Will the trials and tribulations of trying to be a decent, hardworking billionaire in this nation ever end?
First, coalmining magnate Clive Palmer told that billionaires 鈥渨ere oppressed鈥 in Australia, and, when asked if he was serious, said: 鈥淵es, I get ridiculed all the time.鈥
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The Socialist Alliance estimated in 2010 that its key policies for social justice and environmental sustainability would cost a minimum of $81-140 billion a year. Any budget devised by a party focused on putting people and the planet before profits would look significantly different to the 鈥渟afe鈥 yet largely austere budget the federal Labor government released last week.
There are two different visions for paid parental leave (PPL) 鈥 one put forward by the federal Labor government and the other by Liberal leader Tony Abbott.
Abbott鈥檚 proposal is seemingly not supported by industry or 91自拍论坛 of the Coalition. It would provide 26 weeks鈥 full salary to mothers earning up to $150,000 a year. Partners could opt to be primary carer if they accept payment according to the mother鈥檚 replacement wage of up to $75,000.
"By keeping, if needed, all Labor's budget cuts and by not implementing any of their budget spending measures unless specified, we will achieve the first duty of every government -- namely, to preserve the nation's finances," said Tony Abbott in his budget reply speech.
This is what is to come under an Abbott government -- a continuation of Labor's cuts and restraint when it comes to spending.
Newcastle Trades Hall Council (NTHC) and Lock The Gate released this statement on May 14.
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The Lock The Gate Alliance looks forward to working with the Newcastle Trades Hall Council, after the peak union body declared it is totally opposed to further coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and drilling in the Hunter Valley.
The motion passed by the Council cites risks to the environment and the community, and concerns for agricultural lands and townships, and supports the NTHC working closely with groups opposing CSG until the unconventional gas mining practice is proven safe.
The other day, I stood outside the strangely silent building where I began life as a journalist. It is no longer the human warren that was Consolidated Press in Sydney, though ghosts still drink at the King's Head pub nearby.
As a cadet reporter, I might have walked on to the set of Lewis Milestone's The Front Page. Men in red braces did shout, "Hold the front page", and tilt back their felt hats and talk rapidly with a roll-your-own attached indefinitely to their lower lip. You could feel the presses rumbling beneath and smell the ink.
About 100 people packed into the Gaelic Club on May 10 for the Politics in the Pub forum: "Venezuela 鈥 A New Democracy or a Command Capitalist State?" Speakers were Latin America鈥檚 Turbulent Transitions co-author Federico Fuentes and Latin American studies post-graduate Rodrigo Acuna.
The speakers rejected the "Command Capitalist State" definition of Venezuela today.
Over the last eight months at least seven political activists around Australia have been approached by federal or state intelligence agents for information about other activists. 91自拍论坛 Weekly spoke to human rights lawyer and researcher Dale Mills who explains what rights activists have 鈥 and what they should do 鈥 if they are approached for information by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) or other political police.
鈥淚鈥檓 in Villawood!鈥 Jock Palfreeman exclaimed, with the cheerful exuberance he displayed throughout an interview conducted through glass and wire-mesh partitions in the gloomy surroundings of the visiting room of Sofia central prison.
He told 91自拍论坛 Weekly that it was the plight of refugees detained in Sydney's Villawood detention centre that first radicalised him. His first protest, as a high school student in Sydney, was a blockade of the offices of Villawood鈥檚 then operator Australasian Correctional Management on May Day in 2002.
"Haiti offers a marvelous opportunity for American investment," reported Financial America聽in 1926. "The run-of-the-mill Haitian is handy, easily directed and gives a hard day's labor for 20 cents, while in Panama the same day's work costs [US]$3."
That may be the most honest portrayal of the offshore industry in Haiti yet.
A meeting was held in Geelong on April 30 for students to discuss and plan action against the continued cuts to public sector education.
University, TAFE and High School students were invited. At this meeting, the Student Action Collective (SAC) was formed and a list of immediate demands, mid-term and long-term goals were developed.
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