Australian socialist newspaper
Green Left
, previously known as
Green Left Weekly
, is an
Australian
socialist
newspaper, written by
activists
to "present the views excluded by the big business media". The newspaper was founded in 1990.
[1]
Green Left is the de facto newspaper of the
Socialist Alliance
.
Overview
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The newspaper is a notionally independent Australian source of local, national and international news, and provides left-wing analysis and debate. In an editorial in the first issue,
[2]
Green Left Weekly
stated:
This is a paper by and for the green and progressive movement. We would like it to reflect the movement in action and in discussion. We want to reflect the controversies and the concerns as well as the achievements and celebrations.
In 2023, the paper stated:
Green Left's aim is to both help build movements of resistance as well as an anti-capitalist political alternative.
[3]
Although the newspaper was initiated by the
Democratic Socialist Perspective
,
[4]
the newspaper has been supported by a variety of groups throughout its history. In the early 1990s,
Australian Democrats
senators
Sid Spindler
and
Janet Powell
supported and sponsored the newspaper.
[5]
Subjects of particular importance to
Green Left Weekly
include
anti-capitalism
,
workers rights
,
refugees
,
women's rights
,
global warming
,
environmental destruction
,
Australian Aboriginal land rights
, and foreign policy, especially
Australia's military intervention in the Asia-Pacific region
, the US led invasions of
Afghanistan
and
Iraq
and other forms of
US political intervention
overseas.
In 2011,
Victorian Consumer Affairs
Minister
Michael O'Brien
asked the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
(ACCC) to investigate whether a number of groups, including
Green Left Weekly
, had breached
secondary boycott
laws by supporting the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement
pickets at the premises of the
Max Brenner chain of chocolate shops
.
[6]
The ACCC determined that the protests were not a secondary boycott.
[7]
[8]
The newspaper strongly supports the socialist policy of
Bolivia
and
Ecuador
and the
Bolivarian Revolution
in
Venezuela
led by
Hugo Chavez
, and in the past opened a bureau in
Caracas
to improve its coverage of events there. At the time, it claimed to be the only Australian newspaper with a bureau in
Latin America
.
[9]
It is also the only Australian newspaper to regularly print articles by left-wing journalist
John Pilger
.
[10]
Pilger has said of
Green Left Weekly
: "There are few other newspapers ? radical or any other kind ? that draw together news and analysis that is as well informed, credible, and non-sectarian as
Green Left Weekly
. Its work has influenced mine and has been a beacon to those who believe the press ought to be an agent of the people."
[11]
Since 2008,
Green Left Weekly
has published a monthly
Arabic
language supplement,
The Flame
, edited by
Socialist Alliance
members of the growing
Sudanese Australian
community.
[12]
In 2009,
Green Left Weekly
launched a new
Spanish language
supplement,
Foro Social Latinamericano
, edited by the Latin America Social Forum in Sydney, a collaboration between left-wing members and groups in the
Latin American community
in Australia.
[13]
Green Left Weekly
is routinely criticised by
News Corp Australia
publications in editorials and opinion pieces.
The Australian
accused
Green Left Weekly
of supporting
terrorism
for its criticism of
Israel
.
[14]
In 2024 the
Green Left
facebook page was controversially banned twice by social media corporation
Meta
. The second ban is to be for ten years and reasoning is due to the page publishing content of Leila Khalid, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Front.
[15]
Awards
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In June 2005
Green Left weekly
won an award from web-surveying company
Hitwise
. Hitwise ranked the website as the most popular Australian-based political site.
[16]
Green Left Weekly
received a similar award in 2006, and in the period between June and December 2009,
Green Left weekly
once again ranked in the top ten, achieving 7th position.
[17]
See also
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References
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External links
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