On August 17, activists organising the September 5 national student walkout against US President George Bush聮s visit to Sydney launched a 聯Stop Bush Bag聰 containing items to help publicise the student strike.
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In a new initiative for a political party in Australia, the Socialist Alliance is using the web to open up the organisation of its federal election campaign. Mainstream parties have generated a lot of media attention with their self-promotion on YouTube, MySpace and Facebook, but the alliance is enabling open access to the way its campaign is run.
聯Thousands of government supporters converged on Venezuela聮s National Assembly, carrying banners reading 聭Yes to the reform, on the path to 21st Century Socialism聮聰, the BBC聮s website reported on August 16, as Venezuela聮s President Hugo Chavez announced proposed constitutional reforms to provide a legal framework for the increasingly radical direction of the revolutionary process led by his government. This process aims to create a system of popular power and socialism.
On August 15, 150 of Western Australia聮s lowest-paid workers took strike action and rallied in a campaign to win better wages. Staff at the Royal Perth Hospital, including orderlies and kitchen staff, are seeking a $3 increase to their $16 hourly wage.
鈥淎ustralia has failed to implement the human right to adequate housing鈥, concluded a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council addressing adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living.
Around 50 activists gathered on August 11 in the Maritime Union of Australia offices to nominate Socialist Alliance Senate candidates in WA and plan campaigns.
On August 14, Alex Salmond, Scotland鈥檚 first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), revealed his minority government鈥檚 plans for a referendum on Scottish independence.
Three years on from the passage of the federal ban on same-sex marriage, people have not given up on fighting back. Around 3000 people protested nationwide during an August 12 national day of action calling for same-sex marriage rights, civil unions and adoption rights.
The August 8 announcement of the Reserve Bank board鈥檚 decision to raise official interest rates by a further 0.25% focused renewed media attention on the non-affordability of housing. The interest rate rise 鈥 the fifth since the 2004 election and the ninth since 2002 鈥 increased mortgage repayments for home owners with average mortgages by $50 a week, placing extra pressure on already stretched budgets.
聯The only way this war will end is if we end it聰 聴 this was the central point of a talk by Matt Howard to an audience of around 100 people at the University of Sydney on August 14. Howard, a former soldier and a member of the US-based group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), was in Sydney as part of a national speaking tour.
The Howard government聮s legislation for its 聯emergency聰 military-police intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory was rushed through the House of Representatives on August 7. MHRs were given less than 24 hours to read the 500-odd pages of legislation before being asked to vote on it.
East Timor: Beyond Independence
Edited by Damien Kingsbury and Michael Leach
Monash University Press, 2007
302pages, $36.95
Edited by Damien Kingsbury and Michael Leach
Monash University Press, 2007
302pages, $36.95
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