鈥 About 2600 young people were forced onto income management from July 1.
鈥 50% of their payment is withheld and credited to a BasicsCard that can be used only at specific stores.
鈥 Income management affects people living in the NT, Bankstown in New South Wales; Logan and Rockhampton in Queensland; Playford in South Australia; and Shepparton in Victoria.
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Young people are being targeted under the federal government鈥檚 income management scheme. 聽
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The Victorian government's Fire Services Levy was introduced on July 1. It replaces the original levy, which was deducted from insurance premiums, and now collects funds from all property holders along with council rates.
The original levy was introduced in 2009 to pay for implementing the recommendations of the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission.
鈥淚 have never believed in class warfare,鈥欌 declared Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on July 11.
Has St Kevin found the solution to the class divisions that have plagued human society for thousands of years?
I say 鈥淪t Kevin鈥 because he appears to have produced a more spectacular miracle than any performed by Pope John Paul II, who the Vatican is about to make a saint.
All this outcry over Queensland Premier Campbell Newman's plan to award state politicians a 42% pay rise is a bit rough.
The rises would result in MPs getting an extra $57,000 a year, ministers an extra $90,000, and Newman's pay would .
Vincent Emanuele, 29, fought in the Iraq war, was forced to kill people and suffers post-traumatic stress. Yet he remains a leading activist with the US Iraq Veterans Against the War.
On tour through the eastern states of Australia, Emanuele told a Sydney public meeting jointly hosted by Stop the War Coalition, Marrickville Peace Group and StandFast, that the anti-war movement urgently needs to build resistance to the 鈥渋nsane system that leads to wars and drives ecological destruction鈥.
More than 200 pensioners rallied on the steps of Victoria鈥檚 parliament house on July 10.
The rally was called by the Fair Go for Pensioners Coalition, which has a list of demands on the state and federal governments.
Their demands on the federal government include a pension rise from 27.7% of average weekly earnings to 35%; improved healthcare measures, including medical, dental, optical, hearing, pharmaceutical and culturally appropriate services; and more funding for aged care services.
A sign reading 鈥淢oreland City Council welcomes refugees and asylum seekers鈥 has been erected outside the council's office in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg, on July 4.
The motion to install the sign was moved by Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton, and passed council vote on May 8.
The council also committed support to the World Refugee Day rally in Melbourne, which called for an end to mandatory detention and deportations, and the closure of Nauru and Manus Island detention camps.
Thirty people attended a public meeting on July 3 to discuss the issue of temporary migration.
Organised by Australia Asia Worker Links (AAWL), the meeting was called in response to the debate around 457 visas, which allow employers to bring overseas workers to Australia on a temporary basis.
Experts say a statewide ban on synthetic drugs could create a black market for the resale of the substances.
New South Wales Fair Trading has failed to provide an industry buy-back scheme, or propose a means of safely and legally disposing of the products for the tobacconists, service stations and adult shops which stock the drugs.
Last month the death of 17-year-old student Henry Kwan, who plunged from his parents' balcony in Kilarra in Sydney after taking a synthetic substitute for LSD which led him to believe he could fly, ignited fears over the safety of the substances.
The released this statement on July 9 in response to immigration minister Tony Burke's announcement that he would delay processing of asylum seekers who don't have their 鈥渄ocuments鈥.
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Refugee groups have accused the Immigration Minister, Tony Burke, of playing politics with asylum seeker policy.
Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition said: 鈥淭ony Burke is singing the same misleading song as the Liberals. He needs to drop the 鈥榤e too鈥 rhetoric if he wants to be taken seriously.
The refugee 鈥渄ebate鈥 in Australian media and politics is rarely concerned about facts or evidence. Tony Abbott can call refugees 鈥渋llegal鈥 and be quoted uncritically in the news. Bob Carr can name himself a 鈥渉umanitarian鈥 in national media and keep a straight face.
Headlines like 鈥淪wamped by boatpeople鈥 are so common that the public eye just glazes over and accepts it as the truth.
Bulgarians voted for a new parliament on May 9, two months ahead of schedule. It came after mass protests against poverty and economic disadvantage forced the centre-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) government to resign.
The elections, however, reflected a polarised political landscape and one devoid of left forces. GERB received most votes with 30.71% (97 seats). The second-largest party, the Bulgarian Socialist Party won 27.02% (84 seats). The 2005-09 BSP government was marked by neoliberal policies and corruption scandals.
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