Issue 1376

News

Firefighter Alan Glover and opera singer Karen Fitz-Gibbon were fined for taking part in a climate protest on the SydneyĀ Harbour Bridge last April. Kerry Smith reports.

Japanese Marxist academic Kohei Saito, author ofĀ Capital in the Anthropocene,Ā will be a keynoteĀ speaker atĀ Ecosocialism 2023,Ā organised by Ā鶹“«Ć½. Peter Boyle reports.

National Tertiary Education Union members at the University of Sydney went on strikeĀ for the seventh time, in pursuit of their enterprise agreement. William Smith reports.

Hundreds of unionists and gender and queer activists marched for International Womenā€™s Day in Naarm/Melbourne. Jacob Andrewartha reports.

Cairns for Refugees and Ā鶹“«Ć½ organised an event that raised nearly $1300 for refugee rights advocacy. Jonathan Strauss reports.

Brian Toohey, Alison Broinowski and Vince Scappatura will take part in a webinar hosted byĀ the Australian Anti-AUKUS Coalition on March 26. Bevan Ramsden reports.

People hold sign that reads "Strong unions need women".

ā€œEnd violence against womenā€ was the theme of the Geelong Women Unionists Networkā€™s 21st International Womenā€™s Day breakfast, reports Jacqueline Kriz.

Ā鶹“«Ć½ News podcast Ep 3

Episode 3, March 6, 2023. Ā鶹“«Ć½ĢżĀį“Ē³Ü°ł²Ō²¹±ō¾±²õ³Ł²õ Isaac Nellist and Ben Radford take you through the latest news from Australia and around the world.

Supporters of the Barngarla people gathered outside the Federal Court to protest continuing moves to put a nuclear waste dump on First Nations land near Kimba. Renfrey Clarke reports.

The Hunter Workers Womenā€™s Committee continued the tradition of loud and proud street marches with itsĀ International Womenā€™s Day. ±·¾±°ģ“ĒĢż³¢±š°ģ²¹ reports.

VenezuelanĀ President HugoĀ Chavez was a leader for Venezuela, Latin America and the whole world, a meeting to mark 10 years since his death, was told. Chris Slee reports.

There was a big turnoutĀ for the fifth hearing of the Belmarsh Tribunal into the persecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Peter Boyle reports.

Passionate march to Woodside's office

Hundreds of climate strikers heard from First Nations leaders and climate activists before marching to the Woodside office in Perth, reports Alex Bainbridge.

Torrential rain did not stop student climate strikers from marching through the streets of Sydney. Video by Peter Boyle.

Activists protest outside Tanya Plibersek's office.

Murujuga Traditional Custodians have escalated their campaign to protect Murujuga rock art in the Pilbara, Western Australia.Ā Coral WynterĀ reports.

Activist Stephen Langford has been arrestedĀ for failing to adhere to draconian bail conditions, which prevent him from being in the Sydney CBD. Pip Hinman reports.

Five climate activists, includingĀ a climate research scientist, were arrested for protesting outside the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association. Kerry Smith reports.

Getting traffic lights installed next to a public school was a years-long battle thatĀ parents and citizens finally won.Ā Graham Matthews reports.

Student activist Cherish Kuehlmann successfully challengedĀ bail conditions arising from a housing action, which preventedĀ her from enteringĀ Sydneyā€™s CBD. David Killingly reports.

Climate activist Richard Boult was found not guilty of all charges brought byĀ NSW Police for stepping onto a road during a climate protest last June. David Killingly reports.

A forum hosted by Ā鶹“«Ć½Ā  highlighted ongoing struggles by LGBTIQĀ radical activists in a highly corporatised Sydney World Pride.

Activist Stephen Langford has been banned from the Sydney CBD after placing an A4 sheet, with blue tack, quoting Governor Lachlan Macquarie onto his statue in Hyde Park. Kerry Smith reports.

Protesters told Minister for Defence Richard Marles to scrapĀ AUKUS and spend the money on health,Ā education and welfare.Ā John Quelch reports.

GL News

Ā鶹“«Ć½ journalists Ben Radford and Isaac Nellist round up the latest news from Australia and around the world in this new podcast.

Forest protector and soil scientist Tim Evans stopped logging crews inĀ Ballengarra State Forest, saying destruction of public native forests must end. Kerry Smith reports.

Analysis

AĀ number of media outlets are manufacturing a consensus for war with China, a country that has never been a natural, historical enemy, nor sought to be, argues Binoy Kampmark.

Given how many are being crunched by the cost-of-living crisis, public sentiment would be on the unionsā€™ side if they took united action for wage rises, argues Mary Merkenich.

Protester holding trans flag

Counterprotests have been organised against transphobic agitator Kellie-Jay Keen, who wants her tour of Australia to be a galvanising force for the small far-right and trans-exclusionary movement. Nova Sobieralski reports.

