Issue 166

News

Mercury danger continues at hospital By Paul Jones BRISBANE — Despite promises from Royal Brisbane Hospital, mercury spillage dangers there continue, staff have told Green Left Weekly. In July the Division of Workplace Heath and
Aborigines condemn Land Acquisition Fund By John Nebauer BRISBANE — Thirty people attended a meeting called by the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action (FAIRA) on November 2 to discuss the implication of the federal
Paid to jail By Stephen Robson PERTH — A study released by the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) has focused on the town of Wiluna, in Western Australia's mid-west. Police in the town of 250 people made 1071 arrests in the year to August. On
By Zanny Begg SYDNEY — In 1982 Alan Mills moved to Londonderry to find a peaceful plot on which to relax and grow native trees. Mills, who teaches maths at the local school, soon found that relaxing was the last thing he was going to be doing
PERTH — Thirty-six Vietnamese refugees at the Port Hedland detention centre began a hunger strike on October 25. They are protesting against changes introduced in the Migrant Legislation Amendment Bill number four, passed by the Senate on October
By Lisa Macdonald SYDNEY — The Democratic Socialist Electoral League (DSEL) has announced that it will be standing at least two candidates in the NSW state elections in March 1995. Karen Fletcher, a well-known feminist and previous
By Steve Rogers CANBERRA — Opponents of the ACT branch of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) are attempting to cut their losses following the resignation of one of their supporters from the position of branch assistant secretary. The
Transport union targets privatisation By Michael Unger ADELAIDE — The Public Transport Union has begun campaigning against the privatisation of Trans Adelaide. On November 2, all bus passengers were handed a leaflet warning that the
By Jennifer Thompson The ACTU and Australian Workers Union-Federation of Industrial Manufacturing Engineering Employees (AWU-FIMEE) on November 3 agreed with Woodside Petroleum on the introduction of non-union "enterprise flexibility agreements"
Cape York park purchase 'double-edged' By Bill Mason BRISBANE — The Wilderness Society has described the Queensland government purchase of the Silver Plains grazing property on Cape York to create a new national park as a double-edged
By Chris Spindler ADELAIDE— A new left faction of the Labor Party, the Progressive Labour Alliance, has formed in South Australia following the walkout of a section from the existing left faction. The walkout includes 14 unions and state
Indonesia denies visas to East Timorese By Christine Faithful DARWIN — A small group of Australian-resident East Timorese were refused visas to visit East Timor when they applied at the Indonesian Consulate here on November 4. The
MIM blasted in acid raid study By Bill Mason BRISBANE — MIM Holdings emits more than half as much sulphur dioxide as the whole of Japan, according to a report commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Sulphur dioxide is the
Refinery workers picket Port Stanvac By Tully Bates ADELAIDE — Forty-five maintenance workers from the Port Stanvac oil refinery picketed the plant after wage negotiations broke down. The action, which started on October 29, has halted
Survivor of Dili massacre seeks refuge By Tom Kelly DARWIN — A survivor of the 1991 Dili massacre arrived here on October 21 and is seeking political asylum. Francisco Joao Nheu flew with his wife and four children from East Timor to Bali
Glowing pains By Stephen Robson PERTH — In the bizarre world of capitalism, lobbying for more nuclear waste is portrayed as rational. The Court government is pushing to establish a national nuclear waste dump in Western Australia's

