About 1400 nurses in Fiji, who began a strike on July 25, were joined on August 2 by thousands of teachers and other public servants, resulting in at least half of Fiji聮s 20,000 public sector workers being on strike.
720
Around 100 posties and unionists rallied outside the headquarters of Australia Post on August 1 to protest the latest attempts by its management to undermine the wages and conditions of its employees and reduce its service to the community.
While the US corporate media trumpeted on the last day of July that US troop fatalities in Iraq were the 鈥渓owest for eight months鈥, according to the final Pentagon figure for the month, 80 US soldiers were killed 鈥 one less than the number killed in March. The July 2007 death toll was the highest of any July since the war began and was almost double the number killed in July 2006, when 43 US troops died. As of August 1, total US troop fatalities in Iraq since the March 19, 2003, invasion had reached 3659. As of June 30, a total of 54,100 US troops had been wounded since the invasion, with 35,600 of them requiring medical air evacuation out of Iraq.
On July 31, ALP environment spokesperson Peter Garrett and Labor leader Kevin Rudd 鈥 or at least larger-than-life puppets of them 鈥 lead a march of 150 people in Newcastle against the coal industry.
Survival International reported on August 2 that a large group of uncontacted Indians had fled to Bananeira, a remote village across the border in Brazil. It is believed that the Indians were escaping illegal loggers, who have been destroying their lands in their search for 鈥渞ed gold鈥 (rare mahogany) in Peru鈥檚 rainforests. Jose Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior, head of the Indian Protection post near the Peru border, said in an urgent alert to the Brazilian government that, 鈥淲e are on the verge of disaster. Illegal logging in protected areas in Peru is pushing the uncontacted tribes into Brazil, which could cause conflicts and lead to their appearance in places where they have never been seen before.鈥 Because of their isolation, the Indians, among some of the world鈥檚 last uncontacted tribes, do not have immunity to diseases that could be contracted by contact with outsiders. Survival International director Stephen Corry said: 鈥淚f it鈥檚 not 鈥榖lack gold鈥, it鈥檚 鈥榬ed gold鈥. The Peruvian government must act now to stop the logging on the uncontacted tribes鈥 land. If it doesn鈥檛, they could be the first people to be made extinct in the 21st century.鈥 Visit .
#151; A report in the August 2 Herald Sun has Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Trevor Dobbyn calling for ticket inspectors to be issued with handcuffs, because he says, 聯Our officers get publicly vilified for what looks like an assault on someone, but in fact they are trying to restrain them after they聮ve been arrested聰.
On August 2, the federal government announced it would legislate to stop same-sex couples adopting a child from overseas. The move follows the landmark adoption of a boy by two gay men in Western Australia in June.
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting will be held in Sydney in September. Twenty-one nations are represented, from both the First and Third Worlds. It describes itself as the 鈥減remier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region鈥. In reality, it works to ensure that the Third World nations attending further open their markets. This makes it easier for multinational corporations, along with First World nations, to strip the poorer countries鈥 natural resources with no regard for the environment and to further exploit their work forces.
#151; The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) is on the verge of formal affiliation to the ALP despite many members expressing their opposition. The proposed affiliation was endorsed in March by the union聮s governing council, reversing a decision two years ago not to affiliate to the ALP.
聯How many more innocent lives is Howard prepared to destroy in the name of fighting a war on terror?聰, asks Socialist Alliance candidate for the Victorian federal seat of Gellibrand, Ben Courtice, following Dr Mohamed Haneef聮s release from three weeks of hell in police custody.
Imagine a world where international trade was fair. Where, instead of sending troops and police overseas, the Australian government sent thousands of doctors and teachers to poor countries to provide free medical care and education to help the people there improve their lives. The Australian government is not doing this. It has sent hundreds of troops to help steal Iraq聮s oil and sends police to the Solomon Islands and other places in the Pacific to guard the theft of these countries聮 natural resources.
On July 29, Queensland University of Technology staged a protest on QUT聮s 聯open day聰 to symbolically 聯lay to rest聰 the school of humanities and human services, and mark 聯the death of critical thinking and freedom of speech聰 at QUT.
- Page 1
- Next page