Action updates

Issue 

MELBOURNE — At a 2000-strong October 25 rally to protest media monopolisation, former prime ministers Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser joined Democrat ex-leader Janet Powell and Trades Hall Council secretary John Halfpenny and others to object to further monopolisation of the media. All speakers rounded on the bid for Fairfax by Kerry Packer's Tourang consortium. Fraser urged the Hawke government to do anything in its power to stop Packer's bid. The campaign will proceed with petitions, newspaper advertisements and more rallies and meetings. The rally was organised by the Age Independence Committee, Victorian Trades Hall Council and the Rationalists Society.

NEWCASTLE — The Environmental Youth Alliance staged a small but spirited march through the centre of the city on October 19, protesting against the proposed of Resource Security Legislation. Chanting "RSL — a lie" and "Security for whom?", the marchers proceeded to a rally which was addressed by Ian McKenzie, Newcastle Wilderness Society campaign director. McKenzie said RSL was only the first step in a series of possible attacks on the natural environment from the federal government.

PERTH — The Aboriginal custodians of the Dragonfly Dreaming near Wiluna in Western Australia, on the edge of the Western Desert, are struggling to protect their sacred sites from being destroyed by a huge nickel mine being dug by CRA and Dominion mines. They are trying to raise $30,000 for the legal costs to go the WA Supreme Court in November. They believe they have a very good legal case. Help can be sent to: Fund for Legal Protection of Sacred Sites, Catholic Social Justice, 459 Hay Street, Perth 6000.

  • Students, lecturers and tutors from TAFE colleges and universities rallied and marched on Parliament House on October 23 to protest against cuts to the education system. Speakers condemned the unbearable overcrowding in the education system, the low level of Austudy, increased teacher workloads and the increase in the HECS fee. Addressing the rally, Carol Billcliff of the Combined Students Austudy Campaign described the battle to survive on the meager $113 Austudy allowance — $74 below the poverty line.

SYDNEY — Chanting "Education for all, not just the rich!" and "1, 2, 3 and a bit, Peter Baldwin's full of shit!", more than 500 university, TAFE and secondary students rallied at Town Hall and marched through the city on October 24. The demands for a free, well-funded and democratically run education system were presented to an official at the Education Department building.

  • Eighty-five people attended an all-day seminar on October 26 sponsored by the New Left Party, Pluto Press and Australian Left Review on how community-based activists can better access the media. The seminar also discussed the limitations and possibilities of alternative media. A statement was sent to the federal ALP government expressing concern at possible media concentration arising from the future ownership of Fairfax.

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