Award wage increases are not "trivial"

 Written by: Ned K. on 10 April 2026

 

(Low wages are bad enough without being swindled into the bargain, Source: UWU Facebook page)

In May this year the Fair Work Commission will hand down its National Wage Case Decision which will determine the minimum wage rates that will apply in Awards from July 2026. The ACTU on behalf of affiliated Unions has put in claim for 5% increase in the Awards rates of pay for all classifications. Various employer organizations have argued that the Commission should determine that there be no wage increases at all or at least no wage increase in any Award greater than 3.5%.

The 5% wage increase claim by the ACTU is nowhere enough to provide a real wage increase for the still many thousands of workers paid under Awards given the current rising cost of living crisis for the working class.

Real wage increases to the Award minimum wage rates also benefit workers who are paid above- Award wage rates under Enterprise Agreements as a real wage increase in the Award enables workers under Agreements to pressure their employers to at least maintain relativity to their industry Award wage rates.
In the early 1990s the federal ALP government changed industrial laws to diminish the power of Unions to improve wages and working conditions across a whole industry. The new industrial laws made site and/or employer specific enterprise bargaining as the way for workers to improve wages and working conditions.

This inevitably divided workers across industries and within the same industry and even within the same employer where an employer had more than one worksite.

For the working class as a whole, the move away from Awards as the main method for increasing wages and improving working conditions arguably increased the surplus value extracted from the labor of the working class as a whole.

When the Liberal/National Party government managed the capitalist economy on behalf of big business between 1996 and 2007, it tried to return the Australian working class to pre-Award days by legislating individual contracts called Australian Workplace Agreements as the main method of determining all workers' wages and conditions.

The capitalist class's own economists proudly announced year after year that the percentage of the capitalist Gross Domestic Product attributed to wages and salaries was declining and the percentage attributed to profits was increasing.

The capitalist class has historically opposed regulation of wages and conditions and whenever workers have attempted to improve minimum wages and conditions by regulation.

This has been the case even in the services sectors of the economy which the big corporations and their governments call "non-core" sectors of the economy.

NOT A "TRIVIAL" MATTER

A striking example of this occurred in South Australia in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

In 1929 the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union made an application to the state Industrial Court for a Common Rule Award to regulate the wages and conditions of caretakers and cleaners.

The application was for such an Award to cover caretakers and cleaners in the inner city and metropolitan area of Adelaide. At that time the owners of office buildings in Adelaide including the Savings Bank of SA and various Insurance companies directly "employed" caretakers and cleaners on individual employment arrangements with no minimum pay and conditions at all. Some of the companies and office building owners remunerated caretakers and cleaners by part money payment and part payment in kind such as provision of lunch and especially with caretakers a room to live in within the building.

The employers argued that the Union's application for an Award for caretakers and cleaners was "trivial" and "not in the public interest" and that these workers were "looked after" well by their benevolent masters!

The Union won the day and for the first time these semi-indentured caretakers and cleaners became "free" wage workers with regulated minimum wages and conditions.

The vast majority of the caretakers and cleaners were males and worked full time hours of 44-48 hours a week Monday to Saturday or Monday to Friday and half a day on Saturday.

The benevolent capitalist owners of the buildings in the inner city and inner metropolitan area did not like having "their" property services workers having basic Award rights and conditions of employment.

They created cleaning companies which were registered as businesses with the relevant government department. They then entered into a commercial cleaning services contract with the newly created contract cleaning companies. The contract cleaning companies were not bound by the Award (then called a Determination of the Court) as were the capitalist owners of the buildings.

The contract cleaning companies were able to pay caretakers and cleaners on less than the new Award and compete with other contract cleaning companies.
The owners of the buildings thought this was pretty good - a return to the "good old days" of a completely de-regulated property services. 

The Miscellaneous Workers Union of course supported its members and applied to the Court to vary the scope of the Award (Determination) so that it covered contract cleaning companies as well. 

In 1933 the contract cleaning companies were bound by the Award (Determination) as well.

