The following articles were published by the Guardian – The Workers' Weekly,
newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia, in its issue #2202, 17 August 2026.

 

Reproduction of articles, together with acknowledgement if appropriate, is welcome.

 

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INDEX

 

1. Housing – problem and solution
2. EDITORIAL – Action beats hot air
3. Federal budget discriminates against women
4. Health insurers throw their weight around
5. Segal weaponises antisemitism definition
6. Native title holders win High Court challenge over NT water licence
7. DINGO
8. Victoria erodes human rights in prisons
9. Man prosecuted over Gaza emails
10. Cuban solidarity in Adelaide
11. Government folds on gambling reform
12. Australian unions support Palestine
13. Tasmania’s pigheaded bosses
14. Media union campaigns for live music
15. Garma debate sharpens focus on Closing the Gap
16. GREEN NOTES – Australia’s wild orchid populations collapse
17. Party self-reform and Marxist theory
18. What did the unions ever do for you?
19. Worth Streaming: Frame by Frame
20. Learning from Karl Marx’s favourite novels
21. US - Iran war and oil profits
22. Venezuela’s post-earthquake environmental disaster
23. GLOBAL BRIEFS
24. Colombian social movements reject far-right president
25. WEASEL WORDS

 

 

 

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1. Housing – problem and solution

Peter Farmer

Mission Australia doesn’t beat about the bush on this topic: the housing and homelessness crisis continues to worsen across Australia. Every hour, more than 3,200 people around this country seek help from homelessness services.

Mission Australia says that their frontline staff face huge barriers helping people move out of homelessness because there simply aren’t enough affordable homes available.

On the last census night more than 122,000 people were estimated to be homeless in Australia. The highest rate was in the Northern Territory, where 564 people per 10,000 of population were homeless.

As in other areas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were over-represented, making up 20 per cent of the homeless population despite making up only 4.3 per cent of the population as a whole.

AFFORDABILITY

One third of adults in this country rent. According to the Renters and Housing Union more than half of people renting live in food insecurity.

As house prices have skyrocketed, the people owning that housing have been looking for the maximum return from their property. That includes raising the rent.

Anyone who is renting, or who knows people who rent will be aware how bad the rental crisis is. Median weekly rent ranges from $650 in NSW to $430 in Tasmania. Rents have increased by 75 per cent in Western Australia and have rocketed up elsewhere. Wages certainly haven’t gone up by 75 per cent anywhere in Australia, and benefits like JobSeeker, the Aged care pension and Disability Support Pension have stayed level – in the case of Jobseeker, well under the poverty line.

Overall, the cost of renting in Australia has risen at more than double the pace of wages over the last five years.

PRICES

House prices have gone down slightly this year, and mainstream media is losing its mind. There’s a contradiction in Australian media attitudes towards house prices. On one hand, we’re encouraged to believe in the Australian dream – if you work hard, you can have a house. On the other hand, especially since the 1996-2007 Liberal/National government of John Howard, we’ve been conditioned to expect house prices to always rise.

Crikey’s Amy Remeikis sums up the contradiction nicely with a bit of reporting. House prices which were described as “impossibly unaffordable” in 2024, are apparently a disaster now that (some) house prices are slipping back to 2024 levels.

This raises a question not often asked in this country. What’s the point of housing? Is it to make people who can afford to get a mortgage richer? Or is it to provide people with a place to live?

IMMIGRATION

Political parties that have long depended on blaming migrants for everything have been quick to point the finger at migration. The argument is simple: there’s a finite supply of houses. Migrants want somewhere to live, so they bid up the price of housing. Hence, the far-right parties argue, if we have less migration, we’ll have cheaper housing.

These same political parties never ever say they want house prices to fall, but that’s part of the logic here.

Like many very simple ideas, this one falls apart if you look at it for a moment. Housing is not a finite resource – we can build new homes. Migrants build housing as well as living in it. They also, if migration is properly managed, work and provide jobs for the people already in the country.

A problem these parties don’t address is the labour shortage. Although the Labor government has taken some good steps in this direction by making TAFE free, there have been decades of neglect when it comes to training Australians in the trades needed for construction.

It’s a vicious circle. The government cuts down on immigration because it worries about the perception that immigration is a problem for housing. Because the government is cutting down on immigration, and because we haven’t been training people we have labour shortages. So the problem gets worse and parties that have done well off xenophobia in the past blame migrants again.

‘SOLUTIONS’

Australian politicians and media talk about housing a lot. They talk about house prices, rentals, and interest rates. They also talk about schemes for improving the housing shortage.

One idea is to give some would-be homeowners help with a deposit. Basically, the government becomes a lender and covers part of the home loan. As Clare O’Neil, Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness put it, that means a Sydneysider and first home buyer can purchase a $1 million apartment with a $50,000 deposit with their loan guaranteed by the Albanese government.

Is there anything wrong with this? It’s nice for the people who can take advantage of it, but doesn’t actually build any more houses. If it really takes off, it’ll just make average house price go up.

Another idea is the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF). Set up in 2023, HAFF is a fund designed to increase ‘social and affordable’ housing. HAFF is a fund which generates income from investments. Every year $500m is used to address “acute housing needs, social housing or affordable housing.”

There are several problems with HAFF. Investing is risky and unpredictable. There’s also the cost of administration. (see ‘Hidden costs of HAFF,’ Guardian #2065, 14 August 2023)

The other problem with HAFF is that weaselly term ‘social and affordable.’

PUBLIC HOUSING

‘Social and affordable’ housing is a way of keeping housing that the private sector won’t provide at arms length from the government. This form of housing is run by charities/NGOs or cooperatives. ‘Social’ just means it’s run by an NGO, with no guarantee that they won’t sell it later, or jack up the rent if it suits them.

Affordable does not mean that housing is affordable for all lower-income people. Sometimes it means that the housing is no more than 30 per cent of the tenant’s income. Other times it just means the housing is more affordable than the open market. There’s no standard definition.

What’s needed is a commitment to public housing, built and owned by the government and run not to make a profit, but to provide people with a secure place to live. You don’t see much of this in Australian political discourse. The Greens at least commit to support campaigns to defend public housing, but their policy for new builds is “social and affordable.” The other major parties don’t want a bar of it.

What Australia needs is a massive expansion of public housing, built and managed by the public sector. Using private developers has repeatedly failed the needs of the people.

The Communist Party of Australia recognises housing as a basic human right. In a modern, industrialised and relatively wealthy nation like Australia there is no excuse for homelessness or people being forced to live in sub-standard conditions. Even the idea of a free home provided for by the state should not be beyond discussion in a country like ours.

 

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2. EDITORIAL

Action beats hot air

Allister Heath is a right-wing British opinion columnist, easy to ridicule. There’s even a website which will generate Allister Heath headlines on any topic under the sun – type in any word and you’ll get a headline denouncing whatever it is as a ‘woke’ plot to destroy British civilisation.

Recently, Heath has been extensively mocked for an article announcing that the UK is too small to have any affect on climate change, and that the best course of action is for people in Britain to do absolutely nothing to lower emissions and just enjoy the “Mediterranean climate.” Heath gave this advice at a time when countries in the Mediterranean are literally on fire, and the UK is experiencing drought, heatwaves, and excess deaths.

Although it’s been deservedly rubbished, Heath’s opinion has long been predicted by climate campaigners. He’s in the last stage of climate change denial – accepting that the climate is changing, but arguing that it’s too late and there’s nothing that can be done. Now that the effects of climate change are all around us, pretending that the science is still uncertain doesn’t work any more.

Despite the silliness of Heath’s call to enjoy a “Mediterranean climate,” many might agree with his argument that it’s too late. This attitude is called doomism. It’s wrong, and it’s dangerous. Wrong, because there’s a lot that we can to prevent a climate catastrophe. Wrong because a lot has already been done. Governments have been pressured and dragged into actions that have avoided millions of tons of harmful carbon emissions. As climate analyst Ketan Joshi says, government action means we’ve avoided the worse-case scenario. Government inaction means we’ve also avoided the best-case scenario.

Doomism is very convenient for fossil fuel companies who want to squeeze the last drop of profit out of business as usual. It’s dangerous, because if people just accept that climate harm is inevitable governments do nothing, and emissions don’t go down drastically, climate change will get a lot worse and many more people will die.

