Perth Indymedia

We speak to Jess Beckerling from the WA Forest Alliance about a growing blockade in our south-west and the need to save the Lewin karri forest.

All eyes turned to Venezuela on April 30th, when the self-declared interim President Juan Guaido announced what he called "the final phase" of his effort to wrest power from the democratically elected government of Nicolas Maduro. Brazil-based freelance journalist Michael Fox was in Caracas on the day of the attempted coup. Speaking late last week to our own Alex Whisson, Michael began by outlining the day’s events and what he personally witnessed on the streets of the Venezuelan capital.

We speak to long-time Javanese author, researcher and activist Al-Fayyadl about the political and social implications of Indonesia's recent elections.

Trade unions across the country flexed their muscles last Wednesday, with a display of strength in support of the Australian Council of Trade Unions' Change the Rules campaign. As many as 200 000 people took to the streets of Melbourne, effectively shutting down the centre of the city. In Perth, some 3000 workers gathered outside State Parliament House. Alex Whisson was there to capture the highlights.

The speakers, in order, are Meredith Hammat, the Secretary of UnionsWA, Carolyn Smith, Secretary of United Voice, Sally McManus, Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Steve McCartney, and finally Dave Noonan, the National Construction Secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union.

When it comes to federal budgets, we hear the same blathering nonsense from politicians year in, year out. While major corporations pay little or no tax on multi-billion dollar profits, we're told the rest of us must tighten our belts, and be fiscally responsible in the face of economic headwinds and mounting debts and deficits. Above all, we must as a nation constantly work towards budget surpluses, a theme so often repeated it might as well be a religious mantra.

Union membership and strike activity remain at record lows across Australia. In recent times however, a few vitally important episodes of industrial action have bucked the historical trend. Last year in our own state for example, 1600 Alcoa workers went out on the grass for no fewer than 53 days. Meanwhile on the eastern seaboard, Chemist Warehouse workers, members of the National Union of Workers, have just emerged victorious from a two-week strike.

Alex Whisson spoke to the General Branch Assistant Secretary of the NUW, Godfrey Moase.

Indymedia's Alex Whisson speaks to Dr Yassir Morsi on the culture of xenophobia and Islamophobia connected to the tragic terror attack in Christchurch.

Freight operator Aurizon are taking legal action against anti-coal activists in Queensland who are trying to stop the expansion of the coal industry. Raymond Grenfell spoke to Tess from Front Line Action on Coal to find out more about the legal case and the FLAC campaign.

Indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, guilty of the large scale repression and impoverishment of his own people, the rule of Sudan's Omar al-Bashir, who came to power in a 1989 coup, is now under serious challenge from a popular uprising calling for his resignation.

Ray Grenfell spoke to Nidal Saeed from the Australian Sudanese Activists Group WA, and began by asking her what gave rise to this current wave of protests.

Indymedia's Ray Grenfell hits the streets during the Perth Strike for Climate protest and chats to some attending students and supporters on why this movement is important.