CANBERRA — During the 1996 federal election campaign, the Liberals' 15-page policy on regional development had millions of dollars worth of promises attached to it. Today, it is not worth the paper it is written on. Transport
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San Quentin We (the inmates) have compiled this letter in an effort to communicate with all concerned parties, on all levels. We want to dispel the myths about the incarcerated people and create meaningful, friendly correspondence between us.
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What's left in the USA? — In the belly of the beast, the left and progressive movement is alive and well on the Web. Here are just a few sites worth investigating: Z-Net (http://www.lbbs.org/), billed as "home of the US Left". Among its offerings
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The dictatorship of President Suharto has occupied East Timor for twenty years and has been responsible for the death of at least 200,000 people. In December 1995, in defiance of the military-backed dictatorship, almost 50 students
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Rebuilding an independent union movement In recent months, construction workers around Australia have waged a militant campaign against the federal government's proposal to tax travel allowances. The campaign in Victoria has been especially
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CANBERRA — An Education Action Group ticket was recently formed to contest the upcoming ANU Student Association elections. It involves Resistance and Socialist Workers Student Club members and independent activists from the
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Save the ABC MELBOURNE — Six thousand people rallied on August 12 against the Howard government's slashing of ABC funding, jobs and programs. The rally, organised by the Friends of the ABC, took place at the Melbourne Town Hall and spilled out
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Women's right to choose under attackThere is a stealthy war being waged against women in Australia, a war that threatens to erode most of the reproductive rights and choices that women have won in past years. The first
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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 Thursday, 7pm. Access News — Melbourne community TV, Channel 31,
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Among those called up on August 12 for interrogation in the regime's campaign against the PRD was Pramoedya Ananta Toer (72), Indonesia's great novelist, himself a prisoner of Suharto for 14 years. Pramoedya accepted a human rights award from the PRD
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The most commonly used measure for human well-being is GNP. Apart from the fact that this is distributed unequally within countries, the Human Development Report 1996 notes the following limitations to GNP as a measure, which serve to obscure a real
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"The suddenness with which a goods and services tax has regained respectability is remarkable", wrote Michael James, from the ANU's Faculty of Economic and Commerce, in the August 15 Financial Review. Only the day before, the
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Green Left received a wonderful boost to the building maintenance fund last week. A $5000 donation pushed the amount collected so far up to $31,000 — that's just $11,000 short of the amount we've been quoted to do the emergency repairs on the
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ADELAIDE — Western Mining Corporation (WMC) is set to operate one of the world's top 10 copper mines and Australia's largest uranium mine with the announcement on July 15 of a $1.25 billion expansion of its Olympic Dam mine
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Solidarity Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) has issued an emergency petition calling on the Suharto government to release all political prisoners and end suppression of freedom of assembly and organisation. More than 100
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"... the signs are ominous and very evident and a chill wind blows". US Supreme Court Justice Blackman expressed his concern when, in July 1989, the Supreme Court (stacked with Ronald Reagan appointees) upheld a Missouri state law banning the
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30-year battle to ban the burn 1965: Waverley and Woollahra councils apply to build an incinerator in Botany Road, Waterloo. The City of Sydney Council refuses the application. 1966: The case goes to the Land and Valuation Court. The incinerator
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On June 12, a young man died of a suspected brain haemorrhage after receiving a blow, supposedly from another inmate. Between now and then four men have been placed in segregation, and two of those have been moved to the Goulburn
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A listen mission "Were we not so eager to look upon prisoners through such a vengeful prism, it would be easier to see the abundance of remorse in prison." — Irving Elmer Bell So then, I wish to speak for those of us who have changed Remorse
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Massive outrage in the higher education sector greeted the government's pre-budget statement outlining cuts to university operating grants, increases to HECs and further up-front fees, released on August 9.
