In comparison with many other countries Australia may appear to be relatively free of human rights abuses, but an Amnesty International report released earlier this year shows that our historical as well as current records are
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Anger grows at education cuts>The successful national day of student action on March 26 was a clear indication to the federal government and to campus administrations that students are still willing to fight attacks
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MELBOURNE — "You're so selfish to let us race our motor cars in the park for only four days a year", whine Premier Jeff Kennett and Grand Prix Corporation chief Ron Walker. Let me remind you what happens at Albert Park the
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Adrienne Hamill's piece "Is child-care the answer?" in the previous issue of GLW raises some important issues regarding the federal government's moves to limit affordable, quality child-care. Unfortunately, however, in so doing
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The March 26 national day of action and three-day occupation in Sydney of the University of Technology administration clearly demonstrates that students are ready and willing to fight the government's education cuts. What
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Love and trustLove and trust By Brandon Astor Jones "I never saw a man who looked/ With such a wistful eye/ Upon that little tent of blue/ Which prisoners call the sky." — Oscar Wilde, from The Ballad of Reading Gaol. She was
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Since the December 23 High Court decision that native title could co-exist with pastoral leases — the ik case — state, territory and National Party leaders and the National Farmers Federation (NFF) have demanded that native title rights be
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Utopian fantasy or realistic option?Utopian fantasy or realistic option? By Dave Holmes February next year is the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Marx and Engels' famous Manifesto of the Communist Party. This event can
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"Everybody else is part of the new global economy. It's time the schools joined in." So stated as a recent editorial in the Economist magazine. That issue featured the findings of a piece of research on educational standards involving schools in
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National Challenge, the militant rank-and-file group in the Community and Public Sector Union, is running a national ticket against the incumbent ALP-dominated leadership team in the upcoming union elections. The ticket
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The Colston affair The federal attorney-general, Daryl Williams, will continue examining until April 18 whether "independent" Senator Mal Colston's claiming of 43 days' of travel allowance when he wasn't travelling is sufficiently serious to
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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
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Feminism, sex and censorshipFeminism, sex and censorship The self-appointed guardians of the nation's morals are on the march again, this time under the leadership of Senator Richard Alston, National Party leader Tim Fischer and treasurer
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Population and growth Your "issues" editor lets your writers define terms in strange ways. Peter Boyle, "Why greens should be reds" in #267, seems to contradict both himself and Alex Bainbridge's "Self-sufficiency or self-determination?" in
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"You ought to get down on your knees and say thank you that we've got a police force that is trying to keep society free." — Joh Bjelke-Petersen, when premier of Queensland. From the beginnings of the industrial revolution,
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Tummy troubleTummy trouble A lot of letters we receive are from people with tummy trouble. Nevertheless, they don't want to forgo the delights of consuming a range of different foodstuffs. Can we help them, they ask? Of course. Let
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The women's movement must embrace women from all social classes, races, origins. Yet it will survive only if its class analysis does not sit prettily with an accommodation of the bourgeoisie. It will mean nothing if it does not
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The January-February issue of New Internationalist contains an article by Jeremy Seabrook, "A world to be won", subtitled "The future of the left". The topic is one that has been much discussed since the disintegration of the
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Industrial disputes rise briefly in 1996 James Vassilopoulos The number of working days lost to strikes in 1996 was just under 1 million, an increase of 69% over the 1995 calendar year. This was the highest level of industrial activity for
News
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MELBOURNE — Controversy has erupted over the current round of enterprise bargaining negotiations at Melbourne University. A branch meeting of the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union (NTEU) on March 26 voted to defer
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DARWIN — A screening on March 27 of the new documentary There is Only One Word — Resist! ended a week-long visit by Nico Warouw, international representative of the People's Democratic Party (PRD). The film, shown at the NT
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BRISBANE — Less than a month after its opening, 200 to 300 high- and medium-security prisoners have "trashed" Queensland's newest prison, Woodford Correctional Centre, in protest over insufficient and poor quality food,
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WorkCover fight continuesMelbourne — A campaign of constant harassment by construction workers is beginning to fluster the Victorian premier, Jeff Kennett. For the past fortnight, 100 building workers have gathered
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RMIT O-week handbook attackedThe Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) orientation handbook, a student-produced publication, has been attacked for supposedly advocating illegal ways for students
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The outgoing chairperson of the national State of the Environment Advisory Committee, Ian Lowe, has warned that any strengthening of pastoral leases in response to the National Farmers Federation's anti-Wik campaign would
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MELBOURNE — On March 14, the Minister for the Environment Senator Robert Hill announced a decision to proceed with the excision of Point Lillias from Ramsar Convention-listed wetlands in Port Phillip Bay to facilitate the
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SYDNEY — More than 70 people attended a meeting organised by AID/WATCH on March 25 to discuss the ramifications of the recent fiasco around mercenaries hired by the PNG government to intervene in Bougainville. Speakers
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Gay and Lesbian Pride march HOBART — A small but lively group attended the annual Gay and Lesbian Pride march to Parliament House Lawns on March 21. Speakers addressed the issues of visibility and of being out and proud in Tasmanian. The
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Library under threatNEWCASTLE — Students are organising to prevent the closure of the Huxley Library at Newcastle University. A public forum and a protest march are planned for April 8 and 9 respectively. The Huxley
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Losse cannons Forgive and forget "Chemical manufacturing giant ICI may escape prosecution over a series of gas leaks and a fire last year at its Botany plant, despite State Government criticism and threats at the time to close the plant and
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By Margaret Allan. Supporters of Green Left Weekly have given generously to the paper's fighting fund so far this year. During last month alone, donations and fundraising totalled $13,229. Those who support the paper financially understand
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Labour Hire employees win union protectionMELBOURNE — The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's (AMWU) Victorian branch has won a major breakthrough by getting the Labour Hire group of companies to sign an agreement
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BRISBANE — Around 60 people gathered at Dunwich on Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) on March 26 to protest against sand mining on land of great environmental and cultural significance. The group marched to one of the mines at
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PERTH — "The Court government's attempt to rush through a 'third wave' of attacks on industrial relations before they lose control of the upper house on May 22 shows its complete contempt for WA workers. They have no
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CANBERRA — A photo exhibition in Parliament House on East Timor's World War II experience was censored just hours before it was to open on March 24. A second exhibition, which included the banned material, had to be organised.
