Latest Statements, News, and Analysis

An exclusion zone will not stop anti-abortion harassment

Saturday, August 22 was an important day at East Melbourne’s Fertility Control Clinic (FCC), for staff and defenders alike. This was the 10th anniversary of the clinic defence — it is a decade since grassroots

CPSU organising and industrial action: Government is taking notice, but the battle far from over

Contingents from a host of unions turned out to cheer CPSU members who stopped work on 25 June. It is an exciting time to be a unionist in the Australian Public Service (APS) with lots

One Hundred Years of Australian Imperialism: Remember the ANZACs by Defeating the Warmongers

In 1775, English writer, Samuel Johnson, remarked, “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” As the century of Gallipoli approaches, the scoundrels are out in force, peddling narratives of bravery and heroism in order

Melbourne, Australia — a report from the streets: Huge rally confronts fascists and explodes the myth of police neutrality

By 7.00 am on Saturday, July 18, the Melbourne precinct surrounding Victoria’s Parliament House was under police occupation. Cops were everywhere. Streets were blocked off, trams and traffic diverted and the major road in front

“Talking Back”: dynamic anthology by activists of colour

A new anthology, Talking Back: Voices of Color (Red Letter Press, 2015), presents an unusually diverse group of writers speaking out on issues that affect communities of colour. Contributors share tales of survival, explore little-known

The battle for Redfern: ISJA stands firm against campaign of police harassment

There’s a new park in the inner Sydney suburb of Waterloo. It’s the park adjacent to the fence line where Aboriginal teenager, TJ Hickey, was impaled in 2004. After a long struggle, the movement named

Stamp out fascism before it grows!

On April 4, a group calling itself “Reclaim Australia” is planning rallies across Australia “to stop halal, sharia law and Islamisation.” In Melbourne, a Rally against Racism is being organised by socialist, anarchist and Aboriginal

Refugee resistance links struggles and inspires solidarity

Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island is known as “the Guantanamo Bay of the Pacific.” It is one of two remote places where Australia sends boatloads of people seeking refuge here. The other is Nauru, a

Union movement fires up as Coalition inquiry lays groundwork for assault on working conditions

Fifty thousand unionists and supporters brought Central Melbourne to a standstill on 4 March, when Fight 4 Our Rights rallies took place in every capital city and many regional centres. Among the sea of union
Martin Place café

Martin Place café deaths reveal the link between domestic violence and attacks on civil liberties

There is not much clear about the kidnapping of the customers and staff at the Lindt cafe in Sydney’s Martin Place in December. We know that a person with a long history of domestic violence,

No Pride in police abuse: Twenty years since the Tasty Raids has anything changed?

The sole image captured from the 1994 police raid on Tasty night club. The theme for the 2015 annual Pride March is Celebrating 20 years! This invites a retrospective of LGBTIQ achievements in Australia from

Reproductive Injustice: The criminalising of women’s reproductive rights. Stop the War on Women!

"The reproductive justice framework — the right to have children, not have children, and to parent the children we have in safe and healthy environments — is based on the human right to make personal

Public sector workers prepare for a fight back in 2015

Thousands of CPSU members from across all agencies turned out in Canberra last November to rally against the Abbott government’s attacks on the public service. Last year was a tough one for both public sector

Belgrave Survival Day Committee: Same old censorship from liberal misleaders

Addressing the crowd, Alison Thorne demands police be held to account. January 26th is a contested date in Australia. While efforts have been made to remake the Australia Day public holiday into an occasion that

Free Wafaa Charaf: Jailed champion of Moroccan immigrant workers and the Saharawi struggle

Free Waafa Charaf: this photomontage depicts two views of her in action. Wafaa Charaf is a high-profile Moroccan political prisoner. The growing campaign to free her — which has broad support beyond Moroccan borders, especially

Victorian State Election: Road to Nowhere

Members of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union blockaded a train at Southern Cross Station earlier this year. A campaign that unites organised workers and the community that uses the services they provide can hold

Action! United front needed to stop Golden Dawn

Two leaders of Greece’s fascist party, Golden Dawn (GD), are coming to Melbourne and Sydney in November. GD aims to raise funds and recruit from Australia’s large Greek community (almost half live in Melbourne and

Lex Wotton visit will draw connections and build the movement

This Melbourne speakout, called to demand freedom for Nestora Salgado on the first anniversary of her incarceration, drew connections with other indigenous and working class political prisoners, including Lex Wotton. Palm Island Aboriginal leader, Lex