Issue 136

News

Greens' results PERTH — The Greens (WA) polled 8.36% in the March 12 Fremantle by-election, a gain of 1.6% compared to the last federal election. In some booths the vote for the Greens was as high as 17%. Labor candidate Carmen Lawrence
Unhappy "There is no correlation between happiness and money. I believe the richer you get the richer you want to be and the competition to climb up the rich list causes unhappiness." — Stockbroker Rene Rivkin, explaining that his mate,
More jobs under threat on Sydney docks SYDNEY — Australian Stevedores, the company at the centre of last month's waterside dispute, was castigated by Industrial Relations Commission deputy president Simon Williams on March 18. "It [AS]
Building workers on picket line By Geoff Spencer MELBOURNE — Police were used to break a picket at a Department of Planning and Development (Ministry of Housing) building site on March 16. The picket was put on the Crown Street,
By Jolyon Campbell MELBOURNE — A coalition of environmental groups has withdrawn from the environmental assessment process for the relocation of the Coode Island chemical storage facility, calling the negotiations a sham. After repeated
By Tony Hastings CAIRNS — The proposed construction of a 7.5km long cableway, from Caravonica to Kuranda, called Sky-Rail, is the first commercial development in a World Heritage listed area. The campaign to stop it must be won to prevent
Socialist candidate slams Valley Mall 'racism' By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Susan Price, Democratic Socialist candidate for the Central ward in the March 26 Brisbane City Council elections, has condemned the "racist harassment" of Aborigines
Hawkesbury pollution By Marina Carman SYDNEY — A 25 km stretch of the Hawkesbury-Nepean river in Sydney's north-west is infested with a noxious weed, which is capable of killing fish and plant life, and even threatening human life.
Heat danger for sports people By Frank Enright SYDNEY — Following the pre-season Tooheys Challenge competition, played in the heat of rural New South Wales, some Rugby League officials appeared contemptuous of concerns expressed by
Military tourism comes to Darwin By Tim E. Stewart DARWIN — This backpacker capital of the north is opening its doors to foreign military exercises. For 10 months of the year, locals will be host to air and naval exercises by visiting
Coal workers threatened with mass sackings By Sean Moysey WOLLONGONG — Metropolitan Colliery in Helensburgh threatened on March 14 to sack 70 workers unless seven workers targeted by the colliery's owners, Denehurst, resign and accept a
SA bill to overhaul IR By Melanie Sjoberg ADELAIDE — The Industrial and Employees Relations Bill, being introduced into state parliament this month, is predicted to generate the biggest overhaul of the industrial relations system since
By Maureen Baker PERTH — "Kids swept from streets" was the headline on a recent edition of a community newspaper. Operation Sweep was launched by police on January 2 and has operated from 8pm to 4am on Friday and Saturday nights for seven of
Business opposes environmental controls The Business Council of Australia is to begin immediately lobbying new-old environment minister Graham Richardson for Australia to repudiate certain future international environmental accords. BCA
Toxic waste plan for SA By Anthony Thirlwall ADELAIDE — South Australia could be the site of Australia's first high-temperature toxic waste incinerator. The state Liberal government has revealed that the Environmental Protection
Exports poison workers In a report released last week, Greenpeace revealed that waste car batteries from Australia, the US and Britain exported to Third World countries are reprocessed in deplorable conditions. Visiting lead acid battery
By Frank Enright SYDNEY — As the 1994 Rugby League season got under way, players, through their union, registered their first dispute with the clubs in the Industrial Relations Commission. On March 17 the commission declared that a dispute

World

Three times in recent months, a Honduran woman named Alma went to US officials at the border between Reynosa, Mexico and Hidalgo, Texas, to ask for asylum for herself and her three children. She had fled Honduras because her other child had been killed by gang members, and she brought documentation to prove it.

But three times she was told by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that she would have to wait in Mexico. In February, the family was kidnapped.

After weeks of arm-twisting reluctant members and backroom negotiations, House Republicans voted Thursday to pass the much-maligned, "astonishingly evil" American Healthcare Act (AHCA), known as Trumpcare.

