Governed and policed by hypocrites
"I did not choose to teach, just as one does not choose to minister or to build. A teacher is, simply, what I've always been." — Sherry Hearn
In my opinion, teaching is one of the most worthwhile professions
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Gaining access to education is one of the cornerstones of achieving women's liberation. Currently women make up over half the students in Australian tertiary institutions. This has led Ian Dobson, a senior academic at Monash University, to argue that
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The proposals in the National Commission of Audit that Commonwealth funding of higher education be replaced by a system of "scholarships", student fees and loans sounds very familiar to those who campaigned against the Coalition's
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Mother Teresa Concerning your book review about Mother Theresa! Supposing everything mentioned is 100% true, why was there not one good word about her works? What other individual has accomplished so much with so little! Under such abysmal
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HOBART — The May 25 election of three members of Tasmania's upper house, the Legislative Council, came under the spotlight this year because of the ongoing debate over gay law reform. This year three of the 19 council seats were
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Late last month, the Tasmanian Legislative Council voted down a gay law reform bill put by the Greens and passed by the Legislative Assembly in early June. Green Left Weekly's NATALIE WOODLOCK interviewed RODNEY CROOME, spokesperson for Tasmania's
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SHELLHARBOUR — Since 1983, the right-wing ALP-controlled Shellharbour Council has been determined to build a marina at Shellharbour Beach, about 20 km south of Wollongong. Despite the conflict of such a scheme with stated ALP
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Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 4-7pm. Access News — Melbourne community TV, Channel 31,
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Slaves of fashion: outworkers in the garment industryImagine a job where you work 12 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week for about $2 an hour. Worse, you have to use inappropriate and sometimes dangerous machinery, you are subject
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Trading in pollution is a dirty game By Chow Wei-Cheng In the recent debate on tradeable emissions in Green Left Weekly, Clive Hamilton from the Australia Institute argued that such schemes can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in
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Me Darcy, you Jane "It is a truth universally acknowledged", wrote Jane Austen, "that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife". This notion is the opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice — a book which appeared
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A young woman lies dead on a flattened bed of grass, dressed in only a flimsy, open under skirt. Her ankles and knees are bruised, as if from being held. "White, female, age 17, death by strangulation", reads the caption in the
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The recent attacks on higher education, including the threat to increase HECS and introduce more up-front fees, have provoked huge mobilisations by students and the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union around the country. Green Left
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Refugee Week forum on Burma CANBERRA — Forty people attended a forum on June 28 to discuss the current situation in Burma. The event, organised by the Young Christian Workers as part of Refugee Week, was addressed by Mary Way from the Burmese
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Because so many contributors and sellers of Green Left Weekly will be going to Melbourne for the Resistance National Conference July 5-7, we are skipping an issue. The next Green Left will be dated July 17.
