''Green Left'', previously known as ''Green Left Weekly'', is an Australian socialist newspaper, written by activists to, according to itself, "present the views excluded by the big business media". The newspaper was founded in 1990. ''Green Left'' is the de facto newspaper of the Socialist Alliance.

Overview

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, ''Green Left Weekly'' stated: In 2023, the paper stated: Although the newspaper was initiated by the

Democratic Socialist Perspective The Democratic Socialist Perspective (DSP) was an Australian socialist political group. It was founded in 1972 as the Socialist Workers League (SWL), changing its name to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) a few years later. In the early 1990s ...

, the newspaper has been supported by a variety of groups throughout its history. In the early 1990s,

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...

senators Sid Spindler and

Janet Powell Janet Frances Powell (née McDonald, 29 September 194230 September 2013) was an Australian politician. Early life and career A native of Nhill, Victoria, Powell was educated at Ballarat Grammar School and Nhill High School. She graduated ...

supported and sponsored the newspaper. Subjects of particular importance to ''Green Left Weekly'' include

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternati ...

workers rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, th ...

refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

environmental destruction Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

, Australian Aboriginal land rights, and foreign policy, especially Australia's military intervention in the Asia-Pacific region, the US led invasions of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and other forms of US political intervention overseas. In 2011, Victorian Consumer Affairs Minister Michael O'Brien asked the

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...

(ACCC) to investigate whether a number of groups, including ''Green Left Weekly'', had breached

secondary boycott Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

laws by supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement pickets at the premises of the Max Brenner chain of chocolate shops. The ACCC determined that the protests were not a secondary boycott. The newspaper strongly supports the socialist policy of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and the

Bolivarian Revolution The Bolivarian Revolution is a social revolution and ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

led by

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

, and in the past opened a bureau in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

to improve its coverage of events there. At the time, it claimed to be the only Australian newspaper with a bureau in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. It is also the only Australian newspaper to regularly print articles by left-wing journalist

John Pilger John Richard Pilger (; 9 October 1939 – 30 December 2023) was an Australian journalist, writer, scholar and documentary filmmaker. From 1962, he was based mainly in Britain. He was also a visiting professor at Cornell University in New York. ...

. 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." Since 2008, ''Green Left Weekly'' has published a monthly

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

language supplement, ''The Flame'', edited by Socialist Alliance members of the growing Sudanese Australian community. In 2009, ''Green Left Weekly'' launched a new

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

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. In 2009, ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' accused ''Green Left Weekly'' of supporting

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

for its criticism of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. In 2024 the ''Green Left'' facebook page was banned twice by social media corporation

Meta Meta most commonly refers to: * Meta (prefix), a common affix and word in English ( in Greek) * Meta Platforms, an American multinational technology conglomerate (formerly ''Facebook, Inc.'') Meta or META may also refer to: Businesses * Meta (ac ...

. 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 The Palestinian Liberation Front (, PLF), also known as the Palestine Liberation Front - Abu Abbas Faction or Palestine Liberation Front, is a minor left-wing Palestinian political faction. It carried out the Achille Lauro hijacking in 1985. ...

Awards

In June 2005 ''Green Left weekly'' won an award from web-surveying company

Hitwise Hitwise is a division of Connexity, that measures behavior across desktop, tablet and smartphone devices. The service provides data on trends in visitor and search behavior, visitor and website profiling and measures website market share. I ...

. Hitwise ranked the website as the most popular Australian-based political site. ''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.

References

External links

*
''The Flame''Socialist Alliance website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Left Weekly 1990 establishments in Australia Alternative weekly newspapers Eco-socialism Environmentalism in Australia Green politics Newspapers established in 1990 Newspapers published in New South Wales Progressivism Socialism in Australia Socialist newspapers Weekly newspapers published in Australia

Overview

Awards

See also

References

External links