Issue 212

News

Ben Reid reports that 2000 East Timorese and their supporters gathered in Melbourne on November 12 as part of a nationwide series of actions to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Dili massacre. Shirley Shackleton, widow of journalist Greg
By Graham Matthews At a meeting of the United Nations Environment Program in Washington DC on November 3, the Australian government endorsed a Global Plan of Action to address the problem of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the marine
By Michael Bramwell and Anthony Benbow PERTH — "Strike off as Court Buckles" was the headline on the West Australian on November 8. The Court Liberal government of WA was reported to have "gutted" its "second wave" of anti-union legislation in
By Norm Dixon In the wake of the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists, Amnesty International fears for the fate of at least 17 other Ogonis still in detention. They too could be unfairly tried, sentenced and executed without
BRISBANE — Two weeks ago women's rape and incest crisis centres had their funding cut by half. Desi Archilloes, finance coordinator for the Brisbane Rape and Incest Centre (BRIC) told Green Left Weekly that centres from Cairns to the Gold Coast
By Chris Spindler SYDNEY — NSW TAFE teachers went on strike on February 21 and held a 2000-strong march and rally to condemn proposed cuts to technical education by the Carr Labor government. The rally heard how the proposed changes to TAFE would
By Jeremy Smith MELBOURNE — On November 14 the cronyism of the Kennett government was laid bare for all to see. The appointment of Transurban, the consortium tendered to build Melbourne's City Link, as the major sponsor of the 1996 Grand Prix at
By Arun Pradhan PERTH — The national waterfront strike in support of the ACTU's industrial action against CRA has led to another confrontation between unions and the Liberal state government. The Maritime Union of Australia's (MUA) strike action on
By Arun Pradhan PERTH — "We want to raise the issue of East Timorese self-determination and justice for our people", Francisco Soares, Fretilin representative for Western Australia told Green Left Weekly. Fretilin was originally formed in May 1974
Women's Party launches industrial policy BRISBANE — A shorter working week, paid maternity leave and wage increases indexed to the cost of living are key features of the Australian Women's Party industrial relations policy, launched here on
By Bill Mason BRISBANE — As the Comalco-CRA dispute with unionists at the company's Weipa bauxite mine threatened to spread to a national, general strike, Industrial Relations Commission president Deirdre O'Connor called an urgent IRC hearing on
By Rachel Evans MELBOURNE — The Kennett government's shameless handouts to big business have reached new heights with the massive City Link road project. The social and environmental costs of this new tollway will be catastrophic for Victoria. The
By Shane Hopkinson NEWCASTLE — On October 9, CRA announced a merger with its parent company RTZ to form the largest mining company in the world. The $26.7 billion dollar merger plan was announced by CRA chairman, John Uhrig, who is also a director
By Jim McIlroy BRISBANE — "The New Zealand Alliance experiment has some exciting lessons for Australia", Matt McCarten, secretary/organiser of the NZ Alliance, told a public meeting to launch a new book on the prospects for an Australian alliance
By Roberto Jorquera SYDNEY — The decision by the NSW government to sell off the Sydney Showgrounds to Rupert Murdoch's Fox Studios has sparked a community outrage. About 250 people gathered outside state Parliament House on November 14 to protest
By Philippa Stanford ADELAIDE — South Australia's mental health services were under-funded, disorganised and excluded some patients, according to a report prepared for Disability Action and the Health and Social Welfare Council. The report, "Beyond
"Half a million refugees — give them aid", "Freedom for our people", "Tamil self-determination!" were among the placards of the Tamil community who protested at Murray Street Mall in Perth on November 11. A rally spokesperson told Green Left Weekly
SYDNEY — Fifty environmentalists protested outside the annual general meeting of Boral at the Wentworth Hotel. They demanded that Boral, one of the largest woodchipping companies in Australia, cease its operations. Photo by Ken Bansgrove.

