An Australian and New Zealand union delegation heads to Fiji next week to investigate first hand abuses of workplace rights within the island nation. The delegation comes on the back of moves this week by the International Labour Organisation to intervene to safeguard human and labour rights in Fiji.
Fresh from a solid live-to-air on 3CR, local guitar-artist Nicholas Ogburn launched his new album – a fifth – with great aplomb last Friday night at the Acoustic Café in Collingwood.
"Embedded" Occupy Sydney reporter John O' Driscoll describes the movement that has caught the world's attention — from the inside.
The small group who gathered on (2 Nov) at my first Occupy Sydney GA (General Assembly) at Town Hall, maybe 50 people, was dwarfed by the attendance at the Noam Chomsky screening inside, let alone the crush of commuters and shoppers.
Myths about the benevolence of Anglo-American foreign policy were utterly exploded last Friday night in Melbourne, as Chomsky thundered out his latest critique of the changing contours of global order.
The IPA’s Tim Wilson was allowed to dominate on a Q&A panel including the Green’s Adam Bandt, shaming the Humanities & Social Sciences department of Melbourne relative to the intellectual standards properly required of the Tertiary sector.
On Friday morning the police moved in to remove the Occupy Melbourne protesters that had been occupying Melbourne's Town Square. Unfortunately as those assembled at Town Square quickly found out, no-one was really paying much attention in the first place. That can be the only description given the calls for support fell on mostly...
US hegemony, hypocrisy, and capitalist imperialism in the Middle East finally came under fire last night on the ABC's Q&A.
Four years ago the United Nations acted on almost 30 years of advocacy by Indigenous Peoples around the world and adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda says progress on its implementation has been slow.
Throughout the entire region the environment continues to face growing pressures. It comes from a growing range of converging issues like urban expansion; destruction of native forests; rapidly expanding populations; growing inequality and poverty; water, soil and air pollution; and the international inaction on climate change.
In recent weeks the premiers of three states have started to sound like mini-Tony Abbotts. On issues like industrial relations, the environment and health we've seen a convergence of rhetoric that sounds remarkably like that coming from the federal Opposition Leader.
Workers in Fiji may enjoy a reputation as being super-friendly and bursting with positive vibes and good will. The reality though is that they have no rights.
Last Friday the Australian Government ratified three International Labour Organisation Conventions. This is a significant and welcome development as all three conventions provide important safeguards for workers’ rights.
Despite being two years away from an official federal election, the government’s knife edge majority has seen us move to an apparent permanent election footing. However while hard hat-wearing, baby kissing politicians are becoming more visible on our news screens, quality policy discussions on vital infrastructure issues appear to have taken a permanent back...
Now that the phone hacking scandal involving the now-defunct News of the World has well and truly broken and authorities are looking for answers, it's not surprising that they are finding it difficult to get answers. Or that anyone is willing to take responsibility for the phone hacking.
The News of the World hacking scandal that I wrote about in April has become a worldwide phenomenon. The whole world knows how murder victims phones were hacked. More revelations will follow, with other tabloids, including News' other tabloid, the Sun, likely to be dragged in.
Australia isn’t known for being generous to eccentrics, especially in the music industry. That’s one of the reasons Jeff Duff isn’t popular.
In recent times we have seen the debauch of the welfare state, the expansion of cartels, extortionate rent-taking from the financial sector, and the wholesale capture of regulators, the executive and most of parliament by an unholy marriage of corporate interests and secret police doublethink.
The Australian environment movement along with the union movement organised some of the biggest rallies Australia has seen in some time last weekend.
For those who arrived on the last train from the Herald Sun building, there's something wrong with society today.
Spain, like many European countries, has been looted by the powerful, who now seek to foist their losses onto the public purse, and thereby onto the public.
The second in the two-part series from Kim Sauberg on allowing citizens to better use technology to uncover truth.
