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Australia

Australian construction worker dies after being struck by tub of concrete

By Oscar Grenfell, 8 September 2018

The incident, like other industrial deaths, points to the role of the unions in enforcing the dangerous conditions that prevail in the construction sector.

Home loan stress threatening millions of households in Australia

By Mike Head, 7 September 2018

Nearly one in four households are already “mortgage prisoners”—trapped in debt while house values are falling.

Australia: Factory fire sends toxic smoke over western Melbourne

By Eric Ludlow, 7 September 2018

Authorities tried to reassure concerned residents, but hundreds of dead fish, eels and birds have been found in nearby waterways.

Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand) forum reviews lessons of nursing union sellout

By our reporter, 7 September 2018

Participants discussed the need for health workers to rebel against the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, build rank-and-file committees and unite with workers internationally, based on a socialist perspective.

SEP Australia public meeting in Sydney: The key political issues behind the coup against Turnbull

6 September 2018

As international relations and parliamentary forms of rule break down, the ruling elite is terrified of the growing left-wing sentiment among workers and young people.

Nick Beams to lecture at Australian universities on the contemporary significance of Karl Marx

6 September 2018

The lectures will make clear that Marx’s theoretical breakthroughs were inextricably linked to his political work as a revolutionary determined to arm the emerging working class with a program that advanced its independent interests.

Family speaks to World Socialist Web Site

Unanswered questions surround the suicide of Australian paramedic Tony Jenkins

By Cheryl Crisp and John Mackay, 6 September 2018

On April 9, the 28-year veteran paramedic took his own life within two hours of being called into a meeting with New South Wales Ambulance senior managers.

Australian unions exploit childcare strike to promote Labor

By Oscar Grenfell, 6 September 2018

The Sydney protest was effectively an election rally for the Labor Party, which has spearheaded the privatisation of childcare.

US whistleblower Chelsea Manning defies ban to speak in Australia

By Linda Tenenbaum, 5 September 2018

“Once you’re immersed in a war zone, you realise that it isn’t statistics anymore. These were human lives and flaws and all of the vulnerabilities that people have.”

“Five Eyes” summit in Australia ramps up internet censorship

By Mike Head, 5 September 2018

Ministers from the US-led global surveillance network revealed stepped-up measures against Chinese and Russian “foreign interference” and greater control over social media.

Severe drought hits large regions of Australia

By Frank Gaglioti, 5 September 2018

Government indifference has exacerbated the plight of many farmers and rural communities that are reeling under the dry conditions.

Australian media promotes right-wing Steve Bannon and calls for confrontation with China

By James Cogan, 4 September 2018

The logic of Bannon’s positions is a devastating military conflict.

Australian government rushes to deport Vietnamese refugees

By Max Newman, 3 September 2018

After a manhunt in a Queensland rainforest, 17 Vietnamese men were rounded up for deportation “at the first available opportunity.”

Australia: Aurizon coal train crews face union sell-out

By Patrick Davies, 1 September 2018

The Rail Tram and Bus Union is working to conclude yet another regressive enterprise agreement covering coal haulage crews in the Hunter Valley.

Widespread opposition to Australian government ban on Chelsea Manning

By Oscar Grenfell and James Cogan, 31 August 2018

The attempt to prevent Manning visiting Australia followed a high-level meeting of the Five Eyes spying network, which called for a campaign against those who “sow discord.”

Conflicts inside Liberal Party shed light on lurch to right in Australian government

By Mike Head, 31 August 2018

In a clear overture to the right faction, Morrison has appointed Tony Abbott to a newly-created position of “special envoy on indigenous affairs.”

Oppose the ban on Chelsea Manning speaking in Australia!

By the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), 30 August 2018

The SEP demands that Manning be granted her visa and restates its demand for the unconditional freedom of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange.

New Australian government to intensify pro-US militarism and class war

By James Cogan, 29 August 2018

The policies being rolled out underscore the fact that one of the objectives behind ousting Turnbull was to refashion the Liberal Party into a far more right-wing movement.

Whistleblowers expose Australian government crimes at Nauru refugee camp

By Oscar Grenfell, 29 August 2018

Medical professionals have warned that children suffering severe mental illness are at risk of dying at the Australian-operated detention centre.

Ex-Australian prime minister to quit, leaving government in minority

By Mike Head, 28 August 2018

Turnbull’s decision underscores the fragility of the Liberal-National Coalition government, as well as the intensity of the rifts tearing it apart.

Reports point to growing social inequality in Australia

By John Harris, 28 August 2018

As elsewhere globally, the wealth of Australia’s richest has swollen over the past two decades, alongside mounting financial stress for millions of people.

Australian state Labor government intervenes to prevent industrial action by Esso workers

By Terry Cook, 28 August 2018

The Victorian government is seeking to push the long-running dispute at ExxonMobil’s offshore operations back into arbitration.

