Socialist Alliance candidate for Fremantle, Sam Wainwright introduces the Socialist Alliance campaign to a packed out candidates forum organised by GetUp.
969
The statement below was released by the Socialist Alliance on June 5.
***
Liah Lazarou has been pre-selected by the Socialist Alliance to run for the seat of Adelaide in the federal election in September.
Lazarou is a communications student and a committed grassroots activist. She has been involved in organising workers, students and young people as a member of the Socialist Alliance since 2006.
During this year alone, an estimated 128 people have drowned or vanished trying to seek asylum in Australia. By June 14, up to seven asylum boats trying to reach Christmas Island had foundered, sunk or been stranded.
This includes the boat that sank in Indonesia鈥檚 Sunda Strait in April, when Australian authorities failed to give accurate coordinates of the foundering vessel to Indonesian search and rescue. Up to 58 people drowned, 53 of whom were never retrieved.
Information revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden about the PRISM spy program 鈥 which used data from giant internet companies, such as Google and Facebook, to carry out mass surveillance of people outside the US 鈥 has provided new evidence about the warrantless spying on civilians by the US government.
Although a government spying on civilians is hardly new and will not come as a surprise to many people, what is concerning about this case is the size and number of companies involved and the apparent ease with which this data was obtained.
A two-day seminar, "Organising for 21st century socialism", drew 150 people from around Australia to Sydney over June 8-9.
The seminar hosted US author and socialist activist Paul Le Blanc. Le Blanc is the author of Lenin and the Revolutionary Party and A Short History of the US Working Class, and spoke at the conference on the topic 鈥淟essons from Lenin for 21st century socialism鈥. The talk prompted constructive debate about how to organise a socialist party in Australia today.
The Refugee Action Coalition held a public forum on June 3 titled: 鈥淏ridging Visas, Community Detention: what rights do asylum seekers in the community have?鈥
About 12,000 asylum seekers who have arrived since August 13 last year are living in the community on 鈥渂ridging visas鈥. August 13 was when the government introduced the 鈥渘o advantage鈥 policy and ceased processing refugee applications.
Refugees on bridging visas receive less than the paltry Newstart allowance with little support. They could be sent to detention on Nauru or Manus Island at any time.
The September election is approaching and the needs the financial help of members and supporters to run an effective election campaign.
This is even more essential this federal election since the two big parties have made it harder for socialists and progressive, single-issue parties to stand, by doubling the fees required for candidates to nominate.
World Refugee Day comes amid reports of more deaths at sea, forced deportations to torture and execution, malaria in the offshore camps in Nauru and Manus Island, suicide in detention, babies imprisoned as security threats and revelations of refugees on bridging visas without food, housing or work rights.
A competition in cruelty
Australian foreign Minister Bob Carr finally acknowledged the US grand jury investigation into WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange on June 5.
This investigation will decide whether Assange should be prosecuted for his role in releasing confidential documents through WikiLeaks.
Despite the risk to Assange, Carr told a Senate budget estimates committee that the Australian government will not be seeking information from the US government about the grand jury, because 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 affect Australian interests鈥.
It feels like the sewers have burst, spilling a stinking mess of racism, homophobia and misogyny all over the public debate in Australia. Aboriginal football stars and a female prime minister have been among the noted victims of hateful abuse and insult.
It has shocked some people. Where did this come from? What does this say about 21st century Australia?
About 250 people, mainly from the Turkish and Kurdish communities, held a protest in Melbourne鈥檚 Federation Square on June 10 in solidarity with protesters in Taksim Square and Gezi Park, Istanbul, who have come under intense repression from the Turkish state.
The rally was organised by the Melbourne Taksim Platform, a coalition consisting of the Anatolian Cultural Centre, the Australian Alevi Council and the Australian Turkish Cultural Association. The rally was also supported by the Kurdish Association of Victoria.
In the latest bid to convince desperate people not to seek safety in our country, the federal government is running an ad campaign on primetime Afghan TV directed at members of the persecuted Hazara ethnic minority.
- Previous page
- Page 3
- Next page