Issue 230

News

Wet weather didn't dampen the spirits of those who attended May Day marches around the country on the weekend of May 4-5. The major themes at this year's events included fighting the Coalition's privatisation plans and cutbacks. Alex Bainbridge and
By Cameron Parker SYDNEY — Worksafe Australia, the federal government's occupational health and safety (OHS) agency, has had its funds cut by over $10 million by the Howard Liberal government, with 118 of staff positions (over half) being
By Nikki Ulasowski Wollongong — More than 200 members of the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union (NTEU) and students from Wollongong University met last week to discuss industrial action and the continuing campaign for a 15% pay rise.
By Bill Mason BRISBANE — A mass meeting of CPSU members here on April 30 discussed the Howard government's attack on the federal public service and began to plan an industrial response. The meeting in the Brisbane City Hall heard union state
By Pip Hinman "The death in custody of a 22-year-old man [on April 24] is further proof of the total disregard to implement all of the Royal Commission recommendations into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody by the Court government in Western Australia",
CPSU activist Ben Courtice writes from Hobart that 153 CPSU members working in the Australian Public Service attended a meeting last week to discuss plans to fight cuts to the APS. The meeting discussed the motion from the National Executive and an
Stoppages by SA education workers By Melanie Sjoberg ADELAIDE South Australian schools began term two on April 29 with last minute attempts to prevent industrial action being thwarted. The South Australian Institute of Teachers and Public
By Zanny Begg BRISBANE — On April 29, around 45 people squeezed into the miscellaneous workers' union hall and decided to form a new group, the Coalition Against the Mining and Export of Uranium (CAMEU). The meeting was attended by a range of
By Rob Graham Western Mining Corporation (WMC) has already started on a $1 billion expansion of its Olympic Dam uranium mine at Roxby Downs. A 113.5 km pipeline is being constructed to pump water from a new bore field ("B"), from the Great Artesian
By Leslie Williams CANBERRA — Community and Public Sector Union members around the country met last week to vote on an initial union response to the federal government's attacks. Public sector workers are losing jobs, suffering budget cuts and
By Viviana Sacchero MELBOURNE — Rusden is an intimate campus of Deakin University on which a mere 2000 students reside. Last month its students came close to being losers in the federal government's agenda of education cuts. On April 22, at a
By Jenny Forward HOBART — Jim Everett, writer and member of the Palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal community), believes that the federal Coalition government is on a "witch-hunt" against Aborigines. Why isn't the government investigating the
By Bernard Wunsch BRISBANE — Around 150 students rallied outside the student union offices on April 30. Students stormed inside the offices and voted to maintain an occupation until the executive resigns. The occupation is continuing at the time
By Anne Pavy PERTH — Two of the six new uranium mines proposed by the federal Coalition government are in Western Australia: at the Kintyre deposit in the Rudall River National Park and at Yeelirrie, near Kalgoorlie. Since the early '80s state
By Chris Spindler SYDNEY — The Australian newspaper on April 27 carried advertisements for waterfront workers. These workers are part of the federal government's plan to break the Maritime Union of Australia by encouraging new stevedoring