Competition between the contract cleaning companies for cleaning services contracts with the city and metropolitan property owners started the still existing "race to the bottom" on price.

Cleaning companies started to win cleaning contracts by cutting hours of work. Full time cleaners became the exception, and cleaners became employed as part -time workers or casual on as little as two-hour shifts.

Workload of cleaners increased dramatically as did turn over of cleaners.

When caretakers and cleaners were directly employed by the building owners prior to the making of the Award (Determination), they undoubtedly increased and maintained the use value of the buildings they cleaned, contributing to the owner's ability to maintain and attract tenants willing to pay the rent and pay increases in rent. In that sense caretakers and cleaners were remunerated amounts less than the value they added to the buildings.

When the caretakers and especially the cleaners became employed by the contract cleaning companies they continued to provide a use value for the building owner. However that is not the prime reason why the contract cleaning companies employed them. The prime reason was so that the cleaning companies made a profit from the surplus value created by the cleaners. This surplus value was created mainly by work intensification, a trend that continues to this day.

That is why any increase in the minimum Award rates of pay is still so important today for cleaners. Caretakers are rarely employed now by property owners of large buildings. The minor maintenance duties and specialized trade work is provided by property maintenance services companies who, like the cleaning companies, are about making profits from the work performed by those they employ.

 

Nazis disband but far-right continues to organise

 Written by: (Contributed) on 10 April 2026

 

(Pauline Hanson and SA One Nation leader Corey Bernardi.  Photo: Charlie Gilchrist/InDaily)

Federal legislation against hate speech, driven by Zionist and anti-Palestinian advocacy groups, had one useful consequence with the laws prompting the National Socialist Network (NSN) to disband.

It might, however, eventually prove a questionable victory over the Australian far-right. By forcing them into an underground position Canberra has potentially made them more of a clandestine organisation using covert operations, and more difficult to identify and counter. The resurgence of two other right-wing front-type political organisations has also provided the far-right with a convenient cover for their neo-Nazi agendas and campaigns.

In mid-January the Australian neo-Nazi National Socialist Network (NSN) officially disbanded on account of pending legislation in Canberra. With military-style precision an official statement from their headquarters noted they would cease to be an open political party from 11.59 on Sunday 18 January 2026; their front organisations, including White Australia, the European Australian Movement and the White Australia Party, likewise, would also cease to exist.

The legislation had followed numerous reports and sightings of groups of black-clad men marching in formation, in both city and rural areas. The fact the neo-Nazis wore face masks to avoid detection made the organisation appear all the more sinister.

The existence of the neo-Nazi movement in Australia is not a recent problem but rests upon nearly a century of small political organisations which adhere to far-right ideologies. (1)

The far-right organisations, however, are rarely straightforward: there has been a long-held tendency for them to conceal themselves behind front organisations, not only to foster respectability but to also have a wider audience. Studies of the far-right Australian League of Rights (ALOR) from decades ago, for example, found that it was 'an extremist, neo-Nazi, anti-semitic, racist organisation … with … racism at the core of the leagues beliefs'. (2)

The ALOR is, furthermore, linked into international networks of like-minded organisations, including a listed affiliate of the shadowy World Anti-Communist League/World League for Freedom and Democracy (WACL/WLFD). (3) The shadowy conspiratorial networks had been established in the earliest days of the previous Cold War by the Taiwanese and South Korean intelligence agents as a public relations arm of pro-US far-right governments. (4)

The Australian connection was never solely confined to traditional far-right political organisations but tended to be broad-based and attached to centre-right organisations. In fact, it was noted in a study of the WACL and ALOR that 'Australia was represented largely by conservative members of Parliament, interspersed with neo-Nazis, racists, and Eastern European immigrants whose roots lay in the fascist collaborationist armies of WW2'. (5)

A CIA intelligence report which saw the light of day described the WACL as 'a neo-fascist umbrella organisation that assisted US intelligence operations'. (6) It is not particularly difficult to identify how the intelligence services use the far-right as agents.

