Students across the country will be protesting the Abbott government's attacks on education as part of a national day of action coordinated by the National Union of Students on Wednesday 20 August.
Anti-Privatisation
The social welfare cuts proposed in the federal government's May budget are a direct attack on working people and the poor. If implemented, they would represent a huge shift in income from the poor to the rich.
It is now two and a half months since budget night. Remember Treasurer Joe Hockey and Mathias Corman smoking cigars, satisfied and smug after doing a job on Australian workers, pensioners and the poor?
Prime minister Tony Abbott chalked up his first budget win on June 17 when the 2% “levy” on high income earners passed both houses of parliament.
Australia has escaped recession for more than two decades, despite the impact of the Asian and global financial crises on the world's economies.
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 turnout and energy at the March in May rallies on May 18 proved that people are not going to take this budget lying down.
The struggle against education cuts has exploded onto the national stage in the lead up to and following the budget announcement by the Abbott Liberal-National Coalition government, a budget set to massively increase student debt.
And so it begins — an offensive, on behalf of the Australian ruling class and corporate interests, to steal the future from the majority of Australians, to dismantle what remains of our social welfare system, in order to carry out, in the words of Treasurer Joe Hockey, "the government's solemn duty ... to build a stronger Australia".
It is utterly galling to hear the leader of the federal Labor opposition criticising the government for proposing a “new tax” in the form of a modest and temporary “deficit levy” on taxpayers in the highest income bracket.
A casino was a fitting venue to host Prime Minister Tony Abbott's keynote address to the 25th anniversary dinner of conservative think tank the Sydney Institute on April 28.
The March in March protests across Australia over March 15-17 were a resounding success – not just because of their size, focus and breadth.