Last night, just before Noam Chomsky delivered the 2011 Sydney Peace Prize, he spoke at #OccupySydney. I filmed his short appearance: Some of my photos from the Chomsky visit here and here.
Showing all posts tagged Australia
The never-ending march of Serco in Western Australia
So: The State Government has announced the company Serco is its preferred tenderer for services at a new young adults corrective centre. The Corrective Services Minister Terry Redman says the company was chosen to provide services at the facility in Murdoch after an extensive evaluation of its standards. Mr Redman says Serco’s performance will be…
Only fools believe we should stay in Afghanistan
After more than 10 years of Western-led war in Afghanistan, The Guardian’s Jonathan Steele says that it is a conflict that we’ll (thankfully) never win. Take note America, Britain and Australia: Two days after 9/11, I wrote a column in The Guardiansaying that if the U.S. reaction was to put boots on the ground in…
Let’s be clear; Australia has no interest in helping Palestinians end Zionist occupation
Last night’s UNESCO vote, that confirmed Palestine as a full member, showed just how few nations in the world are true client states of America, craven (hello, Australia!) or both: There were 14 “no” votes, 52 abstentions and 107 “yes” votes (there were also 20 Member States absent): No:… Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Lithuania,…
As Chomsky arrives in Sydney, here’s why his voice is so crucial
This year’s winner of the Sydney Peace Prize is soon to dazzle Australian audiences with thoughts so rarely expressed in the mainstream media. Take this:
The Commonwealth needs relevance bypass
John Kampfner is spot on in the Guardian last weekend: The death knell of the Commonwealth has been sounded for as long as there have been summits. By accident rather than design, this anachronistic gathering of 54 states may actually say more about the state of global priorities than the participants realise. And the direction…
Hey haters, Serco is just doing its best to make as much profit from misery as possible
As Serco continues to make money from Australia’s incompetent immigration detention centres, the company comes out swinging, claiming it cares deeply for “these people” (also known as asylum seekers) to Perth’s Sunday Times: Refugee deaths in detention are just part of the migration service business, according to Serco, the company managing Australia’s detention centres. In…
How Australia is creating mental health crisis with Serco’s help
Last week’s ABC TV 4 Corners, on the mental trauma suffered by refugees inside Australia’s immigration detention centre network, was a devastating portrait of dysfunction. We are literally breeding individuals who are going mad, if not worse. Locking people up for sometimes years is both unnecessary and unethical. And who is making money from all…
Maintaining pressure on the autocratic thugs in Sri Lanka
I was honoured to be asked to sign the following statement released yesterday by Federal Greens MP Lee Rhiannon about the ongoing horrors in Sri Lanka: Commenting on the arrival of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Australia for CHOGM, Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said: “Attorney General Robert McClelland’s decision to refuse permission for a…