We supposedly live in a free country. But do we actually have free speech in Australia?
Obviously, the situation here is completely different to an outright dictatorship. In some countries, there is no right to produce a paper like 麻豆传媒 Weekly, no right to protest, and dissidents are jailed and tortured.
In Australia, we do have some real and important democratic rights. However, there are severe practical limitations on effectively exercising these rights 鈥 that is, exercising them in a way that anyone actually hears what you're saying.
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Wollongong's Students Against War (SAW) collective crashed the university鈥檚 鈥榝ashion week鈥 on May 6 by holding a 鈥榙ie-in鈥 on the catwalk. Two activists entered the fashion parade and revealed bloodied clothes before they collapsed on the end of the catwalk.
SAW co-convenor Ella Ryan said: 鈥楾he idea behind this stunt, aptly named 鈥淒eathly Designs鈥, was to bring attention to Wollongong university's role in helping design military hardware for arms manufacturers as part of the $85 million "Defence Materials Technology Centre".
The crude oil belching out of the floor of the Gulf of Mexico since the explosion on BP鈥檚 Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20 has formed giant plumes beneath the surface of the water.
That鈥檚 the latest nightmarish evidence that the gulf oil catastrophe, among the worst ecological disasters in US history, is much worse than either corporate giant BP or government officials have admitted.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's proposed tax on mining industry super-profits has, to the surprise of no one, attracted a great deal of whining from the mining sector.
Andrew Forrest of Fortescue Metals accused those who supported the tax of engaging in 鈥渃lass warfare鈥 and threatened to sell his mining interests overseas if the tax goes ahead, reported the May 19 Herald Sun. On May 20, he said that he had shelved $17.5 billion in new mining projects as a result of the tax.
Friends of Palestine WA staged Perth鈥檚 premiere production of Caryl Churchill鈥檚 play Seven Jewish Children on May 15. The play attracted a full house of 200 people. Many more were turned away on the night.
The play attracted controversy after the Jewish Community Council鈥檚 attempt to prevent its performance in WA.
Two previous proposed performances at multicultural arts venue Kulcha and at the Hale School were cancelled due to a lobbying campaign by the JCC.
The oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to be far worse than oil rig owner BP has admitted.
Independent analysis carried out for the US National Public Radio (NPR) indicated the company has vastly underestimated the size of the spill. Experts told NPR on May 14 the spill could be 10 times bigger than the company says.
Iranian cleric Dr Mansour Leghaei is being removed from Australia after being resident here for 16 years. Immigration minister Chris Evans has refused to allow Leghaei to stay, following an adverse security assessment by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
Leghaei has committed no crime, incited no hatred and is the father of one of Australia's 鈥渨orking families鈥 鈥 that demographic otherwise loved by the Australian government. As he is not an Australian citizen, he is unable to challenge ASIO's security assessment.
On May 15, German left-wing party Die Linke held its national congress in the eastern city of Rostock, electing a new national leadership and debating its new draft program.
At the conference, charismatic left-wing firebrand Oskar Lafontaine stepped down as the party鈥檚 co-leader for health reasons. Lafontaine, the former head of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and finance minister, quit the SPD in 1999 because of the party鈥檚 neoliberal policies.
Indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin has dismissed the findings of a Menzies School of Health Research report that found 鈥渋ncome management鈥 has failed to improve the health and wellbeing of the people it targets.
Income management was implemented by the then Coalition government in August 2007 on 73 targeted remote Aboriginal communities as part of the Northern Territory intervention.
Under the scheme, 50% of welfare recipients鈥 income is replaced with a Basics Card, which can be used to only buy food, clothing and medical supplies, and only in certain stores.
When voters celebrated the end of the John Howard years, many hoped the Rudd Labor government would usher in a new day of social inclusion, justice and fairness. The 2010/11 budget, delivered by treasurer Wayne Swan on May 11, dashes these hopes and shows the need to build a pro-people alternative to both Howard's Liberals and Rudd's Labor. Before the budget release, the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) urged the government to increase payments to the more than 600,000 Australians currently unemployed.
Ironically, while the left is one of the fiercest critics of biased media coverage, it can also fall in the trap of corporate media distortions, particularly if its coverage dovetails with its own fantasies.
A by Daniel Lopez published on the website of Australian group Socialist Alternative is proof of this.
The article echoes the view of a May 10 article on the BBC website, which has a clear dislike of Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Dirty diesel?
At Orroroo in South Australia, Linc Energy plans to gasify coal in underground seams to produce 鈥渟yngas鈥. Piped to the surface, this will be turned partly into diesel via the Fischer-Tropsch process.
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