Refinery workers fight for jobs
By Dave Mizon
Workers at Caltex's Kurnell refinery voted on June 30 to take industrial action against the company if it moves against the remaining laboratory workers at the plant, members of the Australian
Issue 150
News
By June McKay
CANBERRA — In a period of international trade agreements, Australian workers can't ignore international issues and working conditions, Greens Senator Dee Margetts told a Canberra Public Sector Union dinner on June 22. The dinner
Federal government to fund student organisations
By Alex Bainbridge
MELBOURNE — The federal government brought legislation before parliament on June 30 to override the "voluntary student unionism" (VSU) legislation enacted by the
She can wear the pants
By Michael Boswell
PERTH — The trivial farce over women workers wearing trousers in the WA parliament ended on June 30 when the speakers of both the Legislative Assembly and Council indicated that women could now
By Stephen Robson
PERTH — WA's forest blockade began here on July 2 with several hundred people attending a two-day festival near Pemberton, about 400 km south of here.
The festival included talks and workshops on forest-related issues
Kerrupjmara protest against neglect
By Ruth Robles
MELBOURNE — During the early hours of June 28, 40 members of the Kerrupjmara Aboriginal community set up a tent embassy on the main street of Portland. Racism and neglect have driven them
ADELAIDE — A new student group is campaigning to stop the Brown government from implementing cuts to education recommended in the recent audit report. Secondary Students Against Cuts, a Resistance-initiated campaign, was launched at a teachers' protest rally in May.
Lesbians and gays rally in Brisbane
By Nick Everett and Ana Kailis
BRISBANE — 1500 people rallied on July 2 to support lesbian and gay rights. The rally, which commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, was followed by a
World
The Campaign to Oppose the Return of the Khmer Rouge (CORKR) in the United States has called on the US government to suspend military aid and training projects to Thailand. Sections of the Thai military are actively involved in supporting and arming
Filipinos oppose new tax
By Jon Land
Two thousand people protested outside the Malacanang Palace in Manila on June 28 over the introduction of a new value-added tax (VAT). Organised by a coalition called KOMVAT, the action was part of a
By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — A Namibian court has found that the 1989 assassination of SWAPO activist Anton Lubowski was the work of a South African Defence Force death squad. The verdict confirms the suspicions of many South Africans and
By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — Hopes that the African National Congress-dominated government of national unity (GNU) will rapidly move to redistribute wealth and economic power have begun to fade with the presentation of its first budget in Cape
By Jon Land
Two East Timorese were sentenced to prison for three years on June 27 for raising the flag of Fretilin in Dili on July 17 of last year. The peaceful protest marked the date that Suharto signed a bill declaring East Timor part of
Strikes increase
Industrial action by black workers has increased dramatically in the first half of the year. Compared to the same period in 1993, the number of work days lost through strikes has almost doubled. Most strikes occurred in the
Strong campaign defends Indonesian media
By Max Lane
Giving evidence to a parliamentary committee in Jakarta on June 29, information minister Harmoko showed the first signs of a possible weakening in the regime's resolve over the banning of
If a presidential election were held in Russia in the near future, the winner would very likely be a populist candidate pledging strong action against corruption and crime; opposing privatisation and promising a
By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — The Rwandan Patriotic Front's assistant director of international relations for Asia and Africa, Dr Ben Rugangazi, firmly rejected the international media's "simplistic" claims that the RPF represents the Tutsi
By Renfrey Clarke
MOSCOW — Responding to pleas from terrified business people and urgent demands from Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Russian President Boris Yeltsin on June 14 issued a decree permitting tough action against Russia's vast and
Culture
New Country
Sister Moon
Reviewed by Philippa Stanford
Sister Moon are surely one of the most exciting musical experiences to come out of Brisbane. With a diverse range of talents, Sister Moon bring new meaning to the term a cappella.
By Frank Enright
Xanana Gusmao trophy
A soccer tournament in Bourges, France, on June 11-12 featured a "Xanana Gusmao Challenge". Gusmao is the jailed leader of Fretilin, the East Timor resistance.
The trophy, a statue featuring a
By Sujatha Fernandes
Theatre, music, song and humour have been used to raise political consciousness in countries where dictatorships censor most forms of political expression. In India, a society in which women are still heavily subordinated
Public cinema for Newtown
SYDNEY — The third in a series of screenings to highlight the need for a public cinema in the inner suburb of Newtown takes place when the community newspaper Newtown Bridge presents Riding the Gale, a poignant
To the Ends of the Earth â The Hunt for the Jackal
SBS Television
Sunday, July 17, 9.30pm (9 Adelaide)
Reviewed by Barry Healy
Since the development of small-sized weapons of mass destruction, there have been many "terrorism" spates.
Southern Sky, Western Oval: A Year Inside League Football
By Martin Flanagan
McPhee Gribble, 1994. 191 pp., $14.95 (pb)
Reviewed by Phil Shannon
Footscray, in the western suburbs of Melbourne, has the highest unemployment rate (24%) in
The Taming of the Shrew
By William Shakespeare
Bell Shakespeare Company
Directed by John Bell
Footbridge Theatre, Sydney, to July 30
Reviewed by Peter Boyle
Bell Shakespeare Company is touring Australia with a version of The Taming of
Australia's Spies and Their Secrets
ASIO worked with unions and bosses
In Australia's Spies and Their Secrets, author David McKnight uncovers a shadowy hand behind the events which shaped Australian politics from the end of the second world
From Soweto to Perth
By Tamara Desiatov
PERTH — A Cultural Dissent program for youth, "From Soweto to Perth", was held here on June 18 to draw the international links in struggles by young people for freedom and justice.
Eighteen
Community development manual
Resource Manual for Facilitators in Community Development
By Jeremy McArdle
Reviewed by Chris Slee
This loose-leaf manual is intended to help community groups gain the skills they need to organise
Editorial
Eroding democracy
Senator Nick Bolkus, not content with denying basic human rights and dignity to refugees, nor with insulting Australia's Macedonian community, is now bent on devaluing the democratic rights of Australia's elected