After 40 years of almost unbroken government in Queensland, the ALP entered the political wilderness in 1957 after a crippling split. In 1989 it regained office under the leadership of Wayne Goss. Now, despite his determination last
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On the box 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 —
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Tough new press rules in the UK to protect privacy and curb smut-hounds have fuelled debate about whether Australia should adopt similar safeguards. Intimidation and harassment by photographers and journalists are banned under
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Lou Gugenberger, one of the stalwarts of the left and green movements in Brisbane for many years, died of a heart attack on January 8. A lifelong friend of Lou's told the diverse audience at the funeral ceremony held on January 19 that Lou had said
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Behind the Paula Jones 'story' Paula Jones, the 29-year old woman who has charged US President Bill Clinton with sexual harassment, has become a pawn. Jones' decision in 1994 to file a civil suit for sexual harassment against the most
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Arguments for socialism: Pigs at the troughA recent middle of the night attempt by NSW parliamentarians from all parties to increase their own superannuation entitlements by an average of 30% sparked a week of front-page
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Repackaging old perspectivesAt last week's ALP national conference in Hobart, Mark Latham, shadow minister for education and youth affairs, outlined Labor's education policy for the next federal election. Latham said Labor
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With the rupiah plunging to 16,750 to the US dollar last week and prices jumping, sometimes twice a day, the political and social consequences of the currency crisis in Indonesia are starting to be felt. Green Left Weekly spoke to MAX LANE,
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January 26 is seen by most people in this country as a day of celebration for the Australian nation. But the reality is that not many of us have much to celebrate — the indigenous among us even less — thanks to the ever more brutal policies of
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The full picture of the attempted genocide of Australia's indigenous people still remains largely unacknowledged in official Australian history. This is because of (rather than despite) the fact that the forcible removal
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For John Brink My God calls to me in the morning dewThe power of the universe knows my nameGave me a song to sing and sent me on my wayI raise my voice for justice, I believe. — "I Remember, I Believe", by Sweet Honey in the Rock John Brink,
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Peter Montague A new peer-reviewed study in England shows that children have an increased danger of getting cancer if they live within three to five kilometres of certain kinds of industrial facilities. The study, by E.G. Knox and E.A. Gilman,
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Multicultural democracy Democracy has to be more than picking between tweedledum and tweedleduller on a ballot paper and then sticking our heads back in the sand till next time or demonstrating for TV cameras. South Africa's and New Zealand's
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Indonesia's economy in free-fallOn January 22, banks in Indonesia demanded a massive 16,750 rupiahs for every US dollar they put on offer, but paid only 11,000 rupiahs for each dollar sold to them. The banks created the 5750 gap
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Looking out: The children"Standing with reluctant feet,/ Where the brook and river meet,/ Womanhood and childhood fleet!" — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 180782 ARE THESE CHRISTIANS? They demand that I kill many others
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The federal government is contemplating the introduction of a voucher system for secondary schools, along the lines of the one it has set up for universities. The proposal is contained in the "Schools Funding: Consultation
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The pope knows There was this pope, see — pope someone or other — an old codger who liked sticking his nose in everyone else's business. A busybody bishop? No, no. He was a pope, which is higher than a bishop. I mean, popes are like
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Where have all the taxes gone?The controversy about the federal government's last budget and the current political shenanigans over introducing a consumption tax demonstrate the unrest changes to the tax system evoke. As the
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Why we must defend the maritime workers Continued from page 3. All unions and workers must defend the maritime workers. Besides a verbal commitment, unions must also be prepared to give industrial support. Last November a national meeting of
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In 1978, former PM Malcolm Fraser granted approval for uranium mining at Nabarlek in the Northern Territory. Situated in Arnhem land, 20 kilometres north-east of Gunnbalanya, Nabarlek is adjacent to an Aboriginal sacred site and within
News
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Loose cannons Green Left Weekly's witty Loose cannons editor has taken a well-earned break this week. But don't worry you LC junkies, you'll get your weekly dose of laughter at "their" expense next week.
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BRISBANE — The Queensland branch of the Transport Workers Union is challenging a court threat to two union delegates who have been charged under the federal Workplace Relations Act of alleged breaches of "freedom of association".
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A judgment handed down by the full bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) on December 23 strips conditions from the hospitality industry award. The decision cuts a swathe through the hospitality award.
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Commission fails to protect tunaThe future of the critically endangered southern bluefin tuna is now even bleaker after the international body charged with its protection failed yet again to take action to save it. The
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BRISBANE — A trial date of May 12 has been set by the Brisbane Magistrates Court for 17 activists arrested at Canungra Land Warfare Centre on December 7, the 22nd anniversary of the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia. All 17
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SYDNEY — The Labor Party's national conference in Hobart has approved plans to build an airport at Badgerys Creek in Sydney's western suburbs. No debate or discussion on the proposed airport preceded the conference decision.
