The federal budget on May 9 contained very little for the 8.3% of the labour force officially classified as "unemployed". In effect, they were told to sit and wait for the economy to pick up. The problem is that the economy
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"Foetal Welfare and the Law", a report released late last month, stems from an inquiry commissioned in 1993 by the Australian Medical Association. It followed several incidents in which women who were about to give birth had
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World Environment Day in HobartHOBART — The World Environment Day (WED) Committee here is planning events in early June to mark this day of action for the environment. They include a march, rally and band night on June 3,
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Land rights first The ACTU has launched a campaign to take the republican issue out of the hands of the academics and the lawyers. So the unions want a say in the republican issue. That's a very good idea. They should have a say and so should
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In discussions and debates, the politics of privatisation are generally seen to be those of economic rationalism and the introduction of conservative financial values. We have been sucked into arguing against privatisation on
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In 1988, having been unemployed for more than a year, I decided that, rather than remain on unemployment benefit forever, I should enrol in a university course. Although this would not necessarily be a magic solution, it would at
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Budget limits education accessThe projections for higher education in the 1995 budget signal the ALP government's commitment to privatisation, and hence reduced access to education. Access to Austudy will be
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The swagman comethMaybe you are fed up with the city and its teeming peoples. Their ways and means, as getting and lending and spending, lay waste your inner world and are too much for you. The car is noisy and toxic, while
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Around 100 people attended a May 1 forum on the trafficking of Burmese women and girls in Thailand held at the Overseas Services Bureau in Fitzroy, Melbourne. The forum was the first leg of the "Traffic of Pain" speaking tour and
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On May 29, the Senate will debate the federal government's Racial Hatred Bill 1994 (RHB). According to the attorney general, Michael Lavarch, in his second reading speech to the House of Representatives, the bill "fills a gap
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Prime Minister Paul Keating, Treasurer Ralph Willis and finance minister Kim Beazley indicated their contempt for the rest of the government by not even telling it beforehand about the plan to sell the government's remaining
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Returning to Australia after spending some time in the Indian subcontinent earlier this year, it struck me how much the media attempt to isolate us here from the rest of the world. Closeted away in the suburbs with our
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Actively Radical TV — Community television's progressive current affairs program tackles the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Friday, 10.30pm. The Quiz Show Scandal — For the first time in 30 years,
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Changes to workers' superannuation announced in the federal budget last week amount to a new tax levied on lower income workers and foreshadow the eventual abolition of the age pension. Under the scheme, workers will pay 1%, 2%
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The relationship the Labor Party has to the social movements has always been a contentious one. Here, PIP HINMAN from the Democratic Socialist Party argues that the ALP, despite its rhetoric, is no friend of either the labour or other social
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And the winner is ... It's becoming almost farcical. Members of our judiciary espouse extreme sexist comments so regularly that you would swear these people lived with their eyes and ears closed to the real world. The latest is a comment by
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MELBOURNE — A public meeting held on May 2 resolved to support, in principle, the setting up of a People's Action Centre in shopfront premises in Footscray. The centre will function as a drop-in centre and coffee shop, as well as providing a range
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Appeal against nuclear weapons In December, the United Nations voted to ask the World Court to give an advisory opinion on whether nuclear weapons are legal or illegal. This adjudication should happen in September, and the World Court
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In its 1990-91 annual report, the NSW Department of Corrective Services reported its keenness to identify areas "suitable for contracting out". In April 1993, the Junee Correctional Centre, the first private prison in NSW, was opened. It is run by
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Looking out: Prisoners pay attention"He does not wish to have it known that he is a liar, therefore he conceals himself so that he can better accomplish his design and save his own character." — Lemuel B. Haynes
News
