World Refugee Day was marked with a loud protest by the Sudanese community and friends on June 20 in Hyde Park, to call for urgent action over the crisis in Darfur that has left more than 400,000 people dead. Eighty people participated in the rally 聴 organised by the Darfur Action Network (DAN) and Caritas International 聴 including leaders of the Sudanese community in Melbourne.
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Twenty people gathered on June 22 in defence of civil liberties and in solidarity with Joanne Ball, who was facing trial. This was the first trial of an activist arrested during February protests against visiting US Vice-President Dick Cheney. By the end of the day, the prosecution鈥檚 case had collapsed and charges were dismissed.
The Queensland Police Union (QPU) has launched a series of radio advertisements that accuse the state Labor government of political interference in the case of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley. A jury returned a verdict of not guilty for Hurley on June 20 in the Townsville Supreme Court. Hurley had been charged with the assault and manslaughter of Mulrunji Doomadgee, a 36-year-old aboriginal man, at the Palm Island police watch-house in November 2004.
Ker-ching! $2.5 million from the Business Council of Australia. Ker-ching! $3 million from the Australian Chamber of Commerce. Ker-ching! $1-2 million from the Minerals Council (they聮ve got a few billion in spare change). Ker-ching! $3 million from the Master Builders (they swear they don聮t swear like those thuggish unionists in the building industry). Ker-ching! $1 million from the National Farmers Federation (聯Sorry John, we聮re still bleeding from the Patricks聮 fiasco and there聮s the drought 聟聰). Ker-ching!
The following is abridged from a speech given by Nathan Fenelon 聴 or 聯Natty Fen聰 聴 to the June 22 聯Justice for Mulrunji聰 rally in Melbourne.
聯Tear up Work Choices! Defend all our rights at work聰 is the title of a new petition being circulated by trade union activists around Australia. The petition calls on the ACTU and state, territory and regional labour councils to immediately call a national day of protest to demand the full repeal of Work Choices and the Workplace Relations Act. It also calls for workers聮 right to take industrial action to be enshrined in Australian law.
Barry Hemsworth, a Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union member and workplace delegate, was sacked unfairly from his job at Botany Cranes in Sydney鈥檚 eastern suburbs in 2006, made possible by the Howard government鈥檚 unfair dismissal laws. July 2 will mark the 300th day that Barry has held vigil outside the gates of his former employer with the support of the union movement.
The Victorian Socialist Alliance held a successful special state conference in Melbourne on June 16. Ninety people attended, with a strong presence from Geelong and Ballarat. The conference also attracted activists from environmental organisations, a range of unions and Latin America solidarity groups.
Jim McIlroy, the Socialist Alliance candidate for the Brisbane seat of Griffith, called on Labor leader Kevin Rudd to condemn the Talisman Sabre war games being held at Shoalwater Bay.
The headline of the June 21 Adelaide Advertiser blared 聯Unfair pay聰 and for once, most fair-minded people had to agree with the paper. The headline was referring to a pay rise for the state聮s already overpaid members of parliament.
Aims to make a killing
"We run an absolute dictatorship and that's what's going to drive this transformation and deliver results. If you can't get the people to go there and you try once and you try twice, then you just shoot them and get them out
On June 17, 400 people marked World Refugee Day by rallying outside the Melbourne Exhibition Building and marching through Fitzroy. The new concentration camp on Christmas Island was a focus for the rally, and protesters called for all detainees on Christmas Island and Nauru, as well as in Australia鈥檚 鈥渙nshore鈥 refugee jails, to be freed, and for temporary visas to be replaced with permanent residency. Speakers included representatives of the West Papuan and Tamil refugee communities.
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