Australia
Australia: Former treasurer Peter Costello quits parliament
By Patrick O’Connor, June 25, 2009
A “man of the boom”, Peter Costello has stepped aside just as a new social and political period has erupted, with the full impact of the world capitalist breakdown beginning to be felt in Australi...
Australia: Rudd reshuffles cabinet in response to economic crisis
By Patrick O'Connor, June 24, 2009
The most prominent personnel to be brought forward, from both the left and right factions, are ruthless and tested defenders of big business from the Labor and trade union bureaucracies.
Australia: Opposition Liberal Party in crisis over fake email furore
By Patrick O’Connor, June 23, 2009
Attempts by opposition Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull to force the resignation of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan over alleged corrupt ties to a Queensland car dealer backfired yes...
Australia: Car dealer “scandal” engulfs parliament
By Patrick O’Connor, June 22, 2009
In the absence of substantive policy differences between Labor and Liberal—and any serious debate on the deepening economic and social crisis—the leaders of the Australian government and oppositio...
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
June 20, 2009
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Australia: Construction unions’ Westgate Bridge deal sets dangerous new benchmark
By Chris Sadlier and Terry Cook, June 19, 2009
An article in the Age on June 18 confirms that an agreement signed by two major construction unions last month to settle a protracted industrial dispute at Melbourne’s Westgate Bridge contains an ex...
Australia: Youth jobless rate soars in working class suburbs
By Mike Head, June 18, 2009
The data reveals that big business, with the help of the Labor government and the trade unions, is exploiting the worldwide downturn to carry through a far-reaching restructuring of the economy, parti...
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
June 13, 2009
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Violence against Indian students in Australia: the class issues
By Laura Tiernan, June 13, 2009
Protests by Indian students in Australia over the past 12 days have brought to light an ugly under-current of violent and racist attacks that have produced outrage and deep concern among many ordinary...
Australia: “Quality” teaching and the Labor/union assault on public education
By Erika Zimmer, June 12, 2009
Last month the media reported a shift in the position of the New South Wales Teachers’ Federation (NSWTF) on performance pay for the state’s teachers. According to one commentator, it signalled ...
Australia: Rudd Labor’s NAPLAN school “league tables”
“NAPALM that kills learning”
By Will Marshall, June 11, 2009
The Rudd Labor government is pushing ahead with the publication of school reports that will pit schools against each other across the country, and which are the precursor to league tables. Results fro...
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
June 6, 2009
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