It is a well known edict that when a government sets up an inquiry, the desired outcome determines the choice of personnel. Nothing could be truer with the Abbott government’s appointees to its Commission of Audit. The head of the Commission is Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd. The Commission’s secretariat is headed by Peter Crone, the BCA’s chief economist and director of policy, not a public servant. The aim of the audit is to provide the Abbott government with a blueprint for massive spending cuts and redefining the role of government. It is policy development by big business for big business.  more ...

October 30 marks the 93rd anniversary of the formation of the Communist Party of Australia in 1920. In those 93 years the Party participated in and led many great struggles. In that time it endured attacks on it by the ruling powers, including being outlawed during the Second World War and an attempt to ban it by the Menzies government in the 1950s, an attempt thwarted by the combined forces of the trade unions, ALP and communities.  more ...

What has got into Australia’s capitalist class? Billionaires are lining up to donate to universities and other well respected institutions. Is it an attack of conscience after screwing workers and destroying the environment in the course of amassing their personal fortunes? Have they concluded that the privatising neo-liberals have gone too far and that public education (for example) needs a helping hand? It was Andrew (Twiggy) Forrest of Fortescue Metals Group who set tongues wagging recently with his donation of $65 million for postgraduate research at the University of Western Australia (UWA). The consensus on the business pages is that large scale, US-style philanthropy has arrived in Australia and that it is good news for those of us who must wait for crumbs to fall from the tables of the wealthy.  more ...

Dear Comrades, We convey our warmest greetings to the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Australia, wishing all the delegates every success in their deliberations. We also seize this opportunity to express our gratitude for your party’s internationalist solidarity with Iraqi Communists, democrats and people.  more ...

In last week’s Guardian we published several contributions from delegates at the 12th National Congress of the CPA who spoke about their activities and experiences as political activists in the community. This week we publish two more contributions. The first of these is community activist Dean Turner who is a member of the Melbourne Branch:   more ...

Daisy is a member of the Brisbane Branch of the CPA and works as a gardener in that city. She is also an active and committed trade union member. She was one of a number of delegates who took up the question of the environment. The following are extracts from her contribution:   more ...

Next month will mark the centenary of the establishment of the Irish Citizen Army in Dublin.  more ...

Irrespective of intelligence, no machine is capable of morality. So, if you thought drones were bad, you are likely to take an even dimmer view of their successors: “lethal autonomous robotic weapons”. Unlike remote-controlled drones, “killer robots” require no external “live” human input at all, and can be pre-programmed to select and destroy specific targets.  more ...