Issue 173

News

We in that factory we were getting tired of the wrong expression we were thinking if the moon is the same and the heat of the sun is still on why are only the bosses and their servants laughing and singing their songs. We, like any man in
Chomsky in Canberra By Phil Shannon CANBERRA — Noam Chomsky addressed the National Press Club here on January 24, speaking on East Timor as a microcosm of world order. The invasion of East Timor by Indonesia in 1975, he said, has required
Plutonium waste to pass through Australian waters By Lisa Renfrey Greenpeace, the Tasmanian Greens and Greens (WA) Senator Dee Margetts are calling on the federal government to oppose a shipment of high level plutonium waste passing through
By Sean Lennon MELBOURNE — There is increasing community anger here over the Kennett government's plans to build a number of freeways around the city, collectively known as the Melbourne City Link. The Melbourne City Link bill — will
Skyrail activists arrested for pot By Zanny Begg BRISBANE — A picket was held outside the parliamentary executive buildings on January 17 to protest against the arrest of Manfred Stephens, an anti-Kuranda Skyrail activist who had
By Alex Bainbridge — Several unions have threatened to withdraw election funding to the ALP head office unless it agrees to hold a rank and file preselection ballot for the seat of Peats, on the central coast of NSW. Peats became vacant
By Sam Wainwright BRISBANE — More than 500 people marched and rallied on January 24 against Eastlink, a $1.2 billion project of the Queensland, NSW and federal governments to link the NSW and Queensland electricity grids with 1500 kilometres
BRISBANE — For two and a half months, 17 Central American workers, mostly from El Salvador, have been on strike protesting against racial discrimination on the job. Green Left Weekly's ZANNY BEGG spoke to Jorge Rodriguez, Salvador Ramos and Juan
By Mary Heath Women around Australia have spent the last nine months planning a national peace action to be held over Easter. It will take place at the Australian Defence Industries (ADI) factory in Benalla, north-eastern Victoria. The
Northlands appeal in Supreme Court By Geoff Spencer MELBOURNE — The vindictiveness of the Kennett government will be on display again on January 30, when the Supreme Court hears an appeal against the reopening of Northlands Secondary
Greens: no 'conscience' vote in NSW The Greens NSW support repeal of all abortion laws in the state and do not allow a "conscience" vote on the question, says Leeza Dobbie, a member of the Greens' ticket for the Legislative Council. An
By Lisa Renfrey The federal ALP's elaborate manoeuvres to clean up the political mess it created with the issuing of 11 woodchip export licences in December has only fuelled the anti-woodchipping campaign around the country. Prime Minister
We in that factory we were lifting heavy doors we were risking our backs, our fingers and our souls we were playing deaf against the English insults We in that factory we were lifting injustice and exploitation we were getting dirty
By James Basle CANBERRA — With less than three weeks till the February 18 ACT elections, voters could be excused for thinking, which elections? Campaigning so far has been very low key. The NSW elections and the by-election for Ros Kelly's

World

NOAM CHOMSKY's January 19 press conference in Sydney covered a range of topics. JOHN TOGNOLINI, who covered the conference for Green Left Weekly and Radio Skid Row, here provides excerpts from Chomsky's answers to a number of questions. Chomsky
By Helen Jarvis PHNOM PENH — "Time's up for the Khmer Rouge" was the title of a talk given by Tuon Chay, governor of Siem Reap, at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Cambodia on January 4. Chay, who is running the program to seek
The following "Challenge to political leaders of countries in the Indian Ocean and Asian regions" was issued by the Third Indian Ocean Regional Trade Union Conference, held in Perth at the end of November. We, the workers of the Indian Ocean and
By Carlos Tautz RIO de JANEIRO — There are tanks in the streets. The army is ready for combat. Masked soldiers, armed with modern guns, violently search even pregnant women and children of eight and nine years old. Those who don't prove they
By Stephen Marks HAVANA — 1995 has been declared the International Year of Jos‚ Mart¡ and October 8 the possible date of a World Day in Solidarity with Cuba. These were among proposals adopted by the plenary session of the World Conference in
Privatisation pays off By John Queripel MANILA — Philippine government-owned oil company Petron was recently privatised. If you've ever thought a government-owned company was underpriced when privatised, here was your example par
Political journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal is facing execution in the state of Pennsylvania in what could become the most explicitly political legal slaying since the 1953 execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage. Committees for the
By John Queripel MANILA — Few people would have thought that just eight years after the 1986 People's Power revolution, the spectre of martial law would again hang over the Philippines. Yet several indications are that this could be the case.
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — In the foothills of the Caucasus mountains near Russia's southern border, the battle is still raging for Grozny, the capital of the rebellious Chechen republic. At many other points throughout Chechnya, a popular
Eyes have turned toward developments in the Middle East in recent weeks as negotiations between the Palestinian National Authority and the Israeli government hit crisis point. Forty-seven per cent of Israelis polled by the newspaper Yediot Aharonot
By Jennifer Thompson The December 8 conviction and heavy sentencing of eight Kurdish deputies of the Turkish parliament completed a long process of systematic suppression by the Turkish military and governing coalition. Fifteen-year
Concern for press in Serbia and Croatia Members of the European parliament from six countries sent telegrams on January 9 to the presidents of Serbia and of Croatia expressing concern over measures to stifle press freedom in both those
You're in safe hands By John Queripel MANILA — In a bizarre case, police senior superintendent Teodorico Viduya has been charged with killing another officer, chief inspector Rocky Victoria, in Santa Lucia, Pasig, Metro Manila. The