World

Solidarity in Philippines By Carla Gorton MANILA — Amnesty International Pilipinas and Initiatives for International Dialogue, a Philippines-based NGO, organised an evening of solidarity for East Timor here on October 28. The theme
With the novelty of the US troop presence ebbing and with President Aristide holed up in the National Palace, the hard reality and underlying purpose of the second US occupation of Haiti are becoming clear. The Haitian people have begun to see
DAVID WEBER toured Russia for a month in June and took the opportunity to talk to ordinary Russians about the changes that have occurred in their country. Here we present a sampling of the interviews. Anatoli Basmanov, cook Anatoli Basmanov
PNG unleashes dogs of war By Frank Enright The international representative of the Bougainville Interim Government (BIG), Moses Havini, fled from the Solomons Islands on November 1 following reports that the Papua New Guinea prime minister,
By Jon Lamb MANILA — The campaign launch for the Free all Political Prisoners Movement (FPPM) was held at the University of the Philippines Diliman Campus on October 19. The campaign hopes to win the release of some 309 political
MANILA — In September last year, 253 unions, covering between 150 and 170,000 workers, broke away from the May First Movement (KMU) federation, to establish a new trade union centre called the Workers for Change (BMP). The formation of BMP
By Max Anderson LONDON — On October 29, a day marked by constant drizzle and the occasional heavy shower, thousands of people marched from the Temple tube station on the Embankment to Trafalgar Square, where a CND (Campaign for Nuclear
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — Hundreds of thousands of workers took part in nationally coordinated demonstrations on October 27, demanding that the government pay wage arrears and combat unemployment. In addition, workplace meetings and
Tories back down on privatising post office By Max Anderson LONDON — The credibility of Britain's limping Conservative government received a further blow on November 2, when it appeared that backbench Tory MPs had forced a complete
New Friendshipment for Cuba MINNEAPOLIS — Another Pastors for Peace material aid caravan is rolling through the United States and Canada towards Cuba. The fourth US-Cuba Friendshipment got under way on October 31 from the western United
By Stephen Marks MANAGUA — Victor Hugo Tinoco is head of the International Relations Department of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). He was the Managua party secretary until the May congress, and previously served as deputy

Culture

By Mikael Karlsson New Swedish music is music with attitude. It spits in the face of authority and draws an unpolished picture of Swedish society — a picture that is anything but nice to look at. It is music with a message, directed into the
A Rebel in Defense of Tradition: The Life and Politics of Dwight Macdonald By Michael Wreszin BasicBooks, 1994. 590 pp., $45.00 (hb)Reviewed by Phil Shannon The US left has an unfortunately rich history of Trotskyist and other socialist
1995 Cuban calendar Joan Coxsedge, long-time solidarity activist and friend of Cuba (pictured welcoming Sergio Corrieri, head of Cuba's Institute for Friendship of the Peoples, during his 1992 visit to Australia), has put a series of her pen and
Natural Born Killers Directed by Oliver Stone Reviewed by Rjurik Davidson The film industry has been reviving dark, violent and macabre films: the degenerate The Bad Lieutenant, the disturbing Boxing Helena, the cataclysmic Reservoir Dogs
'Best yet' By Sean Lennon MELBOURNE — "The 1994 Festival of Jewish Cinema has surpassed any previous festival of which I was director", is how festival director Les Rabinowicz describes the program and roster of overseas guests for this
VIVIENNE PORZSOLT previews some of the features of the Festival of Jewish Film. The festival runs in Melbourne from November 10 to 27 at the Classic Cinema, 9 Gordon St, Elsternwick. In Perth it is at Cinema Paradiso, 164 James St, Northbridge,
Better Dead than Red By Michael Barson Plexus, 1992. $15 (pb) Reviewed by Arun Pradhan "A Commie. She was a jerky Red. She owned all the trimmings and she was still a Red. What the hell was she hoping for, a government order to share it
A cappella for peace SYDNEY — The inspirational talents of three renowned a cappella choirs come together in a benefit concert for the International Volunteers for Peace on Saturday, November 12 at 8pm. Cafe of the Gate of Salvation,
The Joiner's Arms By Home Rule Reviewed by Peter Hicks Like many others, my first introduction to Home Rule was this bawdy bunch of folks sifting round a pub belting out a rousing version of the Henry Lawson classic, "Sergeant Small". There

Editorial

Editorial: Money rules In these times of growing antipathy to the major political parties, some emergency measures are being taken by those with an interest in keeping power where it presently resides. After intense lobbying from Labor, the