Perth Indymedia

In June 2019, the eyes of the world turned to Hong Kong, as a mass protest movement erupted in defiance of Beijing. Initially catalysed by the introduction of an extradition bill into the Hong Kong Legislative Council, the movement soon came to embrace a set of much wider demands. Some on the left quickly dismissed it as a creature of Western interests, while others recognised the importance of solidarity with a pro-democracy movement. To get to the truth of what the Hong Kong protests were about, and what the situation is now, Alex Whisson spoke to writer and activist Au Loong Yu.

As protests erupt throughout Myanmar in response to the attempted military coup, we speak to local Burmese community member and activist Khin Myo Myint.

We speak to public housing advocate Jesse Noakes about the eviction of the tent city in Fremantle and the ongoing homelessness crisis in WA.

We speak to Jonny Windus, an organiser at the Fremantle Tent City that was dismantled by the state government over the weekend.

We speak to Jess Beckerling from the Western Australian Forest Alliance about a recent action at Simcoa by Nannas For Native Forests and the ongoing issue of native logging in WA.

We speak to writer and comedian Patrick Marlborough about their Fringe show On Fringe and about the complex relationship between the big polluters such as Woodside and the arts.

The struggle for self-determination and independence in West Papua has ramped up in recent weeks and months. With calls for a general strike by West Papuan activists, solidarity protests in Indonesia and actions here in Australia, all amid the heightened state repression of West Papuans by Indonesian authorities. We speak to Lewis Prai Wellip, a West Papuan activist based in Melbourne.

In the annals of working class history in this country, the Jobs for Women campaign has, quite rightly, gone down as the stuff of legend. Beginning in 1980, and centred around the right of women to work at the Port Kembla steelworks in Wollongong, owned and operated at the time by Australian Iron & Steel, a subsidiary of BHP, the bitter struggle would carry on throughout the entire decade of the 1980's, eventually ending in a crucial, historic victory for working class women, not only in the steel industry, but throughout the country. Robynne Murphy is an activist, filmmaker, and retired steelworker. She was central to organising the Jobs for Women campaign, and is the director of Women of Steel, a documentary film chronicling this important struggle, one from which younger activists can learn a great deal.

We speak to Petrina Harley from Rainbow Rebellion about the protest roots of pride and the need to continue the struggle for LGBTQi rights.

We speak to Anthony Collins from 350.org Perth about the groups recent report Captured State: The influence of the gas lobby on WA.

We speak to Alan Hayden from the Extinction Rebellion WA Grandparent's Group about the recent Festival for Love and Rage that took place in Perth.

In a two part series we explore the impacts platform capitalism (corporate social media) is having on art collectives and communities in Indonesia. Platforms such as Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter, while being used by many collectives, activists and others around the world to organise, have serious implications for security, surveillance and control or ownership of content. More broadly the very way in which we socialise and organise has changed considerably. Our very concepts of space, community and relationships are being changed by these platforms. The first part of this series features Wimo, Akiq, and Dito, members of Mes56, an artist community and collective house in Jogjakarta, Indonesia. The members discuss their use of platforms, the effect this is having a well as the connections between the Covid-19 pandemic and platform capitalism. Interviews were conducted as a part of workshops held at Mes56 in June, 2020 by Rangga Purbaya, coordinated by Indymedia's Raymond Grenfell, for Curtin University an

Doug Henwood is a broadcaster, commentator, a contributing editor at The Nation and author, among other volumes, of My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency. He joined Alex Whisson to discuss the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, and what might happen in its aftermath.

After the tragic death of 11-year-old Annaliesse Ugle and subsequent calls for the reform of WA's bail act, we speak to suicide prevention researcher and advocate Gerry Georgatos.

Historian Djene Bajalan from Missouri State University joined Alex Whisson to discuss the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

While much of the Western press and liberal opinion remains obsessively focussed on the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election, another election will take place this weekend, the background to which reveals just how many features of the American Empire will continue on as before, regardless of who wins between Trump and Biden.   Journalist and political commentator Federico Fuentes joined Alex Whisson to discuss the fate of Bolivia.

We speak to Associate Professor Agung Wardana about the ongoing demonstrations and strikes in Indonesia in response to the omnibus bill's resulting attacks on workers rights and environmental regulations.

The carnage continues across the University sector, with ANU, UNSW, and Charles Darwin University among those to announce more job cuts in recent days, bringing the total number of job losses to at least 11 000. The local Unis have not been spared, with Murdoch Uni management looking to cut $25 million from its salary budget.  Last week, Murdoch staff voted on a variation to their Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.  Indymedia's Alex Whisson spoke to Nick Everett, delegate and Branch Committee member for the National Tertiary Education Union, to understand what the vote was about, and what might happen next in the fight to save jobs.

Student-led protests against the military-backed government of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha have been ongoing since July. In recent days, they have increased in scale and intensity, with tens of thousands taking part in a protest on Saturday 19th September, to mark the anniversary of the 2006 military coup d'etat, which lasted into early Sunday morning. Giles Ji Ungpakorn is a Thai-British academic and activist. He spoke to Alex Whisson from his home in the United Kingdom.

It's been six weeks since a devastating explosion rocked the port of Beirut, killing hundreds and leaving widespread destruction throughout the city.  Caused by the negligent storage of nearly 3000 tons of ammonium nitrate in a portside warehouse, the disaster has dramatically exposed the criminal nature of the Lebanese ruling class. Alex Whisson spoke to Gilbert Achcar, Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.