Long-term US activist Angela Davis addressed an overflowing lecture theatre at Melbourne University on October 24.
In a wide-ranging lecture and discussion, Davis looked at the criminalisation and incarceration of communities most affected by poverty and racial discrimination.
Davis drew upon her own experiences in the 1970s, when she spent 18 months on trial after being placed on the FBI鈥檚 鈥淭en Most Wanted List鈥.
After a year of political turmoil, Venezuela turned a corner recently, at least according to an eye-catching October 21 op-ed in The Washington Post. Titled 鈥溾, the piece claimed the country has become an 鈥渁ll-out, no-more-elections dictatorship鈥.
Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) has dropped its legal challenge to the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA) enterprise agreement in Victoria's Supreme Court. This enables the agreement to be put to CFA employees for a vote.
However, this is unlikely to be the end of the dispute. VFBV is likely to try other means of blocking the agreement.
Celebrations of multiculturalism happened in 26 cities and rural locations across Australia on October 22 as part of Welcome to Australia events organised under the theme of 鈥淲alking together to welcome refugees鈥.
In Sydney, helium balloons, musical performances, bright red shirts and smiles gave it a carnival like atmosphere. For some it would have been their first refugee rights event.
Members of the National Union of Workers (NUW) at Caltex鈥檚 site in Lytton, Queensland voted to start indefinite industrial action on October 25.
NUW members decided to take indefinite action following attempts by the company to effectively cut workers鈥 wages by 15%. They had been pursuing a modest annual increase in line with the Consumer Price Index, to protect their current conditions.
Rallies against the systemic violence against Aboriginal people were held in Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane on October 22.
The call to action was specifically protesting the murders in custody of Wayne 鈥淔ella鈥 Morrison and Miss Dhu, the shooting of Dennis Doolan and the abuse and torture of Dylan Voller in Don Dale prison.
The Rank and File Team has re-won the leadership of the NSW Public Service Association.
Stewart Little, an advocate for the Police Association and part-time disability support worker defeated Anne Gardiner who had been elected general secretary in 2012 on the Progressive PSA ticket.
Gardiner abandoned the Progressives caucus shortly after her election and during her tenure focused on internal union reforms and favoured small target and multimedia campaigns around jobs and defending public services.
Canadian author, journalist and activist Naomi Klein has been selected as the recipient of the 2016 Sydney Peace Prize for, as the Sydney Peace Prize Jury put it, 鈥渆xposing the structural causes and responsibility for the climate crisis, for inspiring us to stand up locally, nationally and internationally to promote a new agenda for sharing the planet that respects human rights and equality, and for reminding us of the power of authentic democracy to achieve transformative change and justice.鈥
A new report has found that methane leakage and fugitive emissions from unconventional gas fields are likely to be much higher than industry estimates, largely because it is neither accounting for nor reporting on them.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of an assault to recapture Mosul, the most important Iraqi city held by ISIS, on October 16.
The assault is spearheaded by the Iraqi army and the peshmerga, the armed forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. It also includes the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU), an umbrella group of militia groups loyal to the Iraqi government and based in Iraq鈥檚 Shi鈥檃 Arab communities, and some other Iraqi militias.
The Federal Court has overturned the federal government鈥檚 decision to allow a $180 million deep sea port on Melville Island near Darwin without an environmental assessment.
Approval of the Port Melville oil and gas marine supply base on the banks of the near pristine Apsley Strait was reversed on October 21 after legal action by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) on behalf of Environment Centre NT (ECNT).
The decision means the operation of the base at Port Melville now has no Commonwealth approval and all operations must cease. 聽
Anti-WestConnex tollway protesters picketed along the street in Salisbury Road, Newtown, on October 28, in opposition to attempts to carry out a test drill at the site. The drilling is part of the geological survey work required for possible future tunnelling under the nearby Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH).