For Australians, the genocide in East Timor, one of the century's great crimes, is especially disturbing. In the Sydney street where I grew up in the years following the second world war were several "diggers" who had fought the
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Interview with Rodney Croome By ruling that Tasmania's anti-gay laws violate human rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has made a historic decision with global implications. The decision, made public on April 11, was that the
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Those of us active in radical politics are encountering postmodernism everywhere we turn. But whether it is postindustrialism or post-Fordism in economics, post-structuralism in philosophy or post-feminism in women's
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Aid and family planningShould Australian overseas aid be linked to the promotion of family planning programs? According to Senator Brian Harradine, never. His anti-contraception, anti-abortion, anti-family planning, anti-sex
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Based on highly reliably international contacts, leaked documents and horoscopes from several TV magazines, Nostradamus' Media Watch presents a highly accurate forecast of political events across the globe. As most nations
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Back Catalogue — Deep Purple Family Connections — Since 1968, hard rock group Deep Purple has survived fame, fortune, internal feuds, deaths and changes of fashion. Various versions of the group are featured live in concert from the '70s and '80s
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SYDNEY — Private security is the second fastest growing industry in Australia after tourism, and Australia now has one of the highest rates of prisoners in private prisons in the world. Last week, John Hannaford, the NSW attorney
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True Stories: Angst — This episode focuses on three Jewish comedians whose parents are concentration camp survivors. It combines interviews, glimpses of personal lives of the performers and excerpts from their performances interwoven with
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ADELAIDE — The United Trades and Labour Council has voted unanimously in support of a trade ban against Papua New Guinea until the blockade of Bougainville is lifted. The resolution includes a demand that the federal government end military aid.
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Youth survey on pollies A nationwide AGB Mcnair survey, commissioned by ABC TV's youth current affairs program Attitudes, gives a big thumbs down to the federal government and politicians in general. Only 2% of the 750 respondents aged
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Ain't it the truthThree years ago a small group of prisoners here joined forces to form what was then The Teddy Bear Project (TTBP). I designed while others crocheted hundreds of cute little stuffed animals. The
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Paul Keating has opened a campaign against election of the Senate by proportional representation. Although not yet advancing any definite proposal, ALP leaders have floated a move to 12 single-member electorates for each
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Distortion In his reply to my article (both GLW March 16), Allen Myers accused me of distortion yet used that very tactic himself. For instance, he leapt onto my somewhat facetious suggestion that GLW wanted Third World women to go barefoot and
News
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BRISBANE — Just three days before the release of the Criminal Justice Commission report into the death of Aboriginal dancer Daniel Yock in police custody on November 7, another Aborigine died in police custody here.
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Greenslopes picketBRISBANE — About 40 people attended a picket outside the Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital on April 16 to protest against plans to close parts of the facility and privatise the remainder. The picket
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Increased danger from ultraviolet radiation Leaked research from a top laboratory of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States indicates that sun-screens may not provide protection from excessive ultraviolet radiation (UV-B)
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ADELAIDE — The difficulties of life as a performing artist will be highlighted in a South Australia campaign by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA). In a submission to the state government's Arts Taskforce, it
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NEWCASTLE — Environmentalists and concerned residents are outraged at a proposal to allow a new township of 17,000 people to be built on a coastal dune area at Fern Bay, 15 kilometres north of here. The council has asked
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ADELAIDE — "Let's get angry about racism; let's also get angry about the public service cuts and unemployment that cause racism." These were the words of Frank Barbero of the Ethnic Communities Association, speaking to a
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Brisbane censors safe sex posterBRISBANE — A poster designed to promote safe sex practices for lesbians was banned from a political posters exhibition here on April 15 by the Brisbane City Council because it "saw no reason
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WA students start education campaignPERTH — Following a successful rally on March 22, students in WA are continuing a campaign against the Court government's voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation. In the march
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Squatters resist evictionBRISBANE — A group of young unemployed and homeless squatters have barricaded themselves inside an abandoned West End Housing Commission house to prevent the state government evicting them.