Joana Partyka and Petrina Harley

Climate activists are resistingĀ intimidation in WA, writes Alex Bainbridge.

Superannuation tax concessions now cost as much as the age pension and more than the National Disability Insurance Scheme, writesĀ Peter Boyle.

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus has agreed to the US' request to extraditeĀ former United States marine Daniel Edmund Duggan, writesĀ Binoy Kampmark.

³§³Ł±š±č³ó±š²ŌĢż³¢²¹²Ō²µ“Ś“Ē°ł»å recounts the brutality and isolation of Goulburn Street lock-up after being recently arrested for breaching impossible bail conditions.

The cost of living is going through the roof and the housing crisis means moreĀ people cannot afford to rent or buy.Ā Nearly everyone is feeling the pinch. That's why the Socialist AllianceĀ platform for the NSW elections is isĀ ā€˜People before Profitā€™.

Palestinian writers Susan Abulhawa and Mohammed El-Kurd have been subjected toĀ a storm of false defamation at theĀ Adelaide Writersā€™ Festival in South Australia.Ā Gideon Polya reports.

The closure of the traditional opportunity shop means the losers are people who can least afford it, argues Darren Saffin.

AĀ two-year investigation by Hindenbug Research foundĀ evidence that Indian conglomerate Adani Group hadĀ engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over decades. Binoy Kampmark reports.

The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture has again had to pull out of a planned inspection afterĀ NSWĀ and Queensland refused it access to facilities. Paul Gregoire reports.

Elite soldiers in the Australian army are still asked to participate in a ā€œConduct After Captureā€ course, which usesĀ torture, sexual assault and dehumanisation techniques, writesĀ Damien de Pyle.

The arms manufacturers areĀ salivating thatĀ Australiaā€™s military policy is finally moving in the right direction. Binony KampmarkĀ reports on Deputy PM Richard Marles' enthusiasm.

Housing has become a significant election issue as rents skyrocket and tenants can be thrown out of their homes at the whim of a landlord. Jim McIlroy report.

Refugees and their supporters have called a major rally in Canberra on March 6Ā and around the country on April 2. Labor's ā€œresolution of statusā€ permanent visaĀ does not go far enough, arguesĀ Jonathan Strauss.

Well over 100 academics and other educators, many of them Jewish, have signed an open letter to vice-chancellors opposingĀ the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance'sĀ Working Definition of Antisemitism. Renfrey Clarke reports.

World

Protesting Jammu and Kashmir evictions

The administration of Jammu and Kashmir, which is directly under the Indian government, launched an eviction drive targeting farmers and workers, reports Peoples Dispatch/Globetrotter News Service.

French strikes

After a three-week period of relative calm, all trade union federations in France called on workers ā€œto bring France to a standstillā€ on March 7. Key workersā€™ sectors promised ongoing strikes, reports John Mullen.

Bay Du Nord

Indigenous communities and environmental groups are attempting to stop oil giant Equinorā€™s Bay du Nord deep sea oil project off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, reports Jeff Shantz.

Nurses' picket line cr Terry Conway

Ahead of a significant day of industrial action across Britain,Ā Terry Conway discusses the significance of theĀ strikewave and what it will take to force the governmentā€™s hand.

Destroyed Russian tank in Berlin

The biggest European anti-war protest marking one year since Russiaā€™s illegal invasion of Ukraine was held in Berlin, with reports of about 50,000 people turned out in freezing conditions, reports Susan Price.

Ohio train derailment 2023

The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, highlighted safety regulation failures, indifference and anti-union bias, writes Malik Miah.

Bay du Nord

The Bay du Nord project will drill for oil at a depth of more than 1000 metres ā€” a first in Canada ā€” in an area vulnerable to strong storms and icebergs, reports Marc Bonhomme.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it soon became clear that there was a gulf between Cataloniaā€™s peace movement and local Ukrainians, which continues to today, writes Dick Nichols.

Al Aqsa

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be remembered as the reckless politician who gave Itamar Ben-Gvir the green light to cause death and destruction, the scale of which has never been seen before, writes Miko Peled.

Chinese balloon

What began as an overblown diplomatic response by Washington to a Chinese surveillance balloon that drifted across the continental United States, before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean, has morphed into a major confrontation, writes Barry Sheppard.

John McDonnell

British Labour MP John McDonnell argues that to force a negotiated settlement to Russia's war on Ukraine, the left should support Ukrainians' right to defend themselves.

pedro sanchez

With elections due in the next 12 months, Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) prime minister Pedro SƔnchez is hoping his pro-worker posture will be enough to secure victory over the right and keep the independence movement at bay, writes Dick Nichols.

Culture

China Mieville A Spectre Haunting

Bill Nevins reviews China MiĆ©villeā€™s very readable book, A Spectre Haunting, about the concept of alternative world-creation in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engelsā€™ Communist Manifesto.