Issue 1329

News

Solidarity activists marked the murders of three activists murdered in Paris by agents of the Turkish state nine years ago.It was organised by the DemocraticKurdish Community Centre. Rachel Evans reports.

While Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic is in detention, refugee rights activists have taken theopportunity to protest the detention of refugees brought to Australia under the Medevaclaw in 2019. Chloe DS reports.

A detained Serbian tennis player at the Park Hotel has unwittingly helpedshine a spotlight on the Morrison government'scruel policies towardsrefugees. Chloe DS reports.

A protest outside transnational corporation Ansell’s headquartersdemandedit reinstate sacked union activists in Sri Lanka and negotiate with genuine unions in its supply chains. Chris Slee reports.

A protest inside two compounds of the Broadmeadows Immigration Detention Centre prompted a solidarity rallycalling for the detainees to be released. Chevy McBride reports.

Adrian Burragubba, Senior Elder and spokesperson for theNagana Yarrbayn, Wangan and Jagalingou Cultural Custodians, says the resistance to Adani continues.ʾᾱԳǰٲ.

Redfern Town Hall

Long-term Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has been returned to the position in thelocal government elections, along with four others from her Independent Team. Andrew Chuter reports.

Residents for deamalgamation

There is a strong mood for progressive change in the inner west, as the demerger vote andswings to Greens and Labor show. Andrew Chuter reports.

Gomeroi man Raymond “Bubbly” Weatherall, on behalf of the custodians of the Narrabri-Pilliga region in NSW, has called for the fight against government and privategas plants to continue. Jim McIlroy reports.

A protestoutside the David Malcolm Justice Centre was part of the campaign in support of the National Suicide Prevention and Recovery Project.Alex Salmon reports.

Plasterboard workers at CSR Gyprock in Yarravillewho are continuing their campaign for a 4% pay rise arereceiving a lot of union support.Chevy McBride reports.

Pat O’Shane, a Kuku Yalanji woman from Mossman, will run for the Socialist Alliance inthe Far North Queensland seat of Leichhardt. Jonathan Strauss reports.

AnotherFeminist Walking tour heard from a range of feminist speakers. Rachel Evans reports.

TheRail, Tram and Bus Union is calling for a quota on Australian-built infrastructure to put commuter and workers' safety first. Jim McIlroy reports.

YES campaign to demerge Inner West

With more than 88% of the votes counted, 63% of Sydney's Inner West residents voted “Yes” to demergeand re-establish the former councils of Ashfield, Marrickville and Leichhardt, reports Andrew Chuter.

Suzanne Jamesspeaks toShayne Higson, Vice President of Dying With Dignity NSW, about the historic passing of the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021 through the NSW Legislative Assembly

A national weekend of action against AUKUS was organised over December 10-12, with protests in Canberra, Perth, Sydney, Wollongong, Hobart, Brisbane and Adelaide. Kerry Smith reports.

A protest against the forced removal of Aboriginal children was organised on Human Rights Dayin Redfern. Rachel Evans reports.

School students protested outside National Australia Bank headquarters calling on it to stop funding fossil fuels. Coral Wynter reports.

A protest called on United States multinational investment management corporation BlackRock not to fund Adani. Coral Wynter reports.

The 60th anniversary of the raising of the Morning Star flag was marked by activists in solidarity with West Papua at the State Library.Aaron Craineǰٲ.

Tens of thousands of teachers went on strike across New South Wales against staff shortages andfor sustainable workloads and better wages. Jim McIlroy reports.

Protesters rallied in Sydney against the federal government’s religious discrimination bill. Rachel Evans reports.

After a seven-year battle, the East Gippsland community in eastern Victoria has defeated Kalbar Resources’ proposed mineral sands mine.Alan Broughton reports.

Analysis

1972 Land rights protest in Canberra

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy,thelongest running protest by First Nations peoples, is about to markits 50th year. Thisbrief timeline was put together byChloe de Silva and Markela Panegyres.

On its 50th anniversary,Markela Panegyres and Chloe de Silva spoke to Gumbainggir activist and historian Gary Foley about the history and significance of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.

Pat O'Shaneargues the Morrison government's mishandling of the pandemichas given rise toa collapse of equity and justice.

It was another tough year for most of us, and 2022 looks to be no different. Peter Boyle asks you to join others in helping keep 鶹ý afloat.

The new exemptions to Public Health Orders, which can force sick workers to work, represent a serious attack on workers' rights and their health and safety. Sarah Hathway argues that workers and their unions need to draw a line.

Public anger at government failings over mitigating the virus spread is justifiable. The challenge for progressives is to work out how to organise this anger into a fightfor measures that can offer lasting protections, argues Fred Fuentes.

The Novak Djokovic episode of pandemic bureaucracy by the federal government is a monster of its own making and ranks high among its list of inglorious achievements, writes Binoy Kampmark.

Thereason Scott Morrison stopped Novak Djokovic's entry visa to play in the Australian Open championships is because heneeds a distraction from the ongoing disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, argues Sue Bolton.

