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Greens win historic Freo vote

Greens candidate Adele Carles is set to win a historic victory at the May 16 by-election 鈥 the first time the Greens have won a lower house seat in Western Australia. Carles polled 44% of primary votes and 54% of two-party preferred votes at the close of counting on election night.

Stand up to big polluters!

On May 16, 300 people gathered at Sydney Town Hall to demand urgent action on climate change. The rally was addressed by Cate Faehrmann from the Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC), Greens Senator Bob Brown and Simon Sheikh from GetUp!

Hugo Chavez speaks to GLW bureau: 'Socialism will save world'

鈥淪ocialism will save Venezuela; socialism will save the world鈥, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on May 10 during his weekly TV program Alo Presidente.

'No more Black deaths in custody!'

Twenty people protested outside the offices of private prison operator GSL in Perth on May 14. The protest demanded justice for Aboriginal elder Mr Ward, who died due to excessive heat in a prison van operated by GSL. The coronial inquest finished on May 1. Findings are due to be presented on June 12.

Alice town camps resist 'mainstreaming'

In a new lease deal proposed by Aboriginal affairs minister Jenny Macklin in early May, Aboriginal people in Alice Springs town camps could lose control over their housing.

John Pilger on Sri Lanka's brutal war: Distant voices, desperate lives

In the early 1960s, it was the Irish of Derry who would phone late at night, speaking in a single breath, spilling out stories of discrimination and injustice. Who listened to their truth until the violence began?

The end of Reconciliation Victoria

While federal and state governments focus on the need for state-based reconciliation groups to bring better understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, Reconciliation Victoria Incorporated (Rec Vic) will have to close in July due to a lack of funding.

New Zealand: Union wins gains for vulnerable workers

The Unite union is New Zealand鈥檚 newest trade union and one of its most dynamic.

Palestinian cause remembered

Palestinian supporters in Melbourne and Sydney rallied on March 15 to commemorate 61 years since the Palestinian Nakba 鈥 the day of the catastrophe.

Ireland: Visteon workers win deal

On May 3, Visteon workers occupying their west Belfast plant voted to end their 36-day sit-in protest, An Phoblacht said on May 7.

Refusing to wave the flag of war

We Will Not Fight: The Untold Story of World War One聮s Conscientious Objectors
By Will Ellsworth-Jones
Aurum Press, 2008
296 pp, $49.95 (hb)

West Gate Bridge dispute ends

MELBOURNE鈥 A 12-week industrial dispute involving workers on the West Gate Bridge strengthening project ended on May 16. Workers accepted an agreement between the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and construction company John Holland.