When I was a child, and the internet was just a bizarre U.S. military experiment, I looked hopefully to computers as a possible future solver of all things factual.
Indonesian terrorist networks are often cited as likely to bring terrorism to our region through the links they have with organisations such as Al-Qaeda and those in the Philippines and throughout south-east Asia. And there have been a couple of big events that have happened for these networks in recent weeks. Firstly was...
Many commentators have pointed out how "soft" the Budget was compared to all the "tough" hype however despite this, it still failed to add additional funds into key areas.
The following essay (first published in Tristan's blog Left Focus) is a response to Australian Treasurer, Wayne Swan - who has recently written a Fabian Essay - whose obvious significance concerns the coming Australian Federal Budget for 2011-12.
Outgoing senator Guy Barnett chairs an inquiry into film and literature classification, and hopes to extend the scheme to all "artwork".
Saturday last saw the finals of Deadly Funny for 2011 which saw more amazing comedic talent emerge from Australia's Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander communities.
It is testament to man's tremendous ingenuity that we can harness forces of nature so mighty and terrible they threaten not only humanity, but the very survival of every organism on this earth.
The News of the World phonehacking scandal is going ballistic in the UK. In 2006 a private investigator and a 'rogue journalist' from the paper (as NoW and News Ltd -and implicitly the police - insisted at the time) were jailed for hacking into the voicemails of people at Buckingham Palace.
Alex Schlotzer spent the weekend at the Climate Action Summit as someone committed to seeing political action taken on climate change. More specifically he was there in his voluntary role as coordinator of the Brimbank Climate Action Network (BrimbankCAN). This is his account of the weekend.
For me what most illustrates the moribund nature of Sydney's administration is not the public transport(try Melbourne's).
There is, however, another feasible nuclear fuel that has been studied in prototype reactors but never used commercially: uranium-233 (U233), which is derived from naturally occurring thorium.
In a cynical yet unsurprising move, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has decided that the time is right to play the ‘crackdown on welfare recipients’ card.
A report from Roy Morgan Research recently pointed out that Australian society has become more individualistic and “less available”.
While Japan is visited by cruel calamity(and the consequences of disastrous nuclear planning), in geopolitics too a great earthquake is underway. American, or western, hegemony, backed by Australia and New Zealand, is shaking.
Despite having ironed out some significant flaws of late, it seems that the PM's leadership is in terminal decline.
As part of theangle.org's "Independent Voices" series for the NSW election, we bring you a question and answer session with Janet Mays, Independent Candidate for the Blue Mountains. Passionate about the community, preserving the environment and healthcare, Janet is well-known as the founder of Blue Mountains HEAL (Hospital Equity & Access Lobby).
The recent announcement from the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee on a carbon price and mechanism, is avital step forward.
By Alex Schlotzer: There can be little doubt that Tony Abbott has stumbled into a wasps’ nest over his party’s opposition to a flood levy. Unfortunately for him, and his beleaguered colleagues, instead of compromising, he’s decided to try to smash his way out. It all started with what’s been dubbed as the “summer...
By Alex Schlotzer: Social media is the new political battle ground. We saw it during the federal election and the recent Victorian state election. Political parties around the world have quickly jumped on the band-wagon, especially after Obama’s overwhelming success using it during his election campaign. However with its meteoric growth in use and...
Well, another year recedes and we all know what happened last year. There's been much commentary and analysis of the past year's events, however, little has been said of the year ahead. And yep, you guessed it, this piece is a look at the political landscape in 2011.
Queenslanders have already lost homes and livelihoods to floodwaters, now they could be faced with huge impacts to biodiversity in beautiful Moreton Bay.
A month since the Victorian election,the dust has settled and the victorious Liberal/National Coalition led by Ted Baillieu has won control of both houses. Time enough to consider in more depth the outcomes and the rhetoric spun by the parties and players to-date.
Senator Mark Arbib of NSW (as well as Michael Danby, MP for Melbourne Ports, and the retiring Senator Bob McMullan) has been exposed as a ‘protected source’ of the US embassy.
