The roots of France’s war in Mali
France, the former slave power of West Africa, has poured into Mali with a vengeance in a military attack launched on January 11. French warplanes are bombing towns and cities across the vast swath of northern Mali, a territory measuring some 1,000 kilometers each, from south to north and east to west. French soldiers in […]
Oppose attacks on the disability benefit
This year the National government will be implementing changes to the disability benefit based on a similar system being used in the UK. The welfare reforms in 2008 in the UK brought in a work capability assessment. A healthcare company is contracted to do these assessments. This company is currently Atos and its performance in […]
Order Prevails in Berlin! Remembering Rosa Luxemburg
94 years ago today Rosa Luxemburg was murdered. She was one of the great leaders in the history of the socialist movement internationally – a fierce opponent of imperialist war, suffering in jail for her opposition to the carnage of World War One, an original and innovative economist, a theorist of workers’ democracy. Her book […]
Socialist Summer Readings: the best of 2012
We asked some left-wing writers, journalists and performers, as well as some Socialist Review writers and readers, to tell us about their highlights from 2012. Whether you’re interested in novels, theater, films or texts, we have you covered. Dean ParkerIn the first week of May this year I picked up two books of recent NZ history […]
Forestry bosses have blood on their hands
13 forestry workers have died in work related accidents in the past 3 years, 30 in the last 6 years. Just to put this in perspective the death rate in the UK forestry industry is 10.4 per 100,000 workers and in NZ 343 per 100,000. Some bosses blame workers drug use and call for increased drug […]
Marching against the TPPA: What really happened
Between 200 – 300 people marched in Auckland yesterday against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the latest ‘free’ trade agreement designed to give maximum gains to New Zealand business and pain to workers globally. The negotiations – conducted in secret conditions making a mockery of democracy, as Jane Kelsey points out – were going on at SkyCity’s […]
Treaty settlements, Maori workers, and the corporate model
The wealth of Maori business is estimated to be around $37 billion but with 60,000 Maori children living in poverty, Mana MP Hone Harawira has suggested to iwi leaders that “maybe it was time we turned our corporate bus around and went back to get all the kids”. On the face of it, that’s just […]
The Labour leadership battle
From the outset of last year’s leadership contest Shearer was the choice of the capitalist class to take over from Phil Goff. There was a reason for that; Shearer was distinctly the right-wing candidate who signalled his willingness to jettison left-wing policies that Labour had adopted for the General Election. Shearer was the puppet of […]
Stop Imperialism! Stop The TPPA!
The TPPA began life as a proposal for a free-trade pact between four Pacific nations that are relatively insignificant on the world stage: Brunei, Chile, Singapore and New Zealand. The entry of the United States and Australia into the negotiations in 2008, along with other nations transformed the TPPA from a small, regional deal to […]
New Zealand ‘support’ for Palestinian Statehood no step forward
It might seem like an advance for the cause of the Palestinians; Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has announced that New Zealand will be supporting a vote in the United Nations recognising Palestinian statehood. But we need to be very clear. This vote, and the ‘statehood’ it offers, offers no advance for Palestinian national liberation. […]
