The following articles were published by the Guardian – The Workers' Weekly,
newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia, in its issue #2201, 10 August 2026.

 

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

 

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INDEX

 

1. Gaza – the hidden tragedy
2. EDITORIAL – Starting with a kick
3. RAHU negotiating with ‘mega-landlord’
4. Brisbane Ferry workers take action
5. Melbourne doctors to go on strike
6. Victorian teachers update: it’s not over
7. Qantas AI job cuts
8. DINGO
9. Workers escalate strike action in the Pilbara
10. Work-from-home worth legislating?
11. Inflation drop kills case for rate rise
12. Vale Bevan Ramsden
13. Sunshine Coast education book club reads What Is to Be Done?
14. Renewables ‘the fastest way’
15. Call to boost uni staff and student voices
16. PEACE NOTES – When is a base not a base?
17. Abby Martin on the US military
18. LETTERS
19. Film Review: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
20. Book Review: Fear Before the Fall. Horror films in the late Soviet Union
21. Sport: AFL: Grand Final prospects, the year so far
22. Does Ireland need the EU?
23. GLOBAL BRIEFS
24. Cuban ingenuity and resilience are saving the country
25. Trump cuts Medicaid
26. HALF THE SKY – Pushing both pedals on suicide

 

 

 

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1. Gaza – the hidden tragedy

Peter Farmer

Gaza has slipped from the headlines of most mainstream media outlets, but the killing continues and the aftermath of previous assaults is ongoing.

ORPHANS

Since Israel began the offensive in October 2023, 60,737 minors have been orphaned. That figure includes 52,095 minors who lost their father, 5,929 children who lost their mother, and 2,713 children who have been left completely orphaned.

Aid workers have learned the grisly shorthand for injured orphans WCNSF, standing for ‘wounded child, no surviving family.’

It’s extremely difficult to keep track of children separated from their families in Gaza, due to the long list of bombings and evacuation orders since 2023. Gaza has been recorded as having the highest rate of child amputations in any modern conflict.

According to United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF, 22,000 children have been killed since October 2023, with tens of thousands more injured, many with life-changing injuries.

That should come as no surprise. The deputy speaker of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has said that “every child born there (in Gaza) is already a terrorist, from the moment of his birth.” As lawyer Michael Bradley has written, Israel considers Palestinian children fair game.

AID

The Israeli war on aid workers continues. United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides aid to Palestinians across the Middle East has reported that between 7 October 2023 and 24 July 2026, 393 of its workers were killed in Gaza. That includes 393 UNRWA staff and 82 people who were supporting them.

‘CEASEFIRE’

Since the ceasefire supposedly took effect in October 2025, Zionist forces have killed at least 1,209 people. The death toll, however, has reached at least 73,335 since October 2023.

US President Donald Trump announced on 31 July that the ‘Board of Peace’ had reached what he described as a “historic agreement” for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza, calling it a major milestone in implementing the so-called Sharm El-Sheikh peace framework.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the agreement would be implemented through “carefully structured phases,” with Israeli occupation forces withdrawing progressively as disarmament advances. He said an International Stabilisation Force would work alongside a newly established Palestinian police force to assume responsibility for maintaining security in Gaza.

According to Trump, the agreement is intended to pave the way for Gaza to be governed by a new Palestinian government that would cooperate with the ‘Board of Peace’ while ensuring that the territory “is no longer used as a base for terror attacks.”

Trump likes triumphant announcements, but the reality is very different. Israeli military aggression continues across the Gaza Strip, including airstrikes, explosions, the demolition of residential homes and the burning of tents for displaced persons, according to local reports.

In the latest incident, the Israeli military bombed a building in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Gaza reported that 10 people were injured in an Israeli strike on a residential building east of the Nuseirat camp in the central Strip.

Hours earlier, civilians were injured in an attack by Israeli aircraft near the Islamic Bank in Deir al-Balah, according to the correspondent.

The Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said the parties were in the “final metres” of reaching an agreement that would end the Israeli war on Gaza and pave the way for reconstruction. The movement stressed that sustained pressure remains necessary to ensure the agreement is implemented in full and to prevent Israel from reneging on its commitments.

The PFLP also reiterated its call for the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement, the reopening of Gaza’s crossings, the entry of humanitarian aid, and the immediate assumption of responsibilities by the administrative committee in the Strip, while emphasising the need to reject any form of external control over the Palestinian people.

Separately, Gaza’s Health Ministry condemned what it described as a direct Israeli attack on medication warehouses at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.

The ministry said two of the facility’s four medical warehouses were completely destroyed, while the remaining two sustained extensive damage. The adjacent outpatient building was also damaged in the strike.

According to the ministry, the attack destroyed and damaged vital medical supplies and consumables intended for patients and the wounded.

The bombardment also caused panic among patients, their families, and medical staff inside the hospital complex.

Describing the attack as “a systematic crime targeting what remains of Gaza’s healthcare system,” the ministry said it comes amid Israel’s continued blockade on medicines and medical supplies and ongoing restrictions preventing thousands of wounded and sick Palestinians from travelling abroad for treatment.

The ministry called on the international community, the United Nations, and humanitarian organisations to intervene urgently to halt attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system and ensure protection for medical facilities and personnel.

‘AGREEMENT’

A major hitch to the ‘agreement’ is that it stipulates that Israel has to withdraw from Gaza and transfer power to a Palestinian administration. Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir objected to a requirement that Israel stop assassinating Hamas members. He declared that “the assassinations in Gaza must continue, the encouragement of immigration must happen. Israel must win.”

The draft agreement was also condemned by Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief of staff predicted to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Eisenkot has said that Israel “must not accept” the agreement.

Gazans are sceptical about any agreement, and with good reason. One Al Jazeera correspondent said that the main concern of people on the streets of Gaza was not whether an agreement had been announced but “will the bombing continue? Will people be able to walk down the street and visit each other without the constant fear of being attacked by the drone?”

AUSTRALIA’S ROLE

The Australian government likes to play both sides of the street on Gaza. It knows Australians are angry about Israel’s ongoing act of genocidal collective punishment of Palestinian civilians, in Gaza and on the West Bank. The government noticed the record breaking pro-Palestine demonstrations, even as mainstream media in this country sought to minimise, ridicule or demonise those protests.

On the other hand, the Labor government wants to keep the US and the pro-Israel lobby on side.

The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese put out an official statement one year ago, saying that “every innocent life matters.”

Fine words from a government that employs the Israeli arms company Elbit systems to the tune of $917 million. Elbit manufactured the drone that killed an Australian aid worker, Zomi Frankcom. Australia also is part of a weapons chain that produces the F-35 fighters Israel uses to bomb Gaza (as well as Lebanon and Iran).

This year it was revealed that raw explosives produced in Victoria and NSW wind up in munitions that are used in Gaza. There’s also the matter of Pine Gap, the US-owned and run radar facility in the centre of Australia. It provides intelligence to Israel and the US that is vital to accurate targeting of bombs and missiles.

It’s vital that Australians who care about peace, and who don’t want this country to be implicated in war crimes keep up the pressure on the government.

UNRWA accepts donations at unrwa.org

The Guardian also supports donations to Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA) at panzma.org

 

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2. EDITORIAL

Starting with a kick

Ben Carroll, Victoria’s new Premier is a man in a hurry. The Victorian election will be held on 28 November this year and his party is down in the polls with media of all sorts expecting Labor to lose. So how did Carroll being his ‘new direction’ premiership? By kicking an effective union.

Right off the bat, Carroll announced a Royal Commission into the Building Industry, with a special prosecutor working in tandem. There are tactical reasons for this. Carroll wants to differentiate himself from Jacinta Allan, who he’s just replaced. Thanks to the unremitting efforts of Nine Media, Allan was associated with corruption and (if you read the Nine papers) nasty-looking big blokes in the CFMEU, so having a go at the unions (which is what the Royal Commission will amount to) is an obvious way to look like the anti-Allan. The CFMEU is already under an anti-democratic administration that uses union members’ funds to hound union officials, but that’s never enough for Nine.

Carroll may well be calculating that he needs some media onside fast and Nine is the one to go for (nothing he can do will bring the Murdoch papers around). For years, Nine has hounded the CFMEU with a campaign, ‘Building Bad,’ of demonisation and unsubstantiated charges. Building workers were blamed for everything, from high cocaine prices to the housing shortage.

The CFMEU has been an effective union, securing good wages and conditions, and making great strides on safety in one of Australia’s most dangerous industries. How is it possible, that Labor, set up by unions in the first place, and supposedly the party that takes the side of the workers is kicking an effective union?

It’s possible because the Australian system is set up to put the bosses’ interests first. The “big end of town” is always on the government’s mind. We’ve had a recent example with Carroll’s first day of premier. The Nine papers celebrated with a front page piece on the business lobby’s wish-list from the new Labor premier.

It’s easy for our media to demonise unions.

Unions come in all shapes and sizes, but basically a union is the working class when it’s organised. Unions were formed in the first place because workers understood that their interests are different to the interests of their employers.

Those interests don’t stop at the entrance to your work. Whatever you do for a living, you have interests in common with workers in other businesses, and other industries. You have class interests.

