The decision by Olympic gold medallist Nova Peris-Kneebone to speak out against the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine within the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory has added to the growing community opposition to the mine.
Issue 314
News
Solidarity with MUA!
[The following statement was adopted by the Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference in Sydney at Easter.] This conference endorses and applauds the regional campaign of political solidarity with the Maritime Union of Australia
International solidarity with the wharfies
News of actions in other countries in solidarity with the sacked waterside workers is beginning to come in. In addition to the actions being organised by participants at the Asia Pacific Solidarity
By Theresa Moore
Changes to funding, due to take effect at the end of April, threaten the viability of many centres providing before- and after-school care and a return to the era of "latch-key kids". In the May 1997 budget, the Howard government
Historic conference begins new era in left cooperation
By Max Lane
SYDNEY — More than 750 people participated in a historic event, the first Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference, held here April 10-13. The conference was characterised by an
By Sean Healy
The crackdown against student protest by the Suharto regime in Indonesia requires a loud and clear show of solidarity by students in Australia. Suharto sees the current campus upsurge in Indonesia, and the students' commitment to
Election watch
How the ruling class rