Solomon Islands
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.
Solomon Islands: Julian Moti challenges Australian government’s “politically-motivated” prosecution
By Patrick O’Connor, May 30, 2009
International constitutional lawyer and former Solomon Islands attorney general Julian Moti is challenging statutory rape charges now being heard in the Australian judicial system as trumped-up and po...
Solomon Islands report demands legal immunity of RAMSI occupation force be revoked
By Patrick O'Connor, May 1, 2009
In a major blow to the Australian government, the Commission of Inquiry report into the 2006 riots recommends that the legal basis of the Australian-dominated occupation force, the Regional Assistance...
Solomon Islands unprepared for flood disaster
By Dragan Stankovic, February 16, 2009
A state of disaster was declared in early February in the 12 worst flood-affected wards of the Solomon Islands after at least 10 people died and 10 were missing, feared dead. The inadequate response o...
Solomon Islands’ parliamentary review highlights illegality of Australian occupation
By Patrick O'Connor, October 14, 2008
A parliamentary review currently underway into the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) has shed further light on the illegal character of the Australian-dominated intervention force...
