Downer a downer on human rights?
Amnesty international is concerned by the Australian government's reluctance to agree to a human rights clause in a trade agreement with the European Union. Almost 100 counties have already agreed to the clause
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Jobs lost as glass factory closes HOBART — The ACI Moonah Glass Packaging plant will close on March 17, at the cost of 140 jobs. Henceforth ACI glass products will be manufactured in Korea. ACI blamed the closure on cheap imports from
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When it comes to developmental biology and politics, Lysenko stuffed up the environmental determinists, and Hitler's lot rendered genetics untouchable. Hence the nature/genetics nurture/environment debates have been a circus of cycles
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Circular Quay protest rally SYDNEY — A February 14 rally to oppose the development of East Circular Quay drew 2000 people to the steps of the Opera House. The rally called for the demolition of a building currently under construction at Circular
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Left On-line The Pacific on the web — With the possible demise of Radio Australia on the horizon perhaps you better store some of these sites in your bookmarks file so you can keep up with what's happening in the region. Pactok home page at
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It is widely asserted that a truly global economy has emerged or is emerging in which distinct national economies and state policies corresponding to them are irrelevant. The world economy is now dominated by corporations that
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MELBOURNE — The Victorian minister for education, Phil Gude, has announced a review of the Victorian Certificate of Education. The VCE was introduced in 1989 to replace the old exam-oriented Higher School Certificate. To
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"Democracy does not come cheaply" complained right-wing commentator Ian Henderson in a recent article in the Australian. According to Henderson, Labor, the Liberals and the Nationals spent a total of approximately $100 million in advertising during
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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, 10pm, and Saturday, 7pm. Access News — Melbourne community
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My 93-year-old mother, Agnes Harrison, is reputedly the oldest Aboriginal woman living on the coast between Sydney and Melbourne, at Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Koori Village. At least she was until last year, when she was forced to go
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Tasmanians take on racismHOBART — The newly formed Tasmanians Against Racism (TAR) has been meeting since January 14. Its members come from a variety of organisations, including Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
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This talkback thingThis talkback thing My wife and I love your program. We listen to it every day. You are one truly great Australian, John ... Well, thank you. It's nice to know we are appreciated. You are. You are. And this talkback thing
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Since the December 23 High Court decision that native title could co-exist with pastoral leases — the "Wik decision" — state and territory leaders, big pastoralists and some mining corporations have been calling for hasty extinguishment of native
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SYDNEY — On February 8-9, the NSW branch of the National Union of Students held an education teach-in for activists in the campaign against cuts to education. The conference, held at the University of Technology in Sydney,
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Starved soulStarved soul By Brandon Astor "George Washington Carver, it is said, used to get up and go out into the woods every day just before sun-up and sit on his favorite tree stump. While there, during his daily meditations, he would
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It should come as little surprise that union membership has fallen yet again. The percentage of workers who are in unions has been declining for more than 20 years now. In August 1996, 31% of the work force were in unions,
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Winners and losersAccording to the Daily Telegraph, media mogul Kerry Packer won $7.5 million dollars in 20 hands of baccarat in a Las Vegas casino recently. While Packer plays with millions, every year 17 million people die from
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Feigning concern that unemployed young people risked becoming demoralised, or losing a "work ethic", Prime Minister John Howard announced a new work-for-the-dole scheme on February 9. Funds will be set aside in the budget for
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Call to boycott Kakadu Lex Martin DARWIN — The Northern Territory government is currently pressuring the federal government to approve a second uranium mine at Jabiluka within Kakadu National Park. There are also plans to develop a third mine
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The responses to my review of Neil Jordan's film Michael Collins by Bernie Bryan and Mike Heaney (GLW #261) show a romantic and one-sided view of Michael Collins. It is true that Collins was a figure of enormous influence during the
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Office of the status of (one) woman?Office of the status of (one) woman? On December 5, the Howard government abolished the Office of the Status of Women's $1 million grants scheme and cut its funding by 46%. The cut, which will affect more
