Critical Times

“I describe (Mr Howard) as an anti-union bastard of the last generation and a skidmark on the bedsheet of Australian politics,” he said.

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The issue of climate change and global warming is a central issue for humanity. There is an enormous amount of literature written and a host of web sites on this topic. How does one make sense of it all?

Both from slightly different perspectives reach the same conclusion – that a scientific approach and application of new technologies can save the planet from a human induced global warming catastrophe, provided there is the political will to do so.

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(from GetUp)

It beggars belief, but this federal election tens of thousands of eligible Australians will be stopped from voting. Will you be one of them?

The Federal Government has passed extraordinary legislation that will close the rolls for voters at 8pm, on the very night the election is officially called. In the last election, 83,000 first-time voters enrolled in the first week after the election was called.

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All Eyes on Vermont as Auto-Emissions Case Proceeds

By Candace Page The Free Press Sunday 08 April 2007 The future of the American automobile will be at stake Tuesday when a showdown over greenhouse-gas emissions and global warming begins in the unlikeliest of places – a courtroom in Vermont, where fewer cars are registered than in any other state. Automakers will ask a federal judge to throw out Vermont’s adoption of California’s tough carbon dioxide emissions limits on grounds they are illegal, too expensive to engineer and certain to deny many drivers the chance to buy the SUV or pickup truck of their choice. Vermont and its allies – New York state and five environmental groups – will defend the rules as a legal, reasonable, affordable and necessary step to combat global warming. read more »

DIY MP ‘told’ graffiti he removed was art

By Susanna Dunkerley April 18, 2007 Article from: AAP

* MP Steve Pratt destroys legal mural for publicity stunt * Artwork had been paid for under government scheme * Dispute over whether MP was told it was art

AN ACT politician who painted over a mural as part of an anti-graffiti stunt was told beforehand that it was a commissioned artwork, a community art spokesman says.

Steve Pratt, a Liberal MLA who is the territory’s opposition urban services spokesman, spent four hours last Saturday removing what he claimed was graffiti from a cemetery wall in suburban Woden.

But the stunt backfired when Chief Minister Jon Stanhope yesterday revealed the mural was not illegal graffiti but an artwork paid for by a local sporting club.

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Declaration of the Indigenous World Uranium Summit
Saturday December 2, 2006
Window Rock, Navajo Nation, USA

We, the Peoples gathered at the Indigenous World Uranium Summit, at this critical time of intensifying nuclear threats to Mother Earth and all life, demand a worldwide ban on uranium mining, processing, enrichment, fuel use, and weapons testing and deployment, and nuclear waste dumping on Native Lands.

Past, present and future generations of Indigenous Peoples have been disproportionately affected by the international nuclear weapons and power industry. The nuclear fuel chain poisons our people, land, air and waters and threatens our very existence and our future generations.

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By Sarah Clarke

A new report commissioned by green groups has found that a 25 per cent renewable energy target by 2020 could create 16,000 new jobs.

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), Greenpeace and the Climate Action Network (CAN) commissioned the report.

It found that the introduction of the target would help flight climate change and deliver at least 16,000 new jobs.

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The report which prompted the Prime Minister’s warning to farmers that they will no longer be able to rely on water from the Murray-Darling system has been publicly released.

It contains more dire warnings on the reliability of town water supplies.

The Government’s second Contingency Planning Report says it is expected that critical urban and stock demands can be met, but quality issues may arise in some smaller towns where water may need to be trucked in.

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A leading environmentalist and physician says the health risks posed by global warming and nuclear power are worse than those of smoking.

Prominent environmentalist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and paediatrician Dr Helen Caldicott says global warming and nuclear power plants will increase the spread of disease.

She says nuclear power plants contribute substantially to climate change and expose humans to radiation-related illnesses.

