Communist Party of Australia

Hands off penalty rates! – Workers’ Rights Campaign

PM Tony Abbott and his union-bashing team have promised their employer mates a life without unions in deregulated workplaces where they can drive down wages and conditions to levels found in low income countries. Towards these ends Treasurer Joe Hockey has commissioned a review of the Fair Work Act by the Productivity Commission, a body notorious for its pro-corporate, neo-liberal policies. The following are some of the measures the Commission is considering: more ...

Current Issue of The Guardian

June 24, 2015 - click here for index of articles.

Racist land grab – Stand against forced closures of Aboriginal communities!

The Abbott Liberal-National government wants to shut down 150 Indigenous communities in remote Australia. Its actions threaten to leave some of Australia’s most vulnerable people without water, electricity or basic services. more ...

Editorial – From budgie smuggler to people smuggler

The Indonesian government has asked the Australian government to respond to claims that it paid the crew of a boat carrying 65 asylum seekers $5,000 each to return to Indonesia. Shocked Indonesian authorities suggested the terms “bribery” and “people smuggling” could be used to describe Australia’s actions. Tensions rose as Australia refused to respond to their questions, instead citing the now all-to-familiar “operational matters” and “national security” reasons. more ...

Young workers – Unite to Fight Statement by Young Communist League

The Abbott government has set out to impose “austerity” on the great majority of Australians – workers, students, pensioners and unemployed. Like most governments around the world it aims to make the people pay for the crisis capitalism – the employer class, especially big business – has got itself into. more ...

“Grow 40” – Moving Melbourne in the 21st Century

I don’t know that many of you would have come to this place by tram. But I couldn’t help registering while on the Victoria Parade tram just how much things have changed since just 10 years ago – let alone 20 years ago when I first joined the movement for better public transport in Melbourne and Victoria. Though it was early on a Sunday morning, my tram was filled to standing room only. Until a decade ago the same tram would have been lucky to have three people on it. more ...

Custody phone service saves lives

The Custody Notification Service (CNS) will be unfunded as of June 30, 2015. Please help #savetheCNS. There have been no Aboriginal deaths in police cell custody in NSW and ACT since the CNS began. The CNS is a 24-hour legal advice and RU OK phone line for Aboriginal people taken into police custody. more ...

Internationalist dedication recognised

Vinnie Molina, President of the Communist Party of Australia and Australia Cuba Friendship Society (ACFS), Perth, recently received the Medal of Friendship from the Cuban Council of State. The award ceremony took place in Havana on April 27, 2015. Vinnie has been an active campaigner for the Cuban Five since their incarceration and a worthy recipient of this honour. more ...

Film Review – The Emperor’s New Clothes

Since the global financial crisis of 2008 there has been increasing scrutiny of the capitalist mode of production and its negative effects on society. There have been many books, television shows – including Russell Brand’s own You Tube news series, The Trews – songs, plays and movies, most notably Michael Moore’s, Capitalism – A love Story (2010), whose approach New Clothes director Michael Winterbottom, (Welcome to Sarajevo 1997, The Road to Guantánamo 2002, Wonderland 1999 and Jude 1996) follows very closely. more ...

From slavery to self-reliance

HuligeAmma, a Dalit woman in her mid-40s, bends over a sewing machine, carefully running the needle over the hem of a shirt. Sitting nearby is Roopa, her 22-year-old daughter, who reads an amusing message on her cellphone and laughs heartily. more ...

Culture & Life – Worshippers of the Almighty Invisible Hand

In the religion cleverly mislabelled as neo-liberal economics, it is an article of faith that clearly assigned property rights, along with fully flexible prices, will allow the Invisible Hand – aka the glorious God of all neo-liberal economists and their faithful believers – to direct resources to their most efficient and valuable use. more ...

Pete's Corner

Over 10 years worth of sharp humour from The Guardian's very own cartoonist Pete Andrew can be accessed from the main menu – or just click here.

Half A Century of Pain

A selection of images from the book Half a Century of Pain – 50 Years of Agent Orange Disaster in Vietnam – 1961-2011, published by the Ministry of Information and Communication of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. more ...

This web page was last updated: Wednesday, June 24, 2015