This is a hard message to sell nowadays. Having seen what happens when workers get together and work to change things, capitalism has worked hard to divide workers. Big business has casualised and separated workers, as well as working relentlessly to fun down unions.

One mission of this newspaper is to raise the profile of workers’ organisations. We report union wins every week. That’s easy to do because unions kick goals for workers’ interests almost every day, although you wouldn’t know it from mainstream media. Those are wins for the organised working class.

We don’t stop there. We’re working to raise class consciousness. Working people produce all the wealth this country has, but they don’t own it. The Communist Party of Australia is working hard to help workers understand the power they have.

 

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3. RAHU negotiating with ‘mega-landlord’

The Renters and Housing Union (RAHU) is contacting tenants across the country who rent under mega-landlord Edward Dilleen.

Dilleen claims to own over 200 properties nationwide. After weeks of fact-finding, door knocking, and consulting with tenants, RAHU has discovered excessively high rents, poor conditions, and unresponsive agents.

As such, RAHU has been in the process of formulating collective bargaining for better conditions and fairer rents. Through collective bargaining – as opposed to individual negotiations – tenants are best able to exercise their leverage and to achieve these outcomes.

Edward Dilleen has unilaterally chosen to publicise this process on social media, which has placed the integrity of any good-faith bargaining at risk. Therefore, RAHU has issued a preliminary list of demands to Edward Dilleen, and expects a reply within 5 business days of being received.

Secretary of the Renters and Housing Union Adu Hani said that it was disappointing that Edward Dilleen decided to publicise this process on social media.

“Not only does it potentially jeopardise the tenants’ ability to collectively bargain, but it may potentially invite outside and unscrupulous actors.”

“This has the effect of potentially silencing tenants who have had no say in making this a public issue.”

“Nonetheless, RAHU will continue to unionise tenants and ensure they are able to collectively bargain with Edward Dilleen for better conditions and fairer rents.”

North Melbourne Branch Delegate Harry M said that, “Mr Dilleen’s actions have shown unequivocally that the power imbalance between landlord and tenants makes good-faith negotiation difficult. The only way we’re going to be able to see fair results is through collective bargaining.

Renters and Housing Union

 

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4. Brisbane Ferry workers take action

Workers on Brisbane’s Ferries have made a collective decision to take lawful Protected Industrial Action after RiverCity Ferries left them no other option.

Despite a significant number of bargaining meetings, the company has refused to move on their position and won’t take on board their crew’s concerns in a legitimate and genuine process. The gap between the two parties is demonstrated by the 95% of members who voted No to the company’s last proposal.

River City Ferries won’t even match the Fair Work Commission’s own 4.75% Annual Wage Review increase or keep pace with inflation, claiming it is “not viable” all the while its parent company, Kelsian Group own financial reports show substantial increases in revenue and profit.

The company’s CEO, executive leadership team and board have all received significant increases to their pay packages while the highly skilled and committed members that deliver the company’s service to the Brisbane public every day are being asked to accept an offer below inflation.

The company’s offer fails to address the crew’s genuine concerns around improving their work life balance and address fatigue concerns. This is all while facing the same cost-of-living pressures as the greater community.

MUA and AMOU members say they regret any disruption this action causes the travelling public, but after months of good-faith negotiation being stonewalled by company representatives, crews have been left with no choice but to stand up for a fair outcome.

Maritime Union of Australia

 

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5. Melbourne doctors to go on strike

Salaried doctors at major Victorian hospitals will go on strike for the first time in 20 years on 13 August. The protected industrial action will run from 12.30pm to 4pm.

Simon Judkins, Australian Medical Association of Victoria president said that doctors been trying to get a better deal from the Victorian government for over a year. According to Judkins, more than half of salaried doctors, particularly doctors in training report “incredibly high” levels of fatigue and stress.

In itself, the situation is stressful because doctors who are fatigued worry that they can make life-altering errors when they’re that tired. Judkins says that many doctors still don’t get paid for overtime and that consultants are on call after hours without pay.

97 per cent of union members voted for the industrial actions. Doctors will also begin other actions such as refusing to answer emails or phone calls from hospital management, refusing unscheduled overtime and disrupting patient billing.

 

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6. Victorian teachers update: it’s not over

Having had two giant industrial actions, Victoria’s teachers are due to strike again on 19 August.

There’s a new Education Minister, since the old one is now Premier, but the issues are still the same: the government’s offer does not make up for previous bad deals. It also attempts to divide and conquer with different rates of increase for teachers, support staff, and principals.

(see Guardians #2198, #2199, and #2200 for more)

 

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7. Qantas AI job cuts

The Australian Services Union (ASU) says that in briefing calls on news reports Qantas claims that there are no plans for jobs to be lost under a proposed deal with consulting giant Accenture.

The plan, known internally as Project iQ, claims the company could use artificial intelligence as part of a broader overhaul of Qantas’s operations that could see up to 1,000 marketing, finance, human resources and other back-office roles sent to India.

The union is demanding that Qantas stay true to its commitment that there will be no job losses through the implementation of Accenture’s plan.

ASU Assistant National Secretary Scott Cowen said that the news is a huge concern to ASU members. While the company’s assurances are welcome, that doesn’t change the ASU’s resolve to fight for every job.

“What’s been reported is that the airline is considering a proposal by Accenture, that’s not in dispute. What matters is that Qantas has informed us that there is no plan to offshore any Australian jobs, and we demand the airline stay true to these commitments.

“If that commitment from Qantas turns out to be worthless, it won’t just be a broken promise to the ASU. It will be a deep breach of trust with the Australian public who have stuck by this airline through everything it has put them through,” Cowen said.

This isn’t the first time the ASU has had to seek assurances from Qantas over its use of AI to justify workforce change. In May, after Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson told the Macquarie Australia Conference the airline was accelerating its use of AI, Cowen wrote to Hudson directly saying:

“These statements make clear that AI deployment at Qantas is not speculative, it is an active program of major workforce change, directly linked to cost reduction and headcount impacts,” Cowen wrote at the time.

“The premium service Qantas passengers expect is built on the expertise of our members, not the efficiency of an algorithm.”

“We are seeking an urgent meeting with Vanessa Hudson to ensure that this rapid AI push is used to support and augment our highly skilled workforce, rather than being used as a high-tech smokescreen for further job slashing and a reduced customer experience.”

Qantas has a documented history of outsourcing and offshoring Australian job and any move to replace skilled head-office staff with automation or AI will damage the airline’s operational capacity.

The ASU is calling on Qantas to commit to genuine consultation with affected workers before any final decision on Project iQ.

“We will fight to protect all Australian jobs at the airline. We’ll be watching closely, and we’ll work tirelessly to ensure that Australian consumers can rely on the high-quality services, provided by the Qantas workforce here at home,” Cowen said.

Australian Services Union

 

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8. DINGO

Greenpeace is calling on the Albanese Labor government to urgently address Queensland’s deforestation crisis using the new national nature law, after the Great Barrier Reef dodged another “in danger” listing by UNESCO. 

The decision to keep the world’s most famous reef off the “in danger” list was adopted at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in South Korea last month, despite grave concerns over the government’s unmet targets for water quality last year, a direct impact of deforestation in Queensland.

Adele Chasson, Nature Policy Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:“UNESCO has repeatedly voiced concern about the health and future of the Great Barrier Reef, and the reality is that this global icon is still in deep danger from runaway climate heating, coral-killing deforestation run-off, ocean acidification, and coral bleaching.”

Chasson warned that deforestation in Great Barrier Reef catchment areas is an environmental crisis, making up almost half of all deforestation in Queensland. Deforestation run-off floods the reef with dirty sediment and toxic pesticides, poisoning corals and fuelling destructive crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks. “The Albanese government must end rampant deforestation in Queensland or risk the Reef losing its World Heritage status, threatening the communities and wildlife who depend on it.”

The UNESCO committee recognised deforestation as a major threat to the reef and welcomed Australia’s recent nature law reforms aimed at tackling deforestation in catchment areas. It urged Australia to act to improve the Reef’s water quality and requested a progress report by 2028.

“With these compounding pressures and a record El Niño around the corner, action to protect the Reef has never been more urgent. The Albanese government must immediately implement UNESCO’s recommendations under the new EPBC laws and end unchecked deforestation in the Reef catchments,” Chasson said.

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PARASITE OF THE WEEK: Shell.

The fossil fuel giant revealed Q2 profits of $9.84 billion, a bigger-than-expected 70 per cent surge in half-year earnings, as it capitalised on volatile oil and gas prices driven by US President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.

In Britain, Shell also has a significant stake in the controversial Rosebank oil field in the North Sea, which is pending government approval.

End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “Shell makes more profits in a single minute than most people in this country earn in a year.

“As wildfires rage, droughts are declared and temperatures climb, the very fuels heating the planet are also heating company profits, while households pay the price on their bills.”

He warned that long-term energy security “cannot rely” on a “declining” North Sea supply, where firms have already extracted 90 per cent of commercially viable gas.

“The drill more, bill more approach simply locks households into another cycle of gas price shocks,” he said, urging ministers to ensure the energy profits levy funds energy debt relief and a permanent social tariff.

