Communists gear up for federal election

It’s been a few years since Communists stood as candidates at a federal election. Running in an election is a big commitment of time and money but those aren’t the only obstacles to be overcome. The bureaucratic requirements of the electoral authorities have made the task that much harder. The major parties of capital – the Liberals, Nationals and Labor – have combined in federal and state jurisdictions to make it harder for smaller parties to take their place on the ballot paper.  more ...

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War clouds gather

US President Barack Obama, in a recent interview with the Atlantic magazine, threatened “there is potential for conflict with China” if it continues to antagonise its neighbours. The “antagonise” tag is a reference to China’s reclamation and use of hotly disputed islands in the South East China Sea.  more ...

Editorial – Which system? The capitalist system!

Banks aren’t popular with the people of Australia. Once trusted institutions are now held in contempt for their manipulative behaviour towards small account holders through unjustifiable fees, for example. Last year, the now privately owned Commonwealth Bank was embroiled in a scandal over dodgy and self-serving financial advice.  more ...

Concern over prison rates

An alarming rise in the number of Aboriginal people being sent to jail since the 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, is according to the chief numbers man in NSW, a matter of “real concern”.  more ...

Halt the erosion of Australia’s democracy

Australia’s political parties must stop eroding many of the vital foundations of Australia’s democracy, the Human Rights Law Centre said in a new report launched in Canberra last month. Civil society leaders joined the launch to highlight the critical role that civil society plays in a healthy and robust democracy.  more ...

Human caused global warming detected in 1930s

The last 16 record-breaking hot years globally clearly show the influence of human caused climate change with the first signs appearing as far back as the 1930s, according to new research published today in Geophysical Research Letters.  more ...

Standing up for safety is not a “racket”

Steven Wyatt was a husband, a father, a brother, and a friend. Just 15 months prior to his death, in late 2014, another worker, Jorge Castillo-Riffo was also killed on that site in similar circumstances. Both tragedies involved a fatal crush injury when the men were in the scissor lift.  more ...

Culture & Life – The business of forgetting

I was watching Antiques Roadshow last week, and two members of the public were explaining how the jewels they had brought along to show the program’s experts had been smuggled out of Russia after the Revolution by their grandparents. The expert they were talking to was full of admiration for their grandparents’ ingenuity in sewing the jewels into the hem of their garment, and also full of sympathy for the plight of the poor émigrés.  more ...