Infiltration of legitimate political parties would appear a speciality of the far-right. Disclosures that neo-Nazis had infiltrated and spied on major Australian political parties as routine measures have tended to be met with blanket silence, a standard tactic when dealing with embarrassing and sensitive issues. (7) One recent investigation, nevertheless, found that the Australian far-right had managed to establish links to sensitive intelligence in Canberra together with gun clubs, while organising secretly on-line. (8)

Other studies have concluded with similar findings: it has been noted, for example, that the ALOR has infiltrated many different organisations, including churches. (9) It has tended to adopt the role of a 'deep organisation', while operating through open, front-type organisations. Studies have found that 'many groups shift identity and bob up again under slightly different names with the same people on the committee'. (10)

Two recent developments in Australia have provided the far-right with openings into wider movements, where they appear to have been made very welcome.

Early this year the far-right were responsible for organising the so-called March for Australia (MFA), which was a cover for attracting a broad-based collection of right-wing political organisations under a common umbrella. Organisers of the MFA openly invited former members of the NSN to participate in their activities and to 'merge into local chapters of the MFA movement'. (11) NSN figures were noted to have 'urged followers to build networks, draft propaganda and be ready and waiting for further directions'. (12)

White supremacist links with South Africa were also acknowledged by the MFA and noted as 'best friends outside the organisation'. (13) The former intelligence services of the Apartheid regime were no strangers to the cultivation of fellow travellers; they were supported to serve their purpose. Their history has been well recorded. (14)

There is also every reason to accept that the recent resurgence of One Nation, particularly in South Australia, will enable the far-right to enter circles of their supporters and other disaffected personnel which associate with that organisation. There is already a strong overlap of personnel, which identify with a common focus of racial profiling and white supremacist political positions.

In conclusion, the significance of both the MFA and One Nation can best be assessed in line with their European counterparts, which have received considerable support from the Trump administration as they are regarded 'as aligned with its agenda'. (15) Those associated with the MFA and One Nation tend to be of European ancestry. 

Progressive forces in Australia should keep their eyes and ears open to the threat of the far-right and the nature of the support coming from the Trump administration, which would appear set on creating and maintaining political fifth column-type operations to serve 'US interests' in countries where serious questions have arisen about the presidential administration in the White House.

1.     See: Nazis out of uniform – the dangers of neo-Nazi terrorism in Australia, Denis Freney, (Sydney, 1985).
2.     How the right gets it wrong, The Age (Melbourne), 21 October 1988.
3.     The League List, Inside the League, Scott Anderson and Jon Lee Anderson, (New York, 1986), Appendix, pp. 275-85.
4.     Ibid., page 11 and page 47.
5.     Inside the League, op.cit., page 59.
6.     Quoted: The Beast Re-Awakens, Martin Lee, (London, 1997), page 189; and, Ted Serong, Anne Blair, (Melbourne, 2002), page 186.  
7.     See: Nazis claim their stamp on all parties, The Age (Melbourne), 13 July 1999.
8.     “Private intel', The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April 2025.
9.     Age, op.cit., 21 October 1988; and, The League of Rights, Nazis out of Uniform, Denis Freney, (Sydney, 1985),  Appendix One.
10.   Age, ibid.
11.   See: Extremists regroup into secret cells, 'waiting for what comes next', Australian, 16 February 2026.
12.   Ibid.
13.   Ibid.
14.   See: Fellow Travellers, Inside BOSS, Gordon Winter, London, 1981), Chapter 39, pp. 526-541.
15.   MAGA allies across Europe face fallout, Australian, 24 March 2026.

Book Review: The Immortalists

 

Written by: Duncan B. on 1 April 2026

 

(Photo supplied)

Aleks Krotoski is a psychologist, academic, broadcaster and journalist who has been reporting on technology for over 25 years. In her book The Immortalists -The Death of Death and the Race For Eternal Life she takes us into a world where what was once science fiction is becoming a reality.