Abbi spoke from inside the Park Hotel prison torefugee rights activists outside asking whathe and other asylumseekers haddone to receive such cruelty from the Morrison government. Here is what he said.

Much has been said about the rampant exploitation of migrant workers in Australia but the Migrant Workers Centre has data showing it is even worse.Hyeseon Jeong reports.

Armed with inclusive views of humanity, “the Arch” crossed borders, challenged nationalism and advocated justice, not least for the Palestinians, writes Stuart Rees.

The Prime Minister and NSW Premier are driving the neoliberal push to lower public expectations about the public health system and governments keeping people safe and secure, writes Alex Bainbridge.

Thirty years since the collapse of theSoviet Union andthe end of the Cold Warthe promisedpeace andharmony has been illusive, writes William Briggs.

With Julian Assange now fighting the next stage of efforts to extradite him to the United States, some Australian politicians have found their voice.Binoy Kampmark reports.

Mental health workers Dr Nikola Leka and Sarah Ellyard spoke to 鶹ý about the mental health crisis exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The harrowing global effects of COVID-19 have been accompanied by a crisis in mental health, with levels of psychological distress and demand for mental health services growing exponentially. Tom Eccles reports that young people are especially at risk.

The COVID-19 catastrophe presentsa challenge of planetary proportions. You would expect it would elicit a response drawing on all our skills, compassion and collective resources. But Andrew Smart argues we are seeing the opposite.

Cruelty has caught fire in Australian politics; cowardice has become the currency affecting exchange with Washington and London, arguesStuart Rees.

Kamala Emanuel: Punish war criminals not journalists

The Britishdecision to extradite Julian Assange is an attack on us all, arguesSocialist Alliance Senate candidateKamala Emanuel.

The history of “humanitarian” or policing missions is one of taking sides,arguesBinoy Kampmark.

World

Healthcare in Chile

After the victory of Gabriel Boric in Chile’s presidential elections, the country awaits much-needed changes to its health system, writes Mario Parada Lezcano.

Gabriel Boric

Former student leader Gabriel Boric, from the left-wing Approve Dignity coalition, won Chile’s presidential election in December, reports People's Dispatch.

Protesters in blood spattered Tony Blair masks at a Stop The War demonstration in London, in 2010.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair should be on trial at The Hague rather than parading the medieval trappings of wealth and power, argues Lindsey German.

What's behind the protests in Kazakhstan? Aynur Kurmanov,a leaderof Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan, discusses the situation in this interview.

The death toll from supposedly 'precise' drone strikes has been covered up. Image: Pixabay

The deaths of thousands of civilians killed in US drone strikes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syriawere covered up by the Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations, reports Barry Sheppard.

“No negotiation, no partnership, no legitimacy” is the new slogan of the mass protests in Sudan against military rule, reports Susan Price.

bell hooks, right, with zillah eisenstein. Photo: @ZEisenstein/Twitter

Malik Miah pays tribute to radical feminist, scholar and activist bell hooks, who died on December 15.

Alborada Online presents an analysis of Chile’s December 19 presidential election results and the historic victory of left candidate, Gabriel Boric.

A new family code that provides for same-sex marriage is being discussed by Cuba’s legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power, before it goes to a popular referendum, reports Ian Ellis-Jones.

Actor Susan Sarandon speaks at a free Assange rally in New York City

It is fittingly monstrous that the decision to extradite Julian Assange was handed down the same day the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two journalists, Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, writes Binoy Kampmark.

The ruling to allow Julian Assange's extradition to the United States is based on fraudulent “assurances” scrabbled together by the Biden administration when it looked in January like justice might prevail, writes John Pilger.

Culture

Ecosocialist bookshelf

Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus presents seven new books for red-greens and green-reds to start the new year.

Sydney Festival artists support BDS campaign

There has been an overwhelming response by artists to the call to boycott the Sydney Festival over its partnership with apartheid Israel, writes Vivienne Porzsolt.

China, the USA and Capitalism's Last Crusade book cover

Author William Briggs characterises the intensifying conflict between the United States and China as a rivalry between two capitalist powers, one growing in strength, the other long dominant but now declining, writes Chris Slee.

Ai Weiwei pictured with the cover of his memoir. Ai Weiwei image: Alfred Weidinger/Flickr CC by 2.0

Barry Healy reviews exiled Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's recent memoir.

Maree Roberts book cover

Mary Merkenich reviews Maree Roberts’ entertaining novel about Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky’s sister Olga Kameneva.

Uncle Bill Allen Junior, a descendant of Wiradyuri warrior leader Windradyne

Tracy Sorensen reviews the latest work by award-winning author Stephen Gapps, which recountsthe furious and bloody war that began with the occupation of Wiradyuri lands.

Dune film 2021

With $US165 million of production costs on the big screen, you would expect Dune to be impressive and it does not let you down, writesBarry Healy.

Famed Hollywood director Oliver Stone returns to the question of the Kennedy assassination in his new, four-hour long documentary, which draws upon new evidence, writesBarry Healy.