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"Law and order" has become a key issue in the lead up to the SA state elections, just as it did in previous elections in WA, NSW and Queensland. Liberal and Labor have taken a bipartisan line, promising to get tough
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Philip Mendes' writes in "Write on", GLW #261, "The Labour Zionist movement which ruled Israel from 1948 to 1977 strongly identified with traditional socialist objectives". The idea that the Zionist movement, at least until
News
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An alliance of Australian environment organisations has warned governments and industry leaders that extensive environmental damage across Australia's rangelands would follow the freeholding of pastoral leases, in addition to extinguishing native
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@columhead = Career plans "In future I will work in the areas I know well. In business I believe I can contribute particularly in property and resources." — Alan Bond, planning his future after being sentenced to four years in prison for stealing
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BRISBANE — Early next month, antiwar protesters are planning to converge on the Shoalwater Bay military training area near Rockhampton in Queensland to protest "Operation Tandem Thrust", a joint US-Australian war game involving
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Victorian teachers to strikeMELBOURNE — The Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union has called a mass stop-work on February 27 as part of a campaign to win back funding for public education. The campaign started
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NSW — State-wide meetings of registrars, resident medical officers (RMOs) and interns were held on February 11 to decide on future campaigns and strike action to fight the Health Insurance Amendment Bill (No. 2, 1996). The
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Log of claims on VikingSYDNEY — On February 14, members of the National Union of Workers served a log of claims on the Viking Office Products warehouse in Rydalmere. The main claim is for a guarantee that all NUW members will be
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BRISBANE — The Democratic Socialists are running two candidates in the March 15 election for the Brisbane City Council — Kathy Newnam for the ward of Central and Coral Wynter for the ward of Dutton Park. The DS election manifesto
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Edna Ryan Edna Ryan, feminist social reformer, political activist and author passed away in Canberra in the early hours of Monday morning, February 10. Edna was born in 1904, the 10th of 12 children in the working class Sydney suburb of Pyrmont.
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Rail line closure for freeway constructionMELBOURNE — Victoria's new transport minister, Robin Cooper, caused outrage in the northern suburbs on February 4, when he announced that the Upfield line, long a battleground between
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Strip mine in TarkineHOBART — A mining lease has been granted for five hectares of land in the Tarkine wilderness in Tasmania's north-west, fulfilling environmentalists' predictions that the Tarkine road would open up the area
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HOBART — The Tasmanian branch of the Australian Education Union, having spent more than a year campaigning for a wage rise, has restarted negotiations under the new federal industrial relations legislation for a 22.26% rise.
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Picket calls for end to war on BougainvilleSYDNEY — More than 20 people staged a picket on February 13 outside the Papua New Guinean consulate to protest against the ongoing war on Bougainville. The picket also demanded the removal
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Indonesian solidarity campaigners in Canberra, Wollongong and Sydney heard Robbie Hartono from the Indonesian People's Democratic Party (PRD) speak at public meetings between February 11-15. The meetings were
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Government bungles Austudy means testChanges to Austudy passed through the Senate last December have been estimated to have lowered or cancelled the payments of 60,000 students (a third of those who received the allowance last
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The defeat of the federal government's Hindmarsh Island bridge bill in the Senate on February 10 has, for the moment, prevented it from overriding the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. The Kumarangk
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Resistance sets down plansBRISBANE — Robby Hartono, from the People's Democratic Party of Indonesia, spoke at a Resistance branch meeting on February 8, discussing the different conditions that Australian and Indonesian
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SYDNEY — Members of the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union (NTEU) at two universities in Sydney this week indicated that they are not willing to lose conditions and will fight to achieve pay increases. Their colleagues
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Young people protest work for dole Ruth Ratcliffe reports from Brisbane that a speak-out against the Howard government's "work for the dole" scheme was held on February 14 in the City Mall, sponsored by the socialist youth organisation Resistance.