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Sydney demo on jobs crisisSYDNEY — Students, workers and the unemployed will demonstrate on April 28 against the federal government's approach to the unemployment crisis. The Cross Campus Education Network, which
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Law and order in the wild westPERTH — The Court government faces another embarrassment for its law and order campaign with the revelation that Tactical Response Group officer Dan Donegan has been charged with assault
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1800 teaching jobs in limboADELAIDE — Secrecy and denial surround the claim that the state Liberal government is planning to cut 1800 jobs in education. This would break a pre-election promise that there would be no
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School staff work to rulePERTH — School support staff in Western Australia have begun a work-to-rule campaign to pressure the state government to increase the allocation for staff in the next budget. With the
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ADELAIDE — The state Liberal government is undertaking an audit of the public sector which promises more cutbacks in jobs and community services. Rumours abound that another 1000 staff are to be cut from the State Bank in
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PSU Campaign establishedMELBOURNE — A new Public Sector Union rank and file group, PSU Campaign, was officially launched here on April 9. The group's charter is to work for a more democratic, open and involving union, for
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By Tim E. Stewart DARWIN — 150 people attended a twilight public meeting called here by the NT Environment Centre on April 14, to discuss the controversial issue of Darwin Harbour development. Speakers from the Environment Centre and the
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New Tasmanian political party HOBART — "Make more room at the trough — the Extremely Greedy 40% Extra Party is here!", says the first press release of Tasmania's newest political party. The Extremely Greedy 40% Extra Party has 200
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More subtle these days "A quarter of a century ago the Australians who came here came in battle dress. They now come dressed for business." — Prime Minister Keating in Vietnam. Mystery "The resignations of cabinet members Graham Richardson
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National day of action against skyrailBRISBANE — April 11 was a national day of action against the proposed construction of a skyrail from Cairns to Kuranda in Queensland's far north. Activists here from the Queensland
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Education Department targeted protestersMELBOURNE — The senselessly violent tactics used by police against protesters at Richmond Secondary College on December 13 now appear to have an explanation. In the week before the
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Story and photo by Therese Mackay PORT MACQUARIE — NSW health minister Ron Phillips snuck into town on April 8 desperately trying to avoid 60 protesting locals angered by the long waiting lists at the public hospital and plans to privatise
Analysis
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A deadly document The Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), signed into existence on April 15 by trade ministers from some 120 countries, is a deadly document. It condemns the world's poorest nations to deeper
World
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Observer describes Salvadoran electionBRISBANE — Fraud on a massive scale disrupted the recent elections in El Salvador, Dr Coral Wynter, a member of an independent delegation of Australian observers, told a fundraising
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JOHANNESBURG — Angry public servants in what is left of South Africa's discredited system of ethnic "homelands" are continuing to press their demands militantly. Workers in the health services of KwaZulu, Transkei, Lebowa and
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MANAGUA — District Six in Managua's eastern section is a working-class area and a strong base for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Recently I was invited to a meeting in the district where representatives of
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JOHANNESBURG — The leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, has surely drained the last drop of patience from those here who wanted to believe he could be convinced to accept a peaceful settlement.
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The mass left split in the Philippines Communist Party (CPP) which has rejected the CPP leadership's Maoist program and declared itself a democratic socialist tendency, has shaken up the entire Philippines left. Supporters of hardline Maoist and CPP
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SAN SALVADOR — With some reluctance, the right-wing ARENA party has been forced to concede there will be a second round in the election. The technical fraud denounced by the FMLN has been recognised by the world. The two
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MOSCOW — Many people in the international left and labour movements were impressed last year to see and read a new English-language publication from Moscow — Russian Labour Review. Sponsored by the Labour Information Centre
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MOSCOW — Every day, there are fewer people in Russia. The country has been seized by an unprecedented demographic decline. For the first time since the second world war, the number of deaths substantially exceeds the
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A summit of New Guinea Islands premiers held in the West New Britain capital of Kimbe on April 7 to discuss greater autonomy from the Papua New Guinean government ended with no definite resolution on the question of secession. The meeting did decide
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Two NATO air strikes on April 11 and 12 failed to halt the drive by Serb forces against the besieged Bosnian enclave of Gorazde. The two US-led air strikes did no more than destroy a few tanks and troop transports, and seemed more
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Louis O'Carroll is a freelance journalist specialising in travel writing. He is 64 years old and partially disabled from injuries sustained in a road accident. In a statement to the media, O'Carroll says that in December 1992, he decided to
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JOHANNESBURG — Scores of thousands of South Africans gathered at rallies, meetings, ceremonies and church services to pay tribute to Chris Hani, the murdered South African Communist Party and ANC leader, on April 10, the
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MOSCOW — If you talk to a young person serving in one of the commercial kiosks that line the main streets of Russian cities, the chances are rather high that he or she will turn out to be a student in a local university or
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Response to Timor film The screening of John Pilger's film Death of A Nation on national television in New Zealand on April 10 brought a flood of phone calls to the East Timor Independence Committee's action line. The Auckland-based group
Culture
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Kurt CobainOn April 9, Kurt Cobain, lead singer of the rock group Nirvana, killed himself with a shotgun. A suicide note, found next to his body, said, "It's better to burn out than to fade away". Cobain had only just
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DURBAN — Mbongeni Ngema's latest musical extravaganza, Magic at 4am, packed the Natal Playhouse here night after night for weeks until the final matinee performance on April 10. By the time the young cast had swarmed on to the
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Ambushing the mediaADELAIDE —"... exciting ... innovative ... raw ... pulsing with political debate", states the fresh press release for Ambush street theatre's latest production That Was, The Week, That Was or TW3.
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Martin Hayes Martin Hayes Green Linnet Records through GLD Music Reviewed by Gail Lord Its superb clarity makes this self-titled CD easy on the ears, but after albums and concerts of robust Irish music I had to listen to it three times to
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Robocop 3 Starring Robert Burke and Nancy Allen Reviewed by Arun Pradhan It's Fred Nile's dream come true: clean, safe, crime-free "Delta city". The advert for Delta city rings joyfully across the cinema with images of Mummy and Daddy, their
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Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War By Rick Atkinson Harper Collins, 1994. 504 pp. $39.95 Reviewed by Paul Hemphill In the disturbing documentary The Panama Deception, one of the very few instances of wry humour related to
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King Lear Directed by David Ritchie New Theatre, King St, Newtown Reviewed by Helen Jarvis Sydney's New Theatre continues its long tradition of good performances of classics to complement its contemporary, Australian and progressive
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Earthforce!: An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy By Captain Paul Watson Reviewed by Jon Sumby Books about direct action are rare, and when ecodefence author and Earthfirst!er Dave Foreman describes the author as a "strategic genius of