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"Suharto is a Butcher; free East Timor Now", "Free Xanana Gusmao, Indonesia Out Now" and "No Blood For Oil" were some of the chants that echoed through city streets across Australia on Saturday, May 13. Around 1500 people
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Students protest with a tent universityADELAIDE — Students have established a "tent university" outside the ALP state office following the No Fees National Day of Action rally on May 3. The tent university —
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Amnesty report on gay imprisonmentAt least 15 countries around the world are still imprisoning people for being gay, according to the human rights group Amnesty International. Australia, Russia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Iran
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Success formula "The difficulty with [French president-elect Jacques] Chirac is that, despite his 30 years in politics, nobody knows what he stands for. He has that in common with [current president Francois] Mitterrand ..." — Jonathan Fenby in
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BRISBANE — Some 200 building workers, members of other unions and supporters of the locked-out Mt Isa mineworkers picketed the headquarters of Mount Isa Mines Ltd in Ann Street here on May 12. Members of the Construction,
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AIDS tree project SYDNEY — The Sydney Park AIDS Tree Planting Project will hold its next planting day on Sunday, June 25, between 10.30am and 4pm. Project organisers are inviting people to plant a tree for a loved one who has died from an
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Large May Day march in WAPERTH — The May Day march and rally, held in Fremantle on May 7, was the biggest in recent years. Almost 5000 people participated. The theme of the day was "Back to Basics" unionism,
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WOLLONGONG — Miscellaneous Workers Union (MWU) members led a strike at the university on May 8-10 over the hiring of non-union labour. The picket lines, which formed after a rally of 250 people, were maintained for 24 hours and
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Kennett slashes public housingMELBOURNE — Fifty people rallied in Port Melbourne on May 1 to defend the Public Tenants Union (PTU), which is being closed down by the Kennett government. The closure is
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Solidarity messages The following letters were sent to the MIM workers last week. To Stephen Hardwick, MIM workers picket line The Shearers and Rural Workers Union (SRWU) wishes to express full support and solidarity with workers
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Students march on parliamentCANBERRA — Four hundred students from the Australian National University and the University of Canberra marched on Parliament House on May 11 in a vocal and energetic
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Ghost of the 1964 disputeAs the MIM conflict develops, many have recalled comparisons with the great 1964-65 strike, which lasted more than six months. The Mt Isa strike of 30 years ago split the town, and almost
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MIM attacks union, locks out minersBRISBANE — The deepening confrontation between Mt Isa mineworkers and mining giant MIM Holdings Ltd moved toward a crisis as the company locked out its entire work force on the morning
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Cuban youth leader to tourAlejandro Herrera Agete from the Union of Young Communists (UJC) in Cuba will be in Sydney from May 23 to June 2. His visit, which will include a series of student and public meetings on the
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May Day in WollongongWOLLONGONG — Approximately 200 people braved wet weather to celebrate May Day on May 6. Labour unions, political parties, a contingent of picketers from the recently disbanded Coledale hospital
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Tarkine campaign escalatesHOBART — More than 150 people marched through the city streets to Parliament House on May 9 to protest against the road construction through the Tarkine wilderness and the arrests of protesters
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International solidarity in AdelaideADELAIDE — International solidarity activists here celebrated May Day at a dinner hosted by the Democratic Socialist Party on May 5. Sixty people gathered at the Resistance Centre to
Analysis
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Nuclear testing The lives of the people of Moruroa and Fangataufa in the South Pacific are in more danger following the election of the new French president. Jacques Chirac has signalled his intention to break the 1992 moratorium and resume
World
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Rumours are circulating in Beijing that Deng Xiaoping's second son, Deng Zhifang, has been questioned about alleged economic crimes. The reports follow the shock arrests recently of high officials and business associates close to
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French and US oil companies face allegations that slave labour is being used on a massive scale to build a gas pipeline from Burma to Thailand. The project is a joint venture between French company Total, US company Unocal and
