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Medicare under attack A newly formed lobby group, the General Practice Forum, has called for the end of bulk-billing, free consultations and the free at-point-of-service provision of such items as vaccines and bandages. This is the opening shot
NSW teachers strike in support of pay claim By Paul Oboohov SYDNEY — NSW school and TAFE teachers struck for 24 hours on November 23 in support of their 10% pay claim. This shut a fifth of NSW schools, with TAFE and the Education
Music for East Timor By Sally-Anne Watson DARWIN — A concert by local musicians was held with a permit in Raintree Park on November 24. Onlookers displayed placards and banners reading "Human Rights for East Timor" and "Referendum for
By Max Lane A new, independent trade union, the Centre for Indonesian Working Class Struggle (PPBI) was launched at a congress in Ambarawa, Central Java, October 22-23. More than 100 delegates represented workers from factory committees based in
Menzies' Child: the Liberal Party of Australia 1944-1994 By Gerard Henderson Allen and Unwin, 1994. 382pp. (CD included), $29.95 (pb) Reviewed by Frank Noakes "Standing in front of a Union Jack, Menzies proclaimed that the Liberal Party
Health cuts kill patients By Karl Miller MELBOURNE — The Liberal government here has cut $190 million from hospitals in two years. To meet new budgets, Melbourne hospitals have recently announced closures totalling more than 200 beds and
International Playhouse — New Every Morning — This comedy tells of Nelson and Althea, a middle-class couple who are endearingly indecisive, especially when it comes to the issue of "babies". They muddle through trying desperately to come to terms
If you can't wait for a shock Electro Convulsive Therapy Rollins Band Imago through BMG Reviewed by Nick Fredman Henry Rollins, the Nietzschean superman of rock and roll, and his band have released a live album recorded in 1992. It's
By Deepa Fernandes MELBOURNE — Racism, masquerading as environmentalism, is the focus of a party that ran in the Kooyong by-election on November 19. Australians Against Further Immigration (AAFI), with candidate Angela Walker, ran against a
New CDs Didgeridoo Concerto Enrec Studios through Larrikin Duende Ellipsis Arts Reviewed by Francesca Davidson Didgeridoo Concerto is an impressive 51 minutes of solo didgeridoo playing by musician Mark Atkins — reputedly
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — A new and alarming strain has appeared in the rhetoric, and to some degree in the actions, of the Yeltsin regime. The goals set out in the draft for the 1995 state budget, together with extensive changes in the
BRISBANE — A suburban train guard has started private legal action to force the state branch of the Public Transport Union to hold its first annual general meeting in at least 20 years. Gary Dale has asked the court for an order requiring the