Say NO to privatisation

On the occasion of the 11th Congress of the Communist Party of Australia, delegates marched through the streets of Sydney to voice their disapproval of the Rees Government's plans to sell of various publicly owned assets.

The Guardian #1426, September 2, 2009

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Create jobs in renewable not military industries

The State Committee of the Communist Party of Australia expressed its outrage today that the Rann Government is encouraging the expansion of war industries in the State of South Australia.”

“The recent announcement that Lockheed Martin will expand its workforce by four times in the is only the latest example of a major shift away from peaceful industries to war industries,” says CPA State Secretary Bob Briton.

“What we have here is a State Government that is out of touch with the people. Over 100,000 South Australians hit the streets of Adelaide to oppose the war in Iraq and the vast majority of those people would be very concerned at the propositions being put forward by the Rann Government and Lockheed Martin, one of the beneficiaries of that war,” he said.

“Investment in replacement industries to make up for the loss of manufacturing jobs should be the government’s priority, not investment in an industry that profits from the deaths of innocent civilians around the world,” said Mr Briton.

“Investment needs to be directed towards priorities such as alternative energy sources and other social needs. War industries divert investment away from these urgently needed areas and increase tensions in our region."

“Many South Australians would also be concerned about the potential for a terrorist attack at any U.S naval or military base that might be located in our State,” he said.

“The State Committee of the CPA opposes the development of war industries and the Rann Government’s support for their development in South Australia. Instead, the CPA would welcome a return to social obligation being a priority for a Labor government,” he added.

Letter to Obama re Cuban Five

Dear President Obama,

I am writing to express the concern held in many quarters of the Australian community about the ongoing denial of justice for the prisoners known internationally as the Cuban Five who are being held in separate penitentiaries in your country.

As you would know, they have been imprisoned since 1998 for convictions arising from their infiltration of Cuban terror groups based in Miami. The Australian people have shown great sympathy over the years for the Five and understand perfectly the need the Cubans had to defend themselves by being forewarned about impending attack.
We were disappointed that your Administration intervened in the recent Supreme Court proceedings to recommend that a review of their convictions be rejected. We saw the large number of amicus curiae statements from world renowned figures and the powerful arguments advanced for these anti-terrorists to be set free.

It is perplexing that known terrorists such as Posada Cariles continue to walk free in the United States while plainly decent and patriotic Cubans like the Five remain incarcerated.We are concerned that there appears to be an attempt to split the cases of the Five by re-sentencing three of them while upholding the sentences of Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez. We urge you to look into the refusal of visas to the Adriana Perez, the wife of Gerardo, and Olga Salanueva, the wife of Rene. The separation of these prisoners from their wives and their families is cruel and a denial of internationally observed prisoner rights.

We recognise the appalling situation of the denial of rights to the Cuban Five is an inheritance from previous administrations. We look forward to your intervention to remove this stain on the human rights record of the United States.

Yours sincerely,
Dr Hannah Middleton
General Secretary
Communist Party of Australia

Rann worried by developers?

Looks like the people of SA will be the last ones to know the detail of the Rann Government’s 30 year Plan for Greater Adelaide. It has refused a request from Greens MLC Mark Parnell to make available a report about future housing development and re-zoning because it is “potentially highly commercially sensitive,” as Urban Development and Planning Minister Paul Holloway put it. Strange, then, that the author of the report is working for property developers seeking to re-zone and develop the same land identified in the report. Exactly who is the government worried might get their hands on some really first rate real estate tip-offs?