Since ancient times people have dreamed of finding a way to defeat the ravages of old age and keep death at bay, possibly forever. The search for eternal life was once the realm of magicians and alchemists. Modern day magicians and alchemists are striving to develop treatments which will slow down, reverse or even stop the ageing process so that people will be able to live much longer. Many of these treatments have little scientific basis and would be unlikely to get approval by regulatory authorities.

If you think that this is crazy, the even crazier and disturbing part is that the many millions of dollars needed for this research are largely being provided by the same tech billionaires who are behind AI. People such as Musk, Bezos, Altman and Thiel. They are transhumanists, who believe that technology must be used to enhance the body and mind towards immortality.

They believe AI is going to give us everlasting life when we merge ourselves with superintelligent AI to form a singular, post-human artificially intelligent entity. This event is known as the Singularity. What will happen when this occurs, no one can predict, but the transhumanist creators of AI are rushing forward in their race to be the first, irrespective of the consequences for humanity.

They are giving no thought to what society would be like with a larger number of older people, for example the effect on medical and aged care services and
government expenditure on pensions.

Krotoski says, “the developers, the funders, the Silicon Valley machine are preaching a total upheaval of humanity. They say that their tools must be prioritised above all. And because they feel they’ve already disrupted everything else, now they believe they have the power to disrupt death.”

AI is something that affects the whole of humanity. It should not be left in the hands of the deranged megalomaniacs of Silicon Valley.

HACM: Missiles Miss Their Target

 Written by: John C. on 1 April 2026

 

(A contractor-derived artist’s rendering of the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile. Credit: Raytheon Missiles & Defense illustration)

Regrettably, self-defence preparation is a necessity due to the existence of capitalism.  This is because in order for capitalism to expand, one capitalist must procure resources that another capitalist also wants to get hold of. Inevitably this leads to wars. One capitalist kills many, as the saying goes – as well as populations of innocent people.

However, this self-defence capacity must be must developed according to the needs of a particular country.

In Australia this is not what is happening.

Instead, the strategy for defence is geared towards furthering the ambitions of the US in its current and future wars of aggression. Australia’s military has been fully integrated into the US military and is an adjunct to it. 

This determines what sort of military equipment Australia purchases and develops. Take as one example, the AUKUS “agreement”. Australia is purchasing a handful of imaginary nuclear-powered submarines scheduled for delivery over a period of decades, at the cost of an eye-watering $400B.

These submarines do not fit well, if their purpose is for Australia’s self-defence. If they ever arrive, Australia will be instructed by the US to deploy them in one of its theatres of war of aggression, possibly with China. 

They will be for offensive use not defensive use, a long way from home.

This pattern is repeated in all areas of Australia’s military operations, which has resulted in the surrender our sovereignty and independence by US sycophants here.

A correct balance between the budget for defence and the budget for social programs must be struck. Funding for social programs is a high priority. 

As illustrated by the AUKUS example, there is not a good balance of spending between these two competing priorities. Solely on economic grounds, Australia can neither afford nor justify AUKUS.

Further still, as this money is not being spent on the actual self-defence needs of Australia, the opportunity for achieving self-defence capability is being lost. Of course it goes without saying that the first line of defence should be diplomacy, rather than through military means.

Another example of Australia’s subservience to the ambitions of the US military is its participation in the development and testing of hypersonic missiles. 

Australia has been involved in this project with the US military and the US military-industrial complex (MIC) for 15 years. Think Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. They have been given huge contracts for this.

These efforts have been ramped up in recent years because China and Russia already have this technology, with the US falling behind.

The current iteration of the project is known as Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE). It is tied in with Pillar 2 of AUKUS.

The project is now at the stage of running test flights, with the aim of fielding in 2027.

These missiles, known as Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missiles (HACMs, pronounced Hack’em), are launched from the air and fly at 5 times the speed of sound with a range of 1900km.

A recently published report by 7 News gives more details.

