Issue 300

News

By Lana Halpin BRISBANE — The National Union of Students (Queensland) held its state conference here November 24-25. The affiliation of the University of Queensland has substantially changed its balance of forces, many more left delegates being
Rally opposes uranium mining, woodchipping, greenhouse emissions HOBART — About 150 people staged a lively march through the city streets here on November 28 to protest against plans to mine uranium at Jabiluka in Kakadu. The protest, organised
By Sue Bolton MELBOURNE — Now that the Victorian government's WorkCover bill is before parliament, and unions have had a chance to scrutinise it, it has been discovered to be worse than predicted. In addition to removing the right of injured
CES staff strike against individual contracts By Paul Oboohov CANBERRA — Commonwealth Employment Service workers here struck on the afternoon of November 27 to protest against cuts in working conditions contained in an individual contract.
By Allen Myers In the week before the opening of the Kyoto conference on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, scientific studies of temperatures around the world appear to show that 1997 will be the hottest year since human beings began
By Wendy Robertsonand Keara Cortney SYDNEY — Forty people attended a "Stop the Jabiluka mine" information and planning night at the Wayside Chapel here on November 24 to discuss ways of increasing the activist base of the campaign. The night
Plantation sell-off threatens native title A federal government push to privatise publicly owned forest plantations poses a serious threat to native title rights, the Queensland Greens declared on November 25. Spokesperson Peter Sykes said that the
Protest over arrests of Los Palos Six By Kerryn Williams CANBERRA — Responding to a call by the Dublin-based East Timor Solidarity Campaign for worldwide actions to protest against the British government's jailing of six East Timorese
Opposition to nuclear reactor grows By Chris Spindler SYDNEY — Citizens Against a Nuclear Reactor (CANR) has been formed to oppose the federal government's plans to build a new nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights. CANR is calling on the government
Memorial to Robert Walker By Craig Cormick CANBERRA — More than 50 people met on November 23 to commemorate a plaque and plant a tree in memory of Aboriginal poet Robert Walker, who died in custody in 1984. Robert Walker died in Fremantle
AIDS crisis far from over By Marina Carman SYDNEY — On November 24, a black coffin was carried by AIDS activists from Circular Quay to Parliament House. A minute's silence was held as a mark of respect for the 5370 Australians who have died
Hinchinbrook 'beach being built' Video evidence collected by the Friends of Hinchinbrook and the North Queensland Conservation Council shows that Cardwell Properties, the Hinchinbrook developer, is constructing a beach on the foreshore and over
Doctors' hunger strike continues By Andy Gianniotis SYDNEY — The hunger strike by 40 overseas-trained doctors entered its 11th day on November 28. They are camped outside NSW Parliament House. The doctors are members of the Australian Doctors

World

By Norm Dixon In 1884-85, the European powers sat down at the Berlin colonial conference to formalise Africa's carve-up into colonies. The orgy of brutal invasions that preceded the conference was aptly dubbed "the scramble for Africa" by the
By Peter Gellert MEXICO CITY — A major human-rights scandal involving the city's police department continues to pick up steam following the arrest on November 18 of three top military commanders of elite police units. The police force has been
'Asian contagion' brings Brazilian austerity On November 10, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced a package of 51 austerity measures to shore up the real, the dollar-backed currency he designed in 1994 when he was finance
By Peter Sullivan On October 26, municipal elections were held in Colombia. The international media were at pains to convince the world that Colombia's bipartisan political system was one of the most advanced "democracies" in Latin America. The
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — In the first decade of the next century, a series of reactor blocks at Russian nuclear power plants will reach the end of their designed service life. Government officials will then have to choose between two grim
Protests mark APEC By Jon Land Human rights and solidarity activists' protests at the APEC summit, November 22-25 in Vancouver, Canada, focused on the failure of governments in the Asia Pacific region to deal with human rights problems caused
Conference urges international workers' unity By Caroline Lund SAN FRANCISCO — An important conference took place in mid-November: the Western Hemisphere Workers' Conference Against NAFTA and Privatisations. The nearly 400 participants came
Fallout on Tahitian nuclear tests Following the publication in Papeete, Tahiti, of the results of the independent inquiry into the consequences of the nuclear tests on the Tahitian people, several members of Hiti Tau, a Polynesian
By Norm Dixon Thirty-eight trade unionists protesting against the visit of Indonesian President Suharto to South Africa were arrested in Cape Town on November 20. The protesters, members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), who
By Vivienne Porzsolt In late September, I was one of 16 international activists from Britain, the US, Canada, Belgium and Australia who converged on Israel to draw international attention to the plight of Mordechai Vanunu, who has been in solitary

Culture

Murder, bigotry and the holidays River's EdgeBy Cath PhillipsBlackwattle Press149pp, $15.95 TrashtownBy Robert TaitBlackwattle Press224pp, $16.95 Reviewed by Kath Gelber At this time of year, many of us are on the lookout for some light
Comedy consortium bids for rights to Jesus By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE — Highly regarded local entrepreneurs Rod Quantock, Fred Rowan and Lynda Gibson (better known for their comedy appearances on stage and TV) are preparing a bid to secure
A new voice, worth listening to Capital Volume 1By Anthony MacrisAllen & Unwin, $16.95 Review by Maree Roberts This, Macris' first novel, represents a fresh voice in Australian fiction. Not the usual middle-class-angst voice or the
DSS and other thingsTribe of NewSend $25 to PO Box 95, Wyongah, NSW 2259 Review by James Smith Unfortunately, being a musician often involves an intimate, intense and often dysfunctional relationship with Centrelink, usually resulting in feelings
For My Comrade Today I come to visit you, comradeto wake you up in the morning. You hear the loud voicesfrom the machine gunsand the voices of crying shakes you, comrade I come to visit you, ComradeTo knock on the window of your heart;To the
Music across cultures Reviewed by Sujatha Fernandes Star RiseNusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael BrookFeaturing remixes by Joi, Talvin Singh, Asian Dub Foundation, Sate of Bengal, Aki Nawaz, Black Star Liner, Nitin Sawhney, Earthtribe, the Dhol
Black UnityPharoah SandersImpulse through MCA/Universal By Norm Dixon The reissue of the Pharoah Sander's classic 1971 album Black Unity documents another step in this brilliant, underrated artist's evolution. It is also a jazz snapshot of the mood

Editorial

Editorial: How to defend native title How to defend native title As opposition mounts to Howard's native title amendment bill, the government is desperate to claw back support by raising the bogey that native title claims will be made over