New Australian prime minister forms cabinet after endorsement from Washington

By James Cogan, 27 August 2018

The political turmoil is the outcome of mounting geostrategic tensions between the US and China, and immense popular disaffection with the parliamentary establishment.

Bangladesh jute mill workers demonstrate; Paradip port workers strike in Orissa

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

25 August 2018

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

Sixth Australian prime minister ousted in 11 years

By Mike Head, 24 August 2018

A political and ideological schism has opened up in the Liberal Party, driven by the disintegration of the post-war global order.

Australian prime minister faces ouster by extreme-right faction

By Mike Head, 23 August 2018

Whatever the immediate outcome of this turmoil, the schism tearing apart the ruling Liberal-National Coalition will worsen.

Australia: Footage reveals brutal prison murder of young Aboriginal man

By John Harris, 23 August 2018

The killing is the latest in a series of violent attacks perpetrated by prison officers.

Australian government near collapse as Liberal Party lurches to the extreme right

By James Cogan, 22 August 2018

The Liberal Party, along with sections of the rural-based National Party, is in the process of being refashioned into a Trump-style movement.

Prime minister barely survives leadership challenge in Australia

By Mike Head and James Cogan, 21 August 2018

The constant factor in the turmoil of official Australian politics has been political tensions arising from ever more volatile international geo-strategic and economic conflicts.

Australian thunderstorm asthma deaths inquest reveals health system breakdown

By Margaret Rees, 20 August 2018

Triple 0 callers were told an ambulance was on the way when it had not been dispatched.

Australian police killed mentally ill young woman seconds after arriving at scene

By Martin Scott, 18 August 2018

The Coroner’s Court was told that 42 percent of those shot by police in Australia between 1989 and 2011 were suffering from a mental illness.

Alcoa workers strike in Western Australia

By Terry Cook, 18 August 2018

The stoppage expresses growing opposition to the corporate giant’s global cost-cutting operation.

Australian government facing defeat over energy policy and company tax cuts

By Mike Head, 17 August 2018

It is clear from the events of this week that the government’s two signature policies are in tatters.

Australia: Transport union cancels Victorian bus drivers strike

By Oscar Grenfell, 17 August 2018

The TWU’s suppression of the stoppage was the outcome of a sordid back-room conspiracy, involving the union, the companies and the Victorian state Labor government.

Australian Daily Telegraph lawyers plead “truth defence” in Geoffrey Rush defamation case

By Richard Phillips, 16 August 2018

The Murdoch media empire is prepared to spend vast sums to defeat Rush’s defamation suit.

Right-wing senator calls for a “White Australia” immigration policy

By Oscar Grenfell, 16 August 2018

Fraser Anning’s diatribe is the logical outcome of the nationalist policies supported by the entire political establishment.

Australia: Victorian bus drivers to strike over pay and conditions

By Oscar Grenfell, 15 August 2018

The strike expresses mounting anger among transport workers across the country over the consequences of a privatisation agenda imposed by Labor and Liberal-National governments.

Australia: Socialist Alternative promotes right-wing Labor leader Bill Shorten

By Oscar Grenfell, 14 August 2018

Amid a deepening crisis of the political establishment, the pseudo-left organisations are seeking to channel growing discontent back behind Labor and the unions.

Australian prime minister delivers an anxious speech on relations with China

By Mike Head, 13 August 2018

There is evident alarm that the Trump administration’s protectionism could have flow-on effects for Australian exporters and throw into doubt Washington’s global reliability.

Inquest shows Australian governments directly responsible for refugee’s death

By Max Newman, 10 August 2018

Coroner rules Hamid Khazaei’s death was a “preventable” outcome of “the policy of offshore processing.”

Australian hospital staff have to raise money for patients’ basic needs

By E. Ballesteros, 9 August 2018

Footscray Hospital is one of three acute and sub-acute hospitals managed servicing a major working-class region of the Victorian state capital.

Australia: Telstra seeks to slash wages after announcing massive job cuts

By Terry Cook, 8 August 2018

The communications company is pushing a new enterprise agreement containing wage rises well below rapidly rising inflation.

Australia: Youth protest racist “African gangs” campaign

By our reporters, 4 August 2018

African-Australian youth rally to denounce divisive hysteria whipped up by the political and media establishment.

SEP (Australia) holds public meetings opposing “foreign interference” laws

By our reporters, 4 August 2018

The meetings were the only events to warn of the anti-democratic implications of the legislation, and place it in the context of the preparations for war with China.

Business leaders look to Labor Party after by-elections shake Australian government

By Mike Head, 3 August 2018

Confronted by growing social and political unrest, corporate executives are preparing to pursue their interests via a Labor government.

