Resistance

The Australian government is closing the Manus Island detention centre; but refusing to bring the 861 men in Manus Island to Australia, leaving them to live in fear and uncertainty.

The need for system change was a recurring discussion throughout this year's Students of Sustainability (SOS) conference. Conference participants were enthusiastic about practical next steps, wanting to know what they could do when they went back to their home towns, cities or campuses.

The shine has rubbed off Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s apology to those men charged with historic gay sex offences, delivered in May.

The normalisation of the war on terror has become the standard refrain from the mainstream media (MSM), which would rather sensationalise and beat up stories of petty crime than investigate corporate crime.

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.

The government is setting up the next generation of workers to fail while the right-wing press victimises young job seekers when they do fail, or for getting frustrated at a system that is clearly broken.

The ABCC: When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.

The Fair Work Commission’s decision comes at a time when wage growth in the private sector is at an all-time low.

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.

For serious climate action to be a reality we need a society where the majority of people — workers, farmers, students, the poor, First Nations people and refugees, the victims of climate change — are making decisions in the interests of our collective future.  

A shake up is needed so that young workers can not only receive a fair wage, but also so they can see the relevance of unions in fighting for their rights at work.