Daicy Olaya, a resident of Fairfield for 18 years, explained why she decided to stand as a candidate for Socialist Alliance in the March 26 NSW elections. 鈥淧oliticians from both major parties have failed miserably in representing the interests of migrants and women here in New South Wales,鈥 she said.
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About 6000 people rallied outside PM Julia Gillard鈥檚 Melbourne office on March 12 for an emergency action on climate change. The rally was organised by GetUp!
Publicity for the rally did not explicitly refer to the proposed Labor/Greens carbon price. But at the rally itself, the organisers campaigned for the carbon price plan as the most effective way to deal with climate change.
Many at the rally had concerns with the proposed carbon tax, but mobilised in spite of this to call for urgent climate action.
After months of investigation, the US Army has filed 22 new charges against US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning. The charges include 鈥渁iding the enemy鈥 鈥 a crime punishable by death.
A dozen protesters gathered outside Darwin Magistrates Court on March 8 to call for an end to the detention of asylum seeker children.
The protest was held outside the trial of six teenage asylum seekers, who faced charges with various offences resulting from a scuffle in Darwin immigration detention centre in February.
Richard Davis from the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network told ABC Darwin that the youths should not have been charged.
This year鈥檚 Sydney Mardi Gras gave many people the opportunity to say something about the issues that concern lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and transgendered (LGTBI) people. Most floats in the parade voiced their support for same-sex marriage.
Muslims Against Homophobia, a recently-formed support group for queer Muslims in Sydney, made a groundbreaking appearance in the parade. It said something equally important and urgent: 鈥淨ueer Muslims need acceptance!鈥
Householders and small businesses who were victims of the floods that hit Brisbane in January are considering a legal challenge against insurance companies 鈥渦sing region-wide hydrology reports to deny thousands of flood-related claims鈥, the March 10 Courier Mail said.
Insurers NRMA, CGU and Comminsure have used the reports to claim many policyholders were subject to riverine flooding, which is not covered by most insurance policies, rather than stormwater or flash-flooding.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Iraq on March 4, defying a curfew and repression to demand democracy and economic justice, the March 5 Los Angeles Times said.
Peter Tatchell is an internationally renowned lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, intersex and queer (LGTBIQ) human rights activist based in England. He was one of eight 鈥渉eroes鈥 selected to take part in the lead float of the 2011 Sydney Mardi Gras.
Tatchell spoke to 麻豆传媒 Weekly鈥檚 Rachel Evans, Hannah Wykes and Farida Iqbal about his history of activism and the fight for equal marriage rights.
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When did you get involved in activist politics?
Since 2004, a mass mobilisation of popular support for marriage equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people has gained momentum, and now a possible victory is in sight.
But sadly, marriage equality would not mean an end to homophobia or transphobia in Australia.
Lurking behind Australia鈥檚 marriage ban is an even more sinister injustice clothed in the language of religious tolerance.
In a July 2010 interview with WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange, TED.com鈥檚 Chris Anderson said WikiLeaks had released in just a few years more classified state and military documents than every other media outlet combined.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a worry isn鈥檛 it,鈥 Assange said. 鈥淭hat the rest of the world鈥檚 media is doing such a bad job that a little group of activists is able to reveal more of that sort of information than the rest of the world鈥檚 media.鈥
Federal immigration minister Chris Bowen announced plans for a new 1500-bed detention facility on March 3. It is to be located at Wickham Point, an industrial area 35 kilometres south-east of Darwin.
The March 4 NT News said the Darwin Airport Lodge, which currently houses refugees, would also be expanded by 400 beds.
This would bring Darwin鈥檚 total detention capacity to 2900, making the city the largest detention location on the mainland 鈥 larger even than the notoriously overcrowded Christmas Island facility.
Two activists were arrested on February 20 at a demonstration outside the US Embassy in Tokyo. The activists were taking part in a demonstration against the construction of a United States military base in Okinawa.
The activists were released from custody on March 5. Their supporters are campaigning for the charges against them to be completely dropped.
The demonstrators had received police permission to rally. But on reaching the embassy, protesters were greeted by a wall of police.
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