Progressive, activist campaign groups such as GetUp!, 350.org and Friends of the Earth have been in the federal Coalition government’s sights for some time, but a new bill threatens to frustrate the work of all human rights, environmental, women’s, international aid and social justice NGOs and charities.
Women’s Rights
Communist and feminist Zelda D’Aprano became the symbol of the fight for equal pay when, in October 1969, she chained herself to the Commonwealth Offices in Melbourne, after becoming frustrated at the lack of pay equity for women.
Barnaby Joyce thought he was untouchable. But for the Turnbull government in crisis, it now looks like he could be dispensable.
Socialist Alliance is running in the Queensland elections to help build an anti-capitalist current in Queensland and national politics.
Steve O'Brien writes on the legacy of the Russian Revolution in the Newcastle Herald.
In Australia, more than 23,000 people reported being sexually assaulted last year, making it the fifth consecutive year in which recorded sexual assaults rose nationally.
Students say report "confirms what we’ve known for decades: that a culture of rape has become endemic through the inaction of universities."
In February last year, 39 universities signed up to “Respect. Now. Always”, a campaign to eliminate sexual assault and harassment on campus. But more than a year later, there are no new initiatives in place and students are asking why.
MHS is currently “triaging” already vulnerable callers. This means that those who have made the difficult decision to get help are being made to tell their whole story before they can be put through to a specialist counsellor, to then re-live the gut-wrenching memory again.
Over the past five years, more than 500 complaints of sexual assault — including 145 complaints of rape on campus — were made to the university administrations of several high-profile universities across NSW, ACT, Victoria and WA. Of these allegations, End Rape on Campus reported that only six cases — just 1.2% — resulted in the expulsion of the alleged perpetrators.
The deepening crisis of capitalism and the political polarisation that results makes the task of raising socialist solutions all the more urgent. Socialist Alliance continues our non-sectarian approach to building the movements and campaigns of resistance.
Sue Bolton, a Socialist Alliance councillor in Moreland, has come under heavy pressure for refusing to be cowed by the Victorian Police, sections of her own council and the racist right-wing.