Issue 124

News

MELBOURNE — Community groups and environmentalists are highlighting the threat to Port Phillip and Westernport Bays by the oil industry and the danger to the Altona and Williamstown area from the proposed expansion of the Mobil Altona refinery.
Lismore residents discuss Mabo By Saskia Kouwenberg LISMORE, NSW — A public forum on Mabo, organised by the newly formed Lismore Human Rights Group in conjunction with the Lands Council, held here on November 18, was an overwhelming
Hospital workers win a battle By Roberto Jorquera MELBOURNE — After eight days of Industrial bans, management at the Austin Hospital was forced to back down and reach agreement with the Health Services Union (HSUA) on procedures to be
By Melanie Sjoberg ADELAIDE — Hindmarsh Island is a picturesque spot near Goolwa on the Fleurieu Peninsula south of Adelaide. Still home to some of the indigenous people, it is also a popular holiday area for boating, fishing, swimming and
By James Basle CANBERRA — More than 1000 secondary students participated in a walkout of classes, on Tuesday, November 16, to protest against the ACT Labor government's recent cuts to education. Eight of the nine colleges and five high schools
Residents slam Lang Park takeover By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Milton and Paddington residents outraged at the state government decision to fast-track redevelopment of the Lang Park rugby league stadium met on November 19 and called on the
WA meatworkers strengthen leadership By Stephen Robson PERTH — Elections in the meatworkers union here have consolidated the team around branch secretary Glenn Ferguson. Ferguson originally won his position 18 months earlier, but
Danger seen in Lucas Heights waste Storage facilities at Australia's Lucas Heights reactor have reached full capacity and a "crisis shipment" to the United States is needed, according to documents obtained by Greenpeace. Nuclear campaigner
Protest hits waste incinerator By Bill Mason BRISBANE — With placards declaring "School kids demand clean air", some 40 protesters met outside state parliament on November 16 to oppose the continued use of Ace Waste incinerators at
Or a chook "The economy is not taking off like a rocket. It's taking off more like a large plane, gradually gaining altitude. We expect it to stay airborne for some time." — Treasurer John Dawkins. On the job training "Well, I'm the prime
Community independent stands By Anthony Thirlwall ADELAIDE — Despite being offered little choice between the ALP and the Liberals in the state elections, South Australians will have the chance to vote for another alternative candidate.
Against the blockade of Cuba The Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) is inviting people around the world to participate in the struggle against the US blockade of Cuba by submitting written or graphic material for a
'Education is the key' in SAIT campaign By Chris Spindler Adelaide — South Australian Institute of Teachers (SAIT) president Clare McCarty on November 14 publicly launched her bid to be elected to the Legislative Council. About 150
Appeal for delegates to African conference The Melbourne-based Union for Democracy and Development in Kenya (UDD Kenya) is calling for donations to help fund two delegates from their organisation in Australia to attend a pan-African conference
Charges against squatters dropped SYDNEY — Twelve people arrested in July for occupying a disused Department of Housing house in the inner Sydney suburb of Chippendale, despite having been given verbal agreement to do so, had charges against
Blockade planned against cable-car By Tony Hastings KURANDA — Preparation is being made for a campaign of direct action to prevent the construction of a sky-rail cable-way in World Heritage-listed national parks land just north of
By Dave Wright HOBART — The Groom Liberal government is trying to cut the number of members in the House of Assembly from 35 to 30. The effect will be to weaken significantly Tasmania's democratic proportional representation voting system.
Anti-vilification bill passed By Tom Flanagan The New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act has been amended to outlaw vilification on the basis of a person's homosexuality. The private member's bill, introduced by independent MP Clover
Socialists launch campaign By Melanie Sjoberg ADELAIDE — The Democratic Socialists formally launched their state election campaign at a relaxed dinner on November 19. Andrew Hall, candidate for the seat of Adelaide, told supporters
Testimony blocked in child rape case By Dave Wright HOBART — A Supreme Court judge has refused to swear in a 12-year-old boy because he did not believe in God. The boy was called to give evidence against the man accused of raping him.