Another thing doomists like Allister Heath overlook is this: climate change doesn’t just happen for no reason. Climate change is happening because of capitalism and neoliberalism. Capitalism has one imperative, the search for higher returns on investment. Other things only matter if they’re in the way of higher returns.

Neoliberalism is the idea that capitalism works best unhindered by regulations or supervision, that ‘small government’ produces the best society. Capitalists love this idea because it makes their job of chasing higher returns easier. Neoliberalism makes putting profit first look like the moral thing to do.

In the name of ‘small government’ and less regulation, the neoliberal government of Margaret Thatcher privatised trains and water. Train prices are through the roof, and the privatisation of water has been a total disaster as the new owners saved money by skimping on maintenance and raising prices. Water is something the British are being asked to ration now.

What’s needed is action. Neoliberal capitalism has had its chance to fix climate change. Instead it has made it worse.

We can’t capitalism our way out of climate change. What’s needed is a system that’s run by the workers, who make up the majority. That’s what the Communist Party of Australia is working for.

 

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3. Federal budget discriminates against women

Graham Holton

The Australian government has argued that the 2026 - 27 budget used gender analysis to improve women’s economic security. These include tax cuts, child support reforms, paid parental leave measures, women’s health initiatives, and policies intended to increase workforce participation. The government claimed that millions of women will benefit from these measures.

Many economists, unions, and women’s advocacy groups argue otherwise. There is substantial evidence that the Federal budget is adversely affecting women. Insufficient spending on childcare, aged care, health care, disability support, and social housing will disproportionately affect them.

The Labor government’s 2026 - 27 Women’s Budget Statement notes that women perform most informal care for children, older Australians and people with disabilities, making them particularly vulnerable when support services are reduced. Nearly 91 per cent of early childhood education and care workers are women.

Many Australian welfare, disability and gender-equality organisations contend that women will bear a larger share of the budget’s social and economic consequences. Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) has strongly criticised the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) savings. Executive Director Carolyn Frohmader, and policy advocates within the organisation, argue that cuts to social and community participation supports would harm women and girls with disabilities by increasing isolation and exposure to abuse and violence.

WWDA said: “Women and girls with disability will be hit hardest.” Women with disabilities are already experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and further reductions could worsen those conditions.

Women are more likely to work part-time, take career breaks for caring responsibilities, rely on social services, and retire with less superannuation. Recent research from the Monash Centre for Financial Studies found that women approaching retirement generally have superannuation balances 20 - 30 per cent less than men. Analysts warn that spending ‘restraint’ affecting pensions or support programs could intensify financial insecurity among older women.

Women’s organisations and gender policy analysts argue that government spending on gender equality and violence prevention remains relatively small and that insufficient investment delays achieving equality. Trade unions representing care-sector workers argued that historically female-dominated occupations remain undervalued and have sought substantial wage increases to address gender-based inequities.

The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) argued that budget savings achieved through tax cuts and constrained welfare spending will increase gender inequality because women constitute a majority of income-support recipients.

ACOSS has called for stronger investment in ‘affordable’ housing, income support and care services. The Communist Party of Australia’s policy calls for massive investment in public housing.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has emphasised that women continue to perform a disproportionate share of unpaid work. This limits participation in full-time employment and contributes to lower lifetime earnings and retirement savings.

Older women are one of the fastest-growing groups at risk of homelessness. Years spent in unpaid caring work, part-time employment, divorce, widowhood and lower superannuation contribute to financial insecurity in retirement. Community organisations estimate that more than one-third of single women over 60 live in income poverty.

According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, women face particular disadvantages due to lower lifetime earnings, unequal caring responsibilities, and greater exposure to violence and housing insecurity.

Critics of the budget argue that women are concentrated in sectors dependent on government funding. Single mothers and older women are at greater risk of poverty. Women with disabilities face heightened risks from reductions in social supports. Existing gender gaps in pay and superannuation make women less able to absorb reductions in services and benefits.

While tax cuts that help women are welcome, ‘restraint’ and ‘responsible’ decisions that disproportionately affect women are not. A government that makes $386 billion (at a minimum) available for the AUKUS program is not a government that makes Australian women a priority.

 

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4. Health insurers throw their weight around

Peter Farmer

Many Australians know that healthcare in this country, while not perfect, is much better than in the USA. Accounts abound of US insurance companies charging a fortune and denying claims. Having to do something drastic in order to afford life-saving medical care is a stock device in US fiction, from The Incredibles to Breaking Bad.

One Australian writer has told the story of meeting a working class US citizen, a hairdresser. She was married to a man whose employer extended health insurance to the spouses of their workers. The hairdresser had stayed in a bad marriage for years for the insurance. When she finally left, she was asked what she would do for medical care. Her answer was “I pray, and I take vitamins.”

Health insurance companies have immense power in the US. To keep it that way, they routinely give six-figure sums to US presidential candidates.

Couldn’t happen here, right? Wrong. Insurance companies are working hard to get into the Australian health system. They’re already here, thanks to the Medicare levy surcharge. Many Australians feel that they have no choice but to have private health insurance.

Still, you’re sweet if you’ve got health insurance, aren’t you?

A recent report from the ABC casts doubt on this. Private health insurance companies have been pressuring medical specialists to release far too much detail on confidential patient information. The Australian Private Hospitals Association has described the insurers’ audit practices as “aggressive.”

Insurers often get permission to access medical records by inserting permission into the terms and privacy policy punters sign up for when they buy insurance.

One physiotherapist reported Bupa asking him to release patient details regardless of patient consent. Facing deregistration if he violated patient privacy, he refused. The company threatened him with having to repay up to $300,000 in benefits. A dentist has reported a company sending in unqualified auditors to review patient histories.

Insurers claim that this “friction” is important to reduce the cost of claims. It’s significant that the physio who spoke to the ABC don’t want to be named because they’re scared of the insurers.

What this shows is private insurance companies flexing their muscle. The auditors who visited the dentist cited above weren’t medically qualified because for those companies it’s all about the money.

A US-style health system would be a nightmare, but it’s not an impossibility. What this country needs is a fully funded public system.

 

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5. Segal weaponises antisemitism definition

FK

Commissioner Virginia Bell, who is running the antisemitism Royal Commission, has acknowledged that parts of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism were “contentious.”

She’s not wrong, although that didn’t stop her from World-famous human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson KC has said that “the looseness of the definition is liable to chill legitimate criticisms of the state of Israel and coverage of human rights abuses against Palestinians.” He calls the definition “not fit for purpose.”

Jeffrey Loewenstein, former  member of the Victorian Bar and a one-time Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission and member of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, has written in Deepcut that the definition is “so wide that it is possible to drive a truck through it.”

He’s not wrong. The definition includes “rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism ... directed towards Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property.”

Jillian Segal, appointed as Australia’s antisemitism envoy, has no background in the study of antisemitism. What she does have is a firm opinion that criticism of Israel amounts to antisemitism.

Segal is a former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), a member of pro-Israel lobby groups, and a one-time chairwoman of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Loewenstein says that Segal has embarked on making the IHRA definition adopted Australia-wide. She has recommended that the IHRA definition be adopted by “all levels of government, public institutions and regulatory bodies.” What Segal is after is making it unacceptable for Australians to have a negative view of Israel.

According to Loewenstein, some 200 world-wide renowned scholars on the Holocaust and antisemitism have trenchantly criticised the IHRA definition. They’ve put forward their own definition, the Jerusalem Declaration of Antisemitism (JDA).

The JDA definition is very simply:

“Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish).”

Segal has persuaded the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) to adopt the IHRA definition. Already nurses and other health workers are reporting that they’re scared of speaking out for Palestine and coming to the attention of those pro-Israel that make it their business to threaten the livelihood of anyone who speaks up against the ongoing genocide.

The Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation (ANMF), Australia’s largest trade union, has said it is concerned that the IHRA definition may conflate legitimate criticism of Israel with antisemitism more broadly.

 

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6. Native title holders win High Court challenge over NT water licence

Dechlan Brennan

The High Court has ruled in favour of the Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) in its long-running challenge to the groundwater licence granted to a horticulture company seeking to grow fruit and vegetables south of Tennant Creek.

Fortune Agribusiness’s proposal would transform the property into one of Australia’s largest fruit farms, extracting up to 40 gigalitres of groundwater from Singleton Station each year once fully operational.

