Australia
Australia: Rudd Labor targets jobless youth in welfare cut
By Mike Head, May 6, 2009
Young workers and school leavers—and their families—have become the first victims of the Rudd government’s cuts to welfare and social programs.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
By the, May 2, 2009
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Australia: Unemployment study highlights “new face of disadvantage”
By Tess Gordon, May 2, 2009
A research report has warned that suburbs in Australia’s middle and outer suburban mortgage belts could become “hot spots of home repossessions” as unemployment strikes.
Australia: Unions to police Labor’s new, employer-friendly industrial laws
By Terry Cook, April 29, 2009
Rudd Labor’s Fair Work Act retains all the essential features of the former Howard government’s hated “Work Choices” laws. It will be used by the government, employers and unions in an escalat...
Australia: Survivors of Victorian bushfires receive minimal compensation
By Will Marshall, April 28, 2009
Labor government promises to support the victims of the “Black Saturday” bushfires have proven hollow. The small amount of compensation for those whose homes were destroyed will mean that hundreds...
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
April 25, 2009
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Australia: Unanswered questions about refugee boat tragedy
By Mike Head and Linda Levin, April 24, 2009
The Rudd government is still refusing to release details of how five asylum seekers lost their lives when their tiny boat exploded and sank off Australia’s north-west coast on April 16.
Australia: Racism and the 47 Afghan asylum seekers
By Patrick O'Connor, April 22, 2009
The arrival of a boatload of 47 Afghan asylum seekers, five of whom tragically died in an explosion last week off Australia’s northern coast, has triggered an hysterical national security and anti-r...
Australia: Rudd government and unions back Qantas as it axes 1,750 jobs
By Richard Phillips, April 20, 2009
Qantas has responded to a predicted profit freefall this year by axing 1,750 jobs from its 34,000-strong workforce and is now preparing, with union support, for a major restructuring of the company.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
April 18, 2009
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Australia: Rudd pledges billions to protect banks from property crash
By Alex Messenger, April 17, 2009
As joblessness rises and real estate prices soften, Australia’s Rudd Labor government and the country’s major banks are engaged in panicked attempts to avoid a property crash.
Australia: Labor government unveils free-market agenda for higher education
By Carolyn Robinson and Mike Head, April 13, 2009
The Rudd government has laid out a market-dominated agenda for higher education, including the introduction of a voucher-style funding regime.
