The following appeal by Ali B. Humayun, who has been detained in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney for more than a year, was sent to Community Action Against Homophobia. It has been abridged for publication.
708
聯The Australian people now know less than they would have historically about what is happening in their society聰, Chris Warren, secretary of the journalists聮 union, told the April 26 Australian, following the release by the union of a report detailing how press freedom is becoming increasingly strained as a result of Washington and Canberra聮s 聯war on terror聰.
鈥淲hat we are now seeing is a clear choice for voters at the next election鈥, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president Sharan Burrow said on April 17, referring to the industrial relations policy that Labor leader Kevin Rudd received support for at the party鈥檚 national conference at the end of April. A slight choice may be a more accurate description.
Carbon rationing
David Spratt (Write On, GLW #707) assumes there will be no "overnight revolutionary end to the market" and argues, "Carbon rationing works by an authority independent of government setting an annual carbon emissions budget for the
Christmas Island, 2800 kilometres north-west of Perth, 2500 kilometres from Darwin and 500 kilometres from Singapore, is one of Australia鈥檚 most remote Indian Ocean territories. It is where many asylum seekers first make their refugee claims. But since the 2001 arrival of the Tampa and the island鈥檚 excision from Australia鈥檚 migration zone, the island has been pivotal to the Howard government鈥檚 heartless response to asylum seekers.
The left-wing rebellion sweeping Latin America is one of the most significant events in politics today. It is a blow to US imperialism, which has dominated the region for so long, and it is an inspiring example to the rest of the world. Venezuelans, in particular, are openly debating the question of socialism and they are carrying out the first revolution of the 21st century.
聯Thousands of Venezuelan workers took control of foreign-owned oil fields yesterday as Hugo Chavez stepped up his battle with Washington in a new wave of nationalisation and an announcement that the country was leaving the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund [IMF]聰, reported the British Guardian on May 2.
This year鈥檚 proposed US spending on the Iraq war is larger than the military budgets of China and Russia combined. The combined spending requests would push the total for Iraq to US$564 billion, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Greedy property developers and corrupt government officials have forcibly driven tens of thousands of people across China from their homes. Most of these homeowners weren聮t in a position to resist the developers聮 strong-arm tactics.
On April 24, the Locals for Esperance Development (LED) residents' group told the WA south coast town鈥檚 local council they wanted a complete ban on the shipment through Esperance of lead for nickel to be transported in closed containers, and community consultation about further transportation of heavy metals through the port.
Some 53 million light bulbs in more than 5 million homes have been replaced with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs, according to an April 21 Bolivarian News Agency report. This marks the successful completion of the first stage of Mission Energy Revolution, a social mission inaugurated by Venezuela聮s government in November. As well the free replacement of energy inefficient bulbs with environmentally friendly ones, the mission aims to help develop the use of alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power.
On May 2, 200 students and staff rallied at the Carseldine campus of the Queensland University of Technology to demand that vice-chancellor Peter Coaldrake聮s foreshadowed closure of the QUT humanities and human services school be withdrawn.
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