The water would be sourced from an underground aquifer accessed by bores on the station. In submissions to the court, MAC noted the volume of groundwater extracted over 30 years would be equivalent to draining Sydney Harbour twice over.

“Experts value the water at between $70 million and $300 million, yet the NT government is granting the licence free of charge to Fortune Agribusiness. The company plans to use the precious water to grow crops, largely for international export,” a statement said.

Over the past four years, MAC has unsuccessfully challenged the licence in the Northern Territory Supreme Court and Court of Appeal before taking the matter to the High Court.

Lawyers for MAC argued the Minister at the time erred in granting a 30-year licence, rather than the standard 10-year term, by failing to properly justify the decision. They also argued the Minister “failed to consider a mandatory relevant consideration, namely the protection of Aboriginal cultural values in a manner that was sufficient to comply with s 90(1) of the Water Act.”

The Northern Territory government had argued the legislation did not require the Minister to consider any cultural values impact assessment.

The High Court unanimously ruled the licence had been unlawfully granted.

“It is plain from the statutory scheme that Parliament considered that a grant of a licence to exploit the water resources of the Northern Territory for more than ten years was an important issue which would require the particular and active attention of either the Controller or, upon review, the Minister,” the court said.

“That did not occur here.”

The court ruled the Minister “failed to address herself to the relevant statutory question and so failed to discharge her statutory function according to law.”

“Without that opinion having been formed, a water extraction licence for a period exceeding ten years could not be granted.”

The High Court quashed the licence and referred the matter back to the relevant NT Minister for reconsideration, and will have to take into account the NT’s relevant environmental processes. The Northern Territory government must also pay MAC’s appeal costs relating to procedural fairness.

Native title holder Valerie Curtis said the journey had been long, but “we wasn’t going to give up.”

National Indigenous Times (edited for space)

 

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7. DINGO

African nations have been urged to step up preparations for what could become one of the strongest El Niño events on record, say scientists. Climate scientists have issued a warning that heavy rains, floods, droughts and other extreme weather conditions could trigger widespread humanitarian and economic impacts across the continent from October.

Forecasts point to the likelihood of a strong El Niño developing later this year, prompting governments and regional institutions to accelerate disaster preparedness measures to reduce the risks posed by flooding, food insecurity, water shortages and disease outbreaks.

According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) forecasts from leading global climate centres indicate that seasonal-average sea-surface temperature anomalies are expected to exceed 2.9 degrees Celsius in key monitoring regions, signalling the development of a strong El Niño event.

The WMO also forecasts a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, a climate pattern in which the western Indian Ocean is warmer than average while the eastern Indian Ocean is cooler.

Combined with a strengthening El Niño, the two climate phenomena are expected to intensify weather extremes, increasing the risk of drought and flooding, particularly across African countries bordering the Indian Ocean basin.

Moses Vilakati, the African Union commissioner for agriculture, rural development, blue economy and sustainable environment, warned the projected El Niño could be the strongest since 1950.

Vilakati said: “These impacts will not only affect vulnerable households; they will also place considerable pressure on national economies, public finances, and regional stability.”

He said lessons from the 2023-24 El Niño, which affected more than 71 million people across southern Africa, should serve as a call for urgency, preparedness, and collective action. That El Niño led to devastating floods, displaced communities and destroyed infrastructure.

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PARASITE OF THE WEEK: the Queensland government.

Community members rallied outside Queensland’s Parliament last week calling on the LNP government to withdraw legislation that would give Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie sweeping powers to fast-track major development projects by bypassing environmental assessments and seizing private property.

More than 300 farmers and regional residents have signed an open letter, urging the government to walk back the State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026.

The Bill would have wide-reaching powers. Beyond critical minerals, it would affect all proposed coal, gas, tourism, mining, and infrastructure projects.

Nearly 90% of 90 submissions were critical of the bill, including from Property Rights Australia, the Queensland Farmers Federation, the Queensland Law Society and Cotton Australia.

Maggie Mckeown, Queensland Coordinator of anti-fossil fuels activists Lock the Gate Alliance said: “This bill is a dangerous power grab by the Deputy Premier. It would remove rights from farmers and landholders, and tip the power balance far too strongly in the favour of big developers.

“Landholders and communities could be locked out of their right to scrutinise the impacts of development projects. The LNP once represented regional Queenslanders, but the way they’re rushing through these laws without consulting farmers shows how much they’re willing to sacrifice to support big business interests.

“The public hearing, which was held at short notice in Mackay, was stacked with mining industry representatives. Farmers, First Nations groups and communities haven’t had a meaningful opportunity to raise their concerns.

“That’s why hundreds of farmers have written an open letter calling on the Deputy Premier and Queensland government to withdraw these dangerous laws, and restart with a genuine process of community consultation.”

Anthony Gough, Acting Director, Queensland Conservation Council said: “Conservationists around the state have grave concerns about this bill. There are protections in place to safeguard Queensland’s land, water and communities. But if this bill passes through parliament, those safeguards could be stripped away.

“This bill would be a disaster for Queensland’s precious environments and the communities and industries that rely on it.”

 

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8. Victoria erodes human rights in prisons

The Victorian government has passed a Bill in the Lower House which strips away one of the most basic human rights for people in Victorian prisons. The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) strongly opposes this legislation which will allow Corrections Victoria to deny people access to fresh air based on the vague and open-ended excuse of “operational considerations.”

VALS calls the passing of the bill an egregious display of carelessness, making one thing clear – the government and the opposition have a fundamental inability to care about risk to Aboriginal lives. If passed, this legislation will have an immense impact on Aboriginal people, who continue to be overrepresented in the criminal legal system as a result of regressive policy reform, system failures, and racist policing practices.

For more than 18 months, VALS says, Corrections Victoria has abused the use of “operational considerations” to force lockdowns on a rolling basis due to staffing shortages. VALS clients have told of extended periods of confinement to their cells, interrupting their access to programs, visitations, medical and legal appointments as well as access to cultural, social and emotional wellbeing activities – all things that are paramount when it comes to rehabilitation.

Throughout this time, there has been an alarming rise in self-harm incidents and suicide attempts across a number of prisons since these lockdowns began.

VALS puts it plainly: “We are scared, our communities are scared, people inside are scared – they are fearful that they will die from these lockdowns.” The right to open air, often only granted for 1 hour a day, can be lifesaving. It is unconscionable to strip that away.

The Corrections Amendment Bill is not compatible with the Statewide Treaty agreement between this government and First Peoples. As shared in the Bill’s Statement of Compatibility with the Statewide Treaty, this government did not meet or consult with the newly appointed First Peoples Assembly representatives. First Peoples have engaged in this process in good faith, yet the first opportunity this government has where legislation will have a profound impact on the lives of Aboriginal people, they chose to not even listen.

The Bill was passed in the same week that human rights advocates were celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the Charter of Human Rights.

Nerita Waight, CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service has called the Bill “unconscionable” and urged Ben Carroll, the new Premier to scrap it. She added “Corrections already use and abuse this excuse of ‘operational considerations’ to limit the rights of people in their care. This Bill gives them a license to withhold access to the most basic of rights, stripping away the wellbeing and dignity of people in prison.”

“Shame on this government,” Waight added, “for their complete disregard for basic human rights.”

Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service

 

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9. Man prosecuted over Gaza emails

Michael West

A Palestine activist has been charged with a criminal offence, faces 5 years in jail and has driving restrictions on his Uber for pestering his local MP over Gaza with email.

Austin Mackell spent four months emailing and phoning his Blue Mountains federal MP, Susan Templeman, pressing her to speak publicly against the war in Gaza, beginning with the killing of fifteen Red Crescent and Civil Defence paramedics.

Police assessed the conduct three times while it was happening, explicitly describing it as non-criminal.

The last of these assessments, where an AFP officer told Mackell “I genuinely don’t see you as a criminal, I see you as someone who is passionate about the cause” and asked him to “continue to be mindful,” was via phone on 24 July. Austin recorded the call and posted it to Instagram immediately.

On 25 July 2025, Templeman published a statement calling what is happening to Gaza’s children “indefensible.”

Mackell left a thank-you voicemail that morning and stopped contacting her. The last item in the prosecution’s own brief, as evidence of a crime, is that message, which is Austin thanking her and her staff and wishing them well.

On 6 February 2026, however, six months after the final voicemail, but only three days before the visit of Israeli president Herzog to Australia (the occasion of a massive crackdown on Palestine activism) he was served with a notice to attend court, charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass, or offend. The alleged victim was Mackell’s local member.

