Issue 228

By Dick Nichols Industrial relations minister Peter Reith is refusing to talk numbers, but the Coalition government is clearly planning massive redundancies in the public service. The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) believes that at least

By Geoff Spencer GEELONG — Wool scourers at E.P. Robinson are entering their eighth week on strike with no resolution to the dispute in sight. An unfair dismissal case in the Industrial Relations Commission on April 18 was inconclusive and

By Lisa Macdonald On April 17, ACT Green MLA Kerrie Tucker moved in the ACT Legislative Assembly to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 in the ACT. The Greens' move, the first attempt in Australia to introduce such legislation, is supported by

By Chris Slee MELBOURNE — The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has announced plans to close all but two of its regional offices. Regional offices are smaller offices located mainly in rural areas. Staff in these offices have been given the choice of

By James Vassilopoulos and Nick Fredman SYDNEY — In a historic united action, NSW teachers from state schools, TAFE colleges, independent schools and Catholic schools are set to strike on April 23. The central demand of the strike is for a 12%

By Norm Dixon A representative of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in Australia, Otto Ondawame, has called for the withdrawal of all Indonesian troops from West Papua (called Irian Jaya by Indonesia). He also criticised the Australian government for

By Dave Wright SYDNEY — Ten thousand people demonstrated on April 20 against the renewed bombing and continued occupation of southern Lebanon by the Israeli government. The rally was organised by the Lebanese Australian Solidarity Committee with

By Mark Cronin BRISBANE — About 50 people attended a picket against racism outside the office of the federal minister for Aboriginal Affairs on April 16. The picket was called by members of the Community and Public Sector Union and endorsed by 20

By Reihana Mohideen MANILA — A March 27 meeting here of 301 factory-based union presidents, representing 76,634 union members, launched a campaign to increase the take-home pay of workers by demanding the scrapping of income tax on workers. The

By Sujatha Fernandes NEW DELHI — "Gulamiya ab ham nahi bajai bo, aazadiya hamra ki bhave le" — We won't be slaves any more. We've come to like freedom. Drumming vigorously on the back of the truck and singing this Bhojpuri peasant song, 15

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — Back in 1990 and 1991, the suggestion would have seemed absurd. Five years into the future, politicians wanting to rise to high office would no longer be proclaiming themselves "democrats" and pronouncing anathemas on

Olfat Mahmoud, Director of the Women's Humanitarian Organisation in the Burj el Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in the southern outskirts of Beirut has reported repeated attacks on the heavily populated southern suburbs of Beirut, adjacent to the

Higglety Biggledy CabaretBy ThrottleDispensary Cafe, 84 Enmore Rd, EnmoreWednesday nights at 8pm until May 8Reviewed by Brendan Doyle After performing at the '95 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the recent Adelaide Fringe, Throttle returns to Sydney for

ALICE WALKER, the African-American writer, sent a letter regarding Cuba to US President Bill Clinton on March 13. It is reprinted here abridged. Dear President Clinton: Thank you very much for the invitation to the White House while I was in

By Stephen Marks The mural along the back wall of the national office of the Dominican Communist Party is painted by prominent artist Silvano Lora. It depicts the people's history of the Dominican Republic. It starts with a portrait of the former

By Stephen Marks Communists in the Dominican Republic have won respect for being incorruptible in a society where politics and principles are bought and sold. This respect is shown in the most surprising ways. We were on our way to the closing