He also called for a structural reform to break the link between electricity prices and volatile gas markets so that homegrown clean power brings bills down for the people who need help most.

Poverty activists Uplift’s Robert Palmer slammed Shell for “cashing in” on the war as families and firefighters across Europe battle wildfires.

“This is now maniacal behaviour from a company that is putting its profits ahead of the health of our planet, and the lives and livelihoods of all of us,” he said.

“Governments urgently need to step up, listen to the scientists’ warnings, and stop Shell and others from driving us off a cliff.”

Scottish Greens energy spokesman Kristopher Leask called the “blood-stained” profits “truly sickening,” saying: “There can be no justification for an energy system that allows this kind of profiteering, especially when so many are suffering.”

 

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9. Workers escalate strike action in the Pilbara

Emily Muagututia

Less than a month after the historic first strike in the Pilbara in nearly three decades (see Guardian #2199, ‘Battle for the Pilbara’), BHP workers are set to dramatically escalate their industrial action. The initial eight-hour action on 16 July sent a powerful message, but the mining giant needs to understand that the workers won’t settle for scraps.

Union members from port operations, representing the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), and the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), unanimously voted to implement a 24-hour ban on ship loading on Saturday, 8 August, followed by a full 24-hour walkout on Sunday, 9 August.

The high-voltage electricians maintaining BHP’s power network, who are negotiating a separate agreement, will also join the fight with a 12-hour stoppage on Sunday, demonstrating growing unity among the workforce.

This is a bold escalation from the first strike, which saw up to 200 workers down tools to demand a fair share of the profits their labour generates. The workers have had enough of the company’s stalling tactics.

This action has been spurred by the glacial pace of negotiations. Despite a recent meeting facilitated by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), where BHP claimed “significant progress” had been made, the unions have confirmed the strike is going ahead. The company has committed to tabling an “updated proposal” at a meeting scheduled for 18 August, but workers are not holding their breath.

A key sticking point is BHP’s desire to maintain an individualised approach to pay and conditions through employment contracts rather than locking in a fair enterprise agreement that guarantees enforceable wages. The unions are demanding a just deal that reflects the immense value these workers create.

BHP’s offer of a 16% pay increase over four years, while framed as “generous,” comes from a company bragging about record production and profits while paying its CEO a multi-million-dollar salary.

The workers at BHP are not just fighting for themselves. They are fighting for the principle that the wealth made by the workers belongs to the working class, and they continue to stand tall against BHP, the resource industry lobby, and their media cronies.

This fresh strike is a crucial step in rebuilding working-class solidarity and union power in Western Australia. The ruling class is terrified of this resurgence, and they should be. As union leaders have made clear, they are “not going to entertain what the company is pushing.”

The fight continues.

 

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10. Work-from-home worth legislating?

Peter Farmer

Is working from home something that’s just going to happen anyway, or does it need legislation? Do workers need protections from employers even if they have the right to work at home? It’s a hot topic.

One of the many things that sank Peter Dutton’s hopes of becoming PM in the last federal election was the announcement that he would force public servants to work in the office even if they didn’t really need to.

Dutton was hoping to get the votes of people who can’t work from home, but wound up getting a backlash from women around the country who are the biggest beneficiaries of WFH.

One of the last acts of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan before she was replaced by Ben Caroll was to legislate to protect Work From Home rights. For those who already have no problem working at home for some or all of the working week, this might have seemed an unnecessary bid for popularity.

One group who took it seriously was Victoria’s business lobby, who wasted no time getting their demand for the legislation to be wound back on the front page of Melbourne’s Age newspaper. Do businesses just dislike the idea, or is there more at stake?

An industrial lawyer who looked at the actual legislation identified a few issues that show the WFH laws are not just a feel-good thing.

A positive feature of the legislation is that it extends the scope of injuries employers can be liable for. Put simply, when the employer makes you send in pictures of your home office, that has to be more than a box-ticking exercise for them.

The legislation also means that the employer has to pay “reasonable costs” for equipment and adjustments made to the home. This hasn’t been tested in court yet, and ‘reasonable’ is the least favourite word of a lot of lawyers, but it most likely means that if you have to shell out for something solely because your boss wants you to, that’s on them.

On the down side, the legislation limits the right to work from home to a select group of employees. Employees on probation, apprentices, workers in the gig economy, casual workers and vaguely “workers of a proscribed class” are all excluded.

Although employers are whinging about it, the legislation defines a specified period for work-from-home as 2 days for workers doing a full 38 hour week. This can’t be increased without negotiation with an employer.

‘Reasonable’ is the weasel word here, because it’s so vague. The lawyer we consulted thinks that since employers almost always have more power than workers, they can decide what ‘reasonable’ means without having to consult.

Overall the legislation is worth keeping, although it could be stronger. As usual with industrial legislation, the positive provisions will have to be fought for by unions.

No matter how much or how little working from home you do, join your union!

 

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11. Inflation drop kills case for rate rise

The recent drop in inflation should end any case for a rate rise at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) upcoming board meeting, according to Australian Unions.

CPI data shows that headline inflation has fallen from 4% to 3.8% for the year to June, while underlying inflation is steady at 3.6%.

The figures reinforce the need for the RBA to stop punishing working families and mortgage holders with more rate increases.

The call from Australian Unions also comes off the back of new OECD research which shows that renewed inflationary pressures since the middle of 2025 have been driven yet again by profits and not growing labour costs.

The report also shows that the contribution of growth in labour costs to annual inflation is now at a post-pandemic low. Ongoing global uncertainty caused by Trump’s Middle East war is no justification for the RBA’s broken model of taking money out of workers’ pockets in its misguided attempts to bring inflation back to an arbitrary target.

The drop in inflation today will also see further welcome real wage growth for those workers on union-covered enterprise agreements, or awards.

Outgoing ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus said that the better inflation figures “should completely kill off the case for any further rate rise when the RBA board meets in a couple of weeks.”

“Working families should not be punished with further rate rises as a response to Donald Trump’s wars.

“We have also learned – yet again – that it is profits, and not workers’ wages, that have driven the recent rise in inflation since the middle of 2025, according to new research by the OECD.

“That research also shows that the contribution of growth in labour costs to annual inflation is at a post-pandemic low.

“This is yet more evidence that the RBA should not punish workers for an inflation problem they’ve done nothing to cause.

“The RBA model of constantly increasing the cash rate if there are global developments and economic uncertainty has got to be overhauled because working people have yet to recover their pre-COVID position when it comes to real wages.

“Today’s lower-than-expected inflation figures will provide additional real wage growth, particularly for workers on enterprise agreements and those enjoying the 4.75% increase to award wages coming through this month.”

Australian Council of Trade Unions

 

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12. Vale Bevan Ramsden

Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN)

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Bevan Ramsden passed away on 27 July 2026.

Bevan was an integral member of IPAN, a mainstay of the organisation from when he joined in 2015, and the editor of our monthly publication, Voice. He was a husband, father, grandfather, mentor and friend to many.

Others knew him through the movement for Australian independence, through his writing, his radio broadcasts, his workshops, or by having the fine print of the Force Posture Agreement patiently explained by a man who had read every clause.

For more than sixty years, Bevan dedicated himself to the pursuit of an independent, peaceful and sustainable Australia, free from US domination. Right to the end of his life, he remained as active and committed as ever. Days before his passing, he spoke at IPAN’s National Conference, ‘Time to Break Free from the US.’ Humorous as ever, he negotiated for more time on the stage, shared poetry, and he honoured those whose work he built his own upon.

Bevan was optimistic in his last week. Friends say he believed this conference represented the culmination of decades of work and struggle for Australia’s independence and peace. It brought together ideas, campaigns and people he had spent a lifetime helping to build.

Born in Thornbury, Melbourne, in 1939, Bevan travelled to Zambia as an Australian Volunteer Abroad. The two years he spent there, witnessing first-hand the enduring legacies of colonialism, racism, and struggles for national independence, profoundly shaped his political outlook and set the direction of the rest of his life. Returning to an Australia at war, Bevan threw himself into the growing movement against the Vietnam War and conscription.

As a Sunday school teacher and active member of the Doncaster Methodist Church, he sought to encourage discussion of Australia’s role in Vietnam within their church community. When those efforts were repeatedly resisted by church leaders, Bevan eventually left organised religion. Throughout his life he continued to work alongside people of every faith and background in pursuit of peace, justice, and human dignity.

Bevan became one of the leading organisers of the Diamond Valley Moratorium Group. When Dr Jim Cairns was asked in Federal Parliament whether communists were directing the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign, he replied that the motion to hold the Moratorium march had been moved by “Bevan Ramsden, a Sunday school teacher.”

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Bevan was arrested several times for opposing conscription and Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War, on one occasion spending several days in Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison. During the 1970s he also became active in the Australian Independence Movement, campaigning against US military installations such as Pine Gap and North West Cape, while advocating for an Australia free from foreign military, economic and cultural domination.

Bevan was instrumental in the founding of Melbourne community radio station, 3CR in 1976 using a second-hand transmitter purchased from the local fire brigade for $200 and salvaged studio equipment from ABC Adelaide. Fifty years later, he was still behind the microphone, presenting a regular program with his friend Andrew Fullerton.

