930

Quebec's long-running student strike is set to resume at the start of the new semester on August 17. Students from universities and colleges are seeking to force the government to stop its plan to raise fees. The student movement has turned politics in Quebec on its head, challenging not only the fee hike but the status quo of neoliberal politics. It has called into question the existence of fees and raised the idea of free education as a right.
Patrick Chalmers interviews director Mimi Chakarova in March 2012.

Reading this former Reuters reporter's analysis of the news industry is like watching an episode of detective series Columbo unfold. Like the seemingly innocent inspector Columbo, Patrick Chalmers at first comes across as disconcertingly naive.

The article below is based on a talk given at a meeting on June 26 in Melbourne by Chris Slee, a member of the SA Melbourne branch. * * * The Socialist Alliance supports the right of the Tamil people to self-determination. A resolution adopted at an SA national conference reads: "Socialist Alliance recognises that Tamils are an oppressed nation within Sri Lanka, and supports their right to self-determination.
London Olympic Games snipers.

It has not even begun, but a world record has already been set for the London 2012 Olympic games. The games, which begin on July 27, are the most corporatised, militarised and draconian Olympics of all time.

French car-maker Peugeot-Citroen announced a drastic cost-cutting plan on July 12 to slash 8000 jobs in France and close a major factory in Aulnay-sous-Bois north of Paris. Hundreds of workers at the Aulnay plant walked off the job and staged a protest in front of the site, which is one of France's biggest car factories and a bastion of car workers' trade unions. "It's a show of disgust because Peugeot has played with us for a year, over a year now, saying that it's not certain, we're not going to close," said Khenniche of the SUD union, who has worked at the plant for 17 years.
Trouble flared across Ireland's north on the night of July 12 as sectarian Orange Order marchers insisted on marching through nationalist areas, the Morning Star said the next day. It said serious rioting followed a unionist (supporters of Northern Ireland's union with Britain) parade through the the largely Catholic and Irish nationalist working-class suburb of Ardoyne in north Belfast.
A huge march by striking miners and their supporters on July 12 was attacked by riot police. Huge crowds of protesters, marching on the offices of the ministry of industry, came under attack from police firing rubber bullets. The ministry is a focus for protest because it is cutting subsidies to the mining industry by 63%. This will lead to thousands of miners losing their jobs. Unions estimate that as many as 30,000 jobs will be scrapped.
Federal Labor鈥檚 hopes that its carbon price handouts would lift its primary vote have proven futile, and as Labor policy and rhetoric moves further to the right, a section of the party has begun a full-blown assault on its alliance with the Greens.
Activistrights.org.au was developed by the Fitzroy Legal Service as a resource for activists. Ela Orgu, the Community Development Officer at Fitzroy Legal Service said the 鈥渨ebsite aims to provide legal information for activists. It provides legal context, lots of legal information and also places to go to for support depending on what is happening and a range of case studies as well. 鈥淎ctivism is crucial in society. It鈥檚 an important way to keep leaders and systems and organisations in check.
Amidst the ongoing discussion about Fairfax, Gina Rinehart and the 鈥渃risis of journalism鈥, the ABC celebrated its 80th anniversary on July 1. As Fairfax and News Limited cut newsrooms and erect paywalls the ABC is expanding its online and broadcast news presence.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in NSW has fined a coal seam gas (CSG) company $3000 after it twice polluted a creek in the Pilliga forest near Narrabri in NSW by discharging contaminated water.

One hundred people joined a Maritime Union of Australia (MUA)-initiated protest against the proposed Muckaty nuclear waste dump on July 12 at Stokes Hill Wharf. MUA NT branch manager Thomas Mayor said wharfies would stand in solidarity with traditional owners who opposed the dump. The protest was held at Stokes Hill Wharf because waste would likely be shipped through the port if the waste dump goes ahead. Mayor said that the waste presented an unacceptable risk.