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The first anniversary of Work Choices is marked by another employer exploiting the Howard government’s feudal IR laws to reduce workers’ pay and conditions

National retail chain Darrell Lea Chocolate Shops expects its 1509 casual workers to sign a non-negotiable AWA that reduces their hourly pay rate, halves minimum shift hours, strips away penalty rates for weekends and public holidays, paid sick leave and laundry allowance for uniforms and makes no provision for pay increases during the five year term of the “agreement”.

According to Darrell Lea CEO John Tolmie, 400 staff have signed the AWA since September 2006 and the miserable conditions will only save the company around $80,000. The laundry allowance alone will strip workers of $112,000 (one garment per worker per week at $5.

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Iraq’s parliament is located in Baghdad’s Green Zone – one of the most secure areas in Iraq [EPA]

A suicide bomber has struck Iraq’s parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraqi security said, killing up to eight people and wounding 23.

Thursday’s blast took place in a cafeteria while several ministers were eating lunch, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the media department at the parliament.

Muhammad Awadh, a member of parliament from the mainly Sunni National Dialogue Front, and Asif Hussein Muhammad, an MP from the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, was killed in the blast.

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SOME 49 workers who say they were stood down without pay at a car parts firm have occupied the factory in Victoria’s southwest.
Workers at Coghlan and Russell Engineering in Geelong were stood down yesterday without pay or assurances they would receive almost $1.5 million they were owed in entitlements, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) said.

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Despite the rejection of its proposed legislation by a Senate committee, the Howard government is determined to have the so-called “Access Card” up and running by 2008. It opens the door for a further erosion of privacy and civil liberties by the agents of state power.

Ostensibly, the “Access Card” will replace 17 other cards currently in use for people to have access to federal government services.

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Getting rid of the Howard government’s WorkChoices laws is an immediate priority for Australia’s working people.

The full force of WorkChoices is yet to be felt, but current laws give a glimpse of what the Howard Government and its big business mates have in store for Australia’s working people after the election.

AWAs are already biting into penalty rates, overtime and shift loadings, annual leave and public holiday loadings, rest breaks and health and safety conditions.

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The Australian military has been well and truly absorbed into the war machine of US imperialism. This will be clearly demonstrated by a huge joint military exercise to take place in Central Queensland and the Northern Territory, from June 19 until July 2.

Operation Talisman Sabre 2007, the biggest in Australia’s history, will involve nearly 14000 US and 12000 Australian troops.

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THE United States fears climate change could trigger new humanitarian crises and force countries to go to war over diminishing water and energy resources.

American politicians are so concerned about the threats posed by the effects of global warming, they are legislating to elevate it to an official defence issue, with the CIA and the Pentagon required to assess the national security implications of climate change.

Australia has also signalled its intention to broaden its treatment of the issue from one that is just environmental to one that draws on expertise from all arms of government, including defence and intelligence.

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ENVIRONMENTAL activists have chained themselves to machinery and invaded the office of a central western New South Wales mining site, halting its operations.
About 60 protesters have gathered at the Barrick Gold site at Lake Cowal near Condobolin, claiming the company is stripping the area of precious water supplies and destroying the land of the Wiradjuri people, the traditional owners of the land.

A spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth Australia said two activists had now chained themselves to machinery inside the site.

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Greens leader Bob Brown has warned that over 700 thousand Australian homes and businesses are threatened by climate change.

He says the Howard government doesn’t understand the crisis or the important structural changes required to reduce greenhouse gases within the next decade.

Mr Brown says it will be impossible for home and business owners to insure against sea level rises threatening properties in the future.

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ONE of the world’s most aggressive and potentially fatal superbugs — once found only on hospital wards — has become more virulent and is now infecting healthy people in the community.

A strain of golden staph can lead to serious blood infections or death, and more people are being infected by it.

Experts want the State Government to establish a register to better monitor its growth.

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The impact of climate change has been a major source of dispute
Billions of people face shortages of food and water and increased risk of flooding, experts at a major climate change conference have warned.
The bleak conclusion came ahead of the publication of a key report by hundreds of international environmental experts.

Agreement on the final wording of the report was reached after a marathon debate through the night in Brussels.

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