Pat Brewer

There are two different visions for paid parental leave (PPL) — one put forward by the federal Labor government and the other by Liberal leader Tony Abbott. Abbott’s proposal is seemingly not supported by industry or sections of the Coalition. It would provide 26 weeks’ full salary to mothers earning up to $150,000 a year. Partners could opt to be primary carer if they accept payment according to the mother’s replacement wage of up to $75,000.

Three interesting pieces of information were released over the past week. Overall, they warn of a decline in women’s equality and in quality of life for the majority. First, JP Morgan said women’s employment figures this year have sharply fallen from about 390,000 last year to less than 360,000 — the drop is as sharp in rate (but not in overall numbers) as during the global financial crisis (GFC). While there has been employment growth since the GFC first hit there has been an overall shift in hiring from full-time to part-time work.

John McCarthy, a veteran socialist and Queensland doctor, died at home on November 1 after a long struggle with cancer.

Is the Democratic Socialist Party a revolutionary feminist party? Not really, according to Alison Thorne, a leading member of the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP). The DSP, Thorne argued in her contribution on the future of the

CANBERRA — In a surprise move, John Stanhope, the chief minister of the new ACT Labor government, has announced that he will remove foetal images from a compulsory information booklet shown to women seeking an abortion in the

CANBERRA — Con Sciacca, the Labor Party's federal shadow minister for immigration, addressed the question "Is Australia's refugee policy racist?" at a public meeting organised by Racial Respect on August 9 at the Canberra Workers

CANBERRA — An added sense of immediacy will be added to the next National Labour History Conference — because it will be immersed in a labour struggle of its own. According to conference organiser Phil Griffiths, the conference

2001 has been declared as the year of international solidarity against the 41-year US economic, financial and trade blockade, the Cuban Adjustment Act and all the supporting laws and regulations designed to isolate Cuba

HAVANA — "We affirm our conviction that the Cuban people have the unquestionable right to construct their own model of economic, political and social development, to decide their own future without interference or aggression and to

CANBERRA — After a hard-fought two-year industrial campaign waged against a recalcitrant Australian National University management, an enterprise agreement negotiated by the combined unions was put to a staff ballot at the end of

Threat of action forces progress at Uni of CanberraCANBERRA — After 18 months of stalling and evasion by management at the University of Canberra, enterprise agreement talks have progressed further in four weeks than they had in

The business of universitiesSince Labor education minister John Dawkins launched his infamous green paper on higher education in December 1987, public education has taken a battering from governments of both