In June 2025, an AFP officer stood at Austin Mackell’s Katoomba door and told him, on video, “we understand there’s no offences here.” Eight months later, the AFP charged him.

Templeman is a member of Parliamentary Friends of Palestine.

Michael West Report

 

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10. Cuban solidarity in Adelaide

Ron Hall

Australia-Cuba-Friendship Society members in Adelaide are determined to support the Cuban people in their  stand against the world’s mightiest war machine.

ACSF recently held a walk from Tarntanyangga, Victoria Square, through the lunchtime crowd in Central Market to the tune of Guantanamera, with the Cuban flag prominent.

Leaflets were distributed condemning the genocidal economic blockade of the small island nation in their brave stand against the monstrous maniac to their north. This support action formed part of the on-going “To Cuba With Love Campaign” that has raised thousands of dollars to help provide Cubans with essential medical supplies and other necessary equipment denied them by the US.

The march concluded at the office of Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, where ACFS SA President, Dave Lock, delivered a letter expressing concern over Australia’s recent abstention vote in the United Nations General Assembly regarding Cuba.

In the letter, ACFS SA Secretary, Dominique Lock challenged the Australian government’s excuses, particularly on the issue of human rights, when Australia has received severe criticism from the UN for its appalling record in its duty of care for Australian First Nations citizens.

ACFS SA will keep members and friends informed of the Foreign Minister’s response. Her presence at the Garma Festival at the time may indicate a concern for Indigenous peoples.

We all look forward to a positive response.

 

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11. Government folds on gambling reform

Peter Farmer

After more than 1,000 days of silence, the federal government has finally responded to the recommendations to the Murphy Report into online gambling.

Typically, rather than implement the Murphy report, the Albanese government has tried to have a bit both ways by banning some but not all gambling advertisements and leaving inducements untouched.

Martin Thomas, CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform says it seemed the government saw this issue as too difficult and too sensitive, given the powerful interests involved.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that Australia needed to do more to stop children being exposed to gambling ads and to break the nexus between betting and sport, but he went on to leave children exposed to three gambling ads per hour.

“Can you imagine allowing three cigarette ads every hour?” asks Thomas.

The government also did not ban inducements. Lurid stories of high-value gamblers being offered drugs, escorts, and travel abound in the media at the moment. A less spectacular but more widespread issue is potentially thousands of problem gamblers are encouraged to keep coming back with incentives such as free bets.

Australians are literally the biggest gambling losers in the world. Thomas says this is not because Aussies like a punt more than people in other countries, but because we have “some of the weakest legal protections and some of the weakest enforcement.”

 

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12. Australian unions support Palestine

Graham Holton

Australian trade unions are one of the most prominent advocates for Palestinian rights in Australia, combining humanitarian advocacy with political lobbying and participation in public demonstrations.

Unions have supported the Palestinian cause since the 1970s, including self-determination, and aspects of the international Boycott, and the Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Unions have hosted Palestinian trade union delegations, and passed conference resolutions supporting Palestinian rights. They have been among the most active supporters since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October 2023.

Among the unions that have publicly expressed support for Palestinian rights or ceasefire campaigns are the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Australia’s peak union body, which has called for peace, protection of civilians and humanitarian relief.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has a long history of international solidarity campaigns, including Palestine. It participated in the 2024 Port Botany action and called for an arms embargo and sanctions against Israel.

The MUA has been particularly active in maintaining links with Palestinian trade unions and international labour organisations. The Australian Services Union (ASU) SA/NT branch has called for Australia to end military ties with Israel, support the BDS movement, and allow union members to participate in workplace and public action for Palestine.

The Australian union movement has developed an organised network, AUSPalestine, which promotes pro-Palestinian policies within Australian unions and the ACTU. Branches of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) have participated in solidarity campaigns. Branches of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) supported Palestinian solidarity statements and campus actions.

Some branches of the Australian Education Union (AEU) have endorsed ceasefire and humanitarian campaigns. A number of branches and members of the Health Services Union (HSU) and Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) have participated in humanitarian advocacy and demonstrations.

Unions have adopted support for sanctions against Israel and the recognition of Palestine. Some have focused on humanitarian concerns and avoiding political division among members. This support included the call for an immediate ceasefire, the protection of civilians, and compliance with international humanitarian law. During the 200,000-strong 2025 Sydney Harbour Bridge march, unions were among the organisations publicly supporting the protest.

Unions have urged the Australian government to formally recognise the State of Palestine, support a permanent ceasefire, and increase humanitarian aid to Gaza. Some maritime, manufacturing and transport union members have supported campaigns opposing the handling of military-related cargo connected with Israel, where there is a risk of contributing to violations of international law.

Australian unions have made expressions of solidarity and protests rather than the large-scale port shutdowns. A number of unions have organised donations for humanitarian organisations providing medical care and relief to civilians in Gaza.

Such actions have not been taken lightly by Israeli officials. In August 2025, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar attacked the Sydney Harbour Bridge demonstration, describing what he called an alliance between the radical left and fundamentalist Islam. Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel also strongly attacked Australian participants.

Health unions and their members might not be speaking up as much, now that the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency has adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which includes criticism of Israel amongst its ‘examples.’ Health workers are already worried about speaking out.

 

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13. Tasmania’s pigheaded bosses

Maritime workers responsible for the safe operation of Tasmania’s ports have commenced lawful protected industrial action after months of unsuccessful enterprise bargaining negotiations with TasPorts.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), alongside the Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU), has been negotiating a replacement Enterprise Agreement covering Launch Masters and Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) Officers.

The MUA Tasmania Branch Secretary, Alisha Bull, said that “despite months of discussions, TasPorts has failed to put forward an offer that recognises the vital role these highly skilled, safety-critical workers perform every day.”

The Fair Work Commission has approved the unions’ application for Protected Industrial Action. It marks the first time MUA members employed by TasPorts have been pushed to take protected industrial action by the recalcitrance and pigheadedness of their bosses.

Launch Masters and Vessel Traffic Service Officers are responsible for keeping Tasmania’s maritime industry operating safely across the state’s 11 commercial ports. They coordinate vessel movements, protect lives, safeguard the marine environment and support the industries that underpin Tasmania’s economy.

Launch Masters provide a 24-four hour, seven day a week service, to ensure vessels can safely enter and depart Tasmanian ports.

Despite the critical nature of their work, TasPorts continues to offer little more than CPI-level wage increases while refusing to make meaningful progress on the issues workers have consistently identified as priorities.

Union members are seeking fair wage increases that properly recognise their qualifications, experience and responsibilities, pay rates that are comparable with equivalent maritime workers interstate, the introduction of an even-time roster for Launch Masters to provide a sustainable work-life balance, and an increase in employer superannuation from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent, bringing marine employees into line with industry standards and other TasPorts employees.

Instead, TasPorts has pursued what members describe as a “no change” agenda across almost every substantive claim over a proposed four-year agreement.

After months of bargaining, workers have grown increasingly frustrated by what they see as repeated excuses, unnecessary delays and a lack of genuine engagement from management.

The consequences extend well beyond this bargaining round. Staff morale has deteriorated significantly, experienced employees are questioning their future with the organisation, and there are growing concerns about TasPorts’ ability to recruit and retain the skilled workforce needed to safely operate Tasmania’s ports into the future.

Bull said: “TasPorts should be investing in the workers whose knowledge, skill and commitment keep the state’s ports operating around the clock. Instead, it risks driving away experienced maritime professionals while expecting those who remain to shoulder ever-increasing responsibilities.”

The company’s bargaining position is made even more difficult for workers to understand when viewed alongside TasPorts’ own public reporting.

“TasPorts has continued increasing charges to port users year after year while publicly promoting strong financial performance and results exceeding budget expectations. At the same time, its remuneration disclosures reveal substantial salary increases for senior executives, with some executive pay rising by almost nine per cent in a single year,” Bull said.

The company’s own half-year financial report also records a reduction in employee costs. “Workers rightly question why there always appears to be money available for executive salaries while the employees who keep Tasmania’s ports operating safely are told they should accept little more than inflation.”

The MUA has underlined the fact that its members have not taken the decision to commence industrial action lightly, that industrial action is always a last resort and members would much rather reach a fair negotiated agreement than withdraw their labour. But after months of respectful bargaining, TasPorts has left workers with little alternative,” Bull said.

