What can we learn from past union revivals?
A newspaper reports that trade unionism in Sydney is “virtually dead”. An “Old Unionist” writes to the Sydney Morning Herald, remarking that “trades unionism at the present time is almost a thing of the past, caused principally by the introduction of machinery”. The story is no better in o...CONTINUE READING
Reckoning is due after Afghanistan endgame
The war in Afghanistan is approaching its end – and no-one in Australia seems to much care. Last week, Washington’s chief negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, announced a framework for peace, based upon a supposed Taliban commitment to prevent terrorist groups using the country as a base. That’s...CONTINUE READING
British Anti-Nazi League: how fascists can be beaten
Spurred on by the rise of Islamophobia, anti-refugee brutality and the victories of Trump and Bolsonaro, neo-Nazis have entered the mainstream in places where it once seemed unthinkable. In Germany, Hungary, Poland, France and Brazil, fascists now hold seats in parliament and use these pos...CONTINUE READING
Remembering Maralinga
Touring art exhibition Black Mist Burnt Country has shone a spotlight on the devastating nuclear weapons tests carried out on Aboriginal land more than 60 years ago. The exhibition, produced by the Burrinja Dandenong Ranges Cultural Centre and now in its third year on tour, documents the t...CONTINUE READING
Ten years on from the global financial crisis, economics remains theology
The global financial crash of 2008 and the period since have created puzzle after puzzle for the mainstream economics that dominates the thinking of central banks and government departments, and the syllabus of university courses. Yet there has been no re-evaluation of the underlying assum...CONTINUE READING
Honouring early Aboriginal resistance
In April 1770, James Cook became the first European to see the east coast of the continent now known as Australia. Claiming the territory for Britain, he declared the land terra nullius, despite it being far from empty. As Cook sailed down the coast, his expedition was observed by the Dhar...CONTINUE READING
The battle for Aboriginal heritage on Perth’s foreshore 30 years on
Thirty years ago this month, Noongar activists set up a protest camp at Gooninup, the site of the derelict Old Swan Brewery on Perth’s foreshore. This marked the beginning of a four-year long struggle to secure recognition of an Aboriginal sacred site. Aboriginal protesters and their suppo...CONTINUE READING
Understanding the political crisis in Britain
The British political establishment is in its biggest crisis for more than a century. The country that has for many decades been a lynchpin of Western political stability, a pillar of Western imperialism, is now the source of instability that threatens to precipitate a broader political cr...CONTINUE READING
Scorched earth: capitalism, climate change and Australia’s bushfire threat
Bushfires have always been part of Australia. Even before the first human settlers arrived around 50,000 years ago, fires sparked by lightning strikes were a feature of the landscape for at least 30 million years. Reflecting this long history, scientists estimate that about 70 percent of A...CONTINUE READING