Enough is enough. That is the message coming from thousands of working people across the country about WorkChoices. There is no doubt that Howard is spooked by the overwhelmingly mood against him. Tragically Labor is so concerned to keep big business onside that it has promised to keep important parts of the legislation.

IT WILL be no surprise that a motion put to the NSW Parliament to hold an inquiry into the most aggressive policing operation seen at a Sydney protest for years, was defeated.

LABOR HAS dropped its opposition to the Liberals' so-called Medicare safety-net.

UNDERLINING THE mortgage squeeze, a recent Australian Prudential Regulation Authority report said that mortgage defaults rose from $49 to $210 million in 2006. Those figures, representing a 329 per cent rise, are based on an analysis of mortgage insurance claims.

The US's biggest industrial strike for seven years hit General Motors (GM) in September when over 70,000 UAW union members walked out.

At least 10,000 stood up to police intimidation to protest against George Bush’s visit for the APEC summit in Sydney. But, argue George Karavas and Tom Barnes, we need to redouble our efforts to make sure that Australian troops are withdrawn from Iraq immediately, no matter who wins the election.

A MYSTERIOUS Israeli airstrike inside Syria in early September was a reminder of the instability in the region.

THE APEC demonstration was an important step forward for the anti-war movement. Apart from the protests against Israel's war on Lebanon last year, it was the biggest demonstration that the movement has participated in since 2003.

AMID THE huge non-event that was APEC, there was one important issue raised, although by someone who was not even attending: former prime minister Paul Keating.

Adam Bandt is standing at the federal election for the Greens in the seat of Melbourne. He spoke with Socialist Worker's Judy McVey.

AS THE key progressive alternative to Labor, the Greens face an important challenge. In broad terms, the party has a choice: either build itself as the party of working people and the progressive left or as a minor electoral party in the Senate that sees its role as disciplining the major parties.

One of Australia’s foremost scientific authorities on energy and the environment and President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Professor Ian Lowe, has entered the debate on nuclear energy with his feature article in the latest Quarterly Essay. He spoke to Sarah Thorne.

UNIONS HAVE reacted with anger to plans by the NSW Labor government to privatise the state's power industry. This comes after an inquiry into future electricity supply recommended that the government withdraw from the power industry entirely and put it in the hands of the national energy market.

THE CALLING of the federal election is imminent. The election itself will have contradictory effects. On one hand, the issue of class will be at the forefront of the campaign in a way we haven't seen for years. TV screens and newspapers will be dominated by ads from the government, big business and to a lesser extent Labor and the unions over WorkChoices, housing and interest rates. It is a reminder of how Australia is deeply divided between a mega-rich elite and a working majority.

MASSIVE PROTESTS in defence of constitutional reform rocked Bolivia in August as rich elites continued with their attempts to undermine the democratically elected government of Evo Morales.

OVER 1500 gold miners went on strike in late August and early September at the Australian-owned Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

Ninety years ago this year the workers and peasants of Russia rose up to overthrow their rulers. In the first of a series of articles in Socialist Worker looking at the relevance of the Russian revolution today, Tom Barnes looks at Lenin’s Marxism and "What is to be Done?".

READING THE Financial Review recently I came across an article by former Liberal Party leader John Hewson who was outlining concerns about a wages breakout. Well, at least he has some idea that workers are unhappy about low wages during a boom. But he may be a little shocked to hear it may come from women.

The long-term damage done by the Howard government can be measured in many different ways. But as you'll read in The Stupid Country, what the federal government has done to public education has limited the life chances of hundreds of thousands of working class kids since 1996.

Thousands of trade unionists, mainly blue-collar workers, went on strike and rallied against WorkChoices on September 26 in Melbourne. The rally was called by the building industry group (BIG) of unions within Victorian Trades Hall.

Constructing Fear is a 40-minute documentary that explains the role of the Howard government’s Building ndustry Commission (ABCC). Director Joe Loh spoke to Socialist Worker’s James Supple.

One of the highlights of "The Future is Unwritten" is November 2002 footage at its end, where Joe shows his support for Britain's firefighters' strike for a decent wage and against cuts. At this gig he says:"People can change anything, so let's do things from a level of confidence and go for it!"