The MUA and the AMOU remain committed to reaching an agreement and stand ready to continue negotiations at any time.

TasPorts now has an opportunity to return to the bargaining table with a fair and reasonable offer that properly values the workers who keep Tasmania’s ports operating safely every hour of every day.

Maritime Union Australia

 

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14. Media union campaigns for live music

The growing use of recorded music in ballet productions is part of a broader trend that threatens the future of live performance in Australia.

Across the performing arts, producers are increasingly replacing live musicians with technology and pre-recorded soundtracks. Every time a live orchestra is removed from a production, audiences lose something essential and professional musicians lose opportunities to work, create, and contribute to Australia’s cultural life.

In the space of a single year, Adelaide audiences alone have seen productions by major ballet presenters including West Australian Ballet, The Australian Ballet’s touring program, and other commercial ballet producers rely on recorded soundtracks rather than live musicians. More recently, this includes the Australian Ballet On Tour production replacing musicians with recorded music in Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Darwin. What should be an exception is at risk of becoming normalised.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) says this is about more than jobs. Live music is a fundamental part of the artistic relationship between music and dance. The interaction between dancers and musicians creates a performance that is unique, responsive, and genuinely live. When recorded music replaces live accompaniment, audiences are denied a vital element of the art form and musicians lose opportunities to practise their craft.

We recognise that companies often distinguish between their mainstage productions and regional touring programs. However, that distinction cannot become an excuse for lower artistic expectations in capital cities around Australia. Audiences deserve the same commitment to artistic integrity that ballet companies rightly champion elsewhere.

Lachlan Bramble, musician and MEAA President for Musicians for SA and NT, says that publicly funded institutions such as The Australian Ballet have a responsibility to present ballet with artistic integrity, and that requires live musicians.

“The relationship between live music and live dance is not incidental to ballet. It is one of the defining features of the art form. The collaboration between dancers and musicians creates performances that are responsive, dynamic, and unique. Recorded music cannot replicate that artistic exchange,” said Bramble.

Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance

 

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15. Garma debate sharpens focus on Closing the Gap

Dechlan Brennan

Discussions at the recent Garma Festival reinforce the need for governments to focus on implementing the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, rather than creating a new agenda, according to the Coalition of Peaks.

The comments come as Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe slammed the festival for allowing Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, whose government has overseen legislative changes that have sparked outrage among First Nations leaders, to speak.

The 26th annual Garma Festival at the Gulkula ceremonial site on Yolŋu Country in northeast Arnhem Land brought together politicians, community leaders and Elders over the weekend. It was held only days after the release of the Productivity Commission’s 2026 Closing the Gap report, which found that, of the 15 targets assessed, only three are on track to be met: employment, land and sea rights, and legal rights and interests.

In a landmark achievement, a fourth target – preschool enrolment (Target 3) – has already been met, with more than 95 per cent of First Nations children now enrolled, up from 61.3 per cent in 2016.

Five targets – life expectancy, Year 12 or equivalent attainment, tertiary qualifications, youth engagement in employment or education, and appropriately sized housing – are improving but remain off track. Meanwhile, suicide rates, adult imprisonment, children in out-of-home care, and the proportion of children developmentally on track continue to worsen.

CLOSING THE GAP THE PATHWAY

In a recent statement, Coalition of Peaks Lead Convenor Donnella Mills said the Closing the Gap agenda, developed jointly by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak organisations and all Australian governments in 2020, provides a proven roadmap based on genuine partnership, shared decision-making and strengthening community-controlled organisations.

She said the latest Productivity Commission report was clear that “where governments have started sharing power with communities, progress has followed,” but acknowledged concerns raised by Aboriginal leaders about the pace of the Closing the Gap reforms deserved attention.

“When respected Aboriginal leaders express concern about the trajectory of Closing the Gap, those concerns should not be dismissed. They should be examined carefully,” she said.

“We know too many targets are not improving, and in some cases outcomes are going backwards. While responsibility for many service systems rests with states and territories, national leadership is essential if governments are to respond collectively and urgently.

“The question is not what comes after the Voice. The question is whether governments are prepared to deliver the commitments they have already made under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.”

National Indigenous Times (edited for space)

 

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16. GREEN NOTES

Australia’s wild orchid populations collapse

Graham Holton

Orchids are more than exotic and pretty flowers hanging from trees, or growing on the ground. They are excellent ‘bioindicators’ of the health of a forest. In southeast Queensland scientists are using native orchid populations to determine the ecosystem’s health.

Ecologists combine orchid data with soil testing, insect surveys, and vegetation analysis to determine a forest’s ecological health. Since these plants are unusually sensitive to change, orchid populations signal environmental degradation far earlier than many other organisms.

A CSIRO report has shown that the pollination of orchids in Australia has fallen 60 per cent since the 1970s. This loss of orchids correlates with urbanisation, land clearing, changes in fire regimes, invasive species, and other factors.

Orchids depend simultaneously on fungi, pollinators, and stable microclimates. The decline in orchid species numbers often signals system-wide environmental stress. Orchids function like ecological canaries in the coal mine. The presence, absence, or condition of orchids reveals much about the impact of climate change, deforestation, and modern farming methods on the local environment.

Urbanisation has reduced habitats throughout Australia, especially along the coastal heathlands and euclypt forests. When orchid populations decrease or disappear, it can point to changes in temperature or rainfall, land use and habitat fragmentation, soil degradation, or chemical pollution from agriculture. It results in a loss of microbial life which produces a loss of ecological interactions between fungi and pollinators, and this impacts orchid reproduction.

Many orchid species rely on a specific, or a very narrow group, of pollinators. To attract them, orchids use specific scents, colours, and shapes. The loss of a single species of pollinator means the orchids are not able to pollinate. Some orchids chemically mimic the pheromones of female insects, tricking males into attempting to mate with the flower. Other species flower only during short windows of time when their pollinator is active. If there is a loss of insects due to pesticides or climate change this tight ecological coupling means orchids may not be able to compensate and will fail to reproduce.

Australia’s family of orchids (Orchidaceae) consist of 1,800 orchid species with 90 per cent not found anywhere else in the world. Many orchids (epiphytic, lithophytic, and terrestrial) have very specific needs in light intensity (direct sun to dappled forest shade), moisture and humidity, soil composition, or host trees for epiphytes. This makes them vulnerable to deforestation, urban expansion and wetland destruction. Even small environmental shifts can wipe out local populations.

As epiphytic orchids absorb water and nutrients directly from the air, they are highly sensitive to air pollution, such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Their disappearance can indicate deteriorating air quality in forests or urban fringes, due to dust and particulate matter.

Most ground-dwelling orchids rely on symbiosis with fungi to germinate and survive. As their seeds contain almost no nutrients, they depend on specific fungi in the soil. If the soil chemistry changes because of pollution, fertilisers, or mining, the fungi can die off or shift elsewhere. Without the fungi, orchids cannot germinate or persist.

More than 200 of Australia’s orchids are at risk of extinction. There are working to propagate threatened species and if you’re in Naarm/Melbourne you could do worse than volunteer at the Botanic Gardens there for the ‘growing group.’

 

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17. Party self-reform and Marxist theory

Roland Boer

Around the first of July, 2026, I was invited to participate in more than half a dozen television interviews and panels. The topic: the CPC’s 105th anniversary. Why all the activity on such an anniversary?

The underlying reason is that the Party has been undergoing almost fifteen years of thoroughgoing rectification and reform, or what is today known literally as “self-revolution,” but which is better rendered in English as “self-reform.” This has also been a period of significant developments in Marxist theory.

The two are closely related: major theoretical developments and breakthroughs take place during periods of more focused and intense self-reform. True, a Communist Party must always self-correct, rectify erroneous tendencies, and identify once again the original inspiration and mission, which is of course communism. However, at certain times a more thoroughgoing process of self-reform needs to take place.

This is precisely what has happened with the CPC since late 2012, after the eighteenth Party congress of that year. Let us consider some history.

Back in the first half of the 1940s, we saw the “Rectification Movement.” This was the culmination of an earlier period of study, lectures, and research in the later 1930s, the work of the Yan’an New Philosophy Association, and the preparations for a new phase of revolutionary and anti-colonial struggle. By the early 1940s, it was clear that rectification and reform of the Party needed to happen.

