ADELAIDE — The Burmese Support Group here held a public meeting on September 18 to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the bloody military coup. Speakers described the many atrocities committed by the regime and warned that recent "reforms" appear to be largely window dressing to impress potential foreign investors.
HOBART — The Tasmanian state conference of the Catholic Women's League has decided to launch a campaign against condom vending machines in schools, teenage sex and abortions. Joy McEntee, spokesperson for the Women's Action Group, said a right-wing morals campaign such as the CWL is planning "will only meet with a stepped-up campaign on the part of progressive groups in Tasmania to see that gains that women, and people in general, have made in regards to sexual freedom, information and control over their bodies and lives, will stand strong in the face of any backlash."
- A September 16 submission from the Wilderness Society urges the federal government to nominate the Tarkine wilderness for World Heritage listing. Tasmanian conservationists called for an immediate moratorium on logging and mining in the Tarkine area until its World Heritage values could be assessed. However, minister for mines Tony Rundle said that the federal government had given assurances it would not nominate any further areas in Tasmania without state government support.
MELBOURNE — ACTUP staged a protest against Marie Tehan, state shadow minister for health at radio 3LO on September 17. The Liberals plan to cut two-thirds of funding for Fairfield Hospital, the only specialised disease infection hospital in Melbourne. Tehan climbed out of a side window to avoid the protesters.
SYDNEY — A public meeting here on September 17 attacked Australia's role in Indonesia's nuclear power program. Jean McSorley, nuclear campaigns coordinator for Greenpeace, said the Suharto regime plans to build 12 nuclear reactors in the next 25 years, at a cost of A$19.6 billion. The planned site, on Java's Cape Muria, is well known for its earthquake activity. It appears likely that Australian uranium would power these reactors, and also possible that Australia would provide facilities to dispose of the nuclear waste. Lenore Tardif, from Aksi, explained that Indonesians would face massive repression in attempting to block such a development. "The death penalty exists for revealing secrets of the Indonesian atomic energy plans. There is a clear lack of information available to the Indonesian people."