His commitment to grassroots organising extended well beyond the peace movement. He worked as a telecommunications engineer, taught electrical engineering at TAFE, and was a proud member of the NSW Teachers Federation.

He played a leading role in the United Melbourne Freeway Action Group, helping mobilise community opposition to plans that would have transformed Melbourne with an extensive urban freeway network. Bevan also worked tirelessly opposing AUKUS and nuclear submarines. He was one of the initiators and a founding member of the Australian Anti-AUKUS Coalition established in March 2022.

Whatever the issue, Bevan believed that lasting change came when ordinary people organised together. That conviction never left him. He remained an active organiser throughout his life, generously sharing his knowledge at IPAN conferences. In everything he did, Bevan sought to make the world more peaceful, more democratic and more humane.

Bevan Ramsden’s talks are available on YouTube

 

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13. Sunshine Coast education book club reads What Is to Be Done?

Graham Holton

The Sunshine Coast Branch education book club classes on Lenin’s important and influential work, 1902’s What Is to Be Done? have been very rewarding.

Lenin argues that the working class cannot spontaneously develop revolutionary socialist consciousness through economic struggles. It requires a disciplined revolutionary party to provide political leadership and to organise the struggle against capitalism. A successful social transformation requires not only popular discontent but also theory, organisation, and disciplined political leadership.

While the pamphlet was written for the specific conditions of Tsarist Russia in 1901 - 1902, the booklet profoundly influenced revolutionary movements and Communist parties around the world. These parties adopted its organisational principles of Democratic Centralism, disciplined party organisation, emphasis on political education, and combining legal and clandestine forms of struggle where necessary.

In the early chapters Lenin strongly criticises ‘Economism.’ While trade union struggles for higher wages and better conditions are important, by themselves they can only produce ‘trade-union consciousness.’ Workers become trade unionists without challenging the capitalist system.

Lenin’s central argument is that socialist consciousness must be brought to the working class through a revolutionary political organisation that studies Marxist theory and connects everyday grievances with the broader struggle against Capitalism and the state.

Socialist consciousness must be brought to workers ‘from without.’ Lenin advocates a professional organisation of dedicated revolutionaries, a vanguard party. Such a party would coordinate activity, educate workers, maintain secrecy under repression, and provide strategic leadership. Lenin writes on the role of theory: ‘Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement.’

He believed a scientifically grounded understanding of society was essential for a successful revolutionary practice. Socialists must expose every form of political oppression – not just workplace exploitation – and campaign for democratic freedoms alongside socialist goals. It is political struggle versus economic struggle.

The pamphlet was written during the final years of Tsarist rule, when socialist organisations operated illegally. It became a foundational text for the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, particularly the Bolshevik faction. After the 1905 Revolution, when political conditions briefly became more open, he argued that the party should recruit thousands of workers and become a genuine mass party.

Because Tsarist Russia was a police state, Lenin argues that full-time, trained revolutionaries were necessary to withstand surveillance, arrests, and infiltration. He proposes that an all-Russian newspaper is more than a publication, as it acts as a collective organiser, linking socialist groups into a unified movement. Lenin’s proposals reflect the realities of operating under an authoritarian regime and were intended to make revolutionary organisation possible under such conditions.

Lenin maintained the core ideas of the booklet: the importance of revolutionary theory; the need for a disciplined political organisation; combining economic and political struggles; and the necessity of national coordination rather than isolated local activism. These tenets remained central to his later One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, The State and Revolution, and Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder.

What Is to Be Done? is a great piece of writing to study; whether members are new or old. From every reading one gets more out of the text. The booklet clearly explains so much about how Communist parties, such as the CPA, developed and why we do what we do.

 

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14. Renewables ‘the fastest way’

Climate Media Centre

CSIRO’s Final 2025-26 GenCost report has once again confirmed that renewables are the fastest and lowest-cost way to replace Australia’s ageing and unreliable coal power stations and cut climate pollution.

Right now, data centre development is moving at break-neck speed, with 162 data centres operating and more than 90 new projects in the pipeline.

Without better regulatory guardrails, data centres risk delaying our shift to what CSIRO has found is the lowest cost generation mix- wind and solar.

We can’t risk that happening. The data centre industry’s electricity demand over the next five years is set to triple. If we are to avoid more climate pollution and soaring energy prices, governments need to step in and mandate that data centres underwrite their own additional renewable energy sources.

Australia’s leading science agency has once again squarely ruled out nuclear power from any cost effective scenarios for achieving net zero. The report makes it clear that any calls for data centres to be powered by nuclear energy, are calls to condemn Australians to pay higher power bills. Nuclear energy has been roundly rejected by Australian voters time and time again, and it cannot solve the energy challenges we have today.

Data centres are being built right now, and even if nuclear was a cost effective option, which it isn’t, it would take at least 15 years to get a nuclear reactor up and running in Australia, unlike solar and batteries which are available right now.

Australia needs more renewables backed by storage now so they are online before more coal is retired. Accelerating the rollout of renewable energy is the only way to keep energy bills as low as possible, while ensuring grid stability and cutting climate pollution.

 

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15. Call to boost uni staff and student voices

Victorian universities would have a minimum of three staff and two student representatives on governing bodies under new recommendations in a landmark parliamentary report.

The Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee Inquiry into enhancing Victorian university governance has released its final report.

It contains 17 recommendations to make universities more transparent and accountable, and boost staff and student voices on governing councils.

The committee calls for a minimum of three staff and two student representatives on university councils and senates.

Under its unanimous recommendations, universities would be required to publish council meeting agendas and outcomes, ending years of secrecy around decisions that affect staff and students, and to publish an annual remuneration report benchmarking the pay of council members.

Other recommendations include:

• Improved transparency of Council appointments
• A public register of interest for all council members
• New reporting requirements on consultancy expenditure, including outcomes
• Universities reporting on Indigenous student support, engagement and activities in annual reports, developed in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association
• Review of university complaints systems
• National Tertiary Education Union Victoria Division Secretary Sarah Roberts said the report confirms what university staff have known for years, that governing bodies have operated behind closed doors while making decisions that reshape people’s jobs and courses without explanation.

“The State government must act on these recommendations in full. Transparent meetings, published pay benchmarks and a real say for staff and students on council are not radical asks. They are the basics of good governance.”

Said National Tertiary Education Union Victoria Assistant Secretary Professor Joo-Cheong Tham: “We call upon Victorian universities and their Chancellors to pro-actively implement the committee’s recommendations and address the concerns it has raised to fix the crisis of confidence they are facing.”

Victorian Trades Hall Council Assistant Secretary Danae Bosler agreed, saying that “the social license of Victorian universities has been smashed by years of corporate mismanagement. The recommendations in this report would finally see it rebuilt.

“Victorian unions congratulate the staff, students and advocates who have fought, often at great personal cost, to restore integrity in university governance. It’s finally time for their voices to be heard.”

National Union of Students National President Felix Hughes said: “For too long, decisions at universities have been made behind closed doors, leaving students and staff to deal with the consequences. This report recognises that the status quo has failed and calls for real reform to make university leadership more transparent and accountable.

“Students deserve a real say in how their universities are run. Legislating at least two elected students on every university council would be a massive win for student representation and a major shift in who gets a voice at universities.”

National Tertiary Education Union

 

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16. PEACE NOTES

When is a base not a base?

Denis Doherty

Pat Conroy is the Minister for Defence Industry. He’s taken up the main role on negotiations to do with AUKUS and has just visited the US. In a recent interview, Conroy made some gobsmacking assertions.

Australia has no US bases said Conroy. He said that if the US transited forces through Australia, then there was no base.  He claimed the rotation of US marines through Darwin during the dry season as another example of there not being a US base because the Marines only stayed for a few months per year.

Despite Conroy’s assertions and attempts to obscure the issue this is the reality. We have US bases. There are permanent quarters set aside for the Marines built at some cost in Darwin with permanent bombing and firing ranges made available for them. Each year US forces make themselves at home in the Northern Territory to complete training and joint exercises.

US President Obama, inaugurating the base in Darwin said, “You work together so well, it’s often said you can’t tell where our guys end and you guys begin.” Sometime later Obama angrily complained he was not informed about the sale of the port of Darwin to a Chinese company. He acted as all US presidents do – as if Australia is a vassal state. Conroy tries to obscure our vassal status and the ALP’s complicity in it.

Pine Gap is also not a US base according Conroy. It is a “joint facility.” That’s another sleight of hand to mask the reality. The Deputy of Pine Gap is Australian, but all decisions are taken by the US Director, their US subordinates and associated US arms corporations’ employees. Australians are mainly gardeners and guards.

David Vine is an expert on US bases. According to his book Base Nation, a base is any place, facility, or installation used regularly for military purposes of any kind. On this definition Australia has more than 50 bases in Australia.

The ALP has a dreadful record of accepting more US bases.  The Hawke government accepted that all Australian military bases are to be regarded as US Bases and they can use them as they see fit. The Rudd government agreed to extend the powers at NW Cape facility. The Gillard government introduced Marines into Darwin and now the Albanese government has accepted that the US can have two US nuclear submarine bases in Australia.

