In the search for a rationale to justify his assault on pensioners, the poor and the welfare dependent, Scott Morrison has reached back to the 17th century work of the English political theorist and philosopher Thomas Hobbes.
Hobbes published Leviathan in 1651, a work that gave rise to social contract theory. He was an advocate of strong central government, without which, he maintained, life would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.
1037
The Japanese Meteorological Agency has declared 2014 the hottest year ever recorded. Other meteorology organisations around the world are on track to confirm this as they process their records over the next few weeks.
This means that 14 of the 15 hottest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century.
The Basque people have suffered long-standing repression and denial of national rights under Spanish rule, including many jailings of supporters of Basque self-determination.
The Basque nationalist movement is entirely committed to peaceful, non-violent means, with Basque armed group ETA declared a 鈥減ermanent cessation鈥 of armed activity in 2011. Spanish state repression has not ended, however.
The statement below was released on January 17 by the .
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NSW Labor has anointed a new leader less than three months before the state election in March. With the , it must have calculated that it has nothing to lose by dumping former leader John Robertson.
Aboriginal people and their supporters are converging in Canberra from all over Australia for the Invasion Day weekend. The weekend will feature a "sit-in" that is expected to release an historic Declaration of Independence reaffirming Aboriginal sovereignty in this country.
The rate of Aboriginal children removed from their families has increased each year since Kevin Rudd said sorry to the Stolen Generations, and more and more Aboriginal children are being placed with non-Indigenous carers, a new report into Indigenous disadvantage has revealed.
In 2008, Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the victims of past policies of forced removal that led to the Stolen Generations, promising that the 鈥渋njustices of the past will never, never happen again鈥.
1. A GLOBAL CALL FOR CLIMATE ACTION
Last year, more than ever before, people stood up to demand action from world leaders to address the climate crisis. On September 21, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of New York to insist on the need for stronger climate policy and more renewable energy.
2. EUROPE BANS PESTICIDES LINKED TO BEE COLLAPSE
Below is a Charter of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights was adopted by the in 2013.
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Introduction
Refugee Action Coalition released on January 16.
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Manus Island detention centre is engulfed in the largest protests in a year, as more asylum seekers join the hunger strike.
Sudanese asylum seekers in Mike Compound joined the hunger strike protest late on January 15. There are now around 300 on hunger strike in Mike Compound alone, and around 170 in Foxtrot.
Releasing the interim report of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption on December 19, employment minister Eric Abetz said the findings showed the decision to hold a royal commission into unions had been 鈥渧indicated鈥.
However, the fact that almost every substantial case examined by the royal commission was already making its way through the legal system, suggests the system is working. A royal commission is a tool government can effectively employ when there is a serious failure聽by the existing regulatory system.
Fee deregulation will be resurrected this year. This gives education activists that general zombie-slayer feeling any sane human gets from fighting a piece of legislation you thought you had killed already.
Last year, fee deregulation was booted out of the Senate, with student boots doing most of the kicking. But it doesn鈥檛 want to die and is set to return to parliament, presumably with enough amendments to appeal to the biggest fence sitters.
It鈥檚 8pm and I鈥檓 sitting in the main section of the carriage. A weathered, middle-aged man in a tracksuit and peak hat is swaying around by the doors, muttering. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he ambles over.
鈥淗ow鈥檚 it going?鈥 He slurs.
鈥淵eah good mate.鈥
The train soon shudders to a stop, the doors open and he springs out like some manic racehorse into the night.
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