It is believed that secret testing of these missiles is under way in South Australia at the Woomera Range Complex. It has been noted that officials from the Pentagon’s Missile Defence Agency (MDA) arrived in Australia just prior to the report. Also, US and RAAF military surveillance aircraft have been detected in the area.

When Australian defence officials were approached with questions, they did not reveal anything informative.

They did not admit that such test flights were taking place.

There was a mealy-mouthed response of   “This is a longstanding feature of Australia’s cooperation with the US, in accordance with well understood policies and procedures, and with full respect of Australia’s sovereignty”.

Of course they would say this, because they know full well that Australia’s involvement with the US military can only occur by surrendering its sovereignty, but they do not want to admit to this because it is an issue close to the hearts of the Australian people.

 It would seem that these missiles will in the future be deployed on RAAF’s  F/A-18F Super Hornet fleet. They can also be launched from EA-18G Growler and F-35A Lightning II, and the P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft.

No doubt that some in the RAAF believe that these missiles would be used for Australia’s defence. However, it would be naïve to think this. 

Currently no country poses a military threat to Australia despite the claims to the contrary by the mass media and pro-US think tanks like the so-called Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). This will only happen if Australia willingly makes itself a target by participating in illegal US wars of aggression. For example, with China. 

These missiles will be called into action when Australia receives the command from the US to support its wars. 

As for using these for our own defence in such a scenario, there are doubts whether the US will permit this. Just like the AUKUS submarines.

This is not beyond the realm of possibility. One just has to cite the statement from Trump in the last day to understand how easily the US betrays countries that believe they are “allies”.  He said “You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us”. This was in response to European allies not willing to assist the US in its illegal war against Iran.

This is what happens to “allies” who decide not to acquiesce to the demands of the US, even in the slightest way. The Australian defence establishment and government need to learn from this. An alliance with US is extremely risky, especially, as time goes by, the might of the US rapidly declines and it becomes more desperate.

Australia needs to focus its efforts on developing a home-grown, publicly owned self-defence industry which caters for its genuine needs. No cooperation with the foreign-owned MIC. No collaboration with the US Department of War. No strings attached.

As far as Australia’s defence needs are concerned, the SCIFiRE project’s missiles miss their target.

End the US alliance.

BOOK REVIEW-THE PHILOSOPHER IN THE VALLEY

 Written by: Alex M and Duncan B on 31 March 2026

 

Duncan B.

The Philosopher in the Valley. Alex Karp, Palantir and the Rise of the Surveillance State is written by Michael Steinberger, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. The book tells the story of the rise of the software company Palantir and its co-founder and CEO, Alex Karp. 

Palantir Technologies started as a company that specialized in data analytics. Its software could sift through enormous quantities of data to identify connections and trends which human analysts would need days or months to find.

Palantir was started in 2003 by co-founder Peter Thiel in the wake of the Al-Qaeda attacks on the US on September 1, 2001. Thiel believed that Palantir’s purpose was to help the American government combat terrorism. Palantir was partly financed by the CIA’s venture capital arm In-Q-Tel to the tune of $1.25 million. Later, Palantir went on to develop a software programme which met the CIA’s requirements, which they subsequently purchased.

In 2004 Thiel invited Karp to join Palantir, and Karp soon became CEO. He said that Palantir’s mission was to defend the West and liberal democracy.

Prospective employees had to believe in the company’s mission. Anyone who was fussy about helping to kill terrorists or work with the US government had no chance of being hired.

Karp was concerned with the privacy and civil liberties aspects of the surveillance technology that Palantir was building. The problem was that the end users of Palantir’s programmes did not share this commitment. For example, there were cases of Palantir’s programmes being used by police departments to amass vast amounts of information about millions of people, with the risk of racial profiling of coloured people. 

In 2016, Palantir sued the US army for excluding Palantir from submitting a bid to build a new data analysis system for the army. Palantir won the case and gained several contracts from the US military. 

