SP Newsletter No.177
The following is a statement produced by SP this week in response to Howard’s attacks on Aboriginal communities.
The Howard governments “national emergency” plan to ban alcohol and pornography in Aboriginal communities will not go one ounce of the way towards addressing the massive social problems faced by Aboriginal people. (more…)

The long wait is over. Tony Blair has left and it is good to see him go! Any sense of jubilation, however, is tempered by the fact that his successor, Gordon Brown, will continue with his basic programme: public services will be cut, anti-union laws will stay, and inequality will increase. PETER TAAFFE from the Socialist Party in England & Wales writes on the significance of the transition. (more…)

The news from Afghanistan last week was of the deaths of seven children in an Islamic school. They died in a US air strike. The barbarity was reinforced by a US commander justifying the killings on the basis that al-Qa’ida fighters had told the children to stay in the school. In his view, therefore, these children were expendable ‘collateral’. The weekend of 16-17 June, which saw a bus bombing in the capital, Kabul, was another stark illustration of a country spiralling out of control.
By Manny Thain, Socialist Party (more…)

After bloody clashes with militias linked to Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Islamic organisation Hamas took control of the Gaza strip on Thursday 13 June. Sensationalised media headlines across the world described this as ‘civil war’, yet the vast majority of Palestinians took no part in the clashes.
By Kevin Simpson, CWI (more…)

The Melbourne branch of the Socialist Party will be hosting a public meeting this week titled: Preparing for APEC and George Bush. The details are Wednesday 27th June, 7pm at Trades Hall in Carlton. The key note speaker will be Rob Stary, Australia’s most famous left wing lawyer. Rob will be speaking on the new anti-democratic laws introduced by the NSW parliament for APEC and what protestors can expect. All welcome! (more…)

SP Newsletter No.176
Urgent protest letters needed
Ainur Kurmanov, a leading member of Socialist Resistance, the sister organisation of the Socialist Party in Kazakhstan, was jailed, this week, for five days, by the local authorities in the capital city, Alma-Ata. (more…)

The fight between Evo Morales and the Bolivian Judicial Branch began when the country’s Constitutional Court dismissed from the Supreme Court four judges who Morales had named by decree to temporary positions on December 30, 2006.
By Cunche Campos, Cochabamba, Bolivia (more…)

The release of the mini series ‘Bastard Boys’ on ABC TV last month reminded many trade unionists of the massive class battle that took place between Patrick Stevedores and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) in 1998. Below we reprint the centre page spread from the June edition of The Socialist neswpaper where Anthony Main looks at the lessons for today. (more…)

SP Newsletter No.175
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, to be held in Sydney on September 7-9, will see an unprecedented security operation to ‘protect’ US president George Bush and many of the world’s other political leaders. (more…)

Brisbane band Powderfinger is known for its use of music for political protest. But a song about Aboriginal deaths in custody on the band’s forthcoming album has faced legal threats from lawyers of former Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, who has been charged with manslaughter and assault after a death in custody on Palm Island in 2004.
By Kylie McGregor, Socialist Party Melbourne (more…)