Gaza affected the vote. Jim McIlroy reports on the interim results.
Behrouz Boochani, Kurdish refugee, author and activist, will be the keynote speaker at the Rural Australians for Refugees national conference in Kyneton, Victoria, from October 11–13. Jonathan Strauss reports.
The 50th week of continuous protests against Israel’s genocide came days after their terrorist attacks on the people of Lebanon with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.
NT Greens Member of the Legislative Assembly Kat McNamara’s office said voluntary assisted dying is an important right and that she would look at the option of a private members bill if the new government does not stick to its former commitment. Suzanne James reports.
More than 100 people took part in a community picket outside Bisalloy Steel to demand that it stop supplying reinforced steel to Israeli tanks for its genocide in Gaza. Luke Weyland reports.
Labor Senators, including the new minister for Indigenous Australians, voted against a motion requiring the Attorney-General to provide quarterly reports on deaths in custody, coronial inquests and incidents of self-harm in prisons. Kerry Smith reports.
Isaac Nellist and Riley Breen talk to Federico Fuentes about the Venezuelan presidential election results and to Socialist Alliance Merri-bek councillor Sue Bolton about community campaigning ahead of the Victorian local government elections.
Opponents of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza are calling on the Gold Coast City Council to disclose its links with entities complicit in Israel’s violations of international law. Susan Price reports.
Students at Macquarie University are opposing its plan to cut hundreds of jobs and ‘streamline’ arts courses, reports Isaac Nellist.
Tens of thousands of construction unionists marched in Magan-djin/Brisbane on September 17 and in Naarm/Melbourne and Gadigal Country/Sydney the next day, to demand their elected officials be reinstated and Labor’s new anti-union law be withdrawn.
Health workers who have returned from Gaza told a 150-strong public meeting and fundraiser in Boorloo/Perth about the critical shortages and dangers for patients and medical workers. They also said Labor must be held to account. Janet Parker reports.
Protesters marked the 49th week of resistance to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and demanded Labor end its complicity. Isaac Nellist reports.
Isaac Nellist and Riley Breen talk to Jordan AK about the Disrupt Land Forces protests and to Socialist Alliance councillor Sarah Hathway about her re-election campaign in Djilang/Geelong.
Farmers went to Queensland Parliament House to tell MPs, bankers and energy industry representatives that they want a clean future, so they can keep farming forever. Elena Garcia reports.
Analysis
The COVID-19 pandemic was an accelerant for money-pinching administrative bureaucrats to experiment with eliminating student-teacher classes. Binoy Kampmark reports.
Labor is accusing the Greens of working with the Coalition to stop it from enacting its “Help to Buy” scheme. The Greens respond it will only help 0.2% of those needing a place to call home and want to negotiate something better. Alex Bainbridge reports.
Labor’s new aged-care reform package, with a focus on support at home, is an improvement in some areas, but falls short of what the elderly need. Meredith Lawrence reports
Australia’s abstention on a United Nations General Assembly resolution against Israel’s occupation of Palestine shows how much it is failing Palestinian people and international law, Sam Wainwright told Peter Boyle.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s proposed social media ban for young people may be popular, but it’s likely to do more harm than good, argues Isaac Nellist.
Construction union leader Michael Ravbar gave a speech at an August 27 rally in defence of the Construction Forestry and Maritime Employees Union.
The Victorian government would have known that a weapons expo would be a focus for pro-Palestine and anti-war protesters. It went ahead anyway because, as Jacob Andrewartha argues, it is committed to militarism.
Socialist Alliance Merri-Bek councillor Sue Bolton, who is contesting a fourth term, told Alex Bainbridge that the Gaza war affects communities here and councils can, and must, take a stand for human rights.
Socialist Alliance Merri-bek Councillor Sue Bolton, the guest on the latest Green Left Show, talks about how local government can support human rights such as taking a stand against Israel's genocide in Palestine.
Better Council Inc claimed to be about local policies, but its aim was to remove Greens from local government in several inner city locations because of their support for Palestine. Wendy Bacon reports.
The latest statistics show that almost all the gains made from reaching an average of 40% renewable energy in electricity generation have been cancelled out by rising greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from transport. Peter Boyle reports.
Australian governments are allowing Western Australia to become a vital part of the United States war-fighting base and, therefore, an inevitable target for retaliatory strikes in a US war on China. Bevan Ramsden reports.
Defending the right of a union to conduct its own investigations into alleged wrong-doing is beyond the pale for the political and media establishment. Jonathan Strauss looks at their attempts to take down the Greens, along with the CFMEU.
Capitalism has long ceased to provide for the majority, yet its institutions — government, the RBA and the corporate media — continue to try to tell us that there is no alternative. Graham Matthews argues that solidarity is key.
World
With only weeks to go until the United States Presidential election and with the threat of a second Donald Trump presidency, pro-Palestine activist and former Democratic Party organiser Sravya explains why she is undecided about whether to vote for Kamala Harris.
Sri Lanka’s presidential elections represent a historic change in representative politics and mark a new beginning, with many challenges for progressive forces, reports Janaka Biyanwila.
Academics and activists from Russia and around the world will address an online conference on October 8 in support of jailed Marxist sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, reports Federico Fuentes.
The latest police killings of six First Nations people in just 11 days are a poignant and heinous reminder of the colonial nature of policing in Canada, writes Jeff Shantz.
Workers at Boeing’s commercial division in the United States overwhelmingly voted on September 12 to reject a tentative collective agreement and take strike action, reports Malik Miah.
Whatever the outcome of November's United States election, the situation looks grim for migrants at the border and those already in the US without documentation, writes Barry Sheppard.
Progressive International’s Tanya Singh spoke to Haqooq-e-Khalq Party (People’s Rights Party, HKP) co-founder Ammar Ali Jan about the challenges of building a new workers’ party in Pakistan — and the HKP’s recent victories for Lahore’s most vulnerable workers.
Brazilian socialist Israel Dutra spoke to Pakistani socialist Farooq Tariq, president of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party (HKP, People’s Rights Party), on the political situation in the region and the struggle against the far right.
Green Left’s Alex Salmon spoke to Tamer Shaaban, a 20-year-old engineering student trapped in Gaza, about how his family’s life was torn apart when Israel launched its genocidal war in October last year.
The federal agency responsible for overseeing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has found that officers from the secretive Critical Response Unit violated the rights of anti-logging activists in the Fairy Creek watershed, in British Columbia. Jeff Shantz reports.
Alberto Fujimori’s 10 years in power were characterised by rampant corruption and horrific acts of violence against Peruvians, writes Ana Zorita.
How might we develop a socialist approach to technologies, in the face of the threat of rapid, potentially uncontrollable, climate change? Simon Pirani offers his contribution.
Culture
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens reflects contemporary Australia's migrant experience — the sadness, tragedy, but also solidarity, compassion and humanity, writes Coral Wynter.
In War Game, a bipartisan group of real-life defense, intelligence and elected policymakers in the United States confront a political coup scenario in the wake of a contested presidential election. Bill Nevins reviews.
Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus presents six new books for ecosocialists, including a new translation of Marx’s Capital, the role of animal poo in Earth’s life support systems, and more.