As a mother and her baby fight to avoid the 鈥渞at-infested鈥 Nauru refugee camp, a Fairfax-Nielsen poll showed half of Australian voters disapprove of the Coalition government's refugee policy. The poll also showed Prime Minister Tony Abbott has come to the end of what has been described as the shortest 鈥渉oneymoon period鈥 of a PM in history. Abbott's popularity took an unprecedented dive 鈥 with a personal approval rating of 1%, believed to be fuelled by his attitude to the 鈥渄iplomatic stand-off鈥 with Indonesia over substantial spying allegations.
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A new battleground has opened over the introduction of 鈥渇oetal personhood鈥 laws as the anti-choice lobby tries to use these laws to roll back women鈥檚 reproductive rights. A private member鈥檚 bill giving legal rights to foetuses older than 20 weeks or weighing more than 400 grams passed the New South Wales lower house on November 21 by a large margin. A similar bill was introduced in the South Australian Legislative Council on November 27 by right-wing Christian party Family First. It lost by one vote. The Western Australian parliament considered a 鈥渇oetal homicide鈥 law last year.
Forty people gathered on the steps of South Australia鈥檚 Parliament House on November 27 to protest against a new law that would make it an offence to cause serious harm to a pregnant woman. It was defeated by a single vote.
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Introduced by Family First MLC Robert Brokenshire, the bill seeks to introduce "foetal personhood鈥, with penalties as severe as life in prison for causing what is termed in the bill 鈥渢he death of the unborn child鈥.
The Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA) released this open letter on November 22
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Next year, on February 14, will be the 10th anniversary of the killing of the young Aboriginal man, TJ Hickey, as a consequence of the pursuit by the then Redfern police.
For nine long years, the Hickey family has been campaigning for justice and for the proper legal punishment of those directly responsible for TJ鈥檚 death.
A Queensland Civil Liberties Network was formed on November 27 at a packed meeting at the Electrical Trades Union office in Brisbane.
More than 60 people, including officials and activists from a number of trade unions, environmental activists, people involved in organising protests at the G20 meeting next year, members of the Greens, Pirate Party, and the Socialist Alliance, as well as individuals new and experienced in campaigning for civil liberties attended.
Equal marriage rallies were held on November 23 in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. 聽 About 500 people braved wet weather to march for聽 marriage equality in Melbourne.
The Grattan Institute and the Productivity Commission both released reports on November 22 into the affect an ageing population will have on Australia鈥檚 economy.
The Grattan Institute proposed that the pension age should be raised to 70, owner-occupiers should not be exempted from the Age Pension asset tests 鈥 meaning people could be forced to sell their home when they retire 鈥 and GST should be applied to fresh food.
The Productivity Commission suggests access to the Age Pension and retirement should be linked to life expectancy 鈥 to continue rising as people live longer.
Peter Boyle interviewed Florencia Melgar, a former SBS journalist about into Australia's involvement in the 1973 military coup against the progressive government of Salvador Allende in Chile.
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An important new work of labour history was launched on November 23 at the Melbourne Trades Hall. About 70 people heard author Douglas Jordan and Victoria University historian Phillip Deery mark the publication of Conflict in the Unions: The Communist Party of Australia, Politics and the Trade Union Movement, 1945-60.
Australian oil and gas company AWE has signalled its intention to mine for unconventional gas on farmland bordering Western Australia鈥檚 Lesueur National Park. The proposal, released in October, includes plans to use the damaging process known as 鈥渇racking鈥 to extract gas, starting in March next year.
The national park is a environmentally significant area. It holds more than 900 different plant species and more than 10% of the total known flora of WA. It also holds seven species of declared rare fauna, and nine taxa found nowhere else in the world.
Lock the Gate released this statement on November 26.
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The first Santos rig drilling for coal seam gas in the Pilliga is today the site of direct action protest, as grandmother and author Sharyn Munro joins 20 locals in halting Santos鈥 drilling operations in the area, calling for the Sydney catchment coal seam gas moratorium to be extended to protect Pilliga groundwater.
Over the past few months, plazas, airports and roads in Mexico City and several other cities across the country have been paralysed by teachers and their supporters.
They have been protesting against neoliberal reforms to the public education system proposed by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and recently approved by Congress.
These so-called structural reforms to education coincide with other neoliberal attacks pushing the privatisation of education, oil and electricity industries.
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