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KWAMKI-LAMA, West Papua — Here, in the island of New Guinea, live the Amungme people. Kwamki-lama is a refugee camp not far from the highest mountains between the Himalayas and the Andes. Tembagapura, the biggest and highest
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The 14th general conference of the Organisation to Ban Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Vina del Mar, Chile, for the first time with the participation of the 33 nations of the subcontinent, pledged to help strengthen the
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Officials from the ministries of agriculture, foreign affairs and the environment of approximately 150 countries will gather for a major conference on plant genetic resources in Leipzig, Germany, in June 1996. The intergovernmental conference,
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Turkey's most famous author, Yashar Kemal, went to trial in a State Security Court on May 5, charged with "disseminating separatism" under Article 8 of Turkey's Anti-Terror Law. The basis for this charge was the views Kemal
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WAKEFIELD — On April 12 a historic meeting was organised as rival fans from all three local rugby league teams in the Wakefield district joined forces in what we hope will only have to be a temporary alliance. Supporters
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Results from the first stage of counting indicate that four out of the seven congressional candidates supported by SANLAKAS, a federation of progressive mass organisations, and the Student Advocates for Voter Empowerment
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Human rights violators and influential members of the armies of various Latin American countries have earned sizeable sums of money for passing information to the CIA. This is shaping up as a major scandal. It all began with the claim that
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Any history of the ideologues of "Belovezhskaya* Russia" would have to be like an account of the 40 years Moses is supposed to have spent wandering in the desert. From the whole of the Old Testament, it seems, these people
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Kurdish parliament meets in Europe The following is from a statement released by the Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile. On April 12, 1995, in the Netherlands, the Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile held its inaugural meeting. The act proved to
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MOSCOW — News of a vast gas leak and explosion on April 27 in the Komi Republic, 1500 kilometres north-east of the Russian capital, has again focused attention on the catastrophic state of Russia's oil and gas pipeline
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Greenpeace stops Israeli boat from dumping toxics Greenpeace activists on board the ship MV Greenpeace on the morning of May 7 prevented the Israeli vessel Aribel from dumping toxic sludge into the Mediterranean, two kilometres off the Israeli
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More than 35,000 women from all over the world are expected to converge on Beijing in September for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. The UN has claimed the conference will "set [the] women's agenda into next
Culture
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The Rhythm of Time There's an inner thing in every man, Do you know this thing my friend? It has withstood the blows of a million years, And will do so to the end. It was born when time did not exist, And it grew up out of life,
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WOLLONGONG — Mary-Anne Breeze (Mez), Walter Brecely and Tania Daniels are three young artists who met last year in Goulburn while completing an associate diploma; they all now study art at Wollongong University. In April
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Not gripping, listening Higher Learning (soundtrack) Various artists Epic Records Reviewed by Sean Moysey For me the soundtrack to the movie Higher Learning parallels a triple-J play list. It puts rap from performers like Ice Cube and
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Prostitutes Speak Out Produced and directed by Phyllis Jane Rose Reviewed by Penny Saunders Attending the May Day presentation of "Prostitutes Speak Out" at the Lion Arts Centre in Adelaide allowed me to catch up with long-time acquaintance
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Sebe Valanga Khoza and Safika Larrikin Entertainment Reviewed by Norm Dixon Sebe is South African exile, now resident in Australia, Valanga Khoza's debut album. It showcases Khoza's lyrical traditional and contemporary African folk music.
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Bye Bye Love Directed by Sam Weisman Starring Matthew Modine, Randy Quaid and Paul Reiser Reviewed by Barry Healy Bye Bye Love could be the Four Weddings and a Funeral of 1995 — a well-played comedy piece that mixes poignancy about
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Aboriginal Autonomy: Issues and Strategies By H.C. Coombs Cambridge University Press, 1994. 251 pp., $25 (pb) Reviewed by Chris Martin Perhaps the most influential and eloquent white advocate of Aboriginal self-determination, H.C. "Nugget"
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Speaking clearly Speak Quiet, Speak Strong The Cutting Edge: SBS TV Tuesday, May 23, 8.30pm (8 SA) Reviewed by Lou Stanley and Kath Gelber Speak Quiet, Speak Strong is a lot louder than its title. The program documents Aboriginal and