Issue 11

News

By Kristian Whittaker CANBERRA — Long-time anti-apartheid activist Kerry Browning, after two-and-a-half years of court hearings, will go to trial on May 27. Browning was originally arrested on charges of firebombing cars belonging to the
By Melanie Sjoberg and Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — The May 1 ACTU special unions conference to discuss the Industrial Relations Commission national wage decision fell in unanimously behind ACTU secretary Bill Kelty's proposal to reject the decision
SYDNEY — "The current phase of negotiations demands international solidarity if we are to reach a cease-fire", Commander Nidia Díaz, a member of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front's Political-Diplomatic Commission and member of
Vista workers win one round By Dick Nichols SYDNEY — Workers at the small outer-Sydney paper products plant Vista have won a round in their fight for reinstatement and the right to representation by their union, the Printing and Kindred
By Tony Collins and David Brazil Bathurst is a "Tidy Town", even though a very untidy incident is taking place within its famous district court building. Ten kooris find themselves at the mercy of Judge Bill Nash and an all-white jury, accused of
By Dick Nichols SYDNEY — The first opinion poll released after New South Wales Liberal Premier Nick Greiner called a May 25 election here shows the Liberal-National coalition only three points ahead of Bob Carr's Labor (30% to 27%), with fully 35%
By Frank Noakes PERTH — Farmers in Western Australia's wheat belt have formed the Rural Action Movement, with a perspective best summed up by Bindi Bindi farmer Stan Lewis: "Let us not be afraid of being militant: let us be afraid of not being
By Debra Wirth SYDNEY — A campaign against sections 45D and E of the Trade Practices Act was launched here by Greenpeace on May 1. BHP Petroleum threatened to use 45D against Greenpeace in March as a result of a protest action near
Green Labor defection to Democrats Gordon McQuilten, a founder of the Green Labor faction of the Labor Party, has joined the Australian Democrats and will seek preselection for the Victorian state seat of Richmond. McQuilten is the second
By Greg Adamson SYDNEY - Public transport, housing, and the lack of city-wide planning are among the issues which the Sydney Greens will be raising in the May 25 state elections. Founding member and journalist Hall Greenland has been nominated as
Wodonga meatworkers sacked twice By Dick Nichols Workers at the Wodonga Meats abattoir have been on strike since management sacked their 10 union delegates in mid-April. A few days later their jobs were advertised in the local press, proof to
ACT UP launches national campaign By Damien Bourke and Philip Baker SYDNEY — The Aids Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP) here on April 29 launched a six-week national campaign directed against the federal government and health minister Brian
By Steve Painter Waterfront unions became the first to settle an Accord Mark VI deal outside the centralised wage fixing system when they agreed to a $12 rise from May 16 and a further 6% rise in three instalments between July 1991 and July 1992.
By Peter Chiltern About $3 million has been allocated to improve security arrangements for Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) staff in preparation for increased harassment of unemployed people when the government's Active Employment Strategy

World

After the social upheavals of 1989 in Eastern Europe, there has been much speculation in the Western press that Vietnam would follow a similar path. STEPHEN ROBSON, recently returned from a three-week visit to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, describes

AUCKLAND — When French Polynesia's 41-seat Territorial Assembly met on April 5 to decide the South Pacific territory's new president for five years, the choice marked a remarkable political comeback.

International Union of Students meets By Adam Novak PRAGUE — At an extraordinary congress here in mid-April, the International Union of Students, traditionally closely aligned with Moscow, relaunched itself as a decentralised and democratic
By Jacqui Kavanagh A document based on research by the African National Congress has revealed why the recent Peace Accord between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party has not stopped the violence ravaging black communities in South Africa. In
The ruling Hungarian Socialist Workers Party (HSWP) voluntarily relinquished power in 1990 after 40 years of centralised state-socialist rule. In the first of a series of articles, LASZLO ANDOR and PETER ANNEAR trace the early origins of this
By Peter Gellert MEXICO CITY - While the government attempts to obtain funding in North America and Europe for AIDS education and prevention campaigns, activist organisations here have denounced the government for using repression against them.
By Gil Lauriciano GURO, MOZAMBIQUE — War and drought are threatening thousands of lives in the central region. Mozambique is considered the poorest country in southern Africa because of the civil war, which has been going on for 15 years, and
By Sally Low PRAGUE - "If you go into the countryside in the West, perhaps you can drink water from the streams, but in our country it is all poisoned." Like so many Czechs and Slovaks, my friend Jana despairs over the environment in her country
By Norm Dixon Representatives of the interim government of the Republic of Bougainville have sharply condemned the Papua New Guinea government's April 13 invasion of northern Bougainville and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the troops. "This
Army building roads in East Timor According to the Jakarta Post, Indonesia is to construct 120 kilometres of roads in the southern part of East Timor. The government claims the roads "will encourage the development of the economic system of the
By Mary Merkenich BOCHUM, Germany - Since reunification, there has been an alarming increase in violence from the right, especially in the areas of the old East Germany. Skinheads here represent the extreme right wing, and they have made

 

Cuba condemns occupation of Iraq

HAVANA — The Cuban foreign ministry on April 24 strongly condemned the military occupation of parts of northern Iraq by the United States and its allies.

The statement said the occupation was being carried out under "the pretext" of creating a safe haven for Iraq's Kurdish population, and it demanded respect for the civil rights of the Iraqi population.

Culture

By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — Romanian Simona Jobbagy was one of several women artists who participated in the second exhibition of refugee women's art organised by the Foundation for the Survivors of Torture in Melbourne Town Hall on April 22-26.
Al Qamareya ("The Moongate") Directed by Mishline Jammal TAQA Theatre with Al Sharek Music 8 p.m., May 10 & 11, 5 p.m. May 12 Sydney St Theatre Space, cnr Railway Pde and Sydney St, Erskineville Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen The lack of cultural
The Russia House Director Fred Schepisi Starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer Reviewed by Ian Bolas Predictable is the best word to describe The Russia House, both for its strengths and its weaknesses. There is nothing surprising either
The Owl and the Pussy Cat em = By Phil Shannon The Owl and the Pussy Cat made an Accord in the year 1983 They made many promises and scorned doubting Thomases and signed it most gratefully. The Owl looked up to the dollar above and sang with a
Music I didn't need like this By Stuart Wax Whenever I turn on my rented television, I'm confronted with what seems to be the longest commercial on our airwaves. Set to that old song "He ain't heavy, he's my brother", this ad is there to make us
After the Gulf War: For Peace in the Middle East Edited by StJohn Kettle and Stephanie Dowrick Pluto Press, 1991. 134 pp. $9.95 Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen There is always a lag between the television news which hits us in 30-second grabs and

Editorial

Editorial: A great party while it lasted In 1983, centralised wage fixing became holy writ, handed down by messiah Hawke and proselytised everywhere by disciples such as Laurie Carmichael (now Dr Laurie in honour of his services to big business).