鈥淭his is going to be the biggest environmental campaign this country has ever seen,鈥 Drew Hutton, acting president of the Lock the Gate Alliance, told a rally of several hundred people outside the Sofitel Hotel on May 31.
He was addressing the crowd outside a major conference of the coal seam gas (CSG) industry.
鈥淭he coal seam gas sector and governments are hungry for cash, and are quite willing to tear up our countryside to get it. Every part of the country will be affected,鈥 he said.
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Reality check on climate target
The Australian Climate Commission鈥檚 report The Critical Decade adopted a budget approach to cessation of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution, stating that a 75% chance of the world avoiding a 2掳C temperature rise (European Union policy) means progressive cessation of GHG pollution in 2010-2050 with emission of no more than 1 trillion tonnes more of CO2 (carbon dioxide).
The not-guilty verdict in October for a young woman and her partner put on trial for using the drug RU486 to induce an abortion came as a big relief to many. The Cairns jury took less than an hour to deliver long-awaited justice.
Now the campaign has turned to smashing the anti-abortion laws that put the Cairns couple on trial in the first place. The case showed the urgent need to decriminalise abortion and realise that the right of women to control their fertility is a fundamental human right.
The deal to restructure the collapsing timber industry in Tasmania is struggling to make headway. Logging continues in old-growth forests at the same time as sawmills and woodchip mills close and more workers lose their jobs.
Anti-logging protests are being held weekly outside the premier鈥檚 office in Hobart, and the talks between environment and industry groups continue despite a key player pulling out in frustration.
The Wilderness Society (TWS) suspended its involvement in the Tasmanian Forest Agreement on May 18, citing a failure of leadership from state and federal governments.
About 40 people joined a 鈥渇lash mob鈥 action in the Myer Centre, Queen Street Mall, on June 3 to protest Seacret, as an Israeli company operating in Australia.
Seacret is a cosmetics firm that uses minerals from the Dead Sea, which is part of the Palestinian territory stolen by Israel over decades of invasion and oppression.
Participants in the flash mob occupied tables in the food court at Myers and chanted a song, beginning with the refrain, 鈥淲e will boycott Israel! We will boycott Israel!鈥
They then trooped through the centre, chanting, 鈥淔ree, free Palestine!鈥
There's a huge anti-capitalist movement rocking Spain. If you're on Twitter the hashtag to follow is #spanishrevolution.
We at 麻豆传媒 Weekly have enthusiastically covered the events and the protesters known as 鈥渢he indignants鈥.
The movement has exploded into the streets; the central squares of cities and towns across the country have been taken over by a people crying out 鈥渢he system is the problem鈥.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Codrington wind farm in Victoria鈥檚 southwest, the state鈥檚 first. On May 18, planning minister Matthew Guy announced approval for the latest, the three-turbine Chepstowe wind farm near Ballarat.
But Victoria鈥檚 wind industry is threatened by the policies of the state鈥檚 new Liberal government.
The government came to power with promises to ensure no-go zones for wind farms in the Macedon ranges, Bellarine and Mornington peninsulas, and the Great Ocean Road. These are some of the best areas in the state for wind farms.
We chose Professor Noam Chomsky for the 2011 Sydney Peace Prize for inspiring the convictions of millions about ways to achieve those universal human rights, which bolster peace with justice.
For more than 50 years he has been a world champion of freedom of speech, of the value of transparency in government and the need to challenge secrecy and censorship.
In his study of the political economy of human rights, he exposed state crimes, induced by US foreign policy, across South America, the Middle East and South East Asia.
A Darwin-based asylum seeker support group today called on the Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, to honour his promise to remove children from detention by the end of June. In excess of 100 children remain in immigration detention in Darwin.
Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN) spokesperson Kevin Kadirgamar described the situation as "very concerning".
"The fact that in excess of 100 children remain in detention in Darwin only weeks out from the Minister's deadline suggests that the government is not serious about its undertaking," he said on June 1.
On June 1, formal Israeli festivities were held around the country to commemorate 鈥淛erusalem Day鈥. One of the main events of the 鈥淛erusalem Day" celebrations is the 鈥淒ance of Flags鈥. Tens of thousands of people, waving Israeli flags, march through Palestinian parts of the city. This year, the marchers chanted slogans such as 鈥渂utcher the Arabs鈥, 鈥渂urn their villages鈥, and 鈥渄eath to the leftists鈥. The marchers also surrounded a mosque, frantically chanting 鈥淢uhammad is dead鈥 and 鈥淭hey are only Arabs, they are only fleas鈥.
Two men were taken to hospital and a third treated at the scene after being injured during a confrontation with police at a refugee rights protest at the Maribyrnong detention centre on May 29.
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