World

By Reihana Mohideen MANILA — They marched, wave upon wave of workers, urban poor, students and others — 120,000 strong — to rally at Luneta Park on May Day. They came despite hot sun, a sea of red flags and banners (and umbrellas). This
By Norm Dixon At least 19 rural workers were massacred, and more than 50 injured, by police in the Brazilian state of Para in the eastern Amazon region on April 17. At least 80 workers are missing. More than 250 military police ambushed 4000
By Conor Twyford WELLINGTON — An election as early as September is now on the cards in New Zealand following the resignation on April 23 of the New Zealand First MP for Hawkes Bay, Michael Laws. Laws, who left the National Party in March to join
TSURUGA, Japan — Nuclear expert Professor Jochen Benecke said after meetings with Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) officials at the end of March that he is not convinced by the company's safety analysis of its ability to
JAKARTA — Four hundred students demonstrated at the national parliament here on May 2 in protest against the murder of 24 students by the military in Makassar, Sulawesi. On April 22, about 500 students rallied in Makassar for the lowering of public
From April 14 to 16, more than 50 delegates from around Indonesia met at an extraordinary congress to discuss the future of the Peoples Democratic Union (PRD). During the last 18 months, the PRD has developed as the most systematic, militant,
By Reihana Mohideen MANILA — Romeo Estropigan, a BMP labour organiser, was kidnapped soon after the May Day rally. Eight armed men brandishing pistols blocked the taxi he was in and dragged him out. Seven other members of the BMP who were with
Lesbian movement emerges in the Philippines By Reihana Mohideen MANILA — "We want to express our real feelings/ We are women loving women/ We are lesbians." The three young women of the lesbian band Lantad (Coming Out) belted out the song,
By Kathryn Hamilton While the war goes on in north-east Sri Lanka, the people of Iranawila are fighting their own battle against what they see as information domination by the US broadcasting station Voice of America. The battle of the people of
By Stephen Marks MONTEVIDEO — It's easy to find the alternative media in Uruguay. Sidewalk kiosks in the capital display a wide variety of progressive magazines and newspapers which provide a refreshing alternative to the "infotainment" produced
By Eva Cheng Washington has taken three significant steps over the last two months to reject peace and consolidate its domination in east Asia. In early April, the US rejected North Korea's call to replace its 43-year-old armistice — with North
By Steve Jolly The recent Dublin West parliamentary by-election has stunned political observers. Militant Labour's Joe Higgins won 23% of the first preference vote and lost by only 370 votes. Australian Militant and Irish Militant Labour are both
In Indonesia, the president is "elected" by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) every five years. The MPR usually meets about a year after the election of a new House of Representatives, including the appointment of its 100 military members. The
The following letter was sent to US President Bill Clinton on April 7. Mr President, On June 25, 1975, two FBI agents were killed in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, without anyone ever finding out who was responsible for this crime. In a biased and fixed
Budiman Sujatmiko, newly elected chair of the People's Democratic Party of Indonesia was interviewed for Green Left Weekly by Graham Mitchell and Karen Fleming in central Java on April 16. Question: Why is this congress being held? This congress
By Richard Horsey SLORC, the military junta which rules Burma, is well known as one of the most repressive regimes on the planet. Otherwise staid diplomats have used terms such as "hydra-headed" and "barbaric" to describe SLORC's recent behaviour.
By Norm Dixon The 1.6 million member Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) reinforced its opposition to anti-worker sections of South Africa's draft constitution by bringing the country to a standstill on April 30. The general strike and
By Kevin McLoughlin DUBLIN — "The remarkable performance of the Militant Labour candidate, Mr Joe Higgins, in Dublin West — who came within striking distance of taking the Fianna Fail seat — was not just a vote against water charges: it was a
By Richard Horsey The whole of Burma is gearing up for "Visit Myanmar Year 1996". But it is already March, and the preparations are way behind schedule. Even though the official start of the tourism year has been put back to October, authorities
By John Percy New Zealand Alliance leader Jim Anderton outlined a bold plan to rescue the country's remaining unsold pine plantations at the party's national conference, held in Wellington April 6-7. A week prior to the conference, the National
By Norm Dixon According to a report in the Port Moresby Post-Courier, Martin Miriori, the representative of the Bougainville Interim Government based in the Solomon Islands, has been forced to fly to the Netherlands, where he has been granted

Culture

Tinkering with the market to save the planet Markets, the state and the environment — towards integrationEdited by Robyn EckersleyMacMillan Education Australia, 1995. $32.95Reviewed by Chow-Wei Cheng This book contains papers that were presented
SkylightBy David HareDirected by Roger HodgmanThe Wharf Theatre, Sydney, until June 15Reviewed by Brendan Doyle This Melbourne Theatre Company production of British left-wing playwright David Hare's latest play is one of the theatre highlights of
SalaamPositive Black SoulMango through PolygramReviewed by Iggy Kim With airplay, Positive Black Soul's global debut album could be a chart-topping mainstream hit. With such melodies as the sugary and reggae-esque "Je Ne Sais Pas" (I Don't Know) even
Another Year in AfricaBy Rose ZwiSpinifex Press, 1995. $16.95Reviewed by Vivienne Porzsolt Rose Zwi's novel constructs a vibrant picture of life in a Jewish working-class suburb of a mining town in the shadow of World War II. Looking back to pogroms
Gulliver's TravelsBy Jonathan SwiftEdited by Christopher FoxBoston: Bedford Books of St Martin's Press1995. 480 pp.Reviewed by Graham Milner Why should activists on the left be interested in reading Jonathan Swift? Wasn't he the reactionary Tory
Lilian's StoryDirected by Jerzy DomaradzkiStarring Ruth Cracknell, Barry Otto, Toni Collette and John FlausOpens May 9, Greater Union cinemasReviewed by Margaret Allan While watching this film, I wondered whether a large proportion of those in
Palestine in Crisis: The struggle for peace and political independence after OsloBy Graham UsherPluto Press, 1995. 146 pp., $29.95Reviewed by Adam Hanieh Despite the almost universal praise by the establishment media for the Palestinian-Israeli
There is endless Light above me That shines for all (who would see) My Light sustains life's brilliance Discounting the darkness of concrete and steel, it gives my soul and spirit resilience. When my mortal vision becomes myopic