World

By Vivienne Porzsolt Ha'fa Baramki, director of continuing education at Bir Zeit University on the West Bank, was in Sydney recently and spoke to Green Left Weekly of her experiences of the Israeli occupation. At the beginning of the
CIA paid off Haiti coup leaders US officials have admitted that the Central Intelligence Agency paid key leaders of Haiti's military from the 1980s at least until 1991, when the army deposed elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in a bloody
Land redistribution will be a crucial question for the incoming majority government in South Africa after the April 27 elections. The secretary general of the African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, gave the opening address to the Conference on
NTOMBENTSHA NCIZA, a member of the ANC Women's League and a leader of the National Education Coordinating Committee, and DIKELEDI MAGADAZI, secretary general of the Northern Transvaal ANCWL, recently visited Adelaide as part of a work experience
By Darwin Juarez MANAGUA — While Nicaraguans have seen more than their share of nature's foul moods, a recent disaster brought widespread realisation that human hands can sometimes tip nature toward malevolence. Beautiful and historic Lake
By Ana Kailis AUCKLAND — With postal votes now counted, the National Party has retained government with 50 seats in the 99-member parliament. This result will only increase the alienation from mainstream politics felt by many young people in
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — During August, industrial output in Russia declined at an annual rate of 34%, the sharpest drop since the grim days of the Nazi blitzkrieg. In September the situation grew still worse: according to seasonally
By Norm Dixon The international human rights watchdog Amnesty International says Papua New Guinea government troops and their allies are continuing to murder, torture and rape suspected opponents and non-combatants on the island of
By Catherine Brown and Frank Noakes SAN FRANCISCO — Gays in the US overwhelmingly supported Bill Clinton in last November's presidential election, largely because of his promise to end the official ban on homosexuals in the military. As

Is Cuba a racist country, denying equality to the considerable black portion of its population? Yes, say the New York Times and many books and articles appearing in the United States. But wait. The US is still fighting a cold war against Cuba, and such accusations are surely suspect. We spent 10 days in Cuba earlier this year to learn for ourselves.

By Michael Rafferty LONDON — Winter in Britain this year looks like being a bitter and stormy one, with news that the November 30 budget is to target welfare cuts to single parent families and to entrench a harsh new tax on separated fathers.

Culture

Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy & Women’s Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan
By Michael Knapp, Anja Flack & Ercan Ayboga (translated by Janet Biehl)
Pluto, 2016
285 pp., $38.95

Rojava, which is Kurdish for the “west”, is to be found in Northern Syria. In the middle of a conflict zone, marked by the war against the Assad regime, a Turkish invasion and ongoing conflict with the brutal jihadists of ISIS and al-Nusra, the Kurds and their allies are creating a new kind of democratic system.

Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory By Deborah Lipstadt. New York: The Free Press, 1993. 278 pp., $39.95 (hb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Did the Holocaust — the systematic annihilation of 4-6 million Jews under
Writers Defiled: Security Surveillance of Australian Authors and Intellectuals 1920-1960 By Fiona Capp McPhee Gribble, 1993. 239 pp., $19.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Intelligence organisations are in the business of "security", which,
Oz Shorts Two feature length programs screening on alternate nights until mid-DecemberAcademy Twin, Paddington and then in selected cinemas in most capital cities Reviewed by Norm Dixon When I was a just a little tacker, the highlight of the
Wait for the surprises Red Rock West A film By John Dahl At Melbourne's Cinema Nova and Valhalla Reviewed by Alex Cooper Red Rock West, the latest offering from John Dahl and his brother Rick, centres on Michael (played by Nicholas
Done Bali SBS Television 8.30 p.m. (8 Adelaide) November 30 Reviewed by Ignatius Kim Bali is to Australia what Acapulco is to the US: an escape for Western suburbanites that's seedy for some, exotic for others. Like Acapulco, Bali
Get your action on TV ASEED UK is inviting campaign groups from around the world to send in video material for Hot Spots — a weekly five minute radical environmental activist bulletin to be shown on Sky Television. Sky TV is a satellite
Desperate Remedies Directed and written by Stewart Main and Peter Wells At Melbourne's Kino Cinema from November 26, Sydney's Mandolin and Perth's Paradiso from December 2 Reviewed by Peter Boyle If you liked Orlando, you should like
Two plays on domestic violence The Keys to the Animal Room By Peta Murray Flowers and Chocolates By Glenn Perry Both at Junction Theatre, Thebarton Community attitudes about domestic violence are still shaped by common mythologies
Southeast Asia Rainforests: A Resource and Action Guide Edited by Martha Belcher and Angela Gennino Rainforest Action Network in cooperation with the World Rainforest Movement 1993. 100 pp. (large format) Reviewed By Jon Lamb This

Editorial

ACOSS aims wide "At least initially, someone will have to reduce their disposable incomes if job opportunities and working hours are to be shared more widely and the needed expenditure measures financed." That sounds familiar: is it another