Issue 279

News

Metalworkers rally for award MELBOURNE—Metalworkers around Victoria attended rallies to defend their award conditions over the past week. They were responding to the fact that July 1 is the day on which the provisions of the Howard
By Marina Cameron On May 28, the chair of the government's review of higher education, Roderick West, stated publicly that the Liberals' cuts to funding had affected higher education quality through staff cuts, less student-staff contact hours,
James Vassilopoulos In an unprecedented move, eight community and church aged care provider groups have issued a joint paper highly critical of the federal government's changes in aged care. The organisations include the Alzheimers Association
Aboriginal leaders condemn land theft By Nick Everett BRISBANE — Since the 1967 referendum, "the advances of the first 10 years for Aboriginal people have stagnated over the last 20 years", declared FAIRA (Foundation for Aboriginal and
Australians for Native Title launched By Wendy Robertson SYDNEY — Four hundred people, including high-profile actors, Aboriginal leaders, TV personalities, singers and sports stars attended the launch of Australians for Native Title on
Festival Records picket continues By Shane Bentley SYDNEY — Picketers outside Festival Records have entered their sixth week on the picket line established by members of the National Union of Workers after Festival issued redundancy
Migrant women rally By Sue Bull CANBERRA — "We've learned to speak. We've learned to stand and walk. Don't cut off our legs." These words adorned placards held by 100 women who rallied outside Parliament House on June 17 to oppose cuts to
Indonesia, East Timor public meeting By Janet Parker SYDNEY — "How long can Suharto Survive?" was the theme of a public meeting held by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) on June 19. An audience of 50 people heard
Government gags EDOs By Carl Gosper In a major attack on the enforcement of environmental law, the Howard government has told Environmental Defender's Offices (EDOs) that they can no longer take legal action against state or federal
'Big pong' hits Adelaide By Jon Lamb ADELAIDE — A controversy has been literally "brewing" out in the streets over the last few months. Because of a breakdown in the processing of sewage at the state's largest treatment plant, the air has
By Marina Cameron The government announced on June 18 that from July next year, a new common youth allowance will replace unemployment benefits for young people aged 18-20, Austudy and youth training, sickness and family allowances. The
Saving Giblett forest — again By Angela Luvera and Anthony Benbow PERTH — Giblett forest, one of the areas saved from logging by WA's 1994 forest blockade, has been under threat again since earlier this year, when the WA government's
Campaign Against Racism established in Melbourne By Maurice Sibelle MELBOURNE — Campaign Against Racism was set up here at a meeting on June 12. CAR was established to oppose the racism of Howard and Hanson following the successful
Strike threat at Olympic site By Shane Bentley SYDNEY — Members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union at the Olympic site at Homebush Bay have threatened to take industrial action if their concerns over workplace safety
New threat to Aboriginal Day of Mourning site By Chris Martin SYDNEY — Aboriginal activists campaigning to save the historic Day of Mourning conference site in Elizabeth Street are stepping up their campaign following the lodging of a

World

By Eva Cheng Early this year, Beijing's international investment arm — China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) — sold 15.5% of its Hong Kong-listed Citic Pacific to the latter's chairman, Larry Yung Chi-kin, and senior
By Adam Hanieh JERUSALEM — Well-known political commentator Noam Chomsky spoke to a packed lecture theatre on June 7 at Bir Zeit University, near the Palestinian town of Ramallah. Chomsky has been a consistent critic of US policy in the Middle
London verdict gives McDonald's little joy A verdict was handed down on June 19 in the libel case brought by McDonald's against two supporters of London Greenpeace, Helen Steel and Dave Morris, for distributing a six-page fact sheet, "What's
By Adam Hanieh HEBRON — Tension was high as I entered the city centre. Someone warned me that there had been more "problems"; I soon saw what they meant. Ahead Palestinian youth clutched rocks, while the soldiers faced them with machine-guns
By Lisa Young LONDON — The first public meeting of the International Committee Against Disappearances (ICAD) British section was held here on May 21. The use of "disappearances" as a means of intimidation and oppression against indigenous
Pakistani carpet workers strike On June 11, 20,000 members of the United Carpet Industries Labour Union struck in Lahore, closing all 130 workplaces in the city. Red flags were flying outside the occupied factories and above the four strike
By Max Lane The Indonesian press has described riots at Medaeng prison in Surabaya on June 11 and 12 as the biggest in Indonesian history. According to Pos Kota daily, 575 prisoners rioted, destroying 12 buildings, including six prison blocks.
Protesters destroy government office in East Java On Friday, June 13, thousands of people supporting the PPP [United Development Party] in Jember, East Java, held a protest action over the elections. This action eventually developed into mass
By Nikki Ulasowski and Russell Pickering AMSTERDAM — On June 14, 50,000 people from across Europe gathered in Amsterdam at Dam Square to protest against "unemployment, exclusion and insecurity". The protest preceded the Inter Governmental
By Farooq Sulehria LAHORE — Jeddojuhd Inqilabi Tehrik (Struggle Revolutionary Movement) was formed in 1994 in Lahore by trade union and Marxist activists around the monthly magazine Mazdoor Jeddojuhd (Workers Struggle) as a movement to

Culture

Brisbane's Solstice Festival By Nick Everett BRISBANE — The city's third Winter Solstice Festival took place over the June 6-9 long weekend. The festival is described by its organisers, the Queensland Folk Federation, as demonstrating a
Inventing the AbbottsProduced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Janet Meyers Review by John Tognolini The advertisement on TV shows three young women. "They're the Abbots — they're rich", it blasts out. The next scene is two young men, and the
Pagans at Brendan Behan @box text intro = SYDNEY — The Born Again Pagans will be launching a new CD on Thursday, June 26, from 8 to 10pm, at the Brendan Behan Hotel (formerly the Britannia) in Cleveland Street, Chippendale. An occasion not to
Two Faces (Detention Without Trial)By Dr Syed Husin AliINSAN, Malaysia, 1996, 169pp.Order from INSAN, 11, Jalan 11/4E, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Review by Eva Cheng Since 1960, the Malaysian government has used a tool
By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE — Maree Clarke, coordinator of the Koori Arts Unit (KAU) of the City of Port Phillip, was recently contacted by a woman who wanted to buy some Aboriginal art. "I told her to come and see the work we had left from
The Cultural Front: the Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth CenturyBy Michael DenningVerso, 1996. 556 pp., $55.00 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon Swimming against the stream all the time can be tiring and unrewarding, for Marxists as much