Westpac picketed
CANBERRA — On August 14, the ACT Jabiluka Action Group held a picket at the city branch of Westpac bank. Thirty people attended the spirited and vocal action, which protested against Westpac's investment in Energy Resources of Australia, the company building the Jabiluka uranium mine in Kakadu National Park.
On August 12, ACT JAG organised a successful band night which attracted 500 people and raised more than $2000 for the Jabiluka Legal Fund. It featured local bands Cuss, Crumpet and Closet Klezmer.
TAFE teachers stop work
SYDNEY — On August 13, teachers at the Sydney Institute of TAFE stopped work for two hours. The stoppage was to protest against budget cuts to NSW TAFE.
The cuts have resulted in a loss of part-time and full-time teaching hours. Classes in most faculties have been cut by around 20%. Teachers are calling on the state and federal governments to restore the funding.
Anti-nuclear protest
BRISBANE — About 600 anti-nuclear protesters gathered in King George Square on August 9 to mark the anniversary of the US nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, and to protest against the construction of the Jabiluka uranium mine. The rally was organised by the Brisbane Jabiluka Action Group.
JAG spokesperson Karl-Erik Parrsons told the rally about the need to fight the mine on all fronts. Graham Matthews, Democratic Socialist candidate for the federal seat of Brisbane, linked the government's efforts to extinguish native title with its disregard for the Mirrar people's opposition to the mine. The campaign against the Jabiluka mine is therefore both an environmental and an anti-racist one, he said.
Activists who have recently returned from the mine-site blockade also spoke, before the protesters marched to Musgrave Park for a festival.
Forum on Cuba
SYDNEY — Around 35 people attended an August 13 forum in the Resistance Centre to discuss the situation in Cuba today. The forum was hosted by the Democratic Socialist Party.
The advertised speaker, Maria Luisa Fernandez, the Cuban consul-general, was unable to attend due to illness. Sandra Wallace, a member of the DSP and the Committee in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean, spoke about the historical significance of the Cuban revolution and the tremendous gains it meant for the Cuban people. Her talk was followed by a lively discussion about the US blockade against Cuba.
Cuban consul-general visits
NEWCASTLE — Cuba's diplomatic representatives in Australia, Maria Luisa Fernandez and Jorge Valdes, made their first visit to this city on August 7. After a series of meetings with civic leaders, they attended a dinner organised by the Committees in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean (CISLAC) and the Greek Socrates Club. Some 45 people attended.
Fernandez explained to the gathering that Cubans stand behind the revolution. In the recent elections in Cuba, in which voting was not compulsory, 98.3% voted. Of those, 94% supported pro-revolution candidates.
The evening launched the 1999 work and study brigade to Cuba, and a project to provide a computer system for the 10th of October Municipality Medical Clinic in Havana.
Fighting fund dinner
BRISBANE — The Aboriginal community is working to unite with other progressive forces in Australia to fight against One Nation's and the federal government's racist attacks, Sam Watson, Aboriginal writer, film-maker and activist, told a Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly solidarity dinner held at the Resistance Centre on August 15.
High school walkout organiser and Resistance activist Sarah Cunningham described the excitement of the first anti-racist protest in Brisbane on July 28, and called for support for the national high school walkout on August 28. Other speakers included Democratic Socialist candidates for the Senate in Queensland, Coral Wynter and Andy Giannotis, and the Democratic Socialist candidate for the federal seat of Brisbane, Graham Matthews.
Music was provided by Aboriginal singer Dawn Daylight, the Combined Unions Choir and What's In The Envelope. Some 90 people attended the dinner, which was organised by the Democratic Socialist Party and raised money for the Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly fighting fund.