GLW issue 614, published 2005-02-09.

Workers defeat Esso roster plan

Sue Bolton, Melbourne On February 1, workers employed by construction contractors on Esso's Bass Strait oil and gas platforms defeated an attempt by the oil company — the Australian subsidiary of ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil corporation

The ALP: Swapping deckchairs on the Titanic

After the debacle that was Mark Latham's exit from politics, the decline in the fortunes of the Australian Labor Party proceeds unabated. With a state poll fast approaching in Western Australia — which may see Labor lose office there — any hope

Doomed to repeat history

Pip Hinman The February 1 Sydney Morning Herald carried an opinion piece by Gerard Henderson of the right-wing Sydney Institute attacking leading figures in the anti-war movement for supporting the right of Iraqis to resist the US-led occupation of

The Habib injustice - a threat to us all

Sarah Stephen &Aaron Benedek, Sydney Consider this scenario: an Australian citizen travels to another country, is kidnapped by the military of a third country, receives absolutely no assistance from the Australian government, is imprisoned for

Further

Australian News

Mentally ill woman accidentally detained

Sarah Stephen Cornelia Rau is a very unlucky woman. She suffers from schizophrenia and escaped from a mental institution in Sydney last April. She was taken to a Queensland police station by Indigenous people she had been living with, but instead

'Boycott Emirates'

Paul Benedek, Brisbane On February 1, refugee-rights activists picketed Emirates Airlines in several cities. The airline is directly involved in forced deportations. On January 11, the federal Coalition government forcibly deported two asylum

Further Australian News

International News

EGYPT: Socialist activists arrested

On January 28, security forces at the Cairo Book Fair arrested three activists associated with the Center for Socialist Studies, and charged them with disseminating false propaganda against the ruling regime. The first to be arrested were Mawa

Nicaragua-US military relations sour

As the radical left-wing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) looks increasingly likely to win government at the next presidential election, the US has manufactured a crisis in order to force the government to give up its anti-aircraft

Further International News

Editorial

Justice for the Hickey family! End black deaths in custody!

One year after the death of 17-year-old Aboriginal man Thomas "TJ" Hickey, the Redfern community is still fighting for justice. TJ was riding his bike in Waterloo, Sydney, on February 14, 2004, when he was impaled on a metal fence after being

Cultural Dissent

Vera Drake is not a criminal

Vera DrakeWritten and directed by Mike LeighStarring Imelda Staunton and Phil DavisOpens nationally February 10 REVIEW BY ELIZABETH SCHULTE Movies that even mention abortion are few and far between. So when a movie like Vera Drake, which depicts

Black sisters singing up a storm

The SapphiresBy Tony BriggsBelvoir Street Theatre, SydneyUntil February 20 REVIEW BY BRENDAN DOYLE Was it because of the tsunami and the sombre mood we've all had to get used to lately? In any case, the Sunday afternoon audience was really pumped

Further Cultural Dissent

FEATURED CONTENT

Supporters raise $24,000 for Green Left Weekly fighting fund in May

The Green Left Weekly fighting fund has received a huge boost over the last couple of weeks, thanks to the efforts of hard working supporters and volunteers around the country. Read how you can help get us closer to meeting our $250,000 annual target."

Support glw

"Australia has the most restrictive media in the western world. Censorship by omission denies Australians their democratic right to make sense of whole stratas of political and foreign policy. That's why Green Left Weekly is a beacon, doing a job of honourable journalism, as an agent of people, not power."
John Pilger

Donate securely online - every cent you donate helps us to keep going.