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HOBART — Around 700 people joined a march and rally against racism on March 22 which was organised by Labor MP John White and the United Nations Association on behalf of Tasmanians Against Racism (TAR). Participants were asked
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Punished for being homelessDARWIN — A woman who spoke at a rally of homeless Aboriginal people here on March 17 has been fined $1060 for taking two blankets and a bedspread from a city motel. Her partner was fined $540 for
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Frontline in trouble?MELBOURNE — The non-appearance of progressive newspaper Frontline for four months has been accompanied by rumours in union and left circles that the paper has collapsed. Frontline was a free newspaper
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Support for a boycott of the May 29 general elections in Indonesia is growing as the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-Struggle) increase their level of protest. On March 30, almost
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YOUNG — Gold was first found in 1860 at Burragong Creek on Lambing Flat — now the town of Young. Many of the 22,000 miners working the fields were Chinese. The Europeans, resentful of the Chinese miners, and pressured the
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PERTH — University of Western Australia students will vote in a referendum on April 14-16 to decide whether the Student Guild will stay affiliated to the National Union of Students. The Liberals have inundated the campus with
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ADELAIDE — As part of the government-sponsored TakeOver '97 Australian Festival for Young People, the Capital City Congress was held over three days to involve young people in a discussion on the future of Australian society.
World
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Large demonstrations across the West Bank have protested against Israeli settlement and the continuing violation of Palestinian rights. More than 400 Palestinians have been injured by tear gas and rubber bullets in clashes with
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Scandal widens over Gulf War illnessesIn late 1991, the year of the Gulf slaughter, returning US soldiers began to complain of symptoms like chronic fatigue, pains in the joints, digestive problems and headaches.
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Indonesia's general elections on May 29 will be conducted under some of the most restrictive campaign rules to date. But what make these elections unusual is that, for the first time, large sections of the population did want
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PERTH — The Australia Cuba Friendship Society presented a video documentary, Inside Castro's Cuba, on February 22 at Cafe Folklorico in North Perth. The presentation was attended by approximately 25 people, including Dean
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The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire, led by Laurent Kabila, is leading the armed struggle sweeping Zaire. In France, the Coalition of Democratic Organisations of the Zairean Diaspora (CODEZAD) represents the alliance.
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From Comoro airport to Dili, it seems there are more police than public; they are more obvious. Two or three at every intersection and at points in between. This sets the atmosphere for my visit to the island, an atmosphere of
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DUNLOY — When you drive across the border from the south of Ireland into the north, the marks of political conquest and struggle are obvious. The road signs revert from bilingual Gaelic and English to English, heavily armed and
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The decision by PNG prime minister Julius Chan, his deputy Chris Haiveta and defence minister Mathias Ijape to stand aside pending an inquiry into the hiring of the Sandline/Executive Outcomes mercenaries was made because
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Education needed to combat AIDSRecent reports from Brazil indicate that lack of education is a significant factor in the growth of AIDS, particularly amongst women. Of the first AIDS cases registered in Brazil in 1983,
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Global pesticide market grows in 1996 According to a recently released report, global agrochemical sales grew by 5.5%, to US$30,560 million at the end-user level in 1996. Growth in real terms is estimated to be approximately 2.2%. This is the
Culture
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Love from a male perspective MenlovePerformed by the Didi Koi Dance CompanyTheatreworks, St Kilda, MelbourneUntil April 20$20/$14Bookings 9534 3388 Review by Bronwen Beechey Menlove is about love and relationships from a male viewpoint. Tim
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MongrelsBy Nick EnrightDirected by Adam CookSydney Theatre CompanyThe Wharf, Sydney Review by Brendan Doyle Yet again we go back to the good old '70s, when there were real issues, real people and real passionate playwrights! Or were there? A
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SYDNEY — The Solidarity Choir will be celebrating its 10th anniversary and launching a new CD on Sunday, April 13, with a benefit concert for Tranby Aboriginal Training College. The event, at Redfern Town Hall from 2pm to
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Third World BluesBy David WilliamsonDirected by David BertholdDrama Theatre, Sydney Opera House Review by Brendan Doyle Williamson wrote the first draft of this play in 1972, he says, "in a white heat of rage about the Vietnam War and the
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The Meagre Harvest: The Australian Women's Movement 1950s-1990sBy Gisela KaplanAllen and Unwin, 1996. 242 pp., $29.95 Reviewed by Jo Brown The Meagre Harvest surveys the experiences, successes and failures of the Australian women's movement over
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When We Were KingsDirected by Leon GastWith Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Don King, Mobutu Sese Seko, James Brown, Miriam Makeba, Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Spike Lee and B.B. KingOpens in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth on April 10,