Queensland Premier Peter Beattie created a media furore on August 20 when he called for an inquiry into the impact of the GST on petrol price rises. With petrol prices having leapt to over $1 a litre in places, Beattie's comments
-
-
Imagine that you are taken to an isolated prison. You have no idea if you are to be imprisoned for days, months or years. You are totally cut off from the outside world, denied access to newspapers, radio and television. You aren't
-
Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto, the world's largest mining company, has more than 60 operations in 40 countries. Antarctica is the only continent that has escaped its ravages. In every continent where Rio Tinto operates the
-
Why have an ALP conference?Why does the ALP hold national conferences? With almost all the votes sewn up before the conference and virtually all the delegates being MPs, party apparatchiks and union officials, it cannot be to
-
Several years ago, a Melbourne woman was critically injured in a car crash in Greece. She suffered third-degree burns to 70-80% of her body. The usual treatment for serious burns, skin grafts, was not possible. The doctors could save
-
In 1964, only 29% of people in the United States agreed with the statement, "The government is pretty much run by a few big interests looking after themselves". By 1984, that figure had increased to 55%, and by 1998 to 63%. In
-
Socialist solutions to the country crisisIt is only three weeks since dairy deregulation in New South Wales and already there are casualties: their incomes slashed almost in half as a result of the deregulation on July 1, 50 dairy
-
Why Labor won't abolish Howard's GSTPoliticians, backed by mainstream journalists, like to create the impression that certain aspects of the economy work in an almost supernatural way such that governments are powerless to affect
-
D-Day for Dairy farmersJuly 1 is D-day for dairy farmers around Australia — not only is that the start-date for the GST but it's also the date scheduled for the final deregulation of the dairy industry. Overnight,
-
Country Labor: a new direction?Excited by the Victorian Labor Party's victory in the state Benalla by-election in May, federal Labor leader Kim Beazley announced that the ALP would register the name "Country Labor" federally. Is
-
Rural workers: why unions should be concernedWhen politicians refer to people from the "bush", there is an implication that they only mean farmers. It wasn't until last December, when federal treasurer Peter Costello called for
-
"If the profitable third of our farmers were able to represent the industry and set the agenda for debate we would hear a rural voice with constructive ideas ... Instead, the debate is driven by the unprofitable rump ... who yearn for