During this important period, there was an emphasis on correcting work styles, methods of investigation and study, the functioning of Party branches and committees, a deeper understanding of Marxist theory and practice, and much more.

What was the result? In 1945 Mao Zedong Thought was officially recognised as the leading theoretical framework for the Party. The theoretical breakthrough was as profound as it was straightforward: the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s concrete realities. This has come to be known as the “first integration.”

This historical example provides an analogy for what has happened with the CPC since 2012. Not long after the Eighteenth Congress in early November of that year, the “Eight-Point Regulation” was promulgated and it may be summarised as follows: improving the quality of investigation and research, streamlining meetings and activities, simplifying documents and briefings, regulating travel and visits, minimising security protocols so as to cause minimal disruption, improving news reporting, strictly regulating the publication of documents, and practising diligence and thrift.

Simple and yet profound, these regulations marked the beginning of one of the most comprehensive processes of self-reform in the Party’s history. The aim has been a thorough improvement of the work-style of Party members, from grassroots branches and organisations to the highest level. With one set of regulations after another, fostering new talent, focusing on strict rules and promoting diligent work-style, and re-integrating the Party with all levels of society, governance, and economic activity, the result  is notable.

I can attest from first-hand experience and a significant amount of research how grassroots Party secretaries, branches, and committees are trusted by the locals, how they live simple lives at no higher standard than those with whom they work, and focus on the tasks at hand with full accountability.

This brings us back to the theoretical breakthroughs in Marxism. A little before the first of July in 2026, the first two volumes of Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Party Building were published. This collection embodies what is known as “Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building.” These works may be added to thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, on culture, on political economy, and on governance. Together, these works are a significant theoretical advance in the practice of Marxism so as to provide a valuable reference point for the future.

Self-revolution, self-reform, rectification – the terms may vary, the times differ, but the principle remains: periods of profound self-reform of the Party are also periods of significant breakthroughs in Marxist theory.

How to summarise the theoretical achievements of the last 15 year? Perhaps we can put it this way: the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s concrete realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture. The shorthand is the “two integrations.”

 

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18. What did the unions ever do for you?

Graham Holton

What did the unions ever do for you? Plenty! Some of the most significant improvements in the lives of Australians were achieved by unions. The list includes the eight-hour day, the five-day working week, paid annual leave, paid sick leave, long service leave, penalty rates, minimum wages, redundancy pay, superannuation, workers’ compensation, workplace health and safety laws, equal pay, unfair dismissal protections, maternity and parental leave, stronger anti-discrimination protections, and much more.

Many workplace rights were won by trade union campaigns, negotiating with political parties, governments, courts, and community organisations. Unions were the driving force in initiating changes that courts later embedded into law. Also, unions campaigned for broader social achievements beyond the workplace. These include universal healthcare (Medicare), public education, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, and retirement income security.

Since the 1990s, unions have negotiated Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs) that provide benefits beyond the legal minimum. These include higher wages, additional leave, better redundancy provisions, improved parental leave, professional development, and enhanced consultation rights.

Recent bargaining campaigns helped secure flexible working arrangements, family and domestic violence leave, better rostering practices, mental health initiatives, and the ‘right to disconnect’ into federal workplace law.

The first major union achievement in Australia was the Eight-Hour Day (1850s–1860s), making Australia one of the first countries in the world to establish the eight-hour day in many industries. Workers campaigned for 8 hours work, 8 hours recreation, and 8 hours rest. Before this, 10 - 14 hour working days were common. The campaign was mentioned by Lenin, who paid attention to developments here.

Up until the 1960s Australians worked six days a week. You enjoy a two-day weekend because unions campaigned for paid holidays and annual leave. Most full-time employees now receive four weeks paid annual leave, with five weeks in some shift-working industries.

Australia pioneered long service leave after union advocacy and legislation. Paid personal (sick) leave was won through industrial campaigns and incorporated into awards and legislation. Union and labour movement campaigns contributed to the recognition and expansion of paid public holidays.

Major campaigns resulted in the recognition that women should receive equal pay for work of equal or comparable value equal pay for women, removing many discriminatory wage scales. For decades unions campaigned for maternity leave, first unpaid then paid, as well as protection against dismissal due to pregnancy. Then government-funded paid parental leave was introduced. Employer-funded paid parental leave is now part of many EBAs. Present campaigns are to support parental leave for both parents.

Union campaigns helped achieve safety legislation, workplace inspections, health and safety representatives, protective equipment, training requirements, safer machinery, and hazard reporting systems. Fatal workplace injuries have declined substantially, with regulation, technology, employer practices, and worker awareness contributing.

Unions advocated for compensation for workers injured at the work place, including medical expenses, income replacement, rehabilitation, and compensation for permanent impairment. Australia was one of first countries to have an enforceable minimum wage. Unions secured penalty rates through industrial awards and bargaining, to get higher pay for night work, weekend work, public holidays, and overtime.

Unions have supported campaigns for workplace protections against discrimination based on sex, race, disability, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation and family responsibilities. Unions helped improve apprenticeship wages, training standards, qualification frameworks, and licensing requirements in skilled trades.

Workers receive redundancy entitlements if their position is made redundant, subject to legal eligibility and employer size. These protections developed through industrial cases and legislation, with unions playing an important advocacy role.

Today most workers have legal protections against unfair dismissal, achieved through industrial tribunals and legislation, with sustained union support. Trade unions also advocated for restrictions on child labour, compulsory education, and minimum working ages.

It’s important to remember that none of the good conditions mentioned here enforce themselves. Every day unions fight to keep and improve conditions. If you’re working, join yours!

 

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19. Worth Streaming: Frame by Frame

Reviewer: Graham Holton

This year’s NAIDOC Week from 5-12 July, marked fifty years of the official national movement, celebrating the strength, vision, and the legacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. What better way to celebrate those cultures than being immersed in them through watching the acclaimed documentary series Frame by Frame?

Noted filmmaker Rachel Perkins (Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman) hosts the show, holding intimate conversations with leading First Nations filmmakers and screen storytellers, opening them up on their heritage, creative process, and career journeys.

The series explores creative vision, cultural legacy, and industry, with an emphasis on artistic and social practice. The series has great cultural significance, centring on Indigenous perspectives and truth-telling; how they broke down barriers and shaped Australian screen culture in the process.

Directors discuss the obstacles they faced in financing their films and talk about how they balanced artistry with commercial pressures, all while representing communities that have often been overlooked by mainstream Australian cinema. These reflections offer insights into the structural challenges of film making, as well as the resilience needed to maintain a film/stage career.

The series allows the interviewees to reflect on their personal experiences and cultural backgrounds, and how that shaped their filmmaking. Among the notable interviewees are Leah Purcell (Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri woman), Sally Riley (Wiradjuri woman), and Erica Glynn.

Purcell discusses her stage and screen career, and her commitment to truth-telling through Blak perspectives. Riley examines her work and contributions to First Nations storytelling, and Glynn delves into her creative process and iconic short films.

The interviews reveal that films do not emerge in isolation, but are products of political events, family histories, technological change, and cultural identity. Storytelling is important in its preservation of memory, challenging the dominant historical narratives taught in this country. This makes the series valuable for students of film, media, and Australian cultural history.

Anyone interested in our film history, documentary studies, or Australian culture, will find this fascinating series rewarding. It encourages viewers to think critically about why films matter so much in this country, creating something different to the US product dominates our screens.

A delightful and entertaining series.

5 out of 5 red stars.

Frame by Frame can be streamed from SBS Ondemand.

 

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20. Learning from Karl Marx’s favourite novels

Graham Holton

We know from Karl Marx’s letters, family’s reminiscences, and accounts by his contemporaries, that he was a voracious and wide-ranging reader. For Marx, great literature could express the dynamics of society in ways that abstract theory could not. He valued novels that combined literary excellence, and psychologically convincing characters with insight into social conditions in Europe.

For Marx, the great realist novelists illuminated the dynamics of class relations, the power of money in capitalist society, social mobility and ambition, exploitation and poverty, and the contradictions between appearance and actuality.

These novels with their penetrating depictions of societies explained economic concepts, class relations, and the contradictions of capitalist society. They revealed class relationships through everyday life, while depicting historical change and social conflict. We can learn a lot from reading the books Marx admired and quoted often in his writings.

