Gambling destroys lives, online gambling has become an absolute epidemic in this country, how can you let addicted players continue to play and lose everything they own, without any questions as to were the money came from, people betting beyond there mean or earning capacity, the banks wouldn't let you borrow 10million dollars if you can't afford it, but you could go online and lose 10mill and nobody would say a word or try and stop you, if online gambling was regulated the same way a home loan is limits could be put on all clients and keep them within there means. It's the greedy govt that allows it to continue, and now there trying to sell it to our kids through funny TV ads while sport is playing, it's like advertising drugs on the television total madness..

The University of NSW, The University of Sydney and The University of Technology Sydney all released statements prior to the previous School Students Climate Strike which was held on the 3rd of May 2o19 stating that students would not be penalised if they missed class to attend this. The University of Western Australia has also stated they will not be penalising students and staff if they attend the Walk Out on the 9th of August. We would like the ANU to do the same, and would love to see ANU staff supporting this move.

Currently, UNSW subcontracts it's security staff from MSS Security, a corporation involved in the illegal detention of refugees by the Australian Government. UNSW is also listed as a partner of Wilson Security (another culprit) and has accepted a grant to help the defence force to develop the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN), a multi billion dollar satellite network that has been boasted as being able to track small boats carrying asylum seekers (an international human right). UNSW prides itself in being a progressive and humanitarian institution but uses students fees to invest in these torturous industries and staff and students won't take it any more, support the divestment by signing the petition!

George Calombaris is held up as an industry leader, yet he is not the leader the hospitality industry wants or needs. Aside from stealing millions of dollars from hospo workers, he’s been charged with assault. He’s been given enough chances, now it’s time for him to go. Wage theft is rife throughout the hospitality industry. Celebrity chefs like George Calombaris have gotten rich by stealing from their hard-working employees. This issue has stayed in focus for one reason and one reason alone. Because of the relentless agitation and campaigning by Hospo Voice members about wage theft by George and countless other hospitality employers. The hospitality industry is changing, workers will no longer put up with excuses, we want real action on wage theft. How can we expect the industry to improve if we continue to honour celebrity wage thieves. Ten network; it’s George’s turn to face elimination.

Hochi Mama is a Vietnamese restaurant at the top of Melbourne’s Chinatown. It’s also Melbourne’s number one Asian restaurant on the venue rating site, TripAdvisor. I worked there as a bartender. And I was on a flat rate of $20 per hour, no penalty rates. In just four months I had over $3000 (including super) stolen from me. Often, we felt we were treated like dirt. Hochi Mama had a staff WhatsApp group where we got our rosters, we swapped shifts and management would give us instructions about our jobs. This was also how workers found out they’d been fired, by seeing we’d been deleted from the staff WhatsApp group. It happened to me. It happened to lots of other staff. In front of everyone. Most bosses have the decency to actually TELL you that you'd been fired. Not these guys. And it left everyone feeling afraid and wondering: who’s next? Migrant kitchen staff were treated even worse. They worked double shifts of 13-14 hours for a flat rate of $70 or $100, in cash. I even saw them sleeping on milk crates out the back of the restaurant between shifts. It’s not okay for any worker to be treated like this, particularly in a wealthy country like ours. All over this industry, we see migrant workers treated like an underclass. It’s just wrong. We need to stand together and demand fairness and respect for ALL hospo workers. That’s the only way anything is ever going to change.

The South Australian Government has announced that it intends to privatise the Adelaide Metro train and tram service Privatising our rail and tram services means higher prices, fewer services and reduced safety. It puts private profit before the travelling public and their safety. South Australia’s rail and tram services belong to the people, not to Premier Steven Marshall or Transport Minister Stephan Knoll. In fact, Mr Steven Marshall went to the 2018 election claiming that he didn't have a privatisation agenda. Mass transit services should be run by the people, for the people – not for the profits of overseas companies and their shareholders. The solution to better public transport is investment in infrastructure and commitment to services. We need a real plan to grow public transport in South Australia, and to keep our services in public hands.

Penguin Random House is the first book publisher in Australia to unionise. Staff are currently in negotiations with management for a collective agreement, the first union-led EBA for the book industry. Beth, along with other MEAA members at Penguin Random House, has been tireless in her efforts: signing up colleagues, advocating via workshops and op-ed articles*, and bargaining with a managerial team unaccustomed to union structures or industrial law. MEAA wants to make sure our publishing delegates know not only that they are protected by their union and industrial legislation, but that they have the support of Australian workers as they blaze a trail in this industry. MEAA will be challenging Beth's first and final warning in the Fair Work Commission. In the meantime, we want to send a message to Penguin Random House management and show that workers in the book industry and beyond support Beth's rights as a union delegate and worker. *www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/29/the-book-industry-isnt-dead-thats-just-an-excuse-to-keep-salaries-low

The call from students organising the strike states: “Last year’s UN intergovernmental panel on climate change’s special report on global warming was clear about the unprecedented dangers of going beyond 1.5C of global heating. Emissions must drop rapidly – so that by the time we are in our mid- and late-20s we are living in a completely transformed world. But to change everything, we need everyone.” Already the NTEU, the GSA and UMSU who represent staff and students at the University of Melbourne, have endorsed this call to action. We will work together to ensure the widest possible stoppage of work and study so that staff and students can attend demonstrations on this historic day. We will work together to ensure the widest possible stoppage of work and study so that staff and students can attend demonstrations on this historic day. The University of Melbourne has an opportunity to be a global leader on climate action – an opportunity that staff and students want the University to take. Climate change and climate action is a top concern within our university community for students and staff. As students and workers in the higher education sector, we have a particular responsibility and opportunity to campaign on climate action. Universities will play a leading role in the research and development and retraining that will be needed for the transition. Our fight against casualisation and the marketisation and commodification of education is inseparable from supporting our fellow workers and unionists in energy, transportation, and agricultural industries to decarbonise the economy and create dignified clean energy jobs. Transforming our destructive relationship with the environment requires a system change at all social, economic and political levels. To that end we stand with Indigenous people in struggles to protect their lands and waters from impending expansion of fossil fuel projects. We stand with workers in fossil fuel industries and their communities facing insecure work and an uncertain future. We stand against the vested corporate and political interests placing profits above the future of the planet. Students and staff call for the University of Melbourne to be bold on climate action and agree to stop work and class for all members of the university community to join the global climate strike on September 20th. There is no education on a dead planet.

Trimesters were recently implemented at UNSW. They have very quickly become widely unpopular among students and staff who realise Universities are increasingly becoming degree factories, churning out shoddy products. Now thousands are protesting to reverse the change. We need to stop trimesters at Adelaide Uni before they move from discussing to implementing them!

The presence of US marines in Darwin, under control from Washington:- Makes us a target; Makes us less safe; Makes us enemies (when we need have none - e.g. China); Means we are being exploited by the USA, for its military ambitions, and Jeopardises Australia’s national sovereignty.

A war between the US and Iran would have devastating consequences for all the people of the region. It is not in Australian people’s interest to go along with the Trump administration’s ‘regime change’ agenda. Only the people of Iran can decide their government. The US is not under attack from Iran and nor is Australia. A peaceful resolution of outstanding issues is essential and possible.

Community sector workers need a break. We work with women escaping domestic violence, with people in mental distress and with people sleeping rough among many other important services. Insecure work and short term government funding means we often move from job to job losing our long service leave entitlements which pushes workers to burn out and leave the sector. Together in our union, we're campaigning for a portable long service leave system so that we get the break we deserve and we can keep supporting our community. Join the Australian Services Union and join our campaign for portable long service leave for community sector workers in South Australia!