Australia

Refugee Action Coalition Statement 21 July 2011 UPDATE–SECOND NIGHT OF TEAR GAS Around 10pm Christmas Island time, Federal police began the indiscriminate use of tear gas inside the Christmas Island detention centre. Asylum seekers not involved with the protest have been affected by the tear gas. Tear gas was also fired at the roof top protesters, but the roof top protest is continuing.

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The scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch and his global media empire is giving the world a glimpse of what the face of power looks like today — and it’s ugly.

The revelations of networks of patronage and power, which link politicians and the police to corporate interests that believe themselves to be above laws, ethics or scrutiny, are frightening.

However, Murdoch’s reputation for deciding elections and dictating policies to governments, and the notorious right-wing bias (and looseness with inconvenient facts) of his media outlets, is not new.

As the carbon price announcement went live, politicians and polluter lobbies were in a frenzy. Check out this video to make sense of all the noise - and read our FAQs about why the sky won't fall in. If you're looking for other ways to keep momentum building, check out this community letter - it's a great way to keep your neighbourhood talking why about a price on pollution matters.

* How will the carbon price work?

The mainstream press is prosecuting a farce of a carbon tax “debate”. In the one corner opposing the tax you have climate denialists, middle class welfare recipients complaining about their lack of “compensation” and billionaires such as Twiggy Forest and Gerry Harvery masquerading as “ordinary” Australians. In the other corner are the ALP and the Green’s arguing that the carbon tax is a bold step towards solving climate change and anyone who opposes them is a selfish climate denialist.