GLW issue 741, published 2008-02-27.

NSW anti-privatisation events and websites

Sydney region: Tuesday, March 11, 6pm: Kings Cross ALP branch "Stop the sell-off" community forum. With Mark Diesendorf, Bob Walker and Betty Con Walker. Reg Murphy Hall, cnr Greenknowe Ave and Betty Bay Road, Elizabeth Bay. Ph Catherine 0421 562

AMWU commits to workers' rights campaign

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) is holding a series of forums across the country to get feedback from delegates about the direction that the union is taking. The first was held in Melbourne on February 19, attracting more than 300 delegates from the metals, print, food and T&S divisions from across Victoria.

Nationalise Mitsubishi!

Nine-hundred-and-thirty manufacturing workers will soon be out of a job, after management announced the pending closure of the Tonsley Park Mitsubishi car plant in Adelaide’s southern suburbs on February 6.

Nationalise Mitsubishi!

Australian News

Coalition drops opposition to 'abolition' of AWAs

Federal opposition IR spokesperson, Julie Bishop, formally announced that the Coalition had dropped its opposition to the Labor government’s plan to “abolish” Australian Workplace Agreements (individual contracts) on February 19.

Labor: Garnaut climate report just 'early thinking'

The federal Labor government has sought to play down the call made by its chief climate change policy adviser for it to go well beyond its target of a 60% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In an interim report released on February 21, Professor Ross Garnaut said that by 2050 global carbon dioxide emissions would need to be reduced to 90% of 2000 levels if catastrophic climate change is to be avoided.

Further Australian News

International News

South Africa: In the dark about global warming

It is tragic but understandable that South African society ranks — with the United States and China — at the bottom of a recent worldwide climate-consciousness survey by polling firm Global Scan: only 45% of us believe global warming is a “serious problem”.

Britain: Ministry says wind turbines a 'security' risk

Britain’s ministry of defence (MoD) has objected to proposals for new wind farms on the basis that wind turbines interfere with its radar equipment.

Further International News

Comment and Analysis

GM-free: the way of the future

Foods from genetically manipulated (GM) crops and animals are rejected by most farmers, shoppers and food processors around the world. If these mutant foods were fully labelled, as they should be, consumer rejection would ensure that GM food crops were not grown.

Brumby pushes big-business agenda

It seems that Victorian Labor Premier John Brumby wants to be remembered, not as a rational leader advocating solutions to an urgent problem facing the survival of the human species — climate change — but as the creator of some of the most potentially destructive infrastructure projects in the state’s history.

Further Comment and Analysis

Letters

Letters to the Editor

Barwon 13 The release of David Hicks after conviction on a pretty minor charge, and the spectacular collapse of the case against Dr Haneef both suggested that the "anti-terror" laws might not be used so enthusiastically by the government in

General

Green Left Weekly's $250,000 Fighting Fund: Fat cats and the phantom of the Commune

Parliamentarians are grossly overpaid. A backbencher gets paid more than twice median income, and that’s before adding allowances, generous superannuation, free air travel for life, etc. The PM gets double that: $330,356 (before expenses and perks). Last year, and the year before, the pollies awarded themselves a 7% pay rise while average wages rose 3.8%, putting the recently announced parliamentarians’ one-year salary freeze into perspective.

Resistance!

A movement for a better future

We all know the scale of the threat posed by global warming and the short time in which we have to take meaningful action to prevent potentially catastrophic consequences. This makes the issue of global warming and how to combat it arguably the most urgent question facing humanity today.

The Mosquito: An aural assault on young people

A picture of two teens, a male and a female, with their fingers in their ears and pained looks on their faces greets visitors to the Compound Security Systems website. Compound Security Systems is the manufacturer of one of the latest security devices to arrive in Australia.

Further Resistance!

Students organise against pulp mill

Cultural Dissent

Tortured innocence

Rendition
Directed by Gavin Hood
Written by Kelley Sane
With Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Alan Arkin & Meryl Streep

On the box

@9POINT = Message Stick: Frangipani Land Forever <197> Until their retirement in 1995, the Mills Sisters helped bring the music of the Torres Strait to the world stage. ABC, Friday, February 29, 6pm. @9POINT = Vera Drake <197> Movie about a selfless working class-woman who secretly visited women and helped them induce miscarriages for unwanted pregnancies in the 1950s. Directed by Mike Leigh. SBS, Saturday, March 1, 9.30pm. @9POINT = SOS <193> Shorts on Screen <197> Gay and lesbian-themed special in time for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. SBS, Saturday, March 1, 11.40pm. @9POINT = Finding Place <197> The issue of maintaining strong male role models is explored by five initiated Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men. ABC, Sunday, March 2, 1.30pm. @9POINT = Showdown with Iran <197> Looks at the a battle for power and influence across the Middle East by United States and Iran, including over nuclear arms. SBS, Monday, March 3, 1.30pm. @9POINT = Endangered <197> Indigenous people make up only 2.4% of Australia's population, and the eligible Aboriginal single man is an endangered species, as Aboriginal women lament in this film. SBS, Monday, March 3, 5.30pm. @9POINT = At Five in the Afternoon <197> The first foreign film to be made in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban tells the story of a young woman who believes passionately that her gender should be no bar to her becoming the president of her country. SBS, Tuesday, March 4, 1pm. @9POINT = The Medicated Child <197> Confronts psychiatrists, researchers and government regulators about the risks, benefits and many questions surrounding prescription drugs for troubled children. SBS, Tuesday, March 4, 8.30pm. @9POINT = Shame <197> Tells the story of a Pakistani woman who was publicly gang raped to atone for a crime her brother allegedly committed and the battle for justice that ensued. SBS, Tuesday, March 4, 10pm. @9POINT = Living Black <197> Indigenous news and current affairs program. SBS, Wednesday, March 5, 6pm.

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.