There were allegations that Palantir got these contracts thanks to Peter Thiel’s support for Trump in the 2016 election. Thiel became a strong supporter of Trump and donated $1.25 million to Trump’s election campaign. At that time, Karp was still a Democrat supporter, although later he swung around to support Trump. The US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) was one of the government departments awarded contracts to Palantir for use of its technology in ICE’s crack-down on alleged illegal immigrants.

Previously, Palantir had not been involved in the development of AI systems, remaining a data analytics company. In 2017 the Pentagon started a programme called Project Maven, which aimed to bring AI and machine learning to the battlefield. Originally, Google was awarded the $10 million contract to build this system. Due to objections by thousands of Google employees, the company pulled out of the contract. Palantir took over the contract and made Project Maven a reality. Maven helped the US provide the Ukraine forces with vital information which allowed them to destroy Russian forces invading Ukraine.

At the start of the Covid pandemic Palantir developed software which the US and other governments used to fight the disease. It enabled governments to bring together all the data necessary to track the spread of the disease, collect data on testing and hospitalization and coordinate the distribution of vaccines and other critical supplies.

This use of Palantir’s systems in the fight against Covid shows that computer technology and AI can benefit humanity. It is the use of Palantir’s programmes by the US government agencies, the US military and by the Israeli government in its war on the people of Palestine that show that in the wrong hands this technology is used to spy on the people and suppress their struggles.

Control must be in the hands of the people, not the likes of Musk, Altman, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Karp, Thiel and the other tech billionaires. 
                                                       *******************
Alex M:

What is really striking when you read biographies such as this one is the hubris that Tech billionaires like Karp almost invariably possess. Along with figures such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg and others, Karp is not lacking in self-regard. Having come from a family which considered themselves ‘progressive’ (his father is Jewish and his mother is African American and they saw themselves as politically liberal in the U.S. sense), Karp continues to identify as ‘progressive’ even though he supported Trump in the last presidential election. In addition, as Duncan B has pointed out above Karp’s supposed progressivism has not stopped him or Palantir actively seeking and gaining contracts with the CIA and the Pentagon among others. Aside from some hand-wringing about privacy, Karp has not been bothered too much about Palantir’s involvement with the U.S. and Israeli militaries and intelligence agencies. He rationalizes this by claiming that Palantir is part of the fight to maintain the values of liberal democracy and the dominance of the West.

As a child, Karp was diagnosed with dyslexia which, with help, he was able to overcome and he became a diligent student. So much so that he completed his undergraduate tertiary studies at Haverford College, majoring in philosophy (hence the title of the book) and then opted to go to Stanford University to complete a graduate Law degree. It was at Stanford in the late 1980s, early 1990s that he met Peter Thiel and established a friendship that would see them re-connect years later. After completing his Law studies at Stanford, Karp decided to do a PhD in Germany having little to no German language skills. Taking an intensive German language course Karp was able to quickly become fluent in German which was necessary because Karp’s PhD thesis not only required him to read German texts, but he also wrote it in German; no mean feat for a non-native speaker of German and one who had had dyslexia early in life. Karp completed his PhD in 2002. His PhD thesis examined the bitterness of many Germans over being held accountable for the Holocaust and being reminded constantly about it. Steinberger states that: “In essence, the dissertation was a study of in-groups, out-groups, and the rhetoric of fascism.” (Steinberger, p.53)

By now Karp was in his mid-thirties and not inclined to pursue a career in academia. He re-connected with Thiel and eventually Thiel offered Karp the position of CEO of his Silicon Valley start-up company Palantir in 2004. What makes this appointment stand out is the fact that Karp has no background in computer science (nor for that matter does Thiel). Karp quickly showed that he was adept at promoting and selling Palantir’s products as well as being renowned for his eccentric manner.