Australia: Nine-Fairfax Media merger threatens jobs

By Oscar Grenfell, 3 August 2018

The deal marks a new stage in a protracted restructuring of corporate media organisations, dictated by the financial elite.

Julian Assange’s lawyer: Australian government has a “duty” to protect him

By Mike Head, 2 August 2018

Jennifer Robinson said the WikiLeaks editor wants to exercise his right to return to Australia, provided he is protected from extradition to the US.

Australian government promises changes to My Health Records following widespread opposition

By Cheryl Crisp, 2 August 2018

The “opt out” health database faces mounting public concern over official and corporate surveillance.

Australian governments illegally sailed refugee boats to distant reef

By Max Newman, 1 August 2018

Successive governments flouted the law to declare asylum seekers “offshore arrivals.”

Geoffrey Rush’s lawyers argue newspaper’s allegations “motivated to harm” the actor

By Richard Phillips, 1 August 2018

Rush’s amended submission documents ongoing detrimental reportage by Murdoch publications.

Australian government pursues prosecution of East Timor espionage whistleblower and lawyer

By Patrick O’Connor, 31 July 2018

The prosecution of Collaery and Witness K is bound up with the wider drive toward a US-led military confrontation of China, which the Australian ruling elite is committed to supporting.

Australian by-elections underscore deepening alienation from political establishment

By Mike Head, 30 July 2018

Despite large swings against the government, the opposition Labor Party’s vote barely rose from its historic lows.

Australia: Report reveals “Harvest Trail” exploitation of overseas workers

By Hugh Peters, 30 July 2018

The exploitative practices are the outcome of the gutting of permanent jobs by employers and successive governments, assisted by the trade unions.

Australian Labor Party plans another pro-business, higher education restructure

By Mike Head, 28 July 2018

A decade after its “education revolution,” Labor prepares an even deeper market-driven “review” of universities and technical colleges.

Esso Australia steps up offensive against offshore workers

By Terry Cook, 28 July 2018

The ExxonMobil subsidiary is tearing up jobs, wages and working conditions in its Bass Strait gas operations.

Australian by-elections threaten to deepen political instability

By Oscar Grenfell, 27 July 2018

The five simultaneous elections are part of a mounting crisis of the official parliamentary establishment.

US and Australian ministers agree to intensify military integration against China

By Mike Head, 26 July 2018

The joint AUSMIN statement reaffirmed a “steadfast and enduring” alliance dating back to World War I.

Australian government boosts pro-US institutes on eve of ministerial talks in California

By Mike Head, 25 July 2018

Having just enacted draconian “foreign interference” bills, the government has now handed millions of dollars to think-tanks devoted to pro-US propaganda.

Australian Defence Department seeks expanded powers over research

By Mike Head, 24 July 2018

Universities would be placed under wartime-style scrutiny, prohibited from undertaking research with countries regarded as US enemies, especially China.

IYSSE blocked from leafleting at Australia’s Macquarie University

By Hugh Peters, 24 July 2018

The attack on democratic rights points to administration fears that years of cuts have produced seething discontent among students and staff.

Australia: Tamil refugee deported, separated from his wife and baby daughter

By Max Newman, 23 July 2018

The treatment of Gnaneswaran and his family is akin to the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy by which children have been ripped away from their parents.

Whistleblowers Australia denounces new “foreign interference” laws

By Richard Phillips, 21 July 2018

“Society is literally screaming out for more openness and accountability in all sectors.”

Australia’s peak union body lays out campaign to elect yet another big business Labor government

By Oscar Grenfell, 21 July 2018

The ACTU is seeking to corral their dwindling memberships behind Labor and shore up the unions’ position as an industrial police force.

Australia’s “foreign influence” register will attack basic democratic rights

By Mike Head, 20 July 2018

The FITS Act will require registration by all individuals and organisations deemed to collaborate with overseas entities in any political activity.

Australia’s new espionage laws target whistleblowers and political opponents

By Mike Head, 19 July 2018

The “anti-interference” legislation goes far beyond spying by foreign agents.

Australian PM promotes racist campaign over “African gangs”

By Oscar Grenfell, 19 July 2018

Malcolm Turnbull’s remarks are part of a broader attempt to whip up nationalism and anti-immigrant xenophobia.

Australia: Another fire at Melbourne recycling plant

By Eric Ludlow, 18 July 2018

Toxic blazes continue to erupt at Australian recycling plants as companies stockpile tonnes of dangerous waste material.

Australian government prepares “foreign interference” prosecutions

By Mike Head, 17 July 2018

Australia’s political establishment, under mounting pressure from Washington to take a more aggressive stand against China, is already selecting targets to test the new laws.

SEP (Australia) holds Sydney meeting against new “foreign interference” laws

By our reporters, 17 July 2018

The Sydney meeting was the first public event held by an Australian political party against the anti-democratic legislation since it was rushed through parliament late last month.