Analysis
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How to create real jobs Howard's youth work-for-the-dole scheme won't make a dent in the 30% youth unemployment rate. But that is not its real purpose, which is to whip up public hysteria about "dole bludgers" once again. The blatant politics of
World
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Doublethink from Clinton and GreenspanEvery year, the president gives a "state of the union" address to Congress. It is held in the House of Representatives. The House members enter first, and then stand to applaud the
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More East Timorese killed Many East Timorese people are believed to have been arbitrarily arrested, and up to four people shot, following days of unrest in the Uatulari subdistrict in Viqueque February 7-11. According to the East Timor Human Rights
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The Bhopal case seems to portend a bleak future for poor communities. In a "free trade" world order, multinational corporations can do whatever feels good for them, and after they've had their way with a community, they wash their hands and move
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European EMU under attackIn preparation for the June 1997 Amsterdam summit, at which a treaty will be signed members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the 15 states have begun negotiations on revising the
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Chatting with Jakarta taxi driversJAKARTA — "This traffic jam is caused by the stupidity and corruption of the government! They can't even do simple things like fix up the traffic, let alone respond to the people's
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Television viewers around the world on February 6 may have thought they had accidentally tuned into a program of archival footage from South Africa's apartheid days: florid, bull-necked cops hidden behind menacing yellow armoured
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MOSCOW — In late January in Russia, the economic figures from the previous year are released. Supporters of the government have done their best to put a favourable gloss on the latest numbers, but the truth cannot be concealed
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Last August, President Abdala Bucaram netted 54% of the vote. In office, the populist president recorded an album and gave concerts, auctioned his moustache in a benefit for the poor and launched a subsidised powdered milk
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Support for the French neo-fascist organisation National Front (FN), headed by Jean-Marie Le Pen, has increased dramatically over the past few years. The election, on February 9, of FN Mayor Catherine Megret in the southern French city of Vitrolles
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South Korean President Kim Young-sam justifies the ongoing attacks on the democratic rights of the country's workers on the basis that they must make sacrifices to bolster the "competitiveness" of South Korean products. He suggests
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Indonesian nuclear project stalledMinister of research and technology B.J. Habibie's determination to develop Indonesia's nuclear power industry hit another snag on December 12. Instead of being "rubber-stamped", a bill to give
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Swaziland police have arrested trade union and opposition leaders in an attempt to intimidate the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) into calling off an indefinite general strike which began on February 3. Police opened fire
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FMLN prepares for Salvadoran electionsOn March 16, Salvadorans go to the polls to elect a new 84-member Legislative Assembly and 262 local councils. The Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN)
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Indonesian military admits hundreds killed in West KalimantanRecent reports on the death toll following more than a month of unrest in West Kalimantan suggest that many more have been killed that the authorities first admitted.
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On February 6, People's Democratic Party (PRD) activists Ken Budha Kusumandaru, Victor Da Costa and Ignatius Putut Arintoko, who are being tried in Jakarta for subversion, presented a protest letter to court. Signed by PRD
Culture
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Prints and drawings of the Weimar Republic, Germany 1918-1933RMIT Gallery, Storey Hall, 344 Swanston St, City until March 1Art Gallery of South Australia, March 14-April 27Queensland Art Gallery, June 4-July 20Percy Tucker Gallery, Townsville, August
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Idiot BoxDirected by David CaesarProduced by Glenys RoweNational release on February 20 Preview by Marina Cameron Director David Caesar describes the purpose of his dark comedy as taking the audience on a roller coaster, and that's certainly how it
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A People's Tragedy: The Russian revolution 1891-1924By Orlando FigesCape, 1996Review By Phil Hearse This year is the 80th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, and among the liberal intelligentsia it's going to be open season on the October
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PORT LINCOLN — Queued up waiting to get into the Yothu Yindi concert at Centennial Oval on January 23 there were so many cops around you might have expected a convoy of uranium trucks to come roaring down New West Road headed for
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Let us Rise On Lygon Street a building stands a house of dreams, each stone a vision. A little tattered and worse, or should I say, better for wear this Parliament of workers. But solid, dignified and proud. I climb the steps so
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GuwanyiRedfern Aboriginal Community ExhibitionMuseum of SydneyUntil May 4 Review by Kellee Nolan Guwanyi is Aboriginal for "to tell". The exhibition tells the positive side of the Redfern story and reaches into the daily lives, expressions and
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The Regeneration Trilogy: Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, The Ghost RoadBy Pat BarkerViking, 1996. 592 pp., $24.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon It is almost 80 years since the first world war finished, but the horrors live on. In the murderous
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Save Our SonsSBS TV, February 27, 8.30pm (8 in SA) Preview by Lisa Macdonald This film, written and directed by Rebecca McLean, daughter of former Victorian ALP parliamentarian Jean McLean, is a long overdue documentation of a little known chapter
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A Black Armbanded History Roll Up! Roll up and see the show, armbanded historians in a row, spreading revisionism as they go, weaving distortion to and fro. Saying Robert Menzies was the greatest — greatest liar: that he never set the