Culture

St Kilda Writers Festival By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE — The beachside suburb of St Kilda is well known for its bohemian, slightly seedy atmosphere and associated in the popular mind with the artistic and eccentric. It seems a logical
I don't want to talk about it (No Eso No Se Habla) Directed by Maria Luisa Bemburg Written by Maria Luisa Bemburg and Jorge Goldenburg Starring Marcello Mastroianni and Luisina Brando Opens at the Dendy, George St, Sydney and Kino Cinema in
Suffrage and Beyond: International Feminist Perspectives Edited by Caroline Daley and Melanie Nolan Pluto Press, 1994. 368 pp. Reviewed by Bernie Brian All of the articles in this collection were first presented at the "Suffrage and
Interview with the Vampire With Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt Reviewed by Max Lane Vampire brilliantly transports the audience into the degenerate, darkly colourful underside of 18th century New Orleans and Paris. The three main characters, the
Sinead and the Famine Universal Mother Sinead O'Connor Ensign Reviewed by Tyrion Perkins Sinead O'Connor's latest album begins with Germaine Greer speaking about women making politics irrelevant by a spontaneous cooperative action.
Disclosure Directed by Barry Levinson Written by Paul Attanasio (based on the novel by Michael Crichton) Starring Demi Moore and Michael Douglas Reviewed by Karen Fletcher Backlash films certainly get the blood boiling, but they are also
A blend of echoes Echoes Under the Bridge: new world music from BEMAC Reviewed by Robyn Marshall This is a new CD from BEMAC, Brisbane's ethnic music centre, the result of a residency and workshops led by Lindsey Pollak over a four-month
The Killing of History: How a Discipline is Being Murdered by Literary Critics and Social Theorists By Keith Windschuttle Macleay, 1994. 266 pp., $39.95 (hb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Foucault, Barthes, Lyotard, Baudrillard, Derrida, Lacan
The Politics of Dispossession: The Struggle for Palestinian Self-Determination 1969-1994 By Edward W. Said Chatto & Windus, 1994. 420 pp., $39.95 (hb) Reviewed by Sean Moysey Coincidentally while pondering the sharp and intriguing
Bunji: A story of the Gwalwa Daraniki movement By Bill Day Aboriginal Studies Press, 1994. 156 pp. Reviewed by Deb Sorensen There is a consistently unfunny comic strip which appears in the Northern Territory News titled Bunji. On first
Monuments By Karl-Erik Paasonen Where are the statues for civilians killed? I want monuments for the victims Where are the statues for the dead of Hanoi? I want monuments for the victims And where are the statues for Australians
Midsumma festival MELBOURNE — The seventh annual Midsumma gay and lesbian festival kicked off on January 21 with a giant street party in Fitzroy's fashionable Brunswick St. The party was a first for the festival, which has progressed from

Editorial

How to win the woodchip battle There's no doubt that the extent of the outrage over the government's woodchip licence decision will force the ALP to come up with a range of "compromises" aimed at the green movement in the lead-up to the next