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ALP trickle will become a flood

ALP trickle will become a flood The response of rank-and-file unionists to Victorian Electrical Trades Union leader Dean Mighell's resignation from the Labor Party was predictable: “Good on yer mate, it's about time!” They don't want

Australia-NZ agreement highlights hypocrisy on refugees

BY SARAH STEPHEN At the end of March 2001, an estimated 450,000 New Zealand citizens — 2.3% of the Australian population — were visiting or living in Australia. Under various arrangements since the 1920s, there has been a free flow of people

Labor backs government anti-refugee bill

BY SARAH STEPHEN On March 21, federal Labor and Coalition MPs delivered another blow to the rights of refugees. With Labor's assistance, the government's Migration (Transitional Movement) Bill was ensured speedy passage through the House of

ZIMBABWE: Mugabe regime product of failure of nationalist politics

BY GRIFF FOLEY The Western media portray Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe as the worst African dictator since Idi Amin. Mugabe is certainly tyrannical, but he is no freak or accident. Mugabe's regime is a product of the politics of Zimbabwean

ETU mass meeting applauds Mighell's stance

BY JACKIE LYNCH MELBOURNE — Electrical Trades Union state secretary Dean Mighell received enthusiastic applause for his decision to leave the ALP at a mass meeting of some 800 ETU members on March 20. In a passionate and fiery speech,

and ain't i a woman: US army harasses lesbians

and ain't i a woman: US army harasses lesbians Last year, women were twice as likely to be dismissed from the US army for being lesbians than men were for being gay, according to a report released on March 15 by the Servicemembers Legal

Leichhardt defends refugees

Eighty people attended at refugee-rights protest in Leichhardt on March 21 organised by Free the Refugees campaign. Photo by Jonathan Strauss. From Green Left Weekly, March 27, 2002. Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

Energy giant pulls the pin

BY TIM GOODEN GEELONG — What could only be described as a David and Goliath battle looks likely to end in a fall for giant energy corporation AES. On March 15, AES announced it was not proceeding with the construction of a gas-and-kerosene

Michael Albert: 'Build mass movements'

BY JIM McILROY BRISBANE — "If you want to replace the World Bank, World Trade Organisation and International Monetary Fund, you need to create massive movements that are powerful, conscious and raise the social costs for the ruling class",

PAKISTAN: Labour Party calls for Socialist Alliance

BY FAROOQ TARIQ LAHORE — The national committee of the Labour Party Pakistan, meeting March 16-17, decided that the party should help form a united socialist electoral alliance in Pakistan. Left-wing political parties, trade unions and social

Youth campaign to free the refugees

BY KATE WILSON Refugees, often fleeing war, poverty or government repression, risk their lives getting to Australia. They are then locked up in detention centres for months, sometimes years, in totally inhumane conditions. Australia

BARCELONA: 500,000 demand global justice

BY DICK NICHOLS BARCELONA — The organisers said 500,000, the press said 350,000 and the police said 250,000. The organisers expected around 50,000 people to turn up at the protest; up to 8% of the population of Catalonia came. Not even the most