Asia Pacific Currents

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. This week marks the 60th anniversary of the raising of the Morning Star flag as a symbol of the struggle for independence for West Papua - currently a province of Indonesia. We speak to Ronny Kareni, a spokespoerson for the West Papuan movement, about the movement for independence in West Papua. We also introduce our newest member of the APC te...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. The upcoming independence referendum in New Caledonia is the third vote, and supposedly last, of a process that was set up to decide the status of this French colony in the Pacific. The effects of the Covid 19 pandenic has created new dynamics and issues that have brought into question the legitimacy of this vote. We speak to Nick McLellan, ind...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. There have been changes to prison legislation in South Australia that will hopefully lead to a decrease Aboriginal deaths in custody in Australia..We replay an interciew with Latoya Rule, the sister of Wayne Fella Morrison who died in custody in 2016 due to the actions of South Australian Corrections Officers. She and her family are fighting fo...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Repeat of previous interview. Budour Hassan is a Palestinian socialist feminist and journalist. Hassan is a legal researcher for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights. She is from Nazareth and spoke to Frieda Afray, a solidarity activist, about the latest Israeli assualts, and the effects on women and the role of women in the Pale...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. The new military alliance sought by the Australian government with the USA and UK, known as AUKUS, is an attempt to strenghten Australia's militarist and imperialist capabilities in the region. We talk to James Brennan from the Raucous Anti-AUKUS Caucus about this new partnership, what are its implications and where to for the anti military mov...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. The 26th Conference of the Parties, or COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland will happen in early November. It is a major opportunity to stop further climate change. But what are the possibilities? We talk to Colin Long, the Just Transition Officer for the Victorian Trades Hall Council and Chairperson of AAWL about the possible outcomes and issues for wo...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. The registration for candidates for the Presidential election in the Philippines for next year is generating a lot of political activity and debate. Within a cast of many repressive candidates, how does the working class use this to advance its own interests. We talk to May Kotsakis, a member of Migrante Australia and of Philippines Australia S...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. The liberation struggle by Palestinians has been going on for many decades. The Israeli state continues to be strong and surrounded by reactionary Arab governments that only pay lip service to the cause of the Palestinians. AAWL organised an international public forum to talk about the way forward for the liberation struggle of Palestine. This...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. The resistance to the February military coup in Myanmar has not been defeated over the last 8 months of military repression. While strikes, demnstrations and protest acts are still common place, the armed resistance to the military coup is also expanding with popular defence committees becoming more common around Myanmar. To discuss these issue...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the heavily fortified Gilboa prison in Israel in early September. Despite their eventual capture and torture by Israeli authorities, the event has been called The Great Escape across the world, has shown that Israel security can be beaten, and Palestinians have become emboldened. We talk to Reem Yunis, a P...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Interview with Berlin Guerrero, Chairperson of Bayan Australia, on the upcoming Presidential elections, the possible investigation by the International Criminal Court of Pres Dutertre for mass murder, and the economic and health impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on workers in the Philippines. Asia Pacific Currents (APC) is produced by Australia A...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. In depth analysis of the new Security military alliance between Australia, UK and USA; the impact and fightback against subcontracting in Sth Korea; fire safety issues in garment factories in South Asia; the deepening political crisis in the Philippines; the effects of Covid 19 on workers health, their economic position and how public health or...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Last week, Yang Kyung-soo, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) was arrested in a pre dawn raid by police. Yang has now become the thirteenth president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in a row to be jailed. We interviewed Mikyung Ryu, KCTU International Affairs Director, on the reason Yang was arrested and th...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. The Covid pandemic in Malaysia not only has had serious effects on working class communities, but has now precipitated a political crisis. We talk to Irene Xavier, a spokesperson from the Labour Law Reform Coalition, on what has been happening in Malaysia and the dynamics of this crisis. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the stu...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Discussion on the ongoing effects of the Covid 19 pandemic to workers in the region and the roll out of the vaccine. Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. We talk to Farkhondeh Akbar, a human rights activist and researcher who has investigated human rights violation by armed parties in Afghanistan, about how the corruption, inequality and concentration of power over the last 20 years facilitated the collapse of the Afghan government and the recent takeover by the Taliban. Farkhondeh also analysis...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. For the anniversary of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we bring you a recorded speech by Ms. Setsuko Thurlow, a Hiroshima survivor and a founding member of the The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), about her experiences in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped.3CR Radiothon is the time for you to support the...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Recorded presentation of Asfinawati - Chair of Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation - who spoke at the recent international online meeting entitled 'The Struggle for Democracy' in the Asia Pacific Region.3CR Radiothon is the time for you to support the station that supports you, your struggles, your organsations and your communities. To donate, click...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. France has retained influence in the Pacific region by holding on to a number of islands and archipelagos in the Pacific region. In the last week, the French President went on an official visit to French Polynesia. While local people wanted to address the ongoing fallout to the nuclear issue, the President was more interested to project France'...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Budour Hassan is a Palestinian socialist feminist and journalist. Hassan is a legal researcher for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights. She is from NAzareth and spoke to Frieda Afray, a solidarity activist, about the latest Israeli assualts, and the effects on women and the role of women in the Palestinian struggle.3CR Radiothon...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Aboriginal deaths in custody are still happening in Australia at an alarming rate despite numerous enquiries and hundreds of recommendations. We speak to Tarneen Onus-Williams, a Yigar Gunditjmara, Bindal, Yorta Yorta person and an Aboriginal activists about the recently completed inquest into the death of Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Wiradjuri man...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Commentary on major incidents and struggles of our class.3CR Radiothon is the time for you to support the station that supports you, your struggles, your organsations and your communities. To donate, click here (link is external). Don't forget to mention APC for your donation. Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campa...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. A group of labour activists dismissed by Ansell in Sri Lanka have been fighting to get their jobs back for almost ten years. There is now an international campaign that is not only supporting these workers but fighting for Ansell workers in Malaysia and beyond. We talk to labour activist Jerome Small, a member of Australia Asia Worker lInks and...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. The repression and hounding of the Murugappan family, a Tamil family residing in the Queensland town of Biloela, by the Australian government has become a national issue. We speak to Aran Mylvaganam, from the Tamil Refugee Council, about the current situation and the continued campaign to change Australia's repressive laws against refugees and...

News and labour updates from the Asia Pacific region.3CR Radiothon is the time for you to support the station that supports you, your struggles, your organsations and your communities. To donate, click here (link is external). Don't forget to mention APC for your donation. Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Austr...