Karp is also abrasive when it comes to excoriating rival big tech companies. As Duncan B pointed out above thousands of Google employees objected to Google’s involvement in Project Maven, causing the company to withdraw from the project in 2018. Palantir stepped in and took up the contract. Karp wrote an op-ed published in the Washington Post in September 2019 taking Google and the rest of Silicon Valley to task for betraying the U.S. military” and by extension, American democracy”. (Steinberger, p.168) 

Palantir’s involvement with Project Maven marks the start of Palantir’s direct engagement with AI. Karp made it clear in a conversation with Steinberger in 2019 that he considered that Project Maven was the Manhattan Project of the 21st century because as with the atomic bomb, “the country that gained a military edge with AI would ‘determine the world order tomorrow’”. (Steinberger, p.169) Karp contrasted the West with China which for Karp and Thiel stands as the very antithesis of so-called Western values and liberal democracy and therefore AI must be used in the military forces of the U.S. and selected allies such as the Israelis, to stave off the challenge coming from China.

Palantir, and by extension Alex Karp and Peter Thiel, represent the moral, political and social bankruptcy that lies at the heart of contemporary U.S imperialism.

Control of software that may be of some benefit to humanity must be wrested from the hands of Tech billionaires, and governments such as those in the United States; the consequences of not doing so will be dire for the world’s working people.

 

Teachers say “Time to fight!”

Written by: Alice M. on 27 March 2026

 

(Photo supplied)

Teachers say "Time to Fight!

With many years of being sold out by Labor governments more teachers and parents know that they must rely on their own united mass struggle on the ground, not on parliamentary parties.

After years of deteriorating pay and working conditions, along with cuts in government spending on public education, 40,000 Victorian state school teachers, education support staff and principals drew a line in the sand and took strike action on 24 March. Over 40,000 withdrew their labour, closing down more than 500 schools across the state.  It was the first teachers’ strike in 13 years and the biggest Australian Education Union (AEU) strike in Victorian history.

In a show of solidarity, over 35,000 defiant AEU members clad in red union T-shirts, rallied outside the Victorian Trades Hall and marched to state parliament, demanding a  35% pay increase over 4 years, improved working conditions and more funding for public education.

After 9 months of phony negotiations with an arrogant state Labor government offering a miserable 17% pay increase over 3 years with no improvement in working conditions, AEU Victorian Branch members said they’d had enough, with 98% voting members supporting protected strike action.

Victoria already has the lowest funded state school funding and the lowest paid teachers nationally.  Victorian state schools are chronically underfunded and understaffed. The state governments’ 17% pay increase offer will worsen the existing chronic staffing and workload crisis in the state school system with teachers leaving in droves.  The rising cost of living crisis and worsening working conditions will drive even more teachers out of state schools and out of teaching which they love.

In 2022 union leadership agreed to a measly 2% pay increase which led to over 1,000 members resigning from the union in protest.  In 2023 teachers and parents were further outraged to learn that the Labor government secretly cut $2.4 billion from state schools funding.

Teachers mobilising for the fight 
In 2024 AEU members voted in new leadership promising industrial action, including strikes.  The new union leadership began engaging members in drafting their next log of claims (EBA), and mobilising members to fight for better pay, conditions and proper funding for public education.  The new leadership took the teachers’ campaign to parents and communities, forging broader alliances.

Many former members rejoined the union and more teachers joined for the first time. In some schools AEU membership grew to 100%.  In many schools, in the weeks before the strike, thousands of AEU members wore their union T-shirts.

The state Labor government, used to dealing with a compliant union and smugly taking for granted teachers’ dedication to public education, the strike announcement sent them into panic.  The government called on retired and casual teachers to scab on their fellow teachers.  It tried to sow divisions amongst AEU members by offering lower pay to education support staff, and tried to divide and antagonise the wider community against striking AEU members.

But the Labor government’s attempts to isolate and divide striking workers and weaken their union only backfired.  Instead, their divisive tactics galvanised solidarity between teachers and education support staff, and strengthened community support for the striking teachers and their union.   Parents Victoria, the state’s peak parents’ organisation came out in support of the strike, saying it supported “the principle behind the strike”, and that the Victorian state teachers’ relatively low wages was a serious threat to quality education in government schools. 

