Category: greenleft

Workers & unionsJulian StewartIssue 1278AustraliaCOVID-19JobKeeperMay 30, 2020While JobKeeper is a valuable lifeline for ensuring job security for some workers, it is also being exploited by some employers. I am one of those “lucky” casual workers, currently receiving the JobKeeper wage subsidy. I work for an Outside School Hours company and, from

EconomyGraham MatthewsIssue 1278AustraliaCOVID-19wagesinflationpublic sectorMay 30, 2020The Australian economy is set for a significant slowdown in response to the emergency actions taken to minimise the spread of COVID-19. The federal Treasury predicts the jobless rate will climb to 10% by the end of the year, and remain high for years to come.

Books & musicMat WardIssue 1267Australiapolitical music 2020protest music 2020protest songs 2020May 29, 2020Here’s a look back at May’s political news and the best new albums that related to it. What albums would you suggest? Comment on Twitter, Facebook, or email.  REDBAIT – CAGES.jpg 1. REDBAIT – CAGES  On May

EconomyDave HolmesIssue 1267Australianeoliberal capitalismCOVID-19nationalisationclimate crisisMay 29, 2020The scale and scope of government measures to deal with the COVID-19 crisis have surprised many people. Long-held neoliberal dogmas have been pushed aside. Government action is clearly decisive: the bourgeois fetish of the budget surplus has been junked and huge deficits run up; after

HealthcareInternational solidaritySocialismPeter BoyleIssue 1267CubaCOVID-19May 29, 2020Many people around the world have heard of Cuba’s inspiring and unmatched international medical solidarity efforts in the COVID-19 pandemic. About 2000 Cuban doctors and nurses have been send to countries around the world struggling to deal with the pandemic – from Italy to South Africa,

Anti-racismSamuel KnightIssue 1267AustraliaFirst NationsJuukan GorgeSorry DayRio TintoMay 29, 2020What should be, by now, common knowledge has become far removed from the minds of the average Australian. Countless emotional scars are worn by many First Nations people, while new wounds are inflicted because of intentional disregard for the lives and culture of

FeminismImperialism & warInternational solidaritySocialismJames ClarkIssue 1267CanadaPalestineclimate changebook reviewMay 29, 2020Holocaust to Resistance, My Journey By Suzanne Berliner Weiss   Roseway, 2019 320pp, CA$22 Suzanne Weiss begins her recent memoir with these words by W B Yeats: “There are no strangers here, only friends you have not yet met.” More than just

FeminismKaren FletcherIssue 1267AustraliaJobs for Women campaignWomen of SteelMay 29, 2020Women of Steel Produced and directed by Robynne MurphyScreening on demand June 10-21 2020 Sydney Film Festival You’ve probably heard “The Ballad of 1891” about the Queensland shearers’ strike. You can probably sing Kev Carmody’s “From Little Things Big Things Grow” about

FeminismRachel EvansIssue 1267AustraliaUniversity of Sydney Women’s CollectiveSt Andrews residential collegeSydneyMay 29, 2020The University of Sydney Women’s Collective organised a snap action on May 25 in front of St Andrews calling for the residential colleges to be repurposed into safe, affordable student housing. Around 80 people gathered to hear from former Women’s

EnvironmentKevin KrajickIssue 1267Australiaheatwavehumidityclimate changeMay 28, 2020Most people know that humid heat is harder to handle than the “dry” kind. Recently, scientists have projected that later in the century, in parts of the tropics and subtropics, warming climate could cause combined heat and humidity to reach levels rarely, if ever, experienced before

Film & theatreGreg AdamsonIssue 1267AustraliaObituaryMay 28, 2020By the late 1960s the Vietnam War was drawing mass protest, the feminist movement had burst onto the scene and the gay liberation movement, as it was then known, was emerging. The heart of Sydney activism included Resistance on Goulburn Street, a protest centre and

Workers & unionsDave BellIssue 1267AustraliaundefinedMay 28, 2020Drought, bushfires and the pandemic have made this a memorable year. It has also recently been marked by the death of Ken Muir, a fine comrade, in Perth where he was living in retirement with his daughter Mirina and grand-daughter Ella. He died peacefully in