Government sits on climate report and covers the lack of sufficient action

By Joe Montero

The Australia government won’t release the climate crisis report from the Office of National Intelligence (ONI) it has in its hands and insists that this is for national security reasons. Surely, even if national security is the problem, a redacted version could still be released. But even this has been refused. This suggests that there is another reason for the secrecy. Continue reading Government sits on climate report and covers the lack of sufficient action

Australia wants the government to bring in rent control

By Jim Hayes

An essential poll has just revealed that three quarters of Australia believes that rents should be capped or frozen until economic conditions improve. This stands at odds with the political elite of the major parties, which remain locked into refusing to countenance any move that will interfere with the bottom line of the real estate industry and landlords. Continue reading Australia wants the government to bring in rent control

Labor’s national conference and the key issues that concern Australia

By Adam Carlton

Labor’s national conference in Brisbane began today. The 2,000 or so delegates will be hearing about the key issues of the day. There won’t be any in depth discussion and analysis of positions put forward. The decisions have already been made and votes packaged by the factions. The event will mostly be about speeches. Continue reading Labor’s national conference and the key issues that concern Australia

Call for a super profits tax to provide affordable housing is gaining support

By Joe Montero

“People know something’s wrong. They know something’s wrong in their society when we have Commonwealth Bank recording over $10bn in profit while ordinary Australians are struggling to put a roof over their head.” These words were said by Zach Smith, construction division national secretary of the CFMMEU. Continue reading Call for a super profits tax to provide affordable housing is gaining support

The threat posed by anti-terrorist laws exposed by disclosure

Civil libertarians have always argued that Australia’s anti-terrorist laws pose a major threat to democratic rights. They provide government with the means to punish those who criticise what it does. There is concern that the introduction of these laws has been accompanied by an increasing militarisation of Australia’s police forces.

Continue reading The threat posed by anti-terrorist laws exposed by disclosure

As climate crisis costs rise, who will pay?

Amy Goodman the host of Democracy now and Dennis Moynihan a bestselling author write (Common Dreams 24 July 2023) about the Important question of how the global burden of shifting away from fossil fuels should be shared., and that those countries that have historically contributed the most to putting carbon in the atmosphere should pay more and provide help to [poorer nations. Instead of doing this, they are still trying to push the cost onto others. They say global transition to renewable energy is going to be costly, but the cost of doing nothing would be far greater.

Continue reading As climate crisis costs rise, who will pay?

Daniel Duggan’s imprisonment is a denial of justice and an affront to Australia’s sovereignty

Contributed 

Too many Australians still don’t know who Daniel Duggan is, even if his case has significant repercussions and says a lot about how legal process is Australia is being transformed into something that we should all be worried about. Everyone should know more about what is happening to this man. Continue reading Daniel Duggan’s imprisonment is a denial of justice and an affront to Australia’s sovereignty

Call for a super profit tax to create affordable housing is on the mark

By Joe Montero

One of Australia’s biggest unions. The Construction Forestry Mining Maritime and Energy Union (CFMMEU) is launching a push for a major rise in government investment on affordable housing. The union’s national secretary Zach smith says this is necessary to take on the housing crisis that so many are facing in his country. Continue reading Call for a super profit tax to create affordable housing is on the mark

India’s withdrawal from the Talisman Sabre war exercises welcomed

Contributed

The Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) coalition, which has been waging a long Campaign against United States led war exercises on Australian soil has released a statement welcoming the decision by India to pull out of the biggest United States led major war exercises on Australian soil. Continue reading India’s withdrawal from the Talisman Sabre war exercises welcomed

Super charged weather is warning that much more climate action is necessary

By Joe Montero

Once again, the world is being warned by nature of the disaster climate warming is causing. This year has seen record heatwaves in Europe and devastating floods in other parts of the world. The planet is now paused on the eve of  an El Niño on a scale never seen before.

These sort of weather events are not new. Records have been breaking year after year. Ice cap melts, raising sea levels, and a slowing down of the Atlantic conveyor are major causes of worsening weather patterns. 3 July saw the hottest day for the planet ever recorded. The evidence is indisputable.

Massive cyclone activity in the Indian Ocean, sinkholes appearing in California, unbearable heat in Spain, the spread of bushfires in Canada, record ocean water temperatures, are the reality. Records are being smashed. Species eh]extinction is accelerating, and ultimately, our own extinction is a real possibility.

Yet many governments, including that of Australia, don’t seem to notice. They remain in a denial zone, too busy pleasing their big money backers to bother. This is a new wakeup call. We must call out our governments or their failure to act.  We must not just get angry. It’s important to divert our anger into constructive action.

What does this mean? It means becoming active in our communities, joining pour organisations, being loud, and taking our demand for change to those who hold the power.  Our survival depends on winning this war. And it is a war. Those who stand in the way of the necessary climate action must be vanquished.

It’s just as important to move beyond protest, towards being pro-active in building the future, by being involved in projects that cut emissions. When governments don’t do it, its communities that must act. There is some of this already. But there must be much more. It starts from modest changes to individua l lifestyles, to community efforts that stop polluters and build clean local economies.

Only the combination of demanding change  and being pro-active in making change will save the day. Part of this is the protection of livelihoods. Preventing the extinction of species is Important,  but his should never be seen in terms of nature versus human beings.

The impacts on living standards, health, happiness, and social harmony are important too. Furthermore, without championing these causes and making it personal, it’s impossible to mobilise people on the scale that is necessary.

Change requires building new power of the people. In Australia are primary focus is on change in our won turf in tune with our own conditions. Our task is to find forms of social organisation that serve to assert this people power.

No one can produce a blueprint that will make it work. People can and do make suggestions, and sometimes act on them. One is the building of cooperatives as part of a new economy. There have been suggestions for local government initiatives with community involvement. Another proposal ha been the building of community assemblies to supervise elected representatives and officials and all levels of government. The best combination can be found by doing and learning what works best.

Our window of opportunity won’t last for ever, and it would be foolish to fail to take up the opportunity.

Continue reading Super charged weather is warning that much more climate action is necessary

Official site of the May Day Committee (Malbourne)