Pat Conroy has tried to walk back this shameful record by retreating to the nonsense of transiting troops and joint facilities and stressing there are “no US bases in Australia.” This is just empty spin and must not be believed.

Not so stirling

Next year at the Stirling Naval Base in Western Australia, a US nuclear submarine will be stationed at the base along with accommodation for family and the whole set of resources needed to keep a nuclear-powered and quite possibly armed submarine operational.

Whatever you do don’t call it a US base! Pat Conroy calls it ‘Submarine Rotational Force West.’ Conroy was asked if the US sub would have nuclear weapons on board. He didn’t really answer, so the interviewer asked if “the US respects our support of Treaty of Rarotonga, or the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty.”

The interviewer tried again. Did the US feel it necessary to have nuclear weapons on board? Finally Conroy replied that “Australia has full knowledge and concurrence with US actions.” If that means anything, it means the US bringing nuclear weapons into Australian waters is fine with Conroy.

For the edification of Pat Conroy, we say a base is a base, and we cannot be an independent country while we have so many US military bases in our country.

 

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17. Abby Martin on the US military

Progressive filmmaker Abby Martin has been touring Australia with her new film Earth’s Greatest Enemy. An interviewer from Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) caught up with her

Based on what you’ve seen so far, what is your view on Australia’s role within the US empire?

Abby Martin: As I’ve been travelling around with the film, it’s been really interesting to see the feedback from people outside of the States, because they’re just like, “Why are you here? This is an American problem. This is on your shoulders.”

My response is: actually, no, you are just as complicit. Can you imagine if Australia broke free of this imperialist system? Can you imagine if Australia said, “No, we’re not going to use our bases to spy on Asia. No, we’re not going to use this country to foment and agitate war against the rest of the world”?

So Australia has a really important role in providing the diplomatic cover of collaboration and complicity under the auspices of some sort of internationalism and liberalism.

What do you think the view of the US-Australia relationship is in the United States, if people even think about it at all?

Abby Martin: It’s literally our backyard. That’s what Americans believe about Canada, about Latin America, about Australia. It’s just part of our view of the world. We are the centre. We are the dominant force, and everyone else is just the extension of our power. Americans are so narcissistic and so self-centred that I wouldn’t even say that they think about Australia.

Australian politicians often say that agreements with the US such as AUKUS will not cost Australia our military or political sovereignty and autonomy. What would you say to Australians who hold that view?

Abby Martin: I would say that the US doesn’t do anything in the world in terms of joint partnerships with anyone. We see the NATO allies; they’re willing to throw them under the bus if they aren’t subservient and enslaved to US domination and US impositions of NATO spending and expenditures. I mean, just like Spain: open threats of sanctions and tariffs if you don’t comply 100 per cent.

I would say that this is just the rhetoric that justifies this, that rationalises it to Australians: that it’s a jobs creator, that Australia is going to be completely collaborative with the US and that it’s necessary for national security. I would say it makes you a target. It  makes you guys less safe, and it’s completely  giving the US free rein to terrorise the land and the people here.

The narrative we hear is that we need the US alliance to keep us safe, because otherwise we’re isolated on our own and China’s going to come for us.

Abby Martin: I mean, I would just ask people – it’s this bizarre thought experiment that people use to rationalise the existence of the global military dictatorship, and it’s that if we weren’t doing it, China or Russia would be doing it. And isn’t it better that we’re on top?

It’s this fantasy that has no roots in reality. When has China ever exerted any sort of imperial ambitions outside of its normal purview? The fact that China exists in the South China Sea, and we think that that’s some sort of aggressive stance to literally exist in their own body of water.

So, no, I think that there’s absolutely no evidence whatsoever that China poses any sort of threat to Australia, and it’s just the absurd rationalisation to further militarise and spend more money on irrational things that don’t serve Australian needs whatsoever.

I would add that it makes you guys actually less safe. The fact that you are allowing Australia to give up its independence and sovereignty to basically be a hub for US military domination and aggression across Oceania, across Asia, this is devastating, because who do you think is going to be retaliated against? Who’s being retaliated against when the Iran war pops off? All the bases in these Gulf states. Those are the targets.

Australia is expendable to the US military. They don’t care about Australia. That’s why they’re building all this shit here, because at the end of the day, it’s not the US. So it’s actually putting you guys in danger.

Much focus on the anti-militarism front recently has been on the genocide in Gaza, the wars in the West Asia and domestically here on AUKUS. What made you realise that the environmental aspect of militarism needed to be covered more?

Abby Martin: I mean, it’s so fucking obvious, the ecocidal devastation that’s wrought by US imperialism. It’s been more and more obvious since the genocide in Gaza has been unleashed, because we’ve all been witnessing just the component of ecocide that goes along with the destruction.

Gaza, which is built mostly with this dense, carbon-intensive material, concrete and it’s just completely demolished, all of that is going to be global. It’s going to be generational. You know, the war in Iran, seeing literal fire in the sky, intentional targeting of oil infrastructure. It’s just been proven time and time again that this is the most pressing issue in the world. You cannot even talk about environmentalism unless you are incorporating militarism.

Militarism is not counted when we talk about carbon totals and at all these conferences. The military is not included at all. That’s what made me want to synthesise all the data and just tackle it head-on, because I was just so insulted and I was so sick of being infantilised by the ruling class – that we could solve our environmental problems as individual consumers, and if we just shopped right and composted in our little green bags, that was how we tackle this enormous, gargantuan problem.

When you realise that the military is the largest institutional polluter, you’re like, wait. When you realise that that’s just the oil purchases on paper, it’s so massive and it’s unrelenting. That’s what made me want to do the totality of it instead of just emissions: every stone unturned is another issue of military contamination. I wanted to tie all those together. That’s what the movie does.

Some people would say that other countries have large militaries and are also large emitters, so why, then, the focus on the United States?

Abby Martin: Well, it’s not true that other countries have large militaries. The US military is astronomically larger than any other country’s military. It’s cartoonish. I mean, it’s 10 times bigger.

Look at just the Air Force alone – it’s like seven times bigger than the next seven biggest. I mean, it’s so absurd.

No other country in the world has an empire of bases around the world. China has one base in Djibouti. Russia has arguably seven to nine military installations in former Soviet satellite states. No other country has this sort of military imposition on the world that’s enforcing its dictates under the barrel of a gun.

If you look at emissions, the whole problem that we’re in is because of cumulative emissions in the atmosphere from the Industrial Revolution. That is 25 per cent from the US alone. So if you look at China today, people point to China as the main perpetrator of emissions. Obviously, they have an enormous country. They’ve accumulated and absorbed nearly all of Western manufacturing.

You can’t look at any of this in isolation or in a vacuum without understanding globalisation and the problems with our consumption, and how we still export consumption to Asia. But if you look at the advancement of what China is doing to try to actually tackle climate change, it’s leaps and bounds beyond what we’re doing. So, again, you can’t look at any of these systems in isolation.

You spent a lot of time talking to government officials about the military and its environmental impacts. What stood out to you?

Abby Martin: That’s interesting too. The Republican Party denies climate change, but the military establishment believes in it. They’ve been planning accordingly for climate-change resiliency with their infrastructure, and militarising and securitising the borders because they know that’s going to be the inevitability.

During the Biden administration, you saw a lot of propaganda aimed at climate anxiety, trying to recruit people under the banner of, like, “Let’s tackle this together.” Of course, when Trump’s second term came in, that was all out the window. That doesn’t mean that they’re not preparing. They’ve just basically abandoned any sort of notion that they can stop it. Now they just feel like they are going to fight the worst outcomes of it to protect, you know, their interests.

... and on Cuba

When you were last in Cuba, what was your impression of how the people were coping there with the increasing blockade?

Abby Martin: It’s really hard. Staying is hard. That’s why there are so many people leaving. It’s easy to not live in a country that has blackouts that are lasting a week straight sometimes. I mean, I remember talking to guys who were just sitting in a gas-station line, and they were just like, “This is our life.” I mean, this is what they’ve always dealt with.

They have been living this blockade day in and day out their whole lives. They’ve never known anything else. For the older generations, they kind of know the sacrifices because they remember what it was like. For younger people, they don’t have that anymore. It’s harder, especially with the kind of lure of Western society on Instagram and stuff like that.

But the reason that (the US) hasn’t been successful is because there’s still such a deep-seated understanding of the cultural revolution, of just what has bound them all together, the glue that holds Cuban society together, and all the achievements that were made.

There’s something really beautiful about that. Even if (the US) were to black-bag Miguel Díaz-Canel, you’re not going to be able to destroy the Cuban Revolution unless you were to usher in some sort of bloody, Pinochet-style dictatorship. That’s not to say that they won’t try.

The Cuban people are extremely resilient, and they’re extremely deeply educated. They know exactly what they’re fighting for, what they could lose. Even the most vociferous critics of communism and the revolution, they’ll just say, “Get the fuck out. Yankee, go home. We will deal with our problems ourselves.”

I never met one Cuban who was like, “We want intervention. We want the US to come in and destroy us.” No one wants that. It’s just this completely artificial consensus from Miami and the Cuban diaspora that’s weaponised. Cuban people have one voice, and that’s: get the hell out of our country and leave us alone.

