Issue 1343

News

A protest against Liberal candidate Katherine Deves' views on transgender people听was organised in Manly. Rachel Evans reports.

Demonstrations were held in Sydney and Melbourne听to protest the Turkish military offensive against Kurds in South Kurdistan/Northern Iraq, and more are planned.听Peter Boyle reports.

Refugees recently released from the Park Hotel detention centre organised the 鈥淔irst taste of freedom 鈥 game not over yet鈥 cricket match. Mayura Ashok reports.

Activists blockaded Newcastle Port, the world鈥檚 biggest coal port, on April 24. Niko Leka reports.

Socialist Alliance candidate听Renee Lees听says听Matt Canavan only speaks for the coal barons, not regional Queensland. Kerry Smith reports.

Activists involved in听Melbourne Educators for Social and Environmental Justice are campaigning to get Australian Education Union听members to reject a substandard agreement. Jacob Andrewartha reports.

Disabled people can be paid as little as $2.54 per hour. Shaun Bickley听urges听candidates, companies and others to support equal pay for equal work.

Global military spending rose last year to more than US$2.8 trillion, an average of more than $8.1 billion every day, according to听the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Kerry Smith reports.

The Refugee Action Collective held a rally outside the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) in Broadmeadows听to demand freedom for those inside. Chris Slee reports.

Analysis

Socialist Alliance candidate for Leichhardt听Pat O'Shane discusses some of听the critical issues in this federal election:听housing,听healthcare,听education and First Nations peoples' rights.听

Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan's听鈥渘et zero is dead鈥 campaign should hardly come as听a surprise, argues听Binoy Kampmark.

Sue Bolton,听Socialist Alliance candidate for Wills and a Moreland City Councillor,听argues that听Labor's "small target" election strategy risks helping the right make more gains.

Boat turn-backs don鈥檛 save lives at sea. The real meaning of this barbaric practice has always been听鈥淔uck off and die somewhere else鈥, argues Sam Wainwright.

Since becoming the minister for offence, Peter Dutton has used every opportunity to spruik Australia鈥檚 鈥渘eed鈥 to prepare for war against China. ANZAC Day provided another opening for the hawk. Pip Hinman reports.

Scott Morrison said he鈥檚 鈥渂lessed鈥 to have had two children who are not living with disability. Graham Matthews argues that considering the mess he's听made of the听NDIS, this may just be one of the few honest statements he鈥檚 made.

Socialist Alliance candidate for Sydney and respected public housing, transport, resident action and trade union activist Andrew Chuter talks about听about his practical vision for a socialist future.

While the Solomon Islands is divided on the security deal with China, Australia's major parties听have been shouting from the same song book. Binoy Kampmark reports.听

ANZAC Day has become a parade for amnesia rather than reckoning, a ritual that rejects peace makers and conciliators in favour of the war mongers and undertakers, argues听Binoy Kampmark.

A tidal wave of outrage followed the Solomon Islands and China signing a security deal. Missing in the fury is a recognition that the Solomon Islands is听a sovereign state, argues听William Briggs.

The Australian government鈥檚 labyrinthine callousness and indifference to justice in its treatment of lawyer Bernard Collaery must be slotted in alongside that of another noted Australian being held in the maximum-security facility of Belmarsh, London, writes Binoy Kampmark.

World

The convoy marching through Xochimilco

Indigenous groups and supporters have spent the past month travelling in a convoy to regions where Western corporations are plundering water and resources. Tamara Pearson took part in the convoy.

Ukrainian refugees cross into Poland

Pressured by Western imperialism on one hand and harassed by neighbouring Russian imperialism on the other,听Bruno Magalh茫es examines Poland's history of reaction and revolt.

Swedish journalist Bella Frank听discusses听the debate in Sweden on NATO membership that was听triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Peace

Peace is not just the absence of war; it is real security, writes Jeremy Corbyn.

Catalangate

A New Yorker investigation has exposed that between 2018鈥20, at least 65 leading figures in the Catalan government and independence movement had their mobile phones bugged, reports Dick Nichols.

Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel

Cuba is walking a diplomatic tightrope when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, writes Ian Ellis-Jones.

Al Aqsa mosque under attack

Maureen Clare Murphy听reports that Israeli occupation forces attacked Jerusalem鈥檚 al-Aqsa mosque, wounding more than 150 Palestinians, while it was filled with Ramadan worshippers on one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar.

2022 Durban floods

Patrick Bond and Mary Galvin report on the recent catastrophic floods in Durban,听which have exposed the Cyril Ramaphosa听government鈥檚 criminal negligence and failure to take action on climate change.

Munitions found during bomb disposal in Mykolaiv

While Russia鈥檚 war against Ukraine was a violation of that country鈥檚 sovereignty, US President Joe Biden鈥檚 raising of war crimes charges against Russia is the height of hypocrisy, writes Barry Sheppard.

Partido Lakas ng Masa representative Reihana Mohideen听speaks to 91自拍论坛 about the national elections in the Philippines.

Culture

Protest albums from April 2022

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

Film director Diana Paez

Pedro Alvarez reviews Nuestras Voces, a new documentary film about Spanish-speaking migrants who arrived in Victoria in the 1960s and 70s.

Protester holds a picture of Jimmy Savile and Margaret Thatcher

Netflix documentary Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story attempts to explain how TV celebrity Jimmy Savile's ties to the British ruling class enabled him to get away with sexual abuse for decades, writes Alex Salmon.

'Addressing Unfinished Business' film by Amanda King

A听successful Dare to Struggle Film Festival (DTSFF) was held in Sydney on April 22鈥23,听featuring more than 50 films on a variety of campaigns, reports Jim McIlroy.