Marx wrote a series of articles for the New York Tribune from 1852 to 1861. In 1854 he wrote that the Victorian realist: “revealed more political and social truths to the world than have all the politicians, publicists, and moralists added together, has pictured all sections of the middle class, beginning with the ‘respectable’ rentier and owner of government stocks, who looks down on all kinds of ‘business’ as being vulgar, and finishing with the small shopkeeper and lawyer’s clerk.”

One of Marx’s favourites was Miguel de Cervantes’s 1605 classic Don Quixote, quoting it frequently. There is far more to the book than a comical portrayal of a deluded man charging a windmill, Cervantes wrote a satire on the rigid, cynical social order of 17th century Spain. Marx used Don Quixote as a metaphor for ideas surviving beyond the social conditions that originally produced them.

Marx regarded Honoré de Balzac as the greatest novelist of 19th century French capitalist society. Balzac was a French novelist and playwright regarded as a founder of literary realism. La Comédie humaine, a 1829 - 1848 multi-volume collection, especially Old Goriot, revealed the workings of bourgeois society more accurately than many economists or historians. Friedrich Engels remarked that he learned more from Balzac about French society than from professional historians. Balzac exposed the corrupting influence of money and property, in his portrayal of the rise of the French bourgeoisie.

Marx knew William Shakespeare’s writings exceptionally well, quoting him more than almost any other author. The Merchant of Venice and Timon of Athens helped Marx visualise the destructive power of money. He used the character of Shylock to explain how early capitalism turned human worth and social bonds into cold, calculating market transactions.

Marx learned Russian in his 50s in order to read Russian books in the original while researching Russian agriculture. He enjoyed Nikolai Gogol, specifically appreciating his sharp satirical treatment of bureaucracy and social corruption in Dead Souls (1842) and the short story The Overcoat (1842). Marx admired Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin (1825-1832), known as the cornerstone of nineteenth-century classical Russian literature, exploring life, death, social convention, and passion.

Marx admired Charles Dickens’ Hard Times, Bleak House and The Pickwick Papers for exposing poverty, industrial exploitation, and legal injustice. Hard Times aligned closely with his critique of industrial capitalism, factory life, and utilitarian thinking (the idea that human pleasure and pain can be quantified numerically). Marx writes in Capital that Dickens exposed more of the hidden tragedies of industrial life, child labour, and class snobbery than “all the professional politicians, publicists and moralists put together.”

Marx used Daniel Defoe’s island economy depicted in Robinson Crusoe to explain labour, value, and production in Britain’s pre-capitalist society.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust (1808 and 1832) is a German classic. Goethe wrote so much and was liked by so many, it’s no wonder the Germans named their foreign language schools ‘Goethe institutes.’ Marx learned Goethe’s work by heart and frequently quoted him.

Faust is more than the story of a man who sells his soul to the Devil in return for worldly pleasure and unlimited knowledge. In Faust Goethe develops a comprehensive philosophy of money, arguing that economic practices transformed people’s thoughts and behaviour, with social structures requiring individuals to engage in quasi-obsessive behaviours towards money.

Although Marx liked Victor Hugo’s depiction in Les Misérables of poverty, injustice, and revolutionary upheaval, he saw Hugo as a bourgeois romantic rather than a true socialist. Marx worked with the International Working Men’s Association, while Hugo was aligned with the League of Peace and Freedom.

Stendhal’s Red and the Black (1830) is an analytical sociological satire of the French social order under the Bourbon Restoration (1814 -1830). Marx admired it for its psychological realism and analysis of post-Napoleonic French society.

If you’re a reader, you could do a lot worse than check out some of Marx’s choices and get a feel for where his understanding of capitalism came from. If the list seems daunting, remember that many of these books have been adapted as movies and are available as audio books on YouTube.

 

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21. US - Iran war and oil profits

Graham Holton

One-fifth of the world’s traded oil passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The outbreak of the US-Iran conflict interrupted Gulf oil and petroleum product exports, forcing up international prices generating windfall profits for companies.

While company production remained largely unchanged, profits increased, allowing the largest international oil companies to generate over US$90 billion in profits during the first three-months of the conflict.

Karl Marx distinguishes between profits generated through production, and gains arising from monopoly, scarcity and differential rent. The present conflict provides an example of scarcity and differential rent, where the control of a scarce strategic resource has enabled corporations to capture massive windfalls.

From a Marxist perspective, this war illustrates how capitalism can transform geopolitical crises into opportunities for capital accumulation. The conditions of scarcity increased the exchange value of strategic commodities.

Oil companies have appropriated extraordinary profits without proportionate increases in labour or production costs, meaning wealth is redistributed from consumers to the owners of energy capital.

Geopolitical instability becomes a mechanism for the concentration of capital, with the energy companies benefiting from sharply higher oil prices and increased market volatility.

While war imposed significant costs on governments, workers and consumers through inflation and energy insecurity, it simultaneously generated exceptional profits for multinational oil producers, refiners and commodity traders. This contrast highlights how geopolitical crises redistribute wealth unevenly, with the owners of strategic resources emerging as major financial beneficiaries.

Financial markets added a substantial “war risk premium” to oil prices. Brent crude oil rose from around US$70 per barrel before the conflict to well above US$100, briefly exceeding US$120.

Producers far from the Middle East benefited when their oil was sold on the global markets. ExxonMobil has made a US$14.5 billion profit and Chevron US$12 billion. Shell has made US$10 billion in adjusted earnings, and BP profits have more than doubled compared with the previous financial year.

Oil refiners outside the Gulf experienced higher refining margins with the increase in demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Some of the world’s largest refining companies have reported high quarterly earnings. The disruption drove up refining margins, with Phillips 66 recording refining earnings jumping to US$3.09 billion and realised refining margins more than doubling to US$24.08 a barrel. Other US refiners also recorded the strongest earnings since 2022.

Commodity trading firms profited from rapid price movements, regional shortages and arbitrage opportunities created by wartime market instability. Large shareholders benefit as profits increased dividends, and provide higher shareholder returns, with a significant proportion of wartime profits flowing directly to institutional investors and shareholders. Existing oil reserves became far more valuable.

Higher oil prices spread throughout the economy, with increased petrol, diesel, and fertiliser prices transport costs, food prices, and costs for manufacturing and agriculture. Higher prices forced up electricity generation prices increasing inflation.

Consequently, households and businesses effectively transferred billions of dollars to energy producers and traders through higher fuel prices. Windfall profits will continue as the war continues.

 

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22. Venezuela’s post-earthquake environmental disaster

Graham Holton

The 24 June 2026 twin earthquakes in Venezuela caused damage to residential, commercial, educational, health, institutional and industrial buildings is estimated at AU$52 billion.

This massive physical and economic loss has made it very difficult to handle not only the devastating humanitarian catastrophe but also the environmental disaster. This includes damaged water treatment plants, ruptured sewage systems, and broken pipelines which are contaminating rivers and coastal waters. In the worst-hit areas, the shortage of clean drinking water has forced people to drink from unsafe water sources, increasing the risk from water-borne diseases such as cholera and hepatitis A.

The environmental damage has become a public health emergency. According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), overcrowded shelters, inadequate sanitation, and shortages of safe water have significantly increased the risk of outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections, and vaccine-preventable illnesses. Early warning disease surveillance has been established in shelters to detect outbreaks quickly.

As well as body recovery, the Venezuelan government is handling interruptions to emergency response, interrupted supply chains, and their macroeconomic impact. Thousands of damaged and collapsed buildings have generated millions of tonnes of rubble. This debris includes asbestos, heavy metals, fuels, industrial chemicals, and medical waste that require careful disposal to prevent long-term soil and groundwater contamination.

Debris, sewage, and sediment have entered coastal waters, damaging coral reefs, mangroves, and fisheries. Fishing communities face reduced catches due to polluted near-shore waters and damaged ports. Dust from collapsed buildings has increased concentrations of fine particulate matter with respiratory risks for rescue workers, children, and older people.

Venezuela’s coastal region contains oil storage terminals, pipelines, and petrochemical facilities. As earthquake damage could result in significant environmental contamination, authorities are monitoring these sites for leaks or spills.

Wildlife has been displaced by habitat destruction and human encroachment as displaced people establish temporary settlements. Restoring ecosystems, alongside rebuilding infrastructure, is likely to be a central part of Venezuela’s long-term recovery strategy.

