The following article is abridged from a speech to the February 24 Victorian state conference of the Socialist Alliance by Geelong Trades Hall Council secretary and alliance member Tim Gooden.
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On March 10 and 11, the Sydney Morning Herald ran an expose of 聯white flight聰 from public schools across NSW. Using a previously confidential survey of 163 high school principals in NSW, it described the phenomenon where increasing numbers of white-European parents were removing their children from disadvantaged public schools in regional and remote areas and areas in Sydney聮s south-west and placing them in private schools or in selective state schools in more distant suburbs.
鈥淔ive years after US troops invaded Iraq, there are many tears 鈥 though not everyone is crying鈥, Associated Press reported on March 5 鈥淚t鈥檚 the war that more than a million US soldiers have fought, leaving nearly 4000 dead and more than 29,000 wounded in action. The one in which thousands of contractors rushed in to serve and to make a buck 鈥︹
US Labor Against War 鈥渉as organised large labour contingents at every major anti-Iraq war rally over the past five years鈥, Kathy Black, USLAW co-convener, told a public meeting of 60 people in the CEPU Auditorium in South Brisbane on March 1. The meeting, part of an Australia-wide speaking tour by Black, was organised by the Stop the War Collective and endorsed by the Electrical Trades Union and Rally for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament.
One year has passed since Gunns Ltd pulled their Tamar Valley pulp mill project out of the independent assessment process, claiming the process was taking too long. On March 14 this anniversary was marked by 300 protesters, who met outside Gunns聮 head office in Launceston. The rally was addressed by Dr Warwick Raverty, a scientist who was on the assessment panel for the pulp mill but resigned because of government interference. He encouraged the crowd to keep campaigning against the pulp mill, explaining: 聯It聮s not just a giant pulp mill in the Tamar. It聮s global warming, it聮s climate change, it聮s water shortages, it聮s the giant challenge of developing ways of living that are really sustainable and helping those less fortunate than ourselves.聰
A lively forum reporting on the February 12 Canberra convergence for Indigenous rights drew more than 40 people in Perth and set the agenda for further campaigns.
There are surges at the station
For word has got around
That someone thinks power's fit to privatise
Pyremmia Eyemmia and his mate "Too Mucha" Costa
They're in this plot up to their scheming eyes
@poetry = Pyremmia Eyemmia? Yes 鈥 the man
The demands reflect important struggles facing workers and the community, including the planned sell-off of NSW power and the ongoing campaign to abolish the worst aspects of former prime minister John Howard聮s Work Choices legislation.
In addition to the May 3 march and rally, the committee is organising a photo display in honour of past May Day struggles. It will be launched on May 1 in a local theatre and feature hundreds of photos, leaflets, posters, even an old 聯May Day queen聰 sash, ranging in dates from 1930s to recent years.
Despite a new report by the UN聮s nuclear 聯watchdog聰 agency stating that Iran is in compliance with its legal obligations to the agency under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), the UN Security Council voted on March 3 to punish Iran with a third round of financial sanctions.
Fifty people attended the first public meeting of Cairns Action for Sustainable Transport (CAST), on March 11 at the Serbian Centre in Edge Hill. Attendees engaged in a lively discussion about improving Cairns聮s public transport and bikeways.
A massive environmental disaster in Sidoarjo, Indonesia, has forced 15,000 people to leave their homes in the past two years. An enormous eruption of hot mud that began in May 2006 continues to flow at a rate of 148,000 cubic metres a day. Activists
A February 12-14 聯national bargaining forum聰 of lead negotiators for the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) set a determined course for industrial and political campaigning over the next three years. Key outcomes include an aggressive bargaining strategy and a linked public policy campaign that will be both national and grassroots.
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