Issue 100

By Peter Boyle On May 13 the ACTU executive rejected a call by several unions covering low-paid workers for a national wage claim of $8 per week for workers who had not managed to strike enterprise bargains with their employers. ACTU

By Martin O'Byrne MELBOURNE — A legal firm here is planning to take action against the state Ministry of Housing over the death of a public tenant from an asbestos-related disease. Last September 10, Doreen Porter died from mesothelioma

Joh jury inquiry focuses on investigator By Bill Mason BRISBANE — The spotlight in the ongoing Criminal Justice Commission inquiry into the selection of the jury in the 1991 Joh Bjelke-Petersen corruption trial has now turned to legal

The North East Forest Alliance is calling for a full investigation into the operations of the NSW north coast woodchipping company, Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Boral Timbers P/L, following the revelation that the company has

Risks People with asbestos material in their housing are at risk of contracting an asbestos-related disease. These diseases include: Asbestosis. Fibres lodge in the lungs, causing a scar which continues to grow even though there may be no

Sacrifice While the ACTU is determined to sacrifice wages for the sake of "the economy", some of the highest salary earners in the country don't have the same approach to their incomes. Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett (on $131,771 a year, plus

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — To the puzzlement of many observers, Russian President Boris Yeltsin during the first weeks after his April 25 referendum held off introducing the "tough measures" through which he had promised to "neutralise" the

By Helen Jarvis With barely a week left before the Cambodian elections (scheduled for May 23 to 27), the Khmer Rouge are escalating their acts of terror in an attempt to disrupt the polls — if possible to have them cancelled or at least to

By Norm Dixon A firm date for South Africa's first non-racial general election is to be set by June 3. After a week of discussions beginning on April 30, representatives of South Africa's key 26 political organisations agreed that a

President's hand in his own assassination By S. Piyasena Sri Lanka, where violence has become the rule rather than the exception, has created another record by assassinating the president and his principal rival within just eight days.

The Best of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens Dolphin through BMG Rhythm of Healing West Nkosi Earthworks/Virgin through Larrikin Records Favourites Ladysmith Black Mambazo Dolphin through BMG Reviewed by Norm Dixon

Passion Fish Written and directed by John Sayles Starring Mary McDonnell and Alfre Woodard Reviewed by Lee Wallace The critics' pull quotes used to promote Passion Fish, the new film from the New York-based independent writer/director

Apartheid Two part special on SBS Television screening Sunday, May 23, and May 30, 8.30 p.m. (8 p.m. Adelaide) Previewed by Norm Dixon This French-produced two-hour documentary starkly recounts the evolution of one of this century's most

Different traditions, and why don't we know anything? Asia Music Various Celestial Harmonies through Larrikin Records Available on CD Reviewed by Mina O'Shea After passing through the hands of many people who felt they couldn't

Change for Sixpence Where Sixpence Lives By Norma Kitson London: Chatto and Windus. 1986. 350 pp. Reviewed by Connie Frazer Not a new book, but one you can't put down. The intriguing title caught my eye as I entered the Adelaide