Australia and South Pacific
Australian car parts maker goes into administration
By Terry Cook, September 8, 2009
The jobs of hundreds of workers at car parts manufacturer ACL are in jeopardy after it went into voluntary administration despite a government bailout.
Australia: New details about “SIEV 36” refugee deaths expose official lies
By Richard Phillips, September 8, 2009
Detailed information about the explosion on a fishing vessel carrying Afghan refugees off the north-west coast of Australia last April underscores the seamless transition that has taken place from the...
Australian government downplays huge oil slick
By Frank Gaglioti, September 7, 2009
A major oil and gas rupture from the West Atlas mobile offshore drilling rig off the northwestern coast of Australia is threatening to become a major environmental disaster. The leakage is unlikely to...
Australia: Specialist paramedics threatened with punitive sanctions
By Margaret Rees and Patrick O’Connor, September 7, 2009
Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance paramedics met in Melbourne, Victoria on Saturday and resolved to proceed with their planned resignations, to take effect this Wednesday, in protest over a proposed ind...
Australia: International students protest lack of access to student concession cards
By Mathew Benn, September 4, 2009
Hundreds of international students protested in Sydney and Melbourne on Wednesday to demand access to the same student concession cards provided to domestic students.
Australia: Bushfire investigation report a whitewash
By Richard Phillips, September 4, 2009
The Victorian royal commission’s interim report into the February 7 bushfires makes no criticism of the state government, and its predecessors, whose policies are responsible for the tragic loss of ...
Australian companies write down $47 billion
By Alex Messenger, September 3, 2009
There have been massive corporate write-downs in the mining and property sectors, yet economists say that the downturn has already come and gone.
Australia: Workers protest against Labor government assault on safety laws
By our correspondents, September 2, 2009
Workers in several cities demonstrated yesterday against moves by the Australian government to undermine occupational health and safety legislation. The trade unions, however, are merely seeking a pla...
Former Solomon Islands attorney general challenges Australian government
Evidence backs Julian Moti’s allegation of “politically-motivated” charges
By Patrick O'Connor, September 2, 2009
International and constitutional law expert and former attorney general of the Solomon Islands Julian Moti is applying for statutory rape charges brought by the Australian government to be thrown out ...
Unemployment and charity requests soar in Australia
By Chris Johnson, September 1, 2009
Applications for unemployment benefits and requests for emergency financial aid are rising rapidly, belying the official claims of a budding recovery.
Ten years since East Timor’s independence vote
By Patrick O’Connor, August 31, 2009
Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the referendum that saw nearly 80 percent of the East Timorese people vote to secede from Indonesia and become a separate nation-state.
Australia: NSW teachers union censors debate at mass meeting
By Laura Tiernan, August 28, 2009
Nearly 2,000 teachers packed the Rosehill Racecourse last night to oppose the publication of school league tables. But the New South Wales Teachers Federation worked to block any discussion, debate or...