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MELBOURNE — On August 16, a larger than expected contingent of 1000 secondary students rallied against the federal government's proposals to slash education and associated funding in the up-coming budget. Early estimates indicate
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SYDNEY — A dramatic dispute has erupted between NSW environment minister Pam Allan and the director general of the Environmental Protection Agency over the continued operation of the Waterloo waste processing incinerator. On August
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SYDNEY — Resistance is calling on high school students to join the tertiary students' August 29 National Day of Action against the government's attacks on education. High school student groups across the country will meet this
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High school picket a success PERTH — High school students held a lively picket and speak-out in the mall on August 16. The action was organised by Resistance and the Student Unionism Network, a cross-campus tertiary students' group coordinating
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Coalition feigns anti-nuclear standIn an apparent about-face, the federal Coalition government has welcomed the report from the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. According to Alexander Downer, the report
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For more than a decade, neo-liberal rhetoric has promised that a globalised "free market" will lead to progress and increasing prosperity for greater numbers. But the reality is the opposite: "in the past 15 years the world has
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I am not usually one for public confessions, but I feel that something must be said. You can imagine how difficult this is for me to admit to. I am just an ordinary Joe Blow trying to make their own way in the world. There's nothing special about me.
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Just three years after decisively rejecting Liberal leader John Hewson's Fightback! strategy at the polls, the Australian people are having it foisted on them again, this time by a smarter John Howard, who concealed it beneath a
News
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Tax workers suspend bansCommunity and Public Sector Union members employed by the Australian Taxation Office have voted in favour of the tax division executive's proposal to suspend the bans campaign and to resume it on September
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WOLLONGONG — Nico Warouw, Indonesian pro-democracy activist and international officer for the People's Democratic Party (PRD), visited the Illawarra district on August 13 and 14 as a part of a speaking tour of NSW organised by
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Youth groups attack harsh anti-graffiti lawsBRISBANE — Youth and civil liberties groups here have criticised proposals for a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail for graffiti offences in the Queensland government's draft revision of
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SYDNEY — Three hundred supporters of Telstra's public ownership gathered in Lower Town Hall on August 15 for the launch of the Keep Telstra Public campaign. Speakers included Democrat Senator Cheryl Kernot; national president
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HOBART — The destruction of old growth, wilderness and high conservation value forest for woodchips continues despite public outrage. Multinational company Boral Ltd. plays a major part in obliterating these forests. On June 27,
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The federal budget cuts to ATSIC will disproportionately affect young people, with 40% of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders being under 15 years old, and 60% under 25. Programs for youth support, employment
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US government's 'environmental racism' On August 6, Greenpeace activists chained themselves to the entrance of the US embassy in Mexico City to protest against the construction of a low-level radioactive waste dump in Sierra Blanca, Texas, 32
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Royal Women's Hospital under threatMELBOURNE — Around 100 people took part in the Royal Women's Hospital 140th birthday celebration and rally on August 11, as part of the campaign to stop the relocation of some of the hospital's
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International acclaim "Perhaps the most relentlessly corrupt police service in the English-speaking world." — The London Mail on Sunday, describing the NSW police. Bad PR "Mining industry leaders yesterday condemned the Federal Government
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The government's decision to slash the budget of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) is petty and racist. In national monetary terms, the government's "saving" of $400 million over the next
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PERTH — Aboriginal activist and Vietnam veteran Lenny Culbong died on June 18, aged only 48. His exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam was a major factor in his early death. Despite increasingly bad health, Lenny
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MELBOURNE — Workers at the ACI Spotswood plant, who have staged a month-long picket, were charged and bashed by mounted police with batons on August 16. The dispute started when ACI-BTR revealed plans to retrench 59 workers,
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SYDNEY — Plans for a campaign against the military crackdown in Indonesia were mapped out at an emergency meeting here on August 16. Called by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor, the meeting was attended by a broad
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More than 500 protesters greeted guests arriving at the Indonesian consulate in Melbourne for the Indonesian independence day celebrations on August 17. The demonstration, organised by the Australia-East Timor Association, was addressed by speakers
