Issue 285

By Zanny Begg BRISBANE — On July 25, the Ipswich branch of One Nation attempted to hold its first meeting in a hall managed by the Ipswich City Council. The meeting had to be rescheduled when the council cancelled the booking. Then Lord Mayor

LEO WALLIN works in Telstra's commercial and consumer business unit as a customer sales representative. He spoke to Green Left Weekly's JAMES VASSILOPOULOS about Telstra's new work regime and the enterprise bargaining proposal. Wallin says working in

Nurses continue fight for pay and conditions By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE— Victorian nurses voted on August 6 to close 20% of hospital beds as part of their long-running dispute with the state government over pay and staffing. All public

Darwin rally supports indigenous Australians By Tom Flanagan Darwin — More than 1200 people turned out here to express solidarity with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders on Saturday, August 2. "Walking Together", a march and concert,

Fighting racism at Melbourne University MELBOURNE — Strategies for students fighting racism will be discussed at a student general meeting (SGM) to be held on August 13 at Melbourne University. There is strong opposition to racism and the

Rally against the youth allowance By Alison Dellit MELBOURNE — Around 100 people gathered on August 6 to protest against the federal government's common youth allowance (CYA) for all young unemployed and students. Speakers at the rally

Sydney Campaign Against Racism meets By Shane Bentley SYDNEY — The Campaign Against Racism meeting at the University of Technology, Sydney, on August 5 went ahead with organising the "No to Hanson and Howard's Racism" rally planned for

By Mathew Munro HOBART — Around 300 people attended a rally on August 6 at the University of Tasmania to protest the administration's move to reduce "swot vac" (the exam study period) from nine days to four, and to hold three exam sessions per

By Marina Cameron Four states intend to trial changes to the young homeless allowance which require 15 year olds to have regular meetings with a family go-between before they can receive their allowance. According to the Australian, WA family

By Tim E. Stewart DARWIN — The campaign led by the Education Action Group (EAG) to reverse cuts to faculty funding at Northern Territory University won important ground last week. At the NTU Council meeting on August 7, students won one third

Inactive student guilds face active opposition By Corinne Glenn PERTH — In the lead-up to the national week of action against education cuts and up-front fees, you could be forgiven for thinking that student unions were banned and working

Teamsters' strike gathers strength James Vassilopoulos Some 185,000 members of the Teamsters Union in the United States began a nationwide strike from midnight on August 4. This is the first ever national strike against the United Parcel

Blair attempts to end free education By Marina Cameron Following the release of the Dearing review report on higher education, on July 24 the Blair Labour government announced a new policy for higher education in Britain. The policy

How the coalition collapsed By Allen Myers @box text intro = The armed conflict in Phnom Penh in early July was in many respects simply a renewal of the earlier conflict between the Cambodian People's Party forces and FUNCINPEC, which in

Suharto moves to silence critic By James Balowski On August 5, the private secretary of one of Indonesia's best known statespersons was brought to trial for "insulting" President Suharto. Thirty-four-year-old Buyung Rachmat Buchori is being

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — Five anti-nuclear protesters were hospitalised, and at least 30 more were left bruised and bloodied, after hundreds of thugs on July 29 staged an organised attack on a blockade outside the soon-to-be-completed Rostov

Joke of the week PM John Howard went to a primary school to address a group of children about tragedies. Before he started, he asked the children to give him an example of a tragedy. Several students raised their hands and he selected a little

Comment by Denis Olsen Many readers no doubt appreciate the critical edge pursued in Green Left Weekly's Cultural Dissent pages. It's nice to know that at least somewhere there exists a forum that argues for an aware culture, one that tries to

Sade/MaratPACT in association with UNSW Theatre and Film Studies FacultyDirected by Christopher RyanPACT Theatre, Railway Pde, Erskineville, SydneyUntil August 16 Review by Brendan Doyle Good news! Theatre is not dead! It's alive and kicking in