British and Ecuadorian authorities in talks to evict Julian Assange from London embassy

By Oscar Grenfell, 16 July 2018

Media reports point to the ongoing conspiracy, involving the British, US and Ecuadorian governments, to terminate Assange’s political asylum in violation of international law.

Australian royal commission reveals predatory bank lending to small businesses

By Oscar Grenfell, 16 July 2018

Testimony made clear that the banks routinely provided dubious loans that they knew small business owners and franchisees would have little chance of servicing.

In the name of combating foreign interference

Australia’s new secrecy laws block exposure of government crimes

By Mike Head, 14 July 2018

The government is seeking to prevent access to critical information that the public has the right to know.

Australia: Inquest into Dreamworld tragedy reveals health and safety violations

By Richard Phillips, 13 July 2018

A few months before the fatal October 2016 accident, company officials ordered staff to stop spending money on repairs and maintenance.

Australian lawyers association warns foreign interference laws violate rights to free speech

By Richard Phillips, 13 July 2018

“This type of regulation of civil society is a prominent feature of repressive regimes. It is not a feature of open democracies.”

Australia: Victorian bus drivers strike over wages and conditions

By our reporters, 13 July 2018

The Transport Workers Union has previously solicited donations from the bus company that it fraudulently claims to be leading a struggle against.

Australia’s new “foreign interference” laws: A threat to anti-war dissent

By Mike Head, 12 July 2018

The unprecedented laws were demanded by Washington as a model for legislation to demonise and suppress opposition to war, particularly against China.

Ultra-nationalist US demagogue Stephen Bannon hails Australia’s new foreign interference laws

By James Cogan, 11 July 2018

The legislation is particularly admired by America’s far right, the Trump administration and the US military-intelligence establishment.

Nauru government bans ABC journalists ahead of Pacific summit

By Patrick O’Connor, 11 July 2018

Backed by the Australian government, Nauru’s president, Baron Waqa, has established a virtual dictatorship.

Amnesty International denounces Australia’s “foreign interference” laws

By Richard Phillips, 10 July 2018

“The core message from Amnesty International on these laws is that we will not be changing the way we operate.”

Australian unions’ bogus campaign over sacking of Longford maintenance workers

By Oscar Grenfell, 10 July 2018

The unions now claim to be leading a “struggle” in defence of the workers, having enforced the destruction of their jobs 12 months ago.

Australia’s foreign interference laws threaten whistleblowers and media freedom

By James Cogan, 9 July 2018

In 2010, Assange and WikiLeaks had committed no crime for informing millions about US war crimes. Today, under the new legislation, such courageous actions could attract a penalty of decades in jail.

Paramedic’s suicide points to crisis in Australian ambulance services

By John Mackay and Cheryl Crisp, 9 July 2018

Tony Jenkins, 54, took his own life following a meeting with senior management in the New South Wales Ambulance Service.

Following passage of “foreign interference” laws

Australia pushes Pacific Pact to combat China

By Mike Head, 7 July 2018

The two regional imperialist powers are seeking to shore up their dominance in the southwest Pacific, in partnership with the US.

Australian business heads warned not to criticise “foreign interference” laws

By Mike Head, 6 July 2018

In a sign of the government’s rush to enforce the new laws, they were given royal assent on June 29, just a day after being passed.

Australian investigation underscores global health dangers of toxic foam exposure

By Patrick Davies, 6 July 2018

The official response to a PFAS-related cancer cluster in the US city of Oakdale mirrors the indifference of Australian authorities to a similar health crisis.

Australian teenager sentenced to 12 years in prison on trumped-up terror charges

By Oscar Grenfell, 4 July 2018

The case is the latest in a series of high-profile “terror” prosecutions which have not revealed any specific terror attack or plan.

Australia: Prosecutors drop blackmail charges against construction union officials

By Terry Cook, 4 July 2018

The CFMMEU had worked to prevent the eruption of a struggle by construction workers against the laying of the criminal charges.

SEP to hold Brisbane meeting on new “foreign interference” laws: A move towards dictatorship and war

3 July 2018

The new legislation has been imposed amidst xenophobic hysteria in the parliament and the media over “Chinese influence” and “interference.”

Union tries to contain staff anger at Australia’s University of Newcastle

By John Harris, 3 July 2018

The NTEU is isolating the struggles of its members, university by university, against deepening attacks on their conditions and pay.

Australia: Biloela residents continue protests against deportation of Tamil refugee family

By Max Newman, 2 July 2018

A campaign by the people of a small rural Queensland town has brought to light the horrors of Australia’s anti-refugee regime.

Australian farmers testify to royal commission on predatory activities of banks

By Oscar Grenfell, 2 July 2018

Farmers gave evidence that the terms of their bank loans were changed without notice and that they were forced into near-destitution through foreclosures.