World

Crisis in French universities By Sam Stratham MONTPELLIER, France — On November 9 students in the town of Montpellier joined more than 16,000 students across France in a national day of action to protest the Chirac government's cuts to education
By Shan Ali The success of Grameen Bank in poverty alleviation and slowing the rate of population growth in Bangladesh has led many to believe in the promise offered by the Bank — that poverty can be eliminated from the earth at little or no real
By Michel Chossudovsky The World Bank, it seems, has become the defender of women's rights urging national governments to "invest more in women in order to reduce gender inequality and boost economic development". Two WB reports were presented at the
By Max Lane On November 12, public protest commemorations of the 1991 massacre in Dili were organised for the first time in Jakarta despite threats from General Hartono, the army chief of staff. About 90 people attended a commemoration organised by
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — For anyone puzzled by the inability of the once all-powerful Russian security services to prevent crime, part of the mystery is now explained. To a significant degree, the resources of the Federal Security Service (FSB
By Norm Dixon A lucrative UN contract to clear landmines in Angola has been given to Mechem — a subsidiary of the South African state-owned weapons manufacturer Denel. Angolan authorities, unhappy with the decision, have delayed unloading
Shell's policy of blood for oil By Norm Dixon Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by Nigeria's brutal military regime on November 10 because he threatened the interests of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell, and a handful of European and US oil companies.
By Eva Cheng Some 800,000 federal workers were forced to stand down from November 15 after US President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, vetoed two related funding bills passed by the Republican-dominated Congress. The bills were structured to deprive
MATT MCCARTEN, secretary of the New Zealand Alliance, recently visited Australia to help launch the New Left Book Club's The Alliance Alternative in Australia. He spoke to Green Left Weekly's DICK NICHOLS about developments in New Zealand, in

Culture

Coming AttractionsBy Ted TallyNew Theatre, SydneyFri & Sat at 8pm and Sun at 5.30pm until December 23. $20/$15. Bookings 519 3403Reviewed by Lisa Macdonald Coming Attractions, the latest production of Sydney's New Theatre, is good entertainment. The
Yevgeny Yevtushenko — Yevtushenko was born in 1933 in Siberia, the son of a geologist. His first book of poems appeared in 1952 and he has published a huge amount since. Yevtushenko has had a high political profile as a democratic socialist
By Audrey Johnson SYDNEY — A week-long exhibition of Communist Party history was held mid-November at the Tom Nelson Hall to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the party in Australia. From a collection of CP memorabilia, the exhibition
No Entry: Protest in the ParkA Photo EssayBy Nina LandisIntroduction by John PilgerForeword by Iain StewartPublished by Save Albert Park 1995Pre-order price $40Reviewed by Jeremy Smith No Entry is a public record of the struggle to keep Albert Park a
How to Research Chemicals: A Resource GuideBy Maria B. PelleranoEnvironmental Research FoundationJune 1995US$10 + $7 postageReviewed by Dot Tumney This is produced by the same people as Rachel's Environmental and Health Weekly which is a regularly
Competing Gospels: Public Theology and Economic TheoryBy Robert G. SimonsE. J. Dwyer, 1995. 211pp, 24.95 (pb)Reviewed by Sean Moysey If humans could change society through the expression of "good ideas" then we would already live in utopia. In
KRS ONEBy KRS OneJive through BMGReviewed by Sujatha Fernandes In 1988, KRS One had a powerful impact on the direction of hip hop with the release of the second album from his group, Boogie Down Productions, entitled By Any Means Necessary. In 1988,
The Hammer and Sickle and the Washing up: Memories of an Australian Woman CommunistBy Amirah InglisHyland House, 1995, 195 pp, $24.95 (hb)Reviewed by Phil Shannon The Communist Party of Australia is no more. It has however, left behind a rich
Programs of interest on Sydney Community TV (UHF 31) — Perleeka, indigenous Australians' program, nightly, 7pm. Art Experimenta, Mondays, 8pm and 11.30pm, and Tuesdays, 3am and 6.30am. Bent TV, Gay and lesbian program, Thursdays, 10.30pm and
Through Our EyesCasula Powerhouse, November 13-26Sponsored by Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre Multicultural Arts ProjectReviewed by Sujatha Fernandes Through Our Eyes, exhibiting in Sydney's south-west, was organised by professional female
By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE — In 1907, miners in the nitrate mines of northern Chile went on strike against their deplorable conditions. Eighteen thousand workers and their families marched to the port of Santa Maria de Iquique to seek support. On
Craig Cormick Based on highly reliable international contacts, leaked documents and horoscopes from several TV magazines, Nostradamus' Media Watch presents a highly accurate forecast of political events across the globe. Nigeria forms new heads of

Editorial

The findings of the Marks Royal Commission that federal health minister Carmen Lawrence lied to the WA parliament and the public about her role in the 1992 tabling of the Easton petition should come as no surprise. Lying is endemic to maintaining the