By Bruce Marlowe
SYDNEY — The crippling role of the federal Workplace Relations Act has again been underlined after industrial relations minister Peter Reith admitted he advised Patrick boss Chris Corrigan not to pay Port Botany wharfies because
Issue 311
News
Sea of Hands
A Sea of Hands, organised by Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation, was held at Sydney's Bondi Beach on March 20-21 before moving on to Wollongong.
Photo by Carla Gorton.
Support for Jabiluka action widens
By Wendy Robertsonand Kirstie Brien
SYDNEY — The Jabiluka Action Group here has continued to grow and win support for its campaign. The April 5 national day of action has attracted an impressive range of
By Jennifer Thompson
SYDNEY — The National Aboriginal History and Heritage Council (NAHHC) has taken the next step in its campaign to establish an Aboriginal history and cultural museum on the Elizabeth Street site of the Australian Hall. The
By Sue Bull
CANBERRA — Few here were surprised to see Liberal leader Kate Carnell re-elected as chief minister in the ACT. Her massive personal vote, the ALP's abysmal performance and "independent" Michael Moore's obsequious devotion assured her
By Ben Reid
MELBOURNE — Attempts by the right-dominated leadership of the Victorian ALP resulted in to foist a "star" candidate — former ABC broadcaster Mary Delahunty — onto the suburban state seat of Northcote has produced objections from
By Allen Myers
The real unemployment rate in Australia is probably more than double the official rate of 8.1%, according to figures from an Australian Bureau of Statistics study announced on March 9. The survey "Persons Not in the Labour Force",
Criminal justice activists conference
By Karen Fletcher
The 2nd annual conference of community justice activists — Law and Order: Whose agenda is it anyway? — will be held in Brisbane, March 26-28. The conference will bring together activists
By Nikki Ulasowski and Amanda Lawrence
CANBERRA— Following the charging of two Perth doctors and calls by feminists for the repeal of all abortion laws, ACT Pro-Choice has been formed in Canberra. The group hopes to build on the work of former
By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — Power workers at Queensland's four major electricity stations have threatened to sue Liberal deputy premier Joan Sheldon over remarks she made blaming possible union "sabotage" for the power breakdowns which caused
By Rupen Savoulian
SYDNEY — An estimated 8-10,000 people braved inclement weather to attend a rally against the proposed second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek on March 15. An alliance of western Sydney local councils organised the rally at
By Ian Jamieson
Tasmania's minority Liberal government is continuing to receive stunning blows as a result of its attempt to "reform" local government in Tasmania. In a series of Australian Electoral Commission-run polls organised by seven
By Jeremy Smith
MELBOURNE — In a move designed to provoke industrial action, management at Monash University cancelled all negotiations over enterprise bargaining at the end of February. National Tertiary, Education and Industry Union (NTEU)
By Jo Williams
MELBOURNE — Fifty people attended a "Feminism and Socialism" seminar at the Resistance Centre on March 14. Organised by Resistance and the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP), the seminar included feature talks, workshops and campaign
Abortion campaigning in Hobart
By Kamala Emanuel
HOBART — The prosecution of WA doctors for performing an abortion has once again brought into public view the anti-abortion laws across Australia. Hobart pro-choice activists are organising two
World
Dock workers under attack
By Barry Sheppard
The Liverpool dockers' heroic 28-month struggle in England was especially noteworthy for the international solidarity campaign that resulted in actions and work stoppages by fellow dockers in more
By Ahmad Nimer
The collapse of Stalinism in the late 1980s and early '90s has resulted in a widespread rethinking of the notion of revolutionary politics and in particular the concept of state power. This discussion has resulted in numerous
By Siddartha
NEW DELHI — The threat of communalism looms large over India as the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance is set to form the central government. After two weeks of post-poll machinations, the BJP has managed to gather just enough
By Eva Cheng
At Chinese Communist Party congress in September — the first formal occasion since Deng Xiaoping's death on which China's state, military and CP chief Jiang Zemin could show the world that he was really in charge — Jiang announced
The following is a detailed account of the actions on March 19 and 20 in Lampung, South Sumatra, given to Green Left Weekly by some of the activists involved. One hundred and twenty students were injured, eight with broken bones; 121 were arrested;
