Issue 1332

News

Members of the United Workers Union employed across six essential workplace sites in New South Wales and Victoria are on strike,听reports听Jim McIlroy.

Several candidates running in the February 12 byelection for the former Liberal premier Gladys Berejiklian鈥檚 seat of Willoughby are听outspoken opponents of the tollway tunnel projects. Peter Boyle reports.

The Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) discussed the 鈥淕od鈥 powers of the immigration minister, so named because of their unlimited nature. Chris Slee reports.

Nurses and midwives across Western Sydney are protesting the lack of staff which leads to extreme strain and unsafe work conditions. Viv Miley reports.

The Maritime Union of Australia is fighting听Patrick Terminals'听attempt to cut maritime workers' pay by 50%. Jim McIlroy reports.

Socialist Alliance candidate Sue Bull says the federal government听hand-out to aged care workers won鈥檛 solve the听mounting pandemic death toll among the aged.听Sarah Hathway reports.

Kuku Yalanji woman Pat O'Shane has criticised听the federal government's听Great Barrier Reef funding election听promise,听reports听Alex Bainbridge.

Analysis

We do not need to become scientists to understand that some human behaviour is killing the only precious thing we need 鈥 a functioning planet, writes Pat O'Shane.

Grace Tamesignalled听that women are not happy with the system,听bravely听pulling听off her widely acclaimed, and听criticised, protest. Markela Panegyres argues women have a lot to be angry about.听

More than half of the population of Afghanistan is facing starvation since the US-led occupation forces withdrew last August. Pip Hinman comments on the ongoing crisis.

Since the pandemic began听a new billionaire has been created every 26 hours, according to听Oxfam. Jessie de Waal reports.

PM Scott Morrison said Australia would achieve net zero by 2050 鈥榯he Australian way鈥. It is听pure spin, argues Petrina Harley.

NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge spoke to Suzanne Jenkins听about the Greens push for a second Senator in South Australia, NSW and Queensland.

There was no altruism in the speed in which听pharmaceutical companies developed successful vaccines. The very future of capitalism relied on science鈥檚 ability to keep the wheels turning, argues William Briggs.

Former听sex discrimination commissioner Pru Goward claims that Grace Tame represents a failed generational baton-change for the women鈥檚 movement.听She鈥檚 dead wrong, argues Pip Hinman.

The concerning number of new buildings with defects in Sydney is a result of the privatisation of the building certification process, developer greed and the neoliberal approach to planning in New South Wales, writes Ben Radford.

World

Apartheid wall in occupied Palestine

The Israeli state is pulling out all stops to delegitimise international organisations that dare use the term "apartheid" to describe its decades-long brutal occupation of Palestine, writes Vijay Prashad.

Journalists cameras

Kurdish journalists continue to be killed or jailed simply for reporting the news, reports Steve Sweeney.

Canada far right Freedom Convoy 2022

A mass mobilisation of far-right forces across Canada took place at the end of January and early February, reports Jeff Shantz, as thousands descended on Ottawa to culminate the 鈥淔reedom Convoy 2022鈥.

Women fighters from the SDF at al-Sina鈥檃 prison in Hesek锚. Photo: YPJ Rojava/Twitter

The recent Islamic State (ISIS) attack on the al-Sina鈥檃 prison in Hesek锚, northeast Syria, made headlines around the world, reports Peter Boyle.听

Gustavo Petro addresses supporters in Santander, Colombia.

In Colombia, former guerrilla Gustavo Petro leads in the presidential polls. Petro is the lead candidate for a coalition of left political parties called Pacto Historico (Historic Pact), reports Ben Gilvar-Parke.

Mental health

A new report exposes the drug trials and other medical experiments conducted without consent and with the backing of United States government intelligence agencies, reports Binoy Kampmark.

Demonstration against military dictatorship in Sudan. Photo: Gwenaelle Lenoir

Since the coup last October, the military have been sweeping away any hope of justice in Sudan, reports Gwena毛lle Lenoir.

Climate Justice puts the people most affected by the crisis at the centre of the solution. Health Justice must do the same, argues Rehad Desai.

Culture

Scottish Socialist Green New Deal

Alex Miller reviews a new booklet from the Scottish Socialist Party that makes the case for a socialist green new deal.听

Girl wearing a mask

Time of Pandemics didn鈥檛 start out as a film about COVID-19, but only months into the project, the global pandemic began, writes Susan Price.

Silent Earth book cover

Silent Earth describes the crisis of declining insect populations, but Ben Courtice writes that it falls short on the solutions required to turn this around.

 Best political albums of January 2022

Mat Ward looks back at January's political news and the best new music that related to it.