What happened to the lunar right’s hostility to homophobia?
In the aftermath of last year’s Orlando, Florida, shooting, when 49 patrons of the gay night club Pulse were gunned down, some of the LGBTI community’s most vocal “defenders” came from the hard right. Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine linked the attack to her horror at watching vide...CONTINUE READING
You can't 'respectfully' deny people their rights
“I deplore disrespectful, abusive language, whether it is directed at young gay people or religious people.” So declared that sensitive soul Malcolm Turnbull in response to concerns raised about his farcical marriage equality postal survey. Presumably, he has been too busy managing his pro...CONTINUE READING
‘We can all stand proud in the world’: interview with Rohingya activist Shawfikul Islam
It’s a chilly Thursday morning in Melbourne, and more than 100 Rohingyas and their supporters are protesting in the so-called Paris End of Collins Street. Our aim is to highlight the rapidly escalating genocide of Rohingyas in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Across the street, the cloudy protest...CONTINUE READING
Welcome to the right side of history
“Welcome to the right side of history!” bellowed Tim Blackman, just one of the many impassioned speakers at the historic rally for marriage equality on 10 September in Sydney. The declaration was met with deafening applause and cheers from the 50,000-strong crowd, the largest protest for L...CONTINUE READING
Fascists flail in Melbourne race hate trial
It was 10.15 on Monday morning, and the true believers of Australia’s “patriot movement” weren’t happy. United Patriots Front (UPF) leader Blair Cottrell, along with Chris Shortis and Neil Erikson, were in court contesting various charges arising from a stunt outside a Bendigo Council buil...CONTINUE READING
Morrison’s ‘economics of opportunity’ is a sham
We have been regaled of late with news of “better days ahead” finally arriving. Business confidence – a gauge of how business owners and purchasing managers feel this week or this month – is up. Jobs growth is strong. There are high expectations for non-mining capital investment, which has...CONTINUE READING
Australian politicians back Trump’s unhinged nuclear threats
We are facing the greatest threat of nuclear war since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis: a nuclear war that would make the terrible destruction the US wreaked on the defenceless populations of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem like a kindergarten affair. What is the response...CONTINUE READING
Socialism for the rich
The Liberals love to say that they’re the party of private enterprise and that free markets must rule. In the name of capitalist efficiency and consumer choice, essential infrastructure has been sold off to private owners over the last decades. And a range of businesses now provide basic i...CONTINUE READING
Hundreds attend Sydney Socialism conference
Socialist Alternative’s Socialism conference, held at the University of Sydney over the weekend 18-20 August, attracted more than 500 participants. In the wake of the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the toppling of Confederate statues and sizeable anti-fascist mob...CONTINUE READING