By Melanie Sjoberg
ADELAIDE — More than 60 union officials and rank and file gathered for a seminar on April 16 to discuss strategies for fighting the Brown Liberal government's economic rationalist agenda and the need for renewing the labour
Issue 229
News
Marking the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, activists around Australia held pickets and rallies on April 26 and 27 to protest against the nuclear industry and the Australian government's role in it. Actions were organised by
By Sue Bolton
MELBOURNE — One thousand members of the Lebanese community and their supporters took to the streets on April 25 to call for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and for an end to the bombing of Lebanon. Speakers at the
A national anarchist student conference is being organised by the Anarchist Collective at LaTrobe University. on the queen's birthday weekend, June 8-10. The conference aims are to promote anarchist ideas and to provide a forum for anarchist students
On April 24, the Australian Lebanese Solidarity Committee organised buses and cars to transport members of the Lebanese community in Sydney and Melbourne to a demonstration outside Parliament House. Some 250 people braved the four-hour trip to have
By John Sacchero
MELBOURNE — Students at Rusden campus of Deakin University on April 24 occupied the pro vice-chancellor's office and the surrounding administration offices. The 250-strong student protest was undertaken in response to
By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — "The future of the ALP and the unions" was the opening topic for the inaugural Politics at the Club forum, held at the Paddington Workers' Club on April 24. Guest speakers were Senator Kim Carr, ALP Victoria, a convener
On April 23, Indonesian scholar Dr George Aditjondro announced that he would be a sponsor of the August 25 national day of solidarity to demand withdrawal of Australia's formal recognition of Indonesia's annexation of East Timor. The day of action is
By Pip Hinman
Two of the biggest companies in the woodchipping industry, Boral and Harris-Daishowa (Australia), are pushing for the federal Coalition government to lift 1996 woodchip export quotas. The export volumes for 1996, set by the former
SYDNEY — The funeral of Milo Dunphy was held here on April 26. Milo Dunphy was one of Australia's best known conservationists — a fiery and eloquent advocate for many causes, especially for forests and wilderness. I first met Milo in the
By Pip Hinman
SYDNEY — Friends of the Earth has warned the federal government against disbanding the Commonwealth Environment Protection Agency, arguing that it would make environmental impact assessments of uranium and other projects under
By Geoff Evans
DENMARK, WA — The state government may soon do a deal with the mining company Cable Sands (a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan's largest chemical company, Nisshio Iwai) over D'Entrecasteaux National Park. Three hundred and eight-six
By Chris Spindler
SYDNEY — In a historic day for teacher unions, some 15,000 TAFE teachers, Teachers Federation and Independent Education Union members held a spirited rally outside Parliament House on April 23, the day of their 24-hour strike.
By Geoff Spencer
GEELONG — On April 23, one of the locked-out workers at E.P. Robinson Pty Ltd was run down by a car driven by a scab crossing the picket line. Steve Baker suffered severe bruising in one leg as a result of this hit and run. The
World
Story and photos by Ian MacNeill
I have been taking holidays in the Solomons for 20 years. I am very fond of the place — the warm, interested people, the sea, the almost laughable perfection of the south sea idyll it presents. One looks around,
Two students have been reported killed during demonstrations against public transport fare increases in the city of Makassar on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Students from the Muslim University of Indonesia in Makassar began a demonstration on
By David Kupfer
Promoters of peace continue to have an active presence at the gates outside the entrance to the Nevada Test Site 100 kilometres outside Las Vegas. While the 1993 Comprehensive Test Ban (CTB) agreement was signed by the US president,
By Norm Dixon
The ANC-dominated government of national unity in recent weeks has experienced a rash of resignations, appointments and sackings. South African left sources in touch with Green Left Weekly have interpreted the moves as a strengthening
Workers in the phosphate mines in Western Sahara, occupied by Moroccan armed forces, went on strike on April 1 to protest against their bad working conditions. They are also demanding that Morocco stop plundering the wealth of their country. Their
By Reihana Mohideen
MANILA — March 19 was the first anniversary of the death of Flor Contemplacion, the Filipina migrant worker who was hanged on fraudulent murder charges by the Singapore government. Just a few days before the anniversary, the
By Fernando Gonçalves
Residents of the small southern Mozambican town of Namaacha, on the border with Swaziland, are now accustomed to the daily explosions that scare off visitors. A team of 50 land mines clearance personnel are busy searching
By Renfrey Clarke
MOSCOW — To believe its founding charter, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is committed to pursuing "environmentally sound and sustainable development" as it helps fund the transition to market economies in
By Matthew Gilmore
Sources in West Papua report a massive build-up of Indonesian firepower and personnel in the past weeks. A report from Biak indicates that the Indonesian military has tortured and killed a youth, Rumpaidus (20), from the village
More than 156 million kilograms of hazardous pesticides were exported from US ports between 1992 and 1994, according to a recently issued report by the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education (FASE). The report, based on analysis of US
Two-party system under strain
The two-party system is showing signs of strain. Polls indicate a growing distrust of both Democratic and Republican politicians. Fuelling this unease is the fact that in the past two decades, real wages have fallen
Brazilian ranchers, loggers, and local and state governments and squatters all rushed in by the April 8 deadline to file claims against Indian land rights. They were taking advantage of a federal decree on January 8 that gave anyone who thought they
Centre-left win masks Italian social crisis
By Franco Turigliatto and Dick Nichols
TURIN — At the end of a long election campaign, the Olive Tree, the centre-left alliance led by former state industry boss Romano Prodi with the Democratic Party
Culture
On April 2, US musician and songwriter Gil Scott-Heron was arrested for cocaine possession in Brisbane after flying in from London. On April 4 he pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrate's Court and was fined $2000 for 2.3 grams of cocaine, $1500
ErmoDirected by Zhou XiaowenFeaturing Alia, Ge Zhijun and Liu PeiqiValhalla, Sydney, from May 9Reviewed by Eva Cheng Ermo is an attempt to portray an unconventional woman from an oppressive culture and social setting. Ermo (Alia), with a strong
The things I see
are not part
of the constructed
collective consciousness.
The things I see
are terrifying.
They haunt me in nightmares.
They fill me with anguish.
They make me cry
and want to scream
my desolation
with big
Long walk to freedomBy Nelson MandelaAbacus, 1995. 768 pp., $16.95Reviewed by Brendan Doyle Long walk to freedom is Nelson Mandela's moving account of one of the greatest stories of the struggle for justice and human dignity. Written in an informal,
The Fall and Fall of Jeromy HawthornWritten and directed by Adam ZwarMetro Arts Theatre, Brisbane CityNightly at 8pm until May 4Reviewed by Lisa Young The Fall and Fall of Jeromy Hawthorn is an honest, yet comical view of an actor's life and the
Red Pepper (http://www.rednet.co.uk/redp epper) — Describing itself as a forum for the libertarian left, the electronic version of the British left magazine Red Pepper sets out to challenge "the monetarist New Right and the complacent liberal
A Day With President MandelaA Weekly Mail Television productionSBS, Friday, May 10, 8.30pm (8 in SA)Previewed by Norm Dixon The reactions of some on the left to criticism of Nelson Mandela and his government is not unlike the response when you fart
Altered States: the regional impact of free market policies on the Australian statesEdited by John Spoehr and Ray BroomhillCLS Research Paper Series No 4, December 1995In association with the Social Justice Research FoundationReviewed by Melanie
Editorial
In an address to the National Press Club on April 17, Robert Fitzgerald, president of the Australian Council for Social Services (ACOSS), provided a partial list of the problems faced by Australian society. These included: 1.8 million people living