You had the privilege of sitting down with the Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel for your documentary “Cuba After Castro.” What was your impression of him?

Abby Martin: Very personable. A very kind person. Not a politician in any sense of what a Western politician would be like. I can’t imagine sitting down with any congressperson and having the same sort of experience, where it’s three hours of unedited, nothing scripted. He wasn’t given any questions in advance.

I asked him about the pillars of propaganda that are used to justify this horrific, asphyxiating blockade. He answered them with grace and with very articulate, broad examples, turning the questions on their head, which I found really  interesting, the way that he was able to do that.

Like, what does democracy actually mean? Does it really mean multiple parties? What does it mean to have democracy? Do you have a free press in the US? Just all these things that are really fascinating.

I mean, another thing about him is that he was a reluctant leader. All the myths that you hear about Cuba, that they banned the Beatles, that they’ve never allowed tattoos, that they hate all that shit, he personifies exactly what Western governments have tried to pretend Cuba is not. I mean, he loves the Beatles. He has tattoos. He loved going to gay clubs when he was growing up. He’s an incredible guy.

The thing is, he can go out in the middle of crowds without bulletproof vests, without a security detail, and just be immersed in the people. That’s never something that you would see from a Western politician, because it would be dangerous. They would be killed because they have so many enemies and so many people want them dead because of how miserable they’ve made their lives.

How do you feel the country is going to manage with the new reforms that have been announced?

Abby Martin: Yeah, that’s really unfortunate. I think any capitulation is not going to stop the US aggression. You know, it was really clear that they felt like they had no choice but to open themselves up to these reforms, the hundreds of economic reforms.

I think that they felt like they had to, to ease the pressure from the US. We saw the response to the reforms – “too little, too late.” They actually sanctioned them in response. I think any inch that you give is an inch too far.

You and the president talked about what is freedom of the press  and democracy  in response to criticism of the Cuban government. What does democracy look like in Cuba?

Abby Martin: That’s what I keep trying to tell people. There’s just this cartoonish notion that Cuba is some sort of dictatorship. Look: Cuba practises democracy in much more profound ways than I’ve seen Americans practise democracy. They don’t just show up and pull a lever every two to four years. They are practising and engaging in community projects and conversations on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, because it’s all hands on deck.

It’s so tactile. It’s like: what is right in front of your face? How is the blockade impacting the potholes and infrastructure right in your backyard? How can we work together to do that? So it’s small-scale and national, but everyone’s involved. That’s what’s so beautiful. It’s such a beautiful national project. They practise democracy in every capacity that they can within that.

We don’t know what these countries would be like if they didn’t have the boot of the US on their neck. There’s a self-preservation mechanism where it’s like: if they were to open themselves up to another party, what would that party look like? It would be a capitalist party that would be injected with hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from the US government. The revolution would be destroyed in a year. Literally, they have no choice.

Look at what happened in Venezuela. Liberals who want democracy brought to Cuba, well, they need to fight against the blockade first and let Cuban people just live and prosper under their own choices.

With Earth’s Greatest Enemy you said that you didn’t want the film, or any of your films, to be pessimistic. You say you want it to be a call to action, to give people hope. What is giving you hope at the moment?

Abby Martin: When I was first getting into politics and movement building, everything was siloed. I remember during the Iraq War buildup being told that pro-Palestine messaging was too controversial. I remember during Occupy Wall Street: “No, we shouldn’t go to Obama’s headquarters, because he doesn’t have anything to do with Wall Street.” It was this very big misunderstanding of our political moment and the material reality of our conditions.

Cuba is simply a case study of what our greatest enemy does.

Every country fits into this kind of perspective once you understand that capitalism is driving this and imperialism is an outgrowth of that. I have hope in just the sustained activism around the world, of people who are putting everything on the line just for the chance, like  the elders in Okinawa and the people in Red Hill (US, where there’s a public health crisis due to fuel leaks).

I encourage people who have privilege in our respective countries: we have the privilege and we have the duty. You know, you might not be in the heart of the imperial core like I am in America, but holy shit, you are an imperial asset, and you guys have the duty and the privilege to do everything in your power to stop this madness. I’m very inspired by everyone who is doing that around the world, and it keeps me motivated.

IPAN WA

 

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18. LETTERS

What happened in

Ein Arik

2 August

This afternoon, settler militias – backed by the army – attacked farms in the West Bank village of Ein Arik. A farmer was severely beaten, and 18-year-old Khaled Ashraf Shilo was assaulted, beaten, and brutalised, suffering broken arms.

Additionally, Ahmed Hassan Shilo was arrested, and more than 200 head of sheep were stolen from his farm. Several homes were also attacked.

This is just a small fraction of the daily attacks.

I am speaking about the village where I live, located 7 km from the city of Ramallah.

Hosny Shilo,

Member of the Palestinian National Council,

General Director of Media for the PLO’s Department of Labor and Planning,

Member of the General Secretariat of the Journalists’ Syndicate

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Education inequity

I’ve been reading Jane Caro’s Rich Kid, Poor Kid and was pleased to see the Australian Education Union’s article about the ‘Deeply Unfair’ school funding system currently in place in this country backing up her insights.

However, they were too polite to name the cause. Another book, by Amy Remeikis Where It All Went Wrong: the case against John Howard explains it all.

I’ve lived behind a Catholic school for 16 years and have seen it buy up the houses on its perimeter. Three years ago I watched a music/drama complex being built, while the public primary school around the corner is still using demountables.

So many of our present inequalities can be placed at the feet of little Johnny Howard – the increased racism, the inequitable housing situation, health insurance, the expense of child care and aged care, and education. All of which Howard carefully privatised. He withheld the Hawke-era ‘new schools’ policy which would not support anyone who wanted to establish a non-government school in an area already well-equipped with schools. Howard simply didn’t fund them.

But he introduced a new funding scheme to replace the Educational Resources Index (ERI). The ERI wasn’t perfect but was at least based on the total private income of a school. Howard’s new socioeconomic status school model (SES) didn’t take into account the private income of students’ families, so rich kids from areas classified as having poorer socioeconomic status, would get more money for the school.

He guaranteed additional funding for any non-government school possibly disadvantaged by the switch in funding models. This meant that more Commonwealth money could be funnelled into already wealthy private schools. Between 1999 and 2005, Federal funding to private schools increased by $1,584 per student compared to just $261 per student in the public system.

To add to this inequity, state governments then began closing or consolidating government schools, which resulted in a larger recruitment in non-government schools due to reduced public school availability. This has seen a steady decline in enrolments in public schools. In 1996, 74% of high school students went to a public school. In 2023 it was 69%.

I won’t even begin to talk about his influence on our universities through threats to withhold their Commonwealth funding. We now have Australia’s major universities being run by big business and their networks with little input from staff, students, or academics. Today the unhealthy high cost of degrees is a result of his meddling.

E Whitehead

 

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19. Film Review:

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

Reviewer: HF

The long-awaited and highly controversial adaptation of the Odyssey has been released. Before the film was even released everyone and their dog already had an opinion.

The film itself is entertaining. It has a 3-hour runtime and it kept me engaged all through. The pacing is fast, and there’s a significant amount of story content covered in that time. Depicting every line of the Odyssey would have made the movie last a week, but the well-known elements of the story were covered – the giants, the Sirens, Circe who changes men into pigs, and of course the vengeful return and struggle with Penelope’s suitors.

The film features many prominent Hollywood actors, too many to name. Matt Damon as Odysseus was good for the role. A lot of actors are very prominent to the point where I couldn’t mentally separate them from their celebrity status. Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya didn’t fully feel like their own characters, and often seemed like familiar actors in a different costume.

Subject to racist and transphobic online hate campaigns respectively, Lupita Nyong’o as Helen and Clytemnestra, and Elliot Page as Sinon fit well into the casting. Nyong’o wasn’t on screen for very long but possibly had some of the best acting in the whole film, and Elliot Page had a particular stand-out scene. Overall the casting seemed very safe, as most of the cast were either celebrities or had worked with Nolan before.

One thing I didn’t like about the acting was the fact that every character spoke with an US accent. For period piece cinema in English, it’s cinematic convention to use British accents even though it’s no more accurate to Ancient Greek than any other kind of English. What I find strange is that a lot of these actors speak with non-US accents off-screen. Robert Pattinson speaks with a British accent in Nolan’s Tenet, so the American accents would have been a deliberate and strange choice in this film.

In terms of a cinematic experience, The Odyssey was brilliant. Spectable is something Nolan has a reputation for with his extensive use of Imax 70mm technology. The cinematography was visually stunning throughout, but frequent night scenes limited its potential.  The music wasn’t as prominent and beautiful as in his other films, but it enhanced the experience well enough.

There’s a myth that Nolan doesn’t use CGI in his films. It would be more accurate to say that his films are shot practically and only use CGI when they absolutely have to, which is the case here.

A common criticism of Nolan’s Odyssey is that it isn’t fully accurate to the source material in terms of costumes and armour. The original armour of the late Bronze Age Mediterranean civilisations is very different to the European style armour used in the film. This will annoy people who expect a film adaption of a 2,600 year-old poem to be documentary realism, but the rest of us can put up with it. Personally, I was swept away by the action and the spectacle.