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Sand mining operations opposedBRISBANE — Conservationists rallied on North Stradbroke Island on August 18 to call for an end to sand mining operations, in the face of allegations that the company involved, Consolidated Rutile
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Community acts over bike lanesSYDNEY — On the morning of August 14, three men dressed in overalls and orange safety vests, and carrying paint, brushes, witches hats and road safety barriers, started work on Abercrombie Street in
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Shell workers strikeGEELONG — Workers at Shell's refinery are striking in response to a push for multi-skilling at the refinery. In negotiations over an enterprise agreement, workers have been pushing for a 12% pay rise over two
World
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The word "globalisation" was given currency by US mass marketing strategists who, from the 1980s onwards, talked nothing but "global products" and "global communication". According to their logic, a product should be able to use
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According to the August 9 Palestine Report, at least nine Palestinians have been killed by Palestinian Authority police officers since their arrival in the Gaza Strip and West Bank over two years ago. In late July, two West
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In July, Tom Sherman's preliminary evaluation of evidence about the deaths of five journalists at Balibo in East Timor in October 1975 was presented to the Australian government. It concluded that the Indonesian military was probably responsible for
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CHICAGO — Solidarity, a socialist and feminist organisation, held its summer school and convention here August 5-11. With members centrally involved in unions and other social and political campaigns
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French unions to mobilise French trade unions are preparing action against the latest phase of government austerity. September may experience an explosion of strikes and protests similar to last year's. The government has pledged to cut the
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It is twilight. I am sitting in an outdoor restaurant in Becora, Dili, with several East Timorese youths, listening to local songs played by one of the teenage boys. The neighbouring children sit cross-legged in the grass around us,
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Cambodian PM calls for ceiling on logging Cambodian Second Prime Minister Hun Sen called on July 30 for removal of logging licences from companies which have not yet begun harvesting. Dozens of foreign companies have been granted massive logging
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In a Liverpool court on July 30, four members of the British Ploughshares organisation were cleared of criminal damage after the jury accepted their claim to have had a lawful excuse to disarm a Hawk jet fighter to prevent its use by the Indonesians
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With negotiations over the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty stalemated, India is being made out as the major obstacle to the world ridding itself of nuclear weapons. It would be far more accurate to blame the biggest nuclear power, the
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Cuban rightist: US could have saved plane Jose Basulto, leader of the right-wing Miami-based organisation "Brothers to the Rescue", gave a press conference at the US House of Representatives on July 31 and handed over documents suggesting that US
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Nikitin still in custody August 6 marked six months that Alexander Nikitin has been held in custody in the Russian security police (FSB) prison in St Petersburg. He was arrested on February 6 on charges of espionage for his work as a co-author of a
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Argentine general strike At least a dozen people were injured and about 100 arrested in Argentina on August 8 during a national general strike against the government's economic policy. Observance of the strike ranged from 70% to 100%, and was
Culture
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The White BalloonDirected by Jafar PanahiScreenplay by Abbas KiarostamiOpening at Dendy cinemas August 29Reviewed by Jennifer Thompson The delight of this feature film from Tehran is the way it takes a very simple story — the trepidations of a
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A fantastic line-up of artists with a diversity of talent will make this year's Wollombi Folk Festival "the best yet", organisers say. Some 100 artists will be performing over the weekend of August 30-September 1 in the scenic village of Wollombi,
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The Winds of GodBy Masayuki Imai. Directed by Yoko NarahashiTwelfth Night Theatre, Brisbane, August 26-31Reviewed by Brendan Doyle In October 1944, Japan's military high command, in a final desperate bid to avoid crushing defeat by the US navy, set
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Bad Girls and Dirty Pictures: The Challenge to Reclaim FeminismEdited by Alison Assiter and Avedon CarolPluto Press, 1993. $32.95Reviewed by Patricia Brien Bad Girls and Dirty Pictures is a collection of essays by women about pornography. The essays
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East Timorese Kissing with their wounds the only protest left to them Denis Kevans
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Thanks for nothing The frost lies heavily on the lawns of the Lodge the morning after the Budget is brought down. The ABC drones on attempting to achieve balance by broadcasting the clichéd statements of experts. Economic
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This is an open letter to my grand-daughters. I feel it is both my duty and a privilege to be able to write and leave letters like this one, for all of you. As the subtitle suggests, the basic message here will be music, but
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The End of Work: The decline of the global labour force and the dawn of the post-market eraBy Jeremy Rifkin Tarcher/Putnam, June 1996350pp., $26.95Reviewed by Dick Nichols This is a fascinating and maddening book, chock-full of contradictions.