Australia

Australia: Teachers Federation annual conference: a green light for Labor’s pro-market “education revolution”

By Erika Zimmer, July 22, 2009

Last week’s New South Wales Teachers’ Federation annual conference served to deflect widespread opposition among teachers to the Rudd government’s pro-market education reforms.

Australia: Behind the Labor government’s paid parental leave fraud

By Tess Gordon, July 20, 2009

The Rudd government’s proposed Paid Parental Leave scheme is aimed at boosting productivity through increased workforce participation.

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

By the, July 18, 2009

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

Australia: Sacked Nylex workers rally outside ANZ bank

By our correspondents, July 15, 2009

Sacked workers from the bankrupt manufacturing company Nylex staged a protest outside the ANZ bank in Melbourne’s central business district yesterday to demand full payment of their redundancy and e...

Australia: Court hears criminal charges against West Gate Bridge construction workers

By Patrick O’Connor, July 15, 2009

On July 6 the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard a series of serious criminal charges, relating to industrial action held at the West Gate Bridge project, laid against twelve construction workers.

Full-time job losses accelerate in Australia

By Mike Head, July 14, 2009

The destruction of full-time jobs gathered pace in June, hitting male manufacturing and young workers in particular.

Australia: Coroner finds caesarean death was “preventable”

By Laura Tiernan, July 14, 2009

A coronial inquest has found that Rebecca Murray, a 29-year-old mother who died following a caesarean delivery at Bathurst Base Hospital in regional New South Wales, died from preventable causes.

Australia: Indian students boycott Victorian Labor government’s “Walk for Harmony”

By Patrick O’Connor, July 13, 2009

Indian students boycotted yesterday’s “Walk for Harmony” in central Melbourne after the Victorian Labor government of Premier John Brumby refused to allow them to address the rally.

Australia: Victorian government attempts to pre-empt findings of bushfire investigation

By Margaret Rees, July 11, 2009

In an extraordinary political manoeuvre, Victorian premier John Brumby has moved to pre-empt potentially damaging findings by the state’s royal commission into the February 7 “Black Saturday” bu...

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

July 11, 2009

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

Australia: Former Labor PM Keating denounces Rudd government’s “isolationist” stance on China

By Patrick O’Connor, July 10, 2009

Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating delivered a speech on July 2 in which he criticised the government’s recently released defence policy “White Paper” for implying that Australia could fin...

Australia: The Victorian government’s “Walk for Harmony”: a cynical exercise in damage control

By Robert Morgan, July 10, 2009

The “Walk for Harmony” being led by Victorian Labor premier John Brumby this Sunday is a part of cynical public relations exercise to shore up revenues from the lucrative international student mar...