More than 300 concerned citizens took part in a peaceful people鈥檚 picket on August 19 at Tasmania鈥檚 parliament house to protest against a bill that would ban the right to protest.
The Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Bill, introduced by the state Liberal government, passed Tasmania鈥檚 lower house in June. It is due to be debated in the upper house in late October. The bill makes it an offence to hold a protest that prevents business activity. Protesters can be given on-the-spot fines of $2000. Three-month mandatory jail sentences will apply for second offences.
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鈥淗yperactivity around security legislation is unprecedented,鈥 Professor Jude McCulloch told a public forum in Melbourne on August 21.
"Between 2001 and 2007 when Howard was defeated, the parliament passed 44 anti-terror laws 鈥 one every seven weeks.
鈥淢any legal experts have withdrawn from talking about this because of the difficulty of remaining an expert in this field. The basis of these laws is the politics of fear. The neoliberal government has nothing to offer on education, welfare and health. If a problem can be militarised, it will be militarised."
Progressive activists are concerned about reported unprincipled deal-making in the upcoming elections for the new University of Sydney Student Representative Council.
The Sydney University student newspaper Honi Soit reported the Socialist Alternative Sydney University club had decided to support the ALP presidential candidate over the activist Grassroots presidential candidate in the upcoming elections.
鈥淗ands up! Don't shoot!鈥
This slogan was taken up by community protesters right after the murder of 18-year-old African American Michael Brown by police in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9.
Brown had his hands up in surrender and shouted 鈥淒on鈥檛 Shoot!鈥 when a white cop shot the unarmed teen six times.
His body was left lying on the ground for four hours before the police had it picked it up. This callousness further angered the Black community, who make up about 70% of the small town.
In New York, "Peoples Power Assemblies" and their allies called an emergency anti-police brutality demonstration on August 18. It came amid ongoing national protests against the police killing of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, and the police killing of Black man Eric Garner in New York on July 17.
Demonstrators march demanding an end to police violence and the racial profiling. The photos below are by photo journalist Edward Leavy. You can see more of his photos .
Independent media organisation to the United Nations on August 21.
***
August 21, 2014
Dr. Ivan 艩imonovi膰
760 United Nations Plaza,
New York, New York 10017,
Ebola victims women
United States
Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, United Nations
Dear Dr. 艩imonovi膰,
The Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoplke's of Our America (ALBA) released a statement on August 19 expressing its solidarity with the African descent communities of Missouri and with the familiy of Michael Brown, the unarmed teenager shot dead by police on August 9.
ALBA is an anti-imperialist political and economic bloc formed by Venezuela and Cuba in 2004 that now also includes Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, St Vince and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and Saint Lucia.
MC Dukebox says he named his debut album "Big Kitty Life" because he was sick of seeing government funds misspent. "It's referring to a big kitty of funding that everyone's lining up for with a different excuse for why they deserve the money and how they're going to benefit their surrounding communities," says the Indigenous rapper, who hails from Inverell in north-west NSW.
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