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CANBERRA — As the February 21 ACT election approaches, there is a real possibility that another minority government will be elected. A recent independent poll has found that minor parties and independents will do well, and
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WOLLONGONG — As a result of a three-year campaign by Warrawong residents, the NSW state government has made funds available to reopen the Warrawong Community Centre (WCC) and employ full-time staff. The centre will celebrate its reopening by
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NEWCASTLE — Workers at Rio Tinto's Mt Thorley mine went on strike on January 21 in response to a proposed new enterprise bargaining agreement which breaks award conditions. The main change in the proposed agreement is a move from
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HOBART — Demonstrators demanding "No Uranium mining" greeted delegates attending the ALP national conference here on January 20. The action was called when activists learned the ALP was to debate a policy calling
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NTEU members save unionist's jobCANBERRA — The president of the Australian National University branch of the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union, Dr Doug Kelly, has had his forced redundancy withdrawn after NTEU
Analysis
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Editorial: New bottles, old poison New bottles, old poison NSW ALP "left" Anthony Albanese had predicted "intense debate and a few old-style Labor stoushes" at the 41st ALP national conference in Hobart. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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Why should full-time workers (many of whom are on less than $35,000 per year) support maritime workers (some of whom receive $70,000) in their fight against the government and the maritime bosses?
World
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With six Catholics shot dead after six weeks of a loyalist killing spree, the prospects for a peace settlement in Northern Ireland seem bleaker now than at any time since the current talks began in October. The latest victims were
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Paramilitarism and popular resistance in ColombiaOn November 21, a paramilitary group assassinated 15 campesinos in the municipality of Viota in the province of Cundinamarca in Colombia. The people of Viota were considered
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BRISBANE — At its 5th national convention in San Salvador last December, El Salvador's revolutionary opposition party, the FMLN, launched a "political offensive to win the hearts and minds of the people". According to Ricardo
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MANILA — Around 300 delegates representing some 10,900 members launched Akbayan (Citizen's Action Party) on January 17. The Philippines left is gearing up for national elections in May. Well-known Filipino Marxist academic and
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KANDY, Sri Lanka — Devi and Ramani left their one- roomed homes in the tea estates at a very young age to work as maids in Colombo. They returned in coffins. They worked for many years with two families. Both were routinely
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Zimbabwe's government has been painted into a corner by the growing dissatisfaction of the country's urban poor and the working class on the one hand, and the demands of big business and western financial institutions on the other.
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On January 18, a bomb exploded in an apartment in the central Jakarta slum district of Tanah Tinggi. Indonesian police say they found documents belonging to the banned People's Democratic Party (PRD), and a top military official
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Stakes high in Mexico CityMEXICO CITY — The stakes and expectations are high for the Mexico City administration of mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), which was elected on July 6 and
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Labor succumbs to mining industry pressureBRISBANE — Reporting on the ALP national conference held in Hobart last week, the January 22 Courier-Mail noted that Labor had "signalled it was ready to soften part of its
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Chiapas once again burst on to the front pages of the world's newspapers with news of a massacre in the small town of Acteal on December 22. Local members of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) gunned down 45
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Reign of terror in OgonilandThe Nigerian military dictatorship has dramatically escalated its brutality in Ogoniland in the west African country's Niger River delta. The region remains under military occupation. The crackdown
Culture
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Stoking the Flame The Light on the Hillmay flicker and dim,at times — the bad times,it may fail to illuminatethe road ahead. It is then that we mustcup our hands around it,protect and nurture it,feed its sacred flame,revive its scarlet heart.
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Transcending barriers The Joy of Being Alive (Live)By Trude AspelingJOBAOrder from PO Box 568, Leichhardt NSW 2040 Review by John Gauci Trude Aspeling was the first Australian vocalist to perform at London's premier Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club,
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details = SleepFive Stories HighBackspace Theatre (as part of Hobart Fringe Festival) — January 29-30, $10/8 concession Review by Jane Marni Hobart's women's circus, Five Stories High, presents feminist performance art. It is based on a
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Byron: The Flawed AngelBy Phyllis GrosskurthSceptre, 1997510 pp., $19.95 (pb) Review by Phil Shannon Lord Byron provoked strong passions. Attacked in his day by Tory journals as the "poet of seduction, adultery and incest: the contemner of
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Making humble work come to life Humble Work and Mad Wanderings: Street Life in the Machine AgeBy Ken AppolloNevada City, California: Carl Mautz Publishing, 1997. 108 pp, 61 duotone images$34.95 plus $3.50 shipping from 228 Commercial Street,
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Pacific UnionBy Alex BuzoDirected by Aarne NeemeNew Theatre, Newtown, SydneyUntil 7 February Review by Brendan Doyle Pacific Union tells part of the story of Australia's involvement in the first conference of the United Nations, held in San
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Porsche belt humour SeinfeldChannel 107pm week nights Review by Al McCall After stitching up a deal for another season the cast of Seinfeld must have been pretty peeved when Jerry pulled the rug from under them. As one of the cast may have
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THROUGH AND THROUGH THROUGH AND THROUGHa Christian?No, but I know many very wella Muslim?No, but with them too I dwella Buddhist?No, but their truths live and tella Jew?No, but into them as well I meldFOR ALL OF THOSEyou see, are integral parts of
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details = Prison Songs Volume 2: Don'tcha Hear Poor Mother Calling?Various artistsRounder Records (through Festival) Review by James Smith John Lomax and his son Alan might best be remembered for travelling across America and discovering Huddie