One aspect of the film that has rightly gained controversy is its filming locations. Odyssey was filmed all around the world; in Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa.

However, parts of the film were shot in Western Sahara, an occupied territory of Morocco and the last official colony in Africa. Permission to film on location wasn’t given by the indigenous Sahrawi people, but by the Moroccan colonial administration.

The Sahrawi people endure displacement into refugee camps, militarised police, illegal Moroccan settlement, and landmines, while the Moroccan regime invites filmmakers to the desert beaches. Morocco’s colonisation of Western Sahara is to be condemned, not legitimised through Hollywood cinema, and all Western Saharan territory must be governed by its indigenous inhabitants.

To paraphrase Sahrawi creative Mohamed Sleiman Labat, cinema audiences and the Sahrawi people deserve better than to have art filmed without permission on occupied land.

Nolan’s The Odyssey is overall a good film. It’s a Westernised interpretation of a classic poem, and  stands on its own as a technically impressive cinematic spectacle.

 

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20. Book Review:

Fear Before the Fall. Horror films in the late Soviet Union

Reviewer: Graham Holton

Fear Before the Fall: Horror Films in the Late Soviet Union by Alexander Herbert (2023) is a fascinating study of how Soviet filmmakers channelled societal anxieties through horror before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Each chapter covers a film breaking down narrative, context, and impact.

There are few English-language books devoted exclusively to Soviet horror cinema, making this a valuable introduction to a neglected area of international film history.

The four films analysed are placed within the late Soviet’s political and cultural atmosphere showing why supernatural and horrific themes emerged when they did. Herbert discusses the symbolism and social meanings embedded within each film.

The era leading up to 1991 has a surprising number of horror movies. The common assumption has been that the Soviet Union only began producing horror films in 1967 with Viy, which is based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol.

Soviet horror draw upon Slavic folklore and mythology as well as  themes of alienation, nationalism, ecological disasters, scientific experimentation, nuclear fears, bureaucracy, folklore, generational tensions, and the uncertainty surrounding the final years of the USSR. Soviet horror reflects psychological unease.

Fear Before the Fall challenges the common Cold War assumption that socialist societies either suppressed horror or produced only propaganda. Herbert shows that horror was a vehicle through which filmmakers explored the contradictions within late Soviet society. His analysis invites questions about how genre cinema reflects periods of social and political transition, including the tensions associated with the reforms of the 1980s and the decline of the Soviet system.

Drawing on substantial research, Herbert avoids the curly theoretical writing style of much film academia, making the book accessible for film buffs of all sorts. Fear Before the Fall is highly rewarding, introducing the reader to some great film.

Fear Before the Fall is an engaging, informative, and a pioneering study that opens an overlooked area of film history. Its greatest achievement is showing that Soviet horror possessed its own distinctive identity and did not imitate Hollywood horror films. It fills a significant gap in English-language books on Soviet popular culture. Well worth reading and highly recommended.

5 out of 5 (red) stars

Soviet horror, including the classic Viy can be found on YouTube by searching for ‘Mosfilms’

 

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21. Sport: AFL

Grand Final prospects, the year so far

Brad Desdon

With the AFL Grand Final looming, we had a chat with the Scientist.

As the cliché has it, football is a funny old game and anything can happen. That said, the Scientist favours Fremantle v Hawks for the Grand Final this year, principally because both smash rivals when they are fit and both have strong defences.

If it comes about, that will be a particularly interesting grannie – the different syles of Freo and the Hawks show very different philosophies. Fremantle’s philosophy is built around ruck and stoppage dominance, coupled with big, strong and fit forwards, very good in the air.

Hawthorn focus more on transition and can pick apart opposition with precise kicking, and bounce out of half back with speed. Hawks have a unique forward line more about leading and creating/using space than aerial dominance. Both sides have big, strong and smart key backs

Of course there are other favourites. A lot of people are backing Brisbane for the flag. The Scientist thinks Brisbane can do it, no doubt, but don’t look hungry enough. He points out that Brisbane were recently poleaxed by Carlton and by the Giants a month before that. If Brisbane want to get there, they need to stop sleep walking.

Some like the Sydney Swans for the Grand Final, but the Scientist thinks they don’t have the big bodies needed in the middle third.

Surprise of the year so far is  Carlton losing six games in a row and then winning seven in a row, what’s going on there?

As for Tasmania, while he doesn’t comment on the new stadium issue, the Scientist is stoked at the prospect of a new team in the league. His dream is a ground that is permanently sold out. Collingwood vibes are propping up hype this days, and the AFL could do with a lot more football-mad people.

As someone who loves football for the spectacle and follows it on social media out of a combination of habit and masochism, the Scientist is impatient with the football ‘managerial class,’ talking about processes as though they ever solved any problems, and reacting too quickly to the prospect of bad PR. The game’s the thing!

Apart from the Grand Final itself and the finals that come before it, the Scientist is looking forward to Hawthorn-Geelong still to come.

 

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22. Does Ireland need the EU?

A Carruthers

Ireland has a proud revolutionary history. Despite that the national bourgeois revolution was never completed and in fact became severely degraded over swathes of twentieth-century and twenty-first history.

Figures like James Connolly, an ardent socialist who gave his life in the 1916 Rising, are still held in high regard.

Irish revolutionary independence, despite everything, still has its place in the Republic.

The Communist Party of Australia’s fraternal Communist Party of Ireland maintains Connolly Books right in the centre of Dublin, selling both Marxist-Leninist and revolutionary Irish literature to the general public. Working-class culture and identity remains strong.

But the degradation of the national revolution is real, and the socialist revolution still remains far off.

Key to the question – Where next for Ireland? – is the question of the place of Ireland in the European Union. Many Irish people are led to believe that, following Brexit and the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, Ireland is better off in the EU. But is it?

Writing in Socialist Voice, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of Ireland, Nicola Lawlor notes that the EU is “a set of inter-state institutions designed to legally maximise the freedom of movement of capital, goods, services, and labour.”

Through the EU Germany has established “hegemony over Europe, a Europe that was strong enough to be part of what Samir Amin calls the triad of imperialism: the United States, the European Union, and Japan.”

Tommy Mckearney notes that “So intense is the pro-EU propaganda that to challenge the received wisdom is to risk being deemed deranged at best.” And yet, “the top 10% of Irish households hold half of all wealth, with the top 1% owning 13%, and 11 billionaires collectively wealthier than 85% of the population combined.”

Ireland carried 42 per cent of all European banking debt during the latest global financial crisis. Having European warehouses strewn across Ireland for this or that large corporation is doing nothing to stop rising inequality and poverty, both in major cities and the towns.

Recent attacks on migrant workers are revealing deep divisions in society due to worsening conditions under capitalism. Capitalism breeds fascism, turning the working class against each other.

According to Lawlor, it therefore becomes necessary to fight “against the Irish state and the EU in their destructive actions against the Global South and people here.” In other words the battle remains against imperialism and against capitalism, both at once.

The issue, much as in other places, is the strength of Western European propaganda. The EU is on a war footing with the Far East and is ratcheting up Cold War rhetoric. How will the progressive front challenge the status quo in this regard?

“Euroscepticism” as it is often called, has been hijacked by the far-right. To question EU imperialism should be a left-wing, a progressive position. The Communists cannot go so far out in advance of the working class to become incomprehensible, but more and more, bit by bit, the working masses are seeing the reality of the EU for what it is.

That is, the EU as a profit-making and war-mongering entity, is exposed as an hindrance to Irish independence and an obstacle to the establishment of a multi-ethnic working-class government in Ireland.

Geostrategic games played by the ruling classes of Western Europe are destroying lives at home. It’s the EU that’s killing people.

There are lessons for us here in Australia as well. We too do battle against the Australian state with its colonial, settler foundations, and we challenge its place in the imperialist Western bloc, especially in the age of AUKUS. The Australian government claims it doesn’t have enough money for this or that project. But when it comes to AUKUS, suddenly it can find nearly 400 billion dollars in its back pocket.

Just imagine what we could build with 400 billion dollars!

 

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23. GLOBAL BRIEFS

IRAN: Dialysis equipment for 44,000 patients has finally reached Iran after being held by the United States for 95 days. The eight-container shipment had been detained since 20 April before its release following cooperation between the Iranian Red Crescent and 17 international and humanitarian organisations. Iranian authorities said the vital supplies will now be distributed to treatment centres nationwide, describing the delivery as a breakthrough amid tightening US measures against Iran.

LEBANON: UNESCO has added a group of historic fortresses in southern Lebanon and the archaeological site of Sebastia in the occupied West Bank to its list of ‘World Heritage in Danger,’ citing damage, military threats, and Israeli projects that could permanently alter the protected locations. The Lebanese Culture Minister described the decision as “a remarkable achievement in the effort to protect these important historical landmarks.” The Lebanese government can currently access only two of the five fortresses included in the designation.

