“In the new year, the progressive community needs to take up the cudgels for all those who continue to suffer human rights abuses in this country”, Sam Watson, Murri activist and Socialist Alliance Senate candidate in the recent federal elections, told a speak-out for International Human Rights Day on December 7. He condemned the attacks on Aboriginal rights inherent in the former Howard government’s invasion of the Northern Territory, and the infringement of civil liberties represented by the mandatory detention of refugees and the “anti-terror” laws.
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As an orgy of consumerism descends upon the Western world to commemorate the birth of Christ, it is poignant to consider the relationship between Christianity and the left. It is a common misconception that socialists are atheists and are opposed to all forms of religion. Indeed, many socialists are atheists, and the abhorrence of organised religion by some can be traced back to the role of the church in siding with regressive conservative forces at various stages throughout history (and indeed itself being at times a highly repressive institution). However, socialism is opposed to all forms of discrimination — be it based upon gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, or indeed religious belief.
When I switched on the TV on the day after the federal election, this message hit me: the election is over, now we can get on with Christmas shopping!
The defeat of the Howard government in the November 24 federal election was “a great victory for the Australian working class”, Sam Watson, leading Aboriginal activist and Queensland Senate candidate for the Socialist Alliance, told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly. “John Howard has been cast out, senior ministers defeated, and many Coalition seats now made marginal. This represents a realignment of working-class forces in the country”, Watson added.
Workers at the FosterÂ’s brewery at Yatala, south of Brisbane, have stepped up their campaign for a union agreement, following a victory over the latest attempt by the companyÂ’s management to impose a non-union agreement on the work force at the plant. Scott Wilson, Electrical Trades Union (ETU) organiser for the site, told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly that the Yatala workers had voted by 154 to 120 to reject managementÂ’s third offer of a non-union agreement, which provides wages and conditions significantly below those of workers at other breweries in southern states.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
By Ilan Pappe
Oneworld Publications, 2006
313 pages, $39.95 (hb)
By Ilan Pappe
Oneworld Publications, 2006
313 pages, $39.95 (hb)
On November 20, two unidentified thugs use butchersÂ’ cleavers to brutally attack Huang Qingnan, an organiser of the Dagongzhe Centre in the south China foreign capital haven of Shenzhen, leaving him seriously injured. The assault came on the heels of the October 11 and November 14 attempts to
ransack the workersÂ’ centre by an unidentified gang, leaving behind extensive property damage.
Victorian unions have begun discussing the next stage of the campaign to rip up all of Work Choices.
The First Zionist Bunny — In a country where women have long been soldiers and prime ministers, is being a Playboy Channel hostess the ultimate post-feminist success? SBS, Friday, December 14, 10pm.
India’s Ladyboys — Follows a group of Hirjas, those who were born hermaphrodites and those who were born men and have since been castrated, who are still considered outsiders in their own country. ABC, Monday, December 17, 12:10am.
Cutting Edge: Spying on the Home Front — In a permanent war against a hidden enemy, how far has the government gone in hunting terrorists by watching us? SBS, Monday, December 17, 1.30pm.
Energy War — Describes the geopolitical consequences of the dependency on fossil fuels. SBS, Tuesday, December 18, 8.30pm.
Crude Impact — Examines the future implications of “peak oil”, the point in time when the amount of petroleum available worldwide begins a steady, inexorable decline. SBS, Tuesday, December 18, 10pm.
Summer of Love — San Francisco’s hippy movement was born out of youth who’d grown up with post-WWII affluence but were now dealing with Vietnam, racism, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. SBS, Wednesday December 19, 8.30pm,.
Waste Equals Food — In the early ’90s, the US “green” architect William McDonough and German “green” chemist Michael Braungart teamed up to realise the Waste = Food principle in human-made products. SBS, Thursday, December 20, 1.30pm.
Days that Changed the World: The Storming of the Bastille — Looks at the infamous date, July 14, 1789: The French revolution which began in Paris with the storming of the Bastille. SBS, Friday, December 21, 2.30pm.
Dirty War — Against a geo-political backdrop of war, terrorism, and shifting global alliances, this is the struggle between a group of poisoned Filipino peasants and allegedly one of the largest, and certainly most powerful, polluters on the planet — the US military. SBS, Saturday, December 22, 12.50am.
The Butterfly Effect — Terri Janke is a Sydney-based Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property lawyer, whose firm is the only one in the country dealing with the issue of ICIP rights for Indigenous people. ABC, Sunday December 23, 1.30pm.
In September 2006, Roger Harris, a teacher at Chisholm Institute of Technology (Victoria) and an Australian Education Union member for 23 years, was stood down by the Chisholm management. Harris had been an active union member, playing a central role on the sub-branch executive for 16 years and has served on the AEUÂ’s TAFE sector council for 10 years.
A bill legalising aspects of brothel operation is being debated by Western Australia’s parliament. The Prostitution Amendment Bill 2007 would change the current legislative approach to brothels from one of “containment” (brothels, while technically illegal, are regulated by the police), to one where brothel managers and owners could be formally registered.
In New South Wales
bridges tell the tale
of lifeÂ’s travail
for the not so beautiful elite @poetry = The homeless out of work
share a space of dirt
beneath your bridges
under the souls of your feet @poetry = ThereÂ’s no dreaming here
romance is out of date
beauty is the sadness
of a quintessential fate @poetry = Mums Â’n kids share
8 x 2 tin cans with lids
and wait for that day of the meek
but it wonÂ’t be this week @poetry = There communards
sleep by streets
on a park bench
where the soup kitchen meets @poetry = Real jobs have gone
old industries fled
and the rest of youse
have left us for dead @poetry = In New South Wales
histories tell the tale
of a social elite
with mud at their feet @poetry = and egos that never skip a beat
bridges tell the tale
of lifeÂ’s travail
for the not so beautiful elite @poetry = The homeless out of work
share a space of dirt
beneath your bridges
under the souls of your feet @poetry = ThereÂ’s no dreaming here
romance is out of date
beauty is the sadness
of a quintessential fate @poetry = Mums Â’n kids share
8 x 2 tin cans with lids
and wait for that day of the meek
but it wonÂ’t be this week @poetry = There communards
sleep by streets
on a park bench
where the soup kitchen meets @poetry = Real jobs have gone
old industries fled
and the rest of youse
have left us for dead @poetry = In New South Wales
histories tell the tale
of a social elite
with mud at their feet @poetry = and egos that never skip a beat
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