By Michael Karadjis
The slaughter unleashed by Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian regime in the occupied region of Kosovo, killing 80 innocent villagers in the region of Drenica, has provoked western condemnation. However, this has little to do with
Indonesia solidarity dinner
By Karen Fletcher
BRISBANE — The local branch of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) heard an update on the situation for pro-democracy activists in Indonesia from ASIET national coordinator
By Kathryn Fairfax
SYDNEY — More than 50 people gathered to hear Patricia Pego Guerra, a visiting representative of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and the Union of Young Communists, speak about life in Cuba after 40 years of
IWD in Guatemala
By Chantal Wynter
GUATEMALA CITY — On March 8, a lively gathering of some 3000 women and men marched through the streets of Guatemala City to celebrate International Women's Day. People from the indigenous Mayan community,
By Norm Dixon
South Africa's finance minister, Trevor Manuel, on March 11 delivered the African National Congress government's fifth budget. The speech was met with applause from big business and raspberries from the trade union movement. With the
Adam Hanieh
RAMALLAH — Tension in the West Bank has increased dramatically in the last two weeks following the shooting of three Palestinian workers at a roadblock into the West Bank on March 10. As Palestinians working in Israel were returning
By Jon Land
United States journalist and East Timor solidarity activist Allan Nairn was deported from Jakarta on March 18. Indonesian authorities threatened Nairn that if he entered Indonesia again he would be jailed for up to six years. Police
Culture
Cuba, culture and compassion
iew from a Wooden ChairJumping FencesThrough Grevillea Records Review by Lynda Hansen
After meeting with local Latin American musicians in 1979, Sue Monk and Lauchlin Hurse from the duo Jumping Fences developed a keen
Ska: the pulse that doesn't die
Foundation SkaThe SkatalitesHeartbeat/Rounder through Festival Review by Norm Dixon
Viewers of late night music television will have noticed a revival of the unmistakable "ba-ba-ba" ska pulse in some of the clips
By Vannessa Hearman
The Brunswick Music Festival has done it again, this time with a fantastic night of women's music featuring Faith Petric, an 82-year-old folk singer from the US, and the recently formed Three Sheilas, composed of Judy Small,
Hidden in the wind
By Carmela Baranowska
"There's history remaining in the grass, or hidden in the wind, or tossing behind the waves" — from Eyewitness: Protest Stories from Indonesia by Seno Gumira Ajidarma. In March 1995, I returned to
By Grace Eliot
Just six companies (Sony, EMI, BMG, Time-Warner, Universal and Polygram) control over 90% of the world's commercial music business. But this figure, based on sales volume or dollar turnover, does not reflect an increasing swell of
By Alex Bainbridge
ROSEBERY, Tasmania — The second annual Rosebery Miners, Axemen, Bush and Blarney Festival was held here over the long weekend February 27-March 1. It attracted hundreds of people — from Rosebery and other towns on Tasmania's
Documents for peace
Visions and Actions for PeaceProceedings of the 1997 conference of the IPPNW and MAPW 303 pp. $15 (plus $6 postage and handling)Write to MAPW, 3 Katz Place, Spence ACT 2615. Review by Craig Cormick
Both the International
Green thumbs up
Low-Waste Gardens leaflet seriesFriends of the Earth (Sydney) Review by Jon Land
Gardening has become a more popular pastime in recent years, as evidenced the popularity of radio and TV shows such as Burke's Backyard. The
Giving slime the soft sell
Primary ColorsDirected by Mike NicholsWith Adrian Lester, John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates and Billy Bob Thornton By Norm Dixon
If you can manage it, avoid seeing Wag the Dog until you've seen Primary Colors.
By Robyn Marshall
BRISBANE — On March 7, Veronica Brady, the controversial nun from Western Australia, launched her biography of poet Judith Wright, titled South of My Days. The launch, attended by more than 300 women, was held at Loreto College
Queer Film and Video Festival
MELBOURNE — The Queer Film and Video Festival runs until Saturday, March 29, at the State Film Centre, East Melbourne. More than 40 films will be screened, including Frisk, a story of sex, sadism and serial killing
Wag The DogStarring Robert De Niro, Dustin HoffmanDirected by Barry Levinson Review by Dave Riley
If you believe that allegations of sexual misconduct by a US president is a reasonable excuse for war on Iraq to distract people from the scandal,
Editorial
Editorial: What conflict of interest?
What conflict of interest?
Rejecting Labor claims that his minister for resources and energy, Senator Warwick Parer's, ownership of $2 million worth of shares in a coal mine amounts to a conflict of interest,