After years of acquiescing to the Labor government, more teachers and the union are angry, feeling betrayed and used by Labor.

Teachers and parents unite
This time the union mobilised its members and engaged more broadly with the community in a common fight for better pay and conditions for teachers, and better funding for state schools.

Justin Mullaly, the newly elected President of AEU Victoria, told members, “There is a strong sense that we need to fight the Labor government, that there can’t be any cosy settlements, and that we will fight them just as hard as we will fight a Liberal government.”

The Labor government’s only ally was the bosses’ Australian Industry Group Victoria complaining and threatening that the strike would keep parents away from work and disrupt $billions profit making for the bosses.

At the core of this struggle is the clash between the needs and demands of working people and the capitalist ruling class.   Under capitalism public education is always underfunded. Capitalism funds public education only as far as it requires minimally educated and obedient working class in the production and extraction of profit, an education system that maintains the power of the profiteering capitalist class. On the other side are teachers, students and working class parents fighting for public education that prioritises the needs of working people for secure livelihoods, and empowers the people as agents of change for a better world, an education system that nurtures the builders of a society that looks after the people and the environment.

Just like the LNP, the ALP is a party of capitalism serving the needs of monopoly capitalism. In a socialist society, run by workers and working people, the education system will serve the collective wellbeing of all working people.

The magnificent strike by AEU members relying on the combined power of their own and community strength has inspired many. 

 

The Ever-Increasing Foreign Ownership of Australian Agriculture

Written by: Duncan B. on 22 March 2026

 

The foreign takeover of Australia’s farmland, water and the supply chain linking farmers to consumers continues.

The Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets report for 2024-25 shows that the total area of land in Australia with a component of foreign control increased in the past year from 49.12 million to 50.26 hectares as at June 30 last year. This is an increase from 12.7% of foreign-controlled land in 2023-24 to 13% in 2024-25. (Much of the land controlled by foreign interests is land leased from state or territory governments.)

The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of foreign-controlled land with 14.75 million ha or 27.8%. Tasmania comes next with 362,000 ha or 24%. The UK, China, Canada and the US are the four biggest holders of land in Australia, although Canada has the biggest share of investments in Australian agriculture measured by value.

The story is the same with water. Foreign ownership of Australian water entitlements in 2024-25 increased to over 5000GL, about 13% of the total. Canada, the US, the UK and China are the four biggest holders of Australian water, with Canada controlling 1066GL.

The supply chain which moves agricultural products from the farm gate to the consumer is also heavily foreign dominated. The dairy processing industry recently saw even greater concentration of ownership in foreign hands with the sale by New Zealand processor Fonterra of its Australian operations to French-owned Lactalis.

This leaves Lactalis and the Canadian-owned Saputo as the two major foreign players in Australian dairy processing. Bega, Norco and Bulla, plus some smaller operators are still Australian-owned.

The meat industry in Australia is dominated by Brazilian-owned JBS, and Teys Australia which is owned by the US company Cargill. Other foreign-owned companies are Chinese-owned Kilcoy Global Foods, Japan-owned NH Foods Australia, Bindaree Food Group which is 51% Hong Kong owned and Minerva Foods Australia/Australian Lamb Company which is a joint venture between Brazil-owned Minerva and the Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company.

JBS and Cargill also control a large slice of Australia’s beef feedlots where cattle are fed on grain instead of grazing in paddocks. JBS leases extensive feedlot operations from Australian company Rural Funds Group. Teys Australia has its own feedlots in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The Japanese company NH Foods Australia also has its own feedlots in Australia. Having their own feedlots enables the meat companies to secure their supply of cattle, manage risk and tighten their hold on the market through vertical integration.

Other foreign companies have interests in various areas of Australian agriculture such as Canadian-owned PSP’s investments in cotton farms and the cotton gins where the cotton is processed.

Australian workers, whether in the cities or the country, and farmers must unite to oppose the continuing take-over of Australia’s agriculture by foreign companies.