“Now that Labor has decisively won the federal election, it is urgent that Australian troops be withdrawn from Iraq as soon as possible”, Jim McIlroy, the Socialist Alliance candidate for Kevin Rudd’s seat of Griffith, said after the announcement that Labor had defeated the Howard government. McIlroy also called for an end to Australian support for the war in Afghanistan. “All Australian forces should be brought home by Christmas.
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“It’s time for a new page to be written in our nation’s history” — Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd, November 24.
Despite opposition from farmers and consumers, big-business biotech companies scored a major victory on November 27 when both the New South Wales and Victorian governments gave the green light to the commercial cultivation of genetically modified food crops. This opens the gate for pro-GM groups to lobby other states which have not yet agreed to commercial production of GM crops.
To cries of “Barry’s back, Howard’s out”, sacked union delegate Barry Hemsworth marched through the gates of Botany Cranes on November 29 to reclaim his job after 441 days picketing outside the crane yard.
The first negotiations between the state government and Victorian teachers following a 10,000 strong November 21 stop-work meeting bore no fruit according to a November 30 press release by the Australian Education UnionÂ’s (AEU) Victorian branch.
Israel's wars
If Philip Mendes (Write On, GLW #730) is accurate with his estimation that only about 1% of Australian voters think that Israel´s wars on Lebanon and Palestine are a significant issue, then I am very happy to be included in this
The Dramatically Black: Djarn Djarns — Frankie Dollar is eleven years old. He is the leader of an Aboriginal traditional dance group, who are young urban blackfellas, with a responsibility to keep their culture alive. SBS, Friday, December 7, 3.30pm.
Los Zafiros — Formed in 1962, Los Zafiros were known as Cuba’s answer to The Platters. The members all came from the same Havana neighbourhood, and in Cuba enjoyed a popularity comparable to The Beatles. SBS, Saturday, December 8, 1pm.
The Judge and the Fanatic — Many Yemenis have fought with the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan, but when the war ended they returned to Yemen to join the long queues of the unemployed, and many of them found it hard to reintegrate. SBS, Monday, December 10, 2.30pm.
Cutting Edge: Cheney’s Law — For three decades US Vice President Dick Cheney conducted a secretive, behind-closed-doors campaign to give the US president virtually unlimited wartime power. SBS, Tuesday, December 11, 8.30pm.
Since the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in October, there has been little in the mainstream media coverage of events in Burma. During the crackdown, many people were killed or disappeared by the military as society was placed under curfew.
The November 24 rout of the Howard government owed much to the work of the organised labour movement. Of the marginal Coalition seats targeted by the Your Rights at Work (YRAW) campaign, 20 of 24 have fallen to Labor (including John Howard’s own seat of Bennelong); the other four remain in doubt. Most of those who voted for Labor did so believing that Labor would abolish Work Choices, as promised by Kevin Rudd on October 14, the official start to the election campaign. Yet Labor’s industrial relations policy — Forward with Fairness — promises only minimal changes, replacing the Coalition’s legislation with “Work Choices Lite”.
Kevin RuddÂ’s election provides an opportunity for Australia and Aboriginal people to repair the damage caused by the Howard years. RuddÂ’s intention to apologise to the Stolen Generations already indicates a positive change of national policy towards Aboriginal people and should he remove the NT emergency laws, Aboriginal reconciliation will be further enhanced.
A thousand steps
Away from the ballot box
To vote for freedom
A thousand steps
From armed men
With orders to shoot down
Anyone who votes for freedom
A thousand steps
When you have chains
On your hands and feet
To stop you from taking
A step of a single yard
Towards freedom
A thousand steps
From the grave
Where you will be buried
If you take a step
To vote for freedom
A thousand steps
From your dreams
Where you dream
That you can vote
For freedom
@auth poem = Arif Viqar
Away from the ballot box
To vote for freedom
A thousand steps
From armed men
With orders to shoot down
Anyone who votes for freedom
A thousand steps
When you have chains
On your hands and feet
To stop you from taking
A step of a single yard
Towards freedom
A thousand steps
From the grave
Where you will be buried
If you take a step
To vote for freedom
A thousand steps
From your dreams
Where you dream
That you can vote
For freedom
@auth poem = Arif Viqar
While the tyrant reign of John Howard is over, another is just beginning. The need to fight a Rudd government is quite clear. Many of Kevin Rudd’s so-called “reforms” are just slight changes to Howard’s monstrosities.
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