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The Port Arthur massacre and the decision by the May 10 meeting of state police ministers to endorse Prime Minister John Howard's proposals to ban the possession by civilians of automatic and semi-automatic firearms and establish a
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Catfish Culture — Sarah White has deheaded, gutted, skinned and filleted countless catfish at Delta Pride, the largest catfish processing plant in the world. She also led a 1990 strike at the plant, the largest strike by African-American workers
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Over the past week, thousands have rallied in cities across Indonesia in support of Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, who was removed as chairperson of PDI by a government-orchestrated special
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The National Commission of Audit's report, released on June 21, provides the framework for the Coalition government's budget cuts. Just as most of the Liberal state governments commissioned an audit soon after
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As John Howard faces his first wave of protest from students and education workers, building and waterside workers, his response shows that he's not yet confident of success. Faced with broad fronts like that of university
News
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On July 26, almost 200 Indonesians living in Sydney attended a public meeting in Marrickville organised by a newly formed organisation, Forum Solidaritas Australia Indonesia (FSAI, Indonesia-Australia Solidarity Forum). Speakers
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HOBART — Tasmanian teachers are stepping up their industrial campaign with the first ever strike-for-pay. Angry at the second lowest wage rates for teachers in the country, the Australian Education Union has announced rolling strike action
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CANBERRA — The ACT Greens have introduced legislation to phase out battery egg production and sales over the next three years through random inspection of premises where animals are kept, labelling the eggs produced by such methods
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SYDNEY — With shouts of "Sack the government" and "We'll fight to the end", more than 1200 angry people packed into St George Leagues Club in Kogarah in Sydney's west on June 27 to protest against the ALP state government's
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SYDNEY — Plans for the August 25 national day of solidarity with East Timor were advanced at a national meeting held here on June 23. The actions, to be held in most major centres in Australia, will demand a free East Timor and
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Call for lesbian and gay men to fight Howard's attacksBRISBANE — Four hundred people rallied here on June 29 as part of the annual Pride Festival. The theme of this year's rally and festival was "One
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DARWIN — On June 27, about 15 activists held a vocal demonstration for several hours outside the Indonesian consulate. The protest culminated in an "invasion" of the consulate by four demonstrators after security personnel refused
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On June 27, Canberra CPSU members in the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA) called on the ACTU to organise a 24-hour strike on August 19 to coincide with its "Cavalcade to Canberra" day of action against Howard's
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SYDNEY — "The media release from the Institute of Criminology (ACT), along with the media release from Amnesty International (London), echoes the many statements made by the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee and other Aboriginal
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On June 21 Greenpeace released Dioxin Factories, the first major report documenting dioxin pollution in Australia, and called on the federal government to legislate immediately for a national pollutant inventory. The establishment
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Overwhelming mandate "If 14% of Russians trusted [Alexander] Lebed, we may consider he has passed the exam giving him the right to work professionally in big politics." — Russian President Boris Yeltsin on the defeated presidential candidate
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Supplementary motion for July 3 VTHC delegates' rally 1) This meeting calls on the ACTU to call a national 24-hour stoppage on August 19 as part of an ongoing mass campaign against the Howard government's Industrial Relations legislation. 2) This
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CANBERRA — At the June 26 CPSU ACT branch conference, delegates voted for the branch leadership to organise a mass meeting as soon as possible to put a motion to the members for strike action against the cuts. It has become
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SYDNEY — The success of the East Timor: its future in the Asia Pacific conference, held June 21-24, was indicated by the attendance of more than 350 people, including 80 international guests. Another very positive outcome,
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WOLLONGONG — On June 8, Brian Lovell died at his home in Dapto following a short fight with cancer. The attendance at his funeral by people from all over Australia reflected the respect in which he was held by those who knew him. Brian was a
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SYDNEY — Over the next few weeks, the NSW government will conclude the Interim assessment process to confirm which areas of native forest will be protected from logging. This is the second stage of the government's forest
Analysis
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The formation last month of the Australia First Reform Party, following the mobilisation of tens of thousands of people at pro-gun rallies around the country, once again raises the issue of the growth of the far-right in Australian politics. It is
World
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As of April 12, 21 nations had signed the Organisation of American States' (OAS) first regional convention to fight bribery and corruption. An editorial in the Washington Post praised the treaty, which the US and Canada had still not signed: "... For
