A report released last month by Oxfam revealed that Australia's big four banks have invested in land grabs that have dispossessed local land owners across the world.
The report, Banking on Shaky Ground, explains that large-scale land acquisitions have risen due to the rise in global food prices since 2008. Companies are eager to acquire more land to grow food in order to benefit from rising prices on the global food markets.
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The federal Commission of Audit's proposal to cut the minimum wage would create an underclass of US-style "working poor" in this country, the Australian Council of Trade Unions says.
: "The plan to aggressively drive down the minimum wage would see its real value fall to its 1998 level of $12 an hour.鈥
About 10,000 workers walked off building sites in Brisbane on May 5 and rallied outside Parliament House. They were protesting against the Campbell Newman government鈥檚 changes to industrial legislation affecting workplace health and safety.
They also called for the return of the Labour day public holiday to May. The Monday after May 1 had previously been a public holiday celebrating workers' rights, but one of Newman鈥檚 first acts after being elected was to move the holiday to October.
It is utterly galling to hear the leader of the federal Labor opposition criticising the government for proposing a 鈥渘ew tax鈥 in the form of a modest and temporary 鈥渄eficit levy鈥 on taxpayers in the highest income bracket.
鈥淭ony Abbott, Australians do not want your tax increases full stop,鈥 at a May 7 press conference.
This was a speech given to a Refugee Action Coalition forum in Sydney on May 5.
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I am in Year 11 at a school in Sydney鈥檚 inner-west, and like many other high school students, I care about refugee and queer rights, as well as for the rights of women, the rights of Aboriginal Australians and the environment. I am also an activist for all of these things.
From what I've seen, many students support refugee rights and I've found few people my age who oppose them. But I've got into many stupid arguments about refugees with older people.
Well, here we are at the halfway mark. It鈥檚 been about eight weeks since Alcoa announced it was shutting up shop in Geelong and there鈥檚 a little over eight weeks before workers are tossed out the gate for good.
But where are the announcements from the state and federal governments or Alcoa about how they will address the economic black hole and job losses in Geelong?
A three-day photo exhibition at Fremantle's Victoria Hall brought the human rights crisis gripping Sri Lanka to a wider audience.
"Sri Lankan Genocide 2009" exhibits images taken by various photographers documenting the months before and after the massacre of more than 40,000 Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan Army in May 2009.
A racist rant by billionaire Donald Sterling, owner of professional basketball team the Los Angeles Clippers, was broadcast on national TV last month, sparking widespread discussion lasting weeks.
Sterling's views eclipsed another racist rant that got national attention just before that by Nevada rancher, Cliven Bundy.
For years, Bundy has grazed his cattle on land in Nevada owned by the federal government. Normally, the government charges a modest fee for such practices. But Bundy, who holds far right views, has not paid that fee for years as he does not recognise the government.
"Understanding the history of the CPA [Communist Party of Australia], and labour history more generally, is vital for activists here and now who want to change the world,鈥 Sarah Gregson, labour historian and unionist from the University of NSW, told a book launch at the Resistance Centre on May 6.
鈥淲e generally face similar issues now as then.鈥
Front Line Action on Coal released this statement on May 10.
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Fifteen protesters from the Maules Creek coalmine blockade have taken their campaign to the other end of the coal chain, stopping a coal train in Newcastle on May 10.
Protesters approached the stopped train as it entered the Kooragang Island coal terminals from where Whitehaven Coal intend to ship coal mined at Maules Creek.
A protester suspended herself from the railway bridge, blocking access for the train.
It is amazing, really, what with money being so tight these days, that there are people who seem to think we should be entitled to access a government minister for free!
It is a wonder anyone is upset that Treasurer Joe Hockey has been revealed to businesses when he has made it perfectly clear time and time again: the age of entitlement is over!
Large numbers of police officers are expected to try to break up a blockade site in Bentley, near Lismore, where the community is opposing gas drilling by Metgasco in NSW's Northern Rivers. It is possible police will begin to move protesters as early as May 19.
Hundreds of people are camping at the site to prevent trucks carrying drilling equipment from gaining access to the site. They warn that up to 7000 people will gather to defend the campsite from police.
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