The disastrous Adani mine project illustrates why the entire mining and energy sector should be brought into public hands and dangerous fossil fuels rapidly phased out in favour of renewable energy.
Natural Resources
Socialist Alliance Victoria statement on the fire in the Hazelwood coal mine
The recent uprising in West Papua was sparked by racist attacks on Papuan students in the Indonesian city of Surabaya. However, the West Papuan people have been struggling for more than 60 years against Indonesian occupation, human rights violations and for the right of self determination.
The University of Queensland Resistance Club has joined with other student clubs to call on the university administration to divest money from fossil fuels.
With confirmation that 100% of New South Wales is now officially in drought, it is clear that the federal government’s climate change denial is putting agriculture and the planet at risk.
The demand of tens of thousands of people who marched through the streets in cities around Australia on May 18 was clear. They want the federal government’s killer budget blocked.
The need for system change was a recurring discussion throughout this year's Students of Sustainability (SOS) conference. Conference participants were enthusiastic about practical next steps, wanting to know what they could do when they went back to their home towns, cities or campuses.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at vigils around Australia over the weekend of February 22 to 23 to protest the brutal killing of asylum seeker Reza Berati inside the Manus Island detention camp in Papua New Guinea.
More than 2000 People's Climate Marches were held over the weekend of November 27 to 29. In Australia more than 140,000 people took to the streets to show they care, passionately, about climate change. They are also angry at government inaction, as illustrated by the many homemade placards and props.
The mining industry in Australia has boomed from about 4% of GDP in 2004 to about 9% today. Mining exports in the year to March last year were worth $155 billion, or 53% of Australia's total exports.
As we make a plan for a new year of activism, we can take some heart from the growing student movement for real climate action.