SUDAN: Sudan has rejected a US-proposed ceasefire plan, warning that its terms would effectively divide Sudan by granting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a permanent position of influence. The Sudanese government reiterated its commitment to full RSF withdrawal from Darfur, Kordofan, and the Blue Nile. The Sudanese Foreign Minister stressed that while Sudan remains open to dialogue, it will not accept arrangements that compromise national sovereignty or validate foreign-backed aggression.

BRAZIL: Brazil hosted the 26th International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro from 26-31 July. The foreign aid cuts by the Trump administration raised serious concerns among humanitarian and health organisations around the world, particularly over their potential impact on HIV prevention and treatment programs in Africa. Several high-level delegations from several African states took part in the conference and eagerly anticipated the US representative speech on investment opportunities in six African states.

There was an angry uproar, however, when a projected map of Africa showed the countries in wrong locations. Nigeria was placed in the Sahara, making the West African coastal nation appear landlocked, Mozambique was moved from southwestern Africa to the Horn of Africa, Ivory Coast appeared on the opposite side of the continent. The locations or borders of Cameroon, Malawi, and Uganda were inaccurate as well. An examination of the image found a watermark indicating that it had been created by using Open AI technology, Reuters reported. Evidently, no human intelligence was involved.

EU: The European Union has quietly removed an item from its latest list of sanctions against Russia. No, it was not life-saving medicine or fire-fighting equipment, it was sable pelts. The two main buyers of Russian sable pelts are Italy and Greece and they were behind the move. Fur manufacturers in Greece, which has one of the EU’s last remaining production hubs, warned earlier that the sanctions could spell the end of the industry.

ITALY: Health officials in Italy have put almost all of the country’s major cities on the highest level of alert for high temperatures in response to heatwaves. Residents in the cities affected are urged to avoid heat and direct sunlight for most of the day, stay indoors if possible and to drink plenty of fluids. The Copernicus Climate Change Service says that Europe is the fastest-warming continent.
(see Guardian #2198, 19 July for more)

EL SALVADOR: El Salvador has handed down prison sentences exceeding 1,000 years to gang members as part of a sweeping crackdown initiated in 2022 by Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele, who calls himself the “world’s coolest dictator.”

 

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24. Cuban ingenuity and resilience are saving the country

Graham Holton

The US oil embargo and sanctions have restricted Cuba’s access to finance, trade, and many imported goods, causing high fuel and food prices. Limited access to imported fuel, spare parts, and equipment has created low productivity, currency distortions, and inefficiencies in state owned enterprises.

Support from traditional trading partners has been reduced due to US political and military pressure, worsening the supply problem. Cuba is solving these economic and social problems through technical creativity, innovation, resourcefulness, and community solidarity.

The Cuban government is doing much to solve the energy problem by expanding renewable energy through installing large solar farms, and increased wind and biomass generation from the sugar industry. It is seeking investment from China and other countries to modernise its electricity system. As well as this, the recent change in regulations has allowed many Cubans to operate informal businesses from home, such as restaurants, repair shops, delivery services, and mobile phone repairs.

Engineers and technicians keep machinery, vehicles, and household appliances operating by fabricating replacement parts, or adapting components from other equipment. Engineers and clinicians repair, refurbish, or adapt medical equipment to keep hospitals functioning when replacement parts are unavailable.

Mechanics convert bicycles into electric bikes using salvaged motors and batteries, reducing fuel consumption. Car batteries, repurposed lithium batteries, and inverters are used in homemade backup systems to provide electricity during outages.

Everyday Cubans are inventing new ways to survive the economic crisis and help solve their everyday problems. The shortages of food, fuel, medicine, and electricity have led to creative strategies to meet their needs. People exchange goods, services and skills, and use social media or messaging apps to locate scarce products.

Families and neighbourhoods grow vegetables in backyards, rooftops, and community gardens to supplement scarce food supplies. Farmers use animal manure and organic waste to produce methane for cooking and heating water, reducing dependence on bottled gas and firewood.

Families share food, childcare, transport, and medical supplies with neighbours in a barter exchange. Many households build simple solar hot-water systems using recycled pipes, tanks, and glass to power lights, mobile phones, fans, Wi-Fi routers, and small appliances during the blackouts.

Rural communities have developed wood-burning stoves that use less fuel. Some remote communities use combinations of solar panels, batteries, and diesel backup generators to reduce reliance on the national grid.

The healthcare system faces major shortages of medical supplies and modern equipment. Yet nearly every neighbourhood has a doctor and nurse living and working within the community, providing early diagnosis and home visits. Community healthcare workers closely monitor older adults, pregnant women, and those suffering from chronic illnesses, allowing early intervention. Digital consultations and electronic health records have expanded to improve access to specialists.

Cuba has built a significant biotechnology sector that develops domestic vaccines and pharmaceuticals. During the COVID-19 pandemic Cuba developed its own vaccines. Shortages of imported medicines have led to wider use of herbal and traditional plant-based remedies, supported by research and guidance from the public health system.

These survival strategies demonstrate remarkable ingenuity and resilience. At the same time, they reflect the severity of the economic hardships many Cubans endure.

Cuba’s strong engineering tradition, innovation and resourcefulness cannot substitute for economic growth, reliable infrastructure, and access to international markets. Large-scale investment is needed in electricity generation, transmission, and storage to provide a reliable power supply nationwide. Until then Cuba is surviving the best way it knows how.

 

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25. Trump cuts Medicaid

Peter Farmer

The Trump administration will withhold a total of US $2.2bn to Medicaid funding in California, as well as $550m to Minnesota.

The funding cut will affect in-home supportive services (IHSS), which allow people to care for family members with disabilities without losing their jobs.

One carer described the cuts as “just cruel.”

The cuts are based on allegations of fraud, although Trump government officials haven’t bothered to say exactly what that fraud was. One law academic described what the government was doing as merely shifting the burden of proof to states.

Similar to Australia’s NDIS and Aged Care packages, in-home services in the US involve a lot of form-filling, followed by a series of meetings and then a home visit by a social worker. The social worker then visits again annually. It’s a rigorous process, partly in order to prevent fraud and abuse of the funding – exactly what Trump’s health officials are alleging without providing details.

The cuts may well be politically motivated, with one law professor pointing out that the cuts and resulting court cases are only happening to ‘blue states’ (states which vote Democrat).

 

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26. HALF THE SKY

Pushing both pedals on suicide

GH

Women are less prone to suicide than men, but the figures still point to a tragedy that should be prevented if possible. The latest complete data available on suicide nationally is for 2024. It shows 777 female deaths, or 23.5 per cent of all suicide deaths. A major review by Monash University and the Sax Institute found high suicide risk in emergency and medical services, veterinary work, arts and entertainment, and transport.

Risks are particularly high for women doctors and nurses – almost four times greater than women in other careers. Workers in this sector experience elevated rates of psychological distress and burnout, resulting in suicidal thoughts. In 2018 the Medical Journal of Australia warned that a system-wide change was needed to support doctors’ physical and mental health, and tackle the tragic problem of suicide amongst the health workforce.

A number of pressures affect women in medicine, including gender discrimination, barriers to career advancement, and balancing demanding careers with disproportionate caring and domestic responsibilities. High expectations of perfection and the fear of professional consequences cause mental health issues.

There’s an overlap with other areas. Workplaces with high psychological demand and little autonomy are of major concern. Heavy workloads and exposure to trauma are common among paramedics, police, firefighters, and emergency department staff, who are repeatedly exposed to death, violence and serious injury, contributing to PTSD, depression and suicidal thoughts. Veterinarians, doctors, farmers and some emergency workers have access to medications and firearms, increasing the likelihood that any attempted suicide will be fatal.

Long working hours, fatigue from prolonged shifts, night shifts and sleep disruption increase the risk of depression, anxiety and burnout. Workplaces with persistent bullying, discrimination, and sexual harassment are major contributors to poor mental health and suicidal behaviour, particularly when workers feel they are unable to report their concerns.

Veterinary science, like nursing, is a majority-women profession. Female vets outnumber male vets by more than two to one. Veterinarians face a combination of risks. The frequent euthanasia of animals, followed by compassion fatigue, causes moral distress. Financial pressures, working with difficult clients, long hours of work, and professional isolation bring on suicidal thoughts. Having access to powerful euthanasia drugs leads to high rates of successful suicide.

Suicidal thoughts are common across the population, so having access to the means makes a difference. This may be why the gun-loving US has a higher suicide rate than Australia. So for medical and veterinary professions, access to powerful euthanasia drugs can lead to high rates of successful suicide. 

In February 2025, the Australian government and the National Suicide Prevention Organisation released the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025-2035. It provides a comprehensive approach to preventing suicide, including high-quality effective supports, and efforts to address the circumstances that lead to suicidal distress. The Strategy aims to unify the efforts of governments, communities, and service providers to improve suicide prevention.

Many experts argue that current measures are inadequate as staff shortages create excessive workloads. Burnout continues to rise due to mandatory overtime, shift work, and emotional labour. Psychological injuries are often treated only after workers become unwell rather than being prevented.

The Strategy is a good thing, but in a nation where the government’s priority is keeping employers happy, there’s an element of pressing on the brake and the accelerator at the same time.

If this article has raised any issues for you, you can contact Lifeline on 131114

 

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