By Stephen Marks SAN SALVADOR — One of the jokes told at the left's closing election rally here referred to the big letter "Z" emblazoned on the T-shirted chests of "Zamora for President" supporters. The story goes that when Calderon Sol, the
ROBYN MARSHALL, ROBYNNE MURPHY and MARGARET GLEESON are in El Salvador as observers in the March 20 elections. Here they report some initial impressions. To celebrate the winding up of the election campaign, 8000 FMLN supporters filled the Plaza
French protest against youth wage cuts Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Paris and other major French cities on Saturday, March 12, against government plans to abolish the minimum youth "wage". This minimum, about A$400 per month,
By Martin Khor Kok Peng As the trade ministers of the world prepare to make the trip to Marrakesh for the final adoption of the Uruguay Round accord in April, each country should be doing its sums. Where has it gained, where has it lost, and
International Women's Day in Guatemala By Robyn Marshall and Robynne Murphy GUATEMALA CITY, March 8 — More than 5000 women converged on central Guatemala City today, stopping traffic everywhere. Many different indigenous women's groups
By Pip Hinman Private armies of wealthy landowners in Chiapas state are attempting to block a settlement between the Mexican government and peasant rebels. Round one of negotiations between the government and the Zapatista National Liberation
VIVIENNE PORZSOLT of Green Left Weekly spoke to Amos Wollin, an Israeli political commentator, on the Israeli response to the massacre at the Ibrahimi Mosque. "In large numbers, Israelis have said they understand the murderer", Wollin reported.
By Steve Taylor A test of strength between the left and right of Italian politics takes place at the March 27 general election. Two major election blocs will confront one another. On the right, racist and reactionary forces are grouped
By Margaret Gleeson GUATEMALA CITY — The Guatemalan public hospital system has collapsed as the country's economic, social and political crisis deepens. Those seeking treatment are required to provide their own medicines, bandages and

Culture

Four generations A dance event directed by Norman Hall Performance Space, Surry Hills Wednesday-Sunday until March 27 Reviewed by Gary Boyle Four Generations is a poetic dance event which lives up to the designer's claim of uniqueness.
Free to Hate: The rise of the new right in post-communist Eastern Europe By Paul Hockenos Routledge. 1993. $49 (hb) Reviewed by Phil Hearse As the mass anti-bureaucratic movement gathered pace in East Germany (GDR) in November and December
The Cutting Edge — Agatha's Curse SBS TV Tuesday, March 29, 8.30pm (8 Adelaide) Reviewed by Jill Hickson This moving program alerts us to the grim picture for women in Australia. Breast cancer will kill 2500 Australian women this year.
But The Dead Are Many By Frank Hardy University of Queensland Press. 293 pp., $16.95 Reviewed by Dave Riley The image of communism promoted during the Cold War years was that of the great purges. Leading communist cadre were executed as
Return of the boom bap KRS-ONE Jive Records through BMG Available on cassette and CD Reviewed by John-Paul Nassif Rap philosopher and metaphysician KRS-ONE (Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone) is back with a new album. Return
International Women's Day art exhibition White Egret Gallery, Darwin Reviewed by Deb Sorensen Ten women artists, eight of them from the Northern Territory, were represented in this exhibition, which ran for two weeks from International
The Sorrow of War By Bao Ninh Secker & Warburg, 1993. 217 pp., $24.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon The one voice rarely heard from the Vietnam War is that of the Vietnamese, drowned by the babel of Hollywood, official Western historians
The next offering from Brisbane's Sitting Duck Folk Club is Peter Hicks, returning on March 27 to his native Queensland (born in Chinchilla in 1964), from his present home of Sydney. Peter has made a significant impact on the national folk scene
The Dragon Bride SBS TV Wednesday, March 30, 8.30pm (8 Adelaide) Reviewed by Sujatha Fernandes I have a lone buffalo How much can I milk her I want to laugh but my heart weeps How much can I cry Some are happy, some are not Our
No corn whiskey required The Tinkers: Traditional Irish and American Music Cassette available from Tim Meyen (06) 230 2504, or Sean Kenan (06) 2470 294 Reviewed by Denis Kevans If music means timing, then this tape by the Tinkers, which

Editorial

Time to end the profits blow-out "Companies don't invest in new projects for the public interest or the national good, they do it if they think the project will make a quid", notes Australian industrial correspondent Peter Wilson, in response to