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Cuban revolutionary Leonardo Tomayo Nuñes (also known as Urbano) was Che Guevara's chief escort while in Cuba and is the only surviving member of the group of revolutionaries who went to Bolivia with Che. On tour in
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The Turkish government has begun a brutal attack on legal left and Kurdish parties as pressure mounts on its military over its dirty war in Kurdistan. The Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP), Labour Party (EP) and Liberty
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MOSCOW — In the presidential poll on June 16, Boris Yeltsin gained about 35% of the vote compared with 32 % for his main rival, Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) leader Gennady Zyuganov. Then, within two days,
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MANILA — "The strike's on", announced the leaflet distributed by striking workers here on June 18, as they started their industrial campaign around the demand for comprehensive tax reforms. Some 568 factory-based unions in
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KATY TYRRELL, a member of British Militant Labour and leader in UNISON, the biggest trade union in Europe, visited Australia in May. Green Left Weekly's LISA MACDONALD interviewed her in Sydney. Question: What will the election of a Blair-led Labour
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Opposition is growing to Papua New Guinea's impending military offensive against rebel strongholds in Bougainville. Most harmful to Port Moresby's cause has been criticism voiced by Theodore Miriung, Premier in the PNG-appointed
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The chemical industry received some extraordinarily bad news in early June. Science magazine published a new study showing that some combinations of hormone-disrupting chemicals are much more powerful than any of the individual
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Janet, a mother of four from Yorkshire, works at home packing gift tags which retail for £1.50 per bag. She works up to 15 hours a day sorting, counting and stapling bags of the tags. She receives just £7.50 per thousand
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Regular readers of Green Left Weekly will have noticed one or two photos in every issue taken by Ken Bansgrove. Ken is one of the many supporters of Green Left. A keen photographer, Ken attends many of the progressive events and demonstrations in
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South African President Nelson Mandela surprised and disappointed many supporters when, after returning from a trip to Germany to woo foreign investors on May 24, he declared: "Privatisation is the fundamental policy of the ANC, and
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Amnesty International has called on the US government to ban the use and export of a remote-controlled electro-shock stun belt for prisoners that has just been introduced. AI said the belt appeared to be designed to degrade and torture prisoners "at
Culture
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The UN-official version: IntezaarWritten and directed by Rashid MasharawiSBS, Sunday, July 7, 7.30pm (7 in SA)Reviewed by Jennifer Thompson Rashid Masharawi made this film by visiting the Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Al-Shati, in which
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The Amnesty International Report 1996 paints a chilling portrait of the state of human rights in the world today. The reality is in stark contrast to the rosy picture of a new era of democracy and human rights predicted by world
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La RosaArts Theatre, 210 Petrie Tce, BrisbaneJuly 4, 5, 6 (2 shows)Reviewed by Robyn Marshall Anyone who loves flamenco dance must see this performance. The opening scene is very dramatic, with five people seated against a blue-lighted backdrop as
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As It Happened: The Last God-KingProduced by Jim Gerrand SBS, Thursday, July 11, 8.30pm (8 in SA)Reviewed by Eva Cheng Being remnants of a social system that has no place at all in today's globally operated capitalism, monarchs — notwithstanding
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The Life of GalileoBy Bertolt BrechtIn a new translation by David HareDirected by Richard WherrettWith John Howard as GalileoSydney Theatre CompanyOpera House, Sydney until July 20Reviewed by Allen Myers This new production of Brecht's Galileo has
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Work harder. Make someone else redundant. This is efficiency. Competition is our salvation. This way we cost our betters less. One day we'll be internationally competitive and get paid a dollar for a fourteen hour day. Then we'll
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We will make you account for your repressive activities, one dayWe will answer your sticks and bullets, one dayUntil that day comesUntil this place is developedThe flame of revolution will keep burning in
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Ready or Not: Stories of Young Adult SexualityEdited by Mark McLeodRandom House, 1996308pp., $14.95Reviewed by Jen Crothers Being a young adult is never easy. There are the inevitable conflicts with "old adults" about school, work, drugs and
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Does TV kill?About Us, SBS TVWednesday, July 10, 8.30pm (8 in SA)Previewed by Lisa Macdonald The Port Arthur massacre provoked a new wave of debate about the relationship between screen violence and real violence. In the last two months, numerous
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The Pol Pot regime: race, power, and genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79By Ben KiernanNew Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. 477 pp., $63 (hb)Reviewed by Helen Jarvis As rumours circulate once again about the death of Pol Pot, the
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Bandit Queen is the name of a film about the life of Phoolan Devi, a village woman raped by the landlord of her village. She joins a band of dacoits to seek revenge on him. The following poem by a local poet and women's rights activist, Deepa Pathak,