This statement was released by the Socialist Alliance on August 16.
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Kevin Rudd says he is now in favour of equal marriage rights, but Labor鈥檚 policy allows its politicians a "conscience vote". This is simply unacceptable, and lets homophobic MPs off the hook.
Why does Labor have a "conscience vote" on equal marriage? It doesn't have a conscience vote on other issues, such as sending asylum seekers to PNG or cutting sole-parent pensions 鈥 even though Labor's policies on these issues violate the conscience of any decent human being.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on August 16 that he would withdraw the country's ambassador from Egypt because of the conflict there and confrontations between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the defacto government, which has seen over 700 people killed. "We have witnessed a blood bath in Egypt." Maduro said. "We warned that the coup against Morsi was unconstitutional ... the responsible party for what is occuring in Egypt is the empire." He said: "The United States doesn't have friends, it has interests, and what it wants is to control the planet".
The Queensland government has approved a $6.4 billion coalmine to be owned by Clive Palmer.
The huge mining project, located in the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, is expected to produce about 40 million tonnes of coal a year for 30 years, much of which will be shipped to booming industrial centres in China.
On top of that, hundreds of kilometres of railway will be laid to the Abbot Point coal terminal near Bowen, one of the many ports along the Queensland coast that is used to ship coal overseas.
The Victorian Blind Workers鈥 Union and United Voice Queensland are battling to save the jobs of 73 vision-impaired workers employed by Vision Australia Enterprises in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.
There are approximately 60,000 public and community housing tenants in NSW and about 85% of them are receiving welfare benefits.
Several non-government organisations (NGOs) such as Mission Australia are now providing clothing, food, job training and housing to welfare recipients.
As more and more public housing gets transferred into the hands of NGOs as part of a push for privatisation, many of the organisations who were traditionally advocating for the poor have now become their landlords. These organisations receive a large part of their clients鈥 income through their rent assistance.
About 40 people gathered at Reg Hillier House in Darwin鈥檚 rural area on August 15 to discuss threats posed by petroleum companies wanting to explore for oil and gas.
Applications for exploration under the Petroleum Act, which could include oil or gas, have reached the outer rural areas including the entire Cox Peninsula, parts of Humpty Doo and Howard Springs, the Dundee area and Litchfield National Park. Exploration may involve using the controversial method of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (鈥渇racking鈥) if shale gas is found.
Locked-out Yallourn power station workers were joined by hundreds of people at a rally outside the offices of their employer, Energy Australia, in Melbourne on August 16.
The company, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based China Light and Power, locked out all 75 shift operators, members of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU), on June 21.
The workers had been limiting power output as part of a campaign of protected industrial action in pursuit of a new enterprise agreement.
We recently suffered the very sad loss of Mick Goldstein. Goldstein was a stalwart of Jews Against the Occupation (JAO), who campaign for the rights of Palestinians. Like Bernie Rosen, whom we lost earlier this year, Goldstein was in the proud Jewish tradition of the international socialist left.
The mass participation of Jewish people on the left was largely decimated by the Nazi Holocaust, and lamentably, it has been overtaken by a reactionary Zionism which has now come to dominate Jewish communities around the world. But activists like Goldstein reminded us of what once was.
This statement was released by the Socialist Alliance on August 16.
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The Socialist Alliance demands a total ban on fracking. The method of hydraulic fracturing 鈥 or fracking 鈥 to extract gas from coal seams involves pumping out large quantities of water that can release salt and toxic chemicals into groundwater.
Coal seam gas (CSG) wells have been found to leak methane, which is a major greenhouse gas and has a far higher global warming effect than carbon dioxide.
The Socialist Alliance is using the federal election to popularise the idea that we need bring mines, banks and power companies into democratic public ownership. Here are five reasons why this is a good idea.
1. Wealth distribution
The richest 20% in Australia own more than the rest combined. Mining company profits rose 540% between 2000 and 2009, while the share they paid as tax or royalties dropped from 40% to 14%.
About 160 people attended the Sydney premiere of on August 9, also known as Nagasaki Day.
This new documentary by Atsushi Funahashi explores the lives of refugees from Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Sam Wainwright is a Fremantle city councillor and the Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Fremantle. Being passionate about sustainable transport he is active in the local Bicycle Users Group and the Fremantle Road 2 Rail campaign.
Wainwright worked on the waterfront for 12 years during which time he edited the MUA WA journal Rank & File Voice. He now works as a disability support worker and is a member of the Australian Services Union.
Wainwright told 91自拍论坛 Weekly why he decided to run as a candidate for the Socialist Alliance.
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