Venezuela’s recovery will require restoring safe drinking water and sanitation systems; environmentally safe disposal; recycling of earthquake debris; stabilising landslide-prone slopes through reforestation and engineering works; monitoring groundwater and coastal water quality; rebuilding infrastructure to modern seismic and environmental standards; and protecting wetlands, mangroves, and coastal habitats to help buffer future natural hazards.

The UN World Food Program says Venezuela is desperately in need of emergency food, clean water, safe shelter, medical care, and child protection, as well as support to rebuild infrastructure and restore basic services. This long-term environmental disaster requires expertise and money, both of which Venezuela desperately needs. Governments, including Australia, must send more assistance to help Venezuela to cope with this catastrophe.

The US boasts of sending $546 million, but this is miniscule compared to the estimated $27 billion the Trump administration has collected in revenue from oil sales.

 

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23. GLOBAL BRIEFS

CONGO: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has imposed an immediate ban on exports of copper and cobalt concentrates. It marks a major step in the government’s strategy to expand domestic mineral processing and retain a larger share of the value generated by its vast mineral sector. The DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt and one of the leading suppliers of copper, both of which are essential for electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy technologies, and the global energy transition. Officials said the latest measures were intended to encourage mining companies to process minerals domestically rather than exporting raw concentrates.

GREENLAND: A Texas oil company, Greenland Energy, founded last year and connected to US President Donald Trump, has been bringing drilling equipment to Greenland’s eastern coast despite lacking approval from local authorities. The company is preparing to explore Jamison Land, a region which may hold up to AU$1.4 trn in crude reserves. The company planned to spend AU$85 million drilling two wells. The move comes despite Greenland having halted new oil licensing in 2021 due to environmental concerns. The reported drilling site sits within a wetland area protected under the Ramsar Convention. A vessel carrying 300 containers of equipment is due to leave Canada on 12 September, with drilling expected to commence in October.

COLOMBIA: Colombia’s outgoing President Gustavo Petro claims that Israeli entities manipulated vote-counting software and altered as many as 1.8 million votes to help the right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella defeat Ivan Cepeda. Petro described a major attack on Colombia’s democracy and sovereignty. However, Colombia’s electoral authorities and observers rejected claims of systemic fraud and de la Espriella’s victory was officially certified.

PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico has begun a 48-hour water rationing for more than 180,000 households as severe drought depleted reservoirs. Residents are relying on water tankers and storage tanks as dry conditions persist.

US: The Trump administration’s war on science continues with a presidential order calling for fewer childhood vaccines. The order also recommends splitting the MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) injections into three, in line with long-discredited concerns about the ‘triple jab.’ The American Academy of Pediatrics has called the order “dangerous.” Measles cases have reached a 35-year high in the US and are rising globally.

BULGARIA: Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that a drone of a type used by the Ukrainian military entered Bulgarian airspace from Romania before exploding near Kardam, about 50km from the Black Sea. No casualties or infrastructure damage were reported. The blast occurred 1,000 meters from a compressor station on Bulgaria’s Trans-Balkan gas pipeline which runs from Turkey to Ukraine, and 200 meters from a compression station in Romania.

CHINA: China will launch regular container shipping to Europe via Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR) this month, with eight voyages planned through October. The Arctic shipping route remains the shortest maritime passage between the Asia-Pacific region and northern Europe. Russia, which operates the world’s largest icebreaker fleet of more than 40 conventional and nuclear vessels, is investing in the NSR with the aim of making it a pivotal global trade artery.

FRANCE: French farmers will need billions of euros in aid to offset losses from extreme heat and wildfires and drought it has caused, said Arnaud Rousseau, chairman of the National Federation of Farmers’ Union. Europe is experiencing one of the worst heat waves in years, with Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Greece hit the hardest.

 

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24. Colombian social movements reject far-right president

Pedro Kisan

Popular leaders in Colombia have convened a demonstration and a day of peaceful civil disobedience to challenge the legitimacy of the incoming far-right President.

The site for the protest was Puerto Rellena, is a key point of the 2021 social outbreak, when mass demonstrations confronted the neoliberal policies and tax increases of Iván Duque’s government.

The leadership warned that the rise of the far-right President represents a dangerous advance towards fascism in Colombia. They also warned that the administration of Abelardo de la Espriella is connected to a US push for dominance over Latin America.

The new administration also fuels fears among the peasantry over a possible environmental collapse under the policies announced by the incoming Executive.

The demonstration included indigenous Minga participants.

Territorial spokespersons recalled that De la Espriella provided legal defence for police officers involved in attacks against young protesters during the 2021 demonstrations. Leaders also repudiated the incoming president’s recent warnings about demolishing the Monument to Resistance, erected in memory of victims of state repression.

De la Espriella represents a profound ideological turn for Colombia, as the new administration systematically dismantles the social, peace, and environmental strategies of the previous progressive executive.

De la Espriella moved his investiture to an area outside Bogotá. Community leaders denounced the decision as a symbolic manoeuvre to confront Colombia’s southwest where the progressive candidate Iván Cepeda obtained more than 60% of the votes.

The new administration has lost no time in making Colombia less equal, with a measure to freeze public spending alongside a tax reform aimed at eliminating the country’s wealth tax.

De la Espriella has vowed to join the US ‘Shield of the Americas’ agreement, a US mechanism to share intelligence against organised crime as well as against what the US calls “interference” in the Western Hemisphere, referring to countries in Latin America having relations with China.

 

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25. WEASEL WORDS

Flawed

Arguments are tiring. Even worse, other people often don’t cooperate with you when you’re trying to make an argument. Luckily, there’s an attractive range of weasel words available for you to just assume you’ve won the argument you never had.

‘Flawed’ is this week’s example. The Victorian Congress of Employer Associations is upset with that state’s Work-From-Home legislation. The VCEA has had an intense conversation with itself and decided that the legislation is flawed and needs to be changed to be fairer to “all Victorians” (which means employers, really). So they’ve put out a press release talking about the changes this “flawed” legislation needs. Job done!

(For more substantial reasons on why employers might not like the legislation, have a look at Guardian 2201. We think it’s flawed too, but not in the way that the VCEA has in mind.)

Concerns

One of Australian mainstream media’s favourite things is to whip up feelings on an issue, and then report on those feelings as though the media has just beamed in from Mars and discovered them.

So it is with ‘concerns.’ Voters have concerns about immigration! Pauline Hanson is tapping into those concerns. She’s also spent a long and profitable career trying to promote those concerns. True, voters do have concerns about immigration. Voters have lots of concerns the media isn’t bothering with. Voters have concerns about an ongoing Israeli genocide and climate change too but the big media companies are too busy with migration to bother with those.

Widows tax

Thank goodness! At last! The Labor government is finally doing something about the tax on widows. Crisis averted!

No, you haven’t fallen asleep and missed the nation-wide imposition of a tax on widows. What’s happened is that anti-tax media, after a lot of scrabbling around, has decided that Labor’s changes to Capital Change Tax are a tax on widows.

It would make just as much sense to call the changes “a tax on billionaires” or a “tax on cyclists”, since there are people in both groups who will have to pay a bit more tax and don’t like it. Since neither billionaires or cyclists tug at the heart strings, the conservative press and the Liberal Party have decided to go with widows.

Not all widows though, just widows who have investment properties. As far as shadow treasurer Tim Wilson is concerned, widows who are on JobSeeker and don’t have investment properties can just keep on suffering.

Terror/terrorism

The UK government has classed a protest group called ‘Palestine Action’ as terrorist, which puts them in the same basket as Al Qaeda and IS. No, Palestine Action haven’t beheaded anyone. They haven’t flown planes into buildings full of civilians either. What they have done is chuck red paint on some British planes in protest at the UK’s support of the Israeli government’s campaign of real terror, not to mention mass murder. Because of this decision, British cops are having to arrest a bunch of nuns and elderly people who’ve done nothing worse than hold up a sign reading “I support Palestine Action”.

Tightness (of the labour market)

This one is a good old fashioned euphemism, brought to you by economists and bankers. Reserve Bank of Australia head Michelle Bullock worries that now might not be the time for wage rises because of the tightness of the labour market. Tightness does sound uncomfortable, but what’s bothering the RBA is that too many people have jobs. If you’re at the RBA, you can’t just come out and say that, hence “tightness.”

Really if the unemployed are that essential to capitalism, we should start paying them properly.

 

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