John O'Driscoll examines the recently-revealed dangers of having a US-centric control freak recommending war against the Chinese.
This time last year Copenhagen was being hailed as the last great chance for the Earth and that an agreement on a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol was imminent.
Much will be said over the coming days and weeks about the campaigns run by the parties and different high profile independents during the Victorian state election.
As a child, in the 70s, I remember reading about the labour-saving devices that would make drudgery a historical curiosity. Whether in Omni magazine, or Sunday newspaper liftouts, robots and mechanisation promised that we all could join the chattering classes, with time available for political awareness and participation.
The second part of a series on the Victorian election. This article originally appeared in Tristran's blog Left Focus.
In this the first of a two-part series, theangle.org publishes a summary of Greens policies in the upcoming Victorian state election. This article was originally published at Left Focus.
First Australians need dignity and respect. We hear a great deal about what First Australians need and even more noise about "solutions" to "problems". The language used though, still refers to First Australians as though they aren't in the room. Old paternalistic habits die hard, there remains a distinct lack of...
The Victorian state election is proving to be another series of negative attacks being largely directed by the lacklustre efforts from the major parties.
Theangle.org's Rich Bowden spoke to Bruce Robinson, Convenor for ASPO-Australia (Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil) about the threat of oil shortages to the country, the measures that need to be taken to offset such a crisis and the hopes for renewable energy.
The Victorian ALP betrayed their fears about losing government with a ferocious attack on the Greens on the day the Premier asked the Governor to issue the election writs.
Given the nature of agriculture in this country and the effects of rising populations both here and globally, I contend it is time to re-examine the virtues of a stable productive yeoman farming sector.
So how much have we have changed since 1987? Formerly, Wall Street conjured images of suits, corruption, women and of course, money, money, money.
As the minority Labor government settles in and things are relatively back to normal, I think it's a good time to look back at the effectiveness of the online battles fought during the federal election.
It wasn't too unexpected that the campaign against the Greens in the current Victorian election campaign would descend into vile, disingenuous and misleading tactics.
October 17 to 23 is National Water Week in Australia, a week dedicated to raising awareness of the country's most precious resource
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has built himself a reputation over the course of his political career as a supposed convictions politician.
By Damian Baker: As part of our new focus on development and human rights issues, theangle.org is reposting old articles printed on the site which still have a high degree of revelance. We start with co-founder Damian Baker’s trip to Papua New Guinea in November 2009 where he encountered the lives of the people...
In the short time that the formal agreement for the Labor Party to form a minority government has been in existence, the Liberal-led Coalition has acted more like a pack of shrill sore losers than a 'stable' alternative government.
If there has been one noticeable outcome from the outcome of the election, it has been that the Liberals cannot cope with a situation where they have to negotiate for 'power'.
Well apparently we're in turmoil because of the outcome from the weekend's federal election.
While water recycling and desalination have both been touted as showing the way forward on water reuse, and helping to offset a “peak water” scenario, experts have noted significant drawbacks to both, including the amount of energy needed to power wastewater recycling and desalination plants.
The combined swing in primary vote against Liberal and Labor is almost entirely represented in the increased Greens primary vote, with the rest being distributed among the minor parties and independent.
Left Focus's Tristan Ewins gives us his perspective of the ongoing drama of Election 2010 and what went wrong for Labor.
While the concept of peak water as an overarching term for the increased shortage of water supplies in Asia remains contentious, it has served to focus attention on the increasing water crisis facing many countries
By “On the Ground in Melbourne” As expected in one of the closest races in the country, the last week has been a tornado of activity. Although there have been reports of tense moments reported at pre-polling stations, these haven’t been overly serious but reflect the intensity with which the Greens and the ALP...
Greens' candidate for the seat of Macquarie Carmel McCallum talks to theangle's Rich Bowden about her chances of victory in the western Sydney/Blue Mountains seat, the issues that most concern voters and her opinion of the strength of the asylum seeker issue.
One of the key battles in the country as we approach the finish line in Election 2010 is Lindsay Tanner's old seat of Melbourne where the Greens and Labor are battling it out.
In this article Tristan Ewins of Left Focus examines some issues from a progressive perspective that could be crucial for Australians still to decide their vote for the August 21 2010 Australian Federal Election.
The last week of campaigning for the knife-edge seat of Melbourne has been a fairly uneventful affair as campaigns go, especially given how much is riding on this seat for the ALP and the Greens.
John Passant makes the case for the nationalisation of the Commonwealth Bank in his blog En Passant
There's a reason Tony Abbott didn't show up to the announcement of the Coaliton's national broadband policy. Lets face it, commentators and pundits have been too polite to describe it for what it is — a sh!t policy.
Lee Rhiannon, former NSW Upper House member, and now Federal Senate candidate for NSW speaks with theangle.org's Rich Bowden on accountability for corporate donations to political parties, how the Greens' policies look to take advantage of a green economy and outlines what she sees as voter frustration over the Government's inability to stand up...
By Rich Bowden: Rich Bowden talks to Major-General Michael Keating, chair of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM), about the growing support amongst Australians for a republic, how the ARM is raising the profile of the debate and the Major-General’s personal reasons for supporting an Australian Head of State. Rich Bowden: The republic debate appears to...
As polls continue to show Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in with a real chance of becoming prime minister later this month, ACTU Media Co-ordinator comments on the lack of scrutiny of the volatile leader from the media and lists the questions the media should be asking.
By “On The Ground in Melbourne” There has been a marked difference in the pace of the campaigns being waged by the Greens’ Adam Bandt and Labor’s Cath Bowtell here in the marginal seat of Melbourne. While both have increased their activity in the lead up to polling day, the Greens’ campaign is moving...
As part of a continuing series on the issues facing voters in selected marginal seats, theangle's Rich Bowden talks to Amy Bell, Independent candidate for the NSW seat of Macquarie.
Despite the proliferation of turgid slogans, the 2010 campaign is shaping up as the direct opposite to that of 2007.
By Rich Bowden: As part of our Election 2010 coverage of the country’s marginal seats, we talk to Suzie Wright, Greens candidate for the seat of Lindsay in outer western Sydney. Suzie tells us of the issues facing voters, the importance of Greens’ preferences and her take on the alleged “dog whistle” tactics employed...
One of the key marginals in the federal election 2010 is the Victorian seat of Melbourne. Our political correspondent reviews the candidates' performances in the battle between the Greens and Labor and finds the situation on the ground is not being clearly reflected in the mainstream media.
Peak hour commuters arriving at Melbourne’s Flinders Street, Sydney’s Martin Place and Brisbane’s Roma Street railway stations last week could not avoid the WorkChoices: whatever the name, never again campaign.
Security. The bane of my existence – a worthless, time consuming, and often costly set of procedures which serve only to waste time, annoy people and inspire the unfounded fear of terrorism in a populace primed by such rubbish as Today Tonight, A Current Affair and bad Hollywood films.
Reading back over my very first article for theangle.org it's interesting to note the changes (or lack of them) to Australia’s policies regarding treatment of asylum seekers.
One of the more intriguing aspects of the 2010 election has been the rise of SenatorOnline, a direct representation model which aims to give Australians the opportunity to directly influence Parliamentary votes through the Internet.
As part of our coverage of the key seats that will decide the 2010 federal election, our reporter gives us an overview of the events and outcome in the famous bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro on the NSW South Coast.
As part of theangle's election coverage of marginal seats, Simon Hukin gives us an extensive overview of the WA seat of Canning including the main issues confronting the candidates and the most likely outcome.
The federal election 2010 is now well and truly underway and early observations suggest the mainstream media are taking rather a scattergun approach to the campaign.
