Issue 169

News

Richmond campaign vindicated By Geoff Spencer MELBOURNE — Two years after Richmond Secondary College was closed in the first round of school cuts, the Kennett government has endorsed a report that recommends the expansion of coeducation
Music for East Timor By Sally-Anne Watson DARWIN — A concert by local musicians was held with a permit in Raintree Park on November 24. Onlookers displayed placards and banners reading "Human Rights for East Timor" and "Referendum for
Indian Ocean union conference By Stephen Robson PERTH — The third Indian Ocean Region Trade Union conference concluded here on November 25. Represented at the six-day conference were 60 overseas trade unionists from South Africa, India,
NSW teachers strike in support of pay claim By Paul Oboohov SYDNEY — NSW school and TAFE teachers struck for 24 hours on November 23 in support of their 10% pay claim. This shut a fifth of NSW schools, with TAFE and the Education
By Robyn Marshall BRISBANE — A meeting of 29 members of the Steel-Line garage factory on November 22 decided to reject the recommendations of their union lawyer in a reconciliation process and stay on strike. The Latin American, mostly
Goss under fire over Hinchinbrook fiasco By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Conservationists have criticised the use of taxpayers' money to fund full-page advertisements attempting to justify the Queensland government's actions over the

A boy is dead. A court finds an army general responsible. He is ordered to pay compensatory and punitive damages. The boy, Kamal Bamadhaj, a 20-year-old student, is my son.

Health cuts kill patients By Karl Miller MELBOURNE — The Liberal government here has cut $190 million from hospitals in two years. To meet new budgets, Melbourne hospitals have recently announced closures totalling more than 200 beds and
Protest over wilderness road By Kevin L'Huillier HOBART — A storm has erupted over a proposal to construct what has become known as "the road to nowhere" through pristine wilderness areas. The state Liberals promised at the last
By Jill Hickson "Exciting and unique", is how Kathy Fairfax describes the 1995 Work/Study Brigade to Nicaragua. Fairfax is helping organise the brigade, which will spend a month in Latin America in June-July 1995. The trip is being
Despite the threat of punitive action against striking oil transport workers and union officials, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) is pressing ahead with its campaign for a 15% pay increase across the transport industry. Oil industry drivers decided
By Tony Hastings "We were all like brothers and sisters, we're all in it together. We thought we might all get arrested — and we did!", laughs Russel, a Skyrail blockader. The blockade hopes to stop Skyrail, a privately owned cable-car
WA TAFE teachers' dispute By Stephen Robson PERTH — In early November, temporary teachers with TAFE were given a matter of days to sign new workplace agreements that dramatically cut working conditions. The Education Department threatened
Nuclear waste dumped in SA By Emma Webb ADELAIDE — The first of 120 semi-trailer loads of radioactive waste from the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney have been transferred to South Australia's far north. By the time the operation

World

By Max Anderson LONDON — The Unions 94/Campaigning for the Future conference was held at Congress House on November 19, "to discuss how to restore the influence of trade unions in the political and economic climate of the 1990s". In his
This statement is by Colectivo Mujeres, Vida y Derechos Humanos (Collective of Women for Life and Human Rights), based in Melbourne. We are a collective of women that began working at the end of 1992 in Melbourne with the objective of denouncing
By Max Lane Indonesian dissident academic George Aditjondro addressed a meeting of more than 60 East Timorese at Cabramatta Community Centre on November 22. The meeting was chaired by the president of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), Joa
Journalist fights for job By Sean Lennon MELBOURNE — The campaign by US journalist Sandy Nelson to get her job back has received international support. In 1990 Nelson was moved to a non-reporting, copy editing job on the Morning News
Solidarity donations for Cuba The Pastors for Peace Friendshipment caravan crossed the US border into Canada on November 17 with 150 tons of solidarity donations for Cuba. Nevertheless, US customs officials confiscated some of the aid. Radio
By Max Anderson LONDON — The Defend Clause Four Campaign, organised by the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and MEPs, was launched on Saturday, November 12, at a church hall near Euston station. This campaign was begun in response
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — A new and alarming strain has appeared in the rhetoric, and to some degree in the actions, of the Yeltsin regime. The goals set out in the draft for the 1995 state budget, together with extensive changes in the
Melanesian women speak on family planning The Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA) is touring two women, Geraldine Maibani-Michie from Papua New Guinea and Junilyn Pikacha from the Solomon Islands, to provide a first-hand account of
A new report released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) states that more than 14 million people in the USA routinely drink water that is contaminated with carcinogenic herbicides. The report,
By Max Lane A new, independent trade union, the Centre for Indonesian Working Class Struggle (PPBI) was launched at a congress in Ambarawa, Central Java, October 22-23. More than 100 delegates represented workers from factory committees based in
On July 10 the Nepali parliament was dissolved by King Birendra following popular unrest directed at the Nepali Congress Party government. In the subsequent general elections on November 15, the Communist Party of Nepal, United Marxist Leninist

Culture

Mary Starring Lucy Bell, Linden Wilkinson and Brendan Higgins Writer/director Kay Pavlou Reviewed by Catherine Brown The beatification of Mary MacKillop, to take place in Sydney in January by Pope John Paul II, has probably not escaped the
If you can't wait for a shock Electro Convulsive Therapy Rollins Band Imago through BMG Reviewed by Nick Fredman Henry Rollins, the Nietzschean superman of rock and roll, and his band have released a live album recorded in 1992. It's
The sins are the advertisers' Real Gorgeous: the truth about body and beauty By Kaz Cooke Allen and Unwin, 1994. 260 pp., $19.95 Reviewed by Kylie Budge "According to diet lore, 'indulging' or 'giving in to temptation' is a 'sin'.
Marxism and the Philosophy of Language By V.N. Volosinov Harvard University Press ??? Reviewed by Neville Spencer Although originally published in Russian in 1929, this work was not published in English until 1973. Since then it has come
First CD from Chain of Hearts Come On In Chain of Hearts Reviewed by Kylie Budge Chain Of Hearts' debut CD catches you by surprise. The photograph on the cover of band members thrashing around in a pool complete with a big orange
Illusions By Afrodity Giannakis Neon lights selling lies of excitement and ultimate satisfaction. Consumption of synthetic food flamboyant dresses and the system's rotten relationships artfully wrapped in flashy screens
Crossing the Party Line: Memoirs of Bernie Taft By Bernie Taft Scribe Publications, 1994. 352 pp., $26.95 (pb)Reviewed by Phil Shannon I remember one of the more humorous contributions to the "Prospects Discussion" in the Communist Party of
Women are not anti-union By Melanie Sjoberg ADELAIDE — Two important new documents, Raising Our Voices: Activism Amongst Women and Men in South Australian Unions, by Barbara Pocock, and its companion Strength in Numbers: Increasing
Menzies' Child: the Liberal Party of Australia 1944-1994 By Gerard Henderson Allen and Unwin, 1994. 382pp. (CD included), $29.95 (pb) Reviewed by Frank Noakes "Standing in front of a Union Jack, Menzies proclaimed that the Liberal Party
New CDs Didgeridoo Concerto Enrec Studios through Larrikin Duende Ellipsis Arts Reviewed by Francesca Davidson Didgeridoo Concerto is an impressive 51 minutes of solo didgeridoo playing by musician Mark Atkins — reputedly

Editorial

Medicare under attack A newly formed lobby group, the General Practice Forum, has called for the end of bulk-billing, free consultations and the free at-point-of-service provision of such items as vaccines and bandages. This is the opening shot