Marching against fascists in Berlin
The first marchers reached Siegessäule two hours after leaving Alexanderplatz, six kilometres away. At the same time, the last of the demonstrators were just starting to march. The crowds did not disperse until well into the evening, after a six-hour street concert. You could march with refugee activists chanting anti-nationalist slogans and then jog ten minutes ahead and find Maoists blasting “the Internat...CONTINUE READING
Perth to play host to merchants of death
Perth’s Crown Casino will host the inaugural Western Australian Indo-Pacific Defence Conference this month, featuring guest speakers from two of the world’s biggest weapons manufacturers, state and federal politicians and military researchers. State minister for defence issues Paul Papalia said the conference will provide an opportunity to promote “our capabilities and [harness] the state’s competitive edge...CONTINUE READING
Hanson met with protest in Perth
A “Fish and Chips” meet and greet for One Nation leader Pauline Hanson in the Perth suburb of Innaloo on 13 October was met with a rowdy protest. Protesters chanted “Black, Indigenous, Arab, Asian and white: unite to fight the right!” and “Whose streets? Our streets!” as Hanson supporters arrived for the meeting. A “Honk if you hate Pauline Hanson” sign got an enthusiastic response from passing motorists. N...CONTINUE READING
Work for the dole: punitive, dehumanising and racist
The federal government’s beleaguered Community Development Plan (CDP) has been labelled a “policy disaster” that exacerbates poverty and continues intergenerational trauma. The program, which has been widely criticised for its punitive system of fines and payment cut-offs since its introduction three years ago, overwhelmingly affects Indigenous people in remote areas, who make up about 80 per cent of its pa...CONTINUE READING
Confronting the law and order agenda in Sydney
Australia is becoming increasingly authoritarian. Laws restricting civil liberties and democratic rights have proliferated under the guise of anti-terrorism, public order and combating criminal gangs. Prisons are more populated than ever before despite violent crime rates being at a historic low. And policing is racially biased against Muslims, Indigenous people and certain non-white migrant groups. How do...CONTINUE READING
Doctors expelled from Nauru
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) workers have been forcibly expelled from Nauru for the crime of caring about refugees. Dr Nicole Montana, senior medical officer for Australia’s health contractor IHMS, has also been arrested and ordered to leave the island for “a breach of regional processing rules”. Australian governments, both Liberal and Labor, have criminalised compassion and are persecuting those who res...CONTINUE READING
Young Nationals infiltrated by fascists
The NSW Young Nationals, the youth wing of the National Party, has expelled one member, suspended two others and temporarily halted recruitment after supporters of the far right got one of their own elected to its national executive. The group, the New Guard, identify as fascists and share the name with the Australian Depression era fascist organisation. They are also members of the Lads Society, a fight cl...CONTINUE READING
Democracy campaign overturns young Liberals’ rigged student election
Students at the Queensland University of Technology have overturned a rigged election at the campus. The young Liberals, who have controlled the guild for six years, were returned to office in the student guild unopposed last month after nominations were opened and closed secretly. Young Liberals in Queensland have form. In 2012, Liberal students at the University of Queensland changed election regulations,...CONTINUE READING
Government wants telcos to install spyware on your phone
Security and immigration ministers from the “Five Eyes” security alliance countries – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States – quietly descended upon the Gold Coast for a two-day conference in late August. These conferences are never good news for the majority of people, and they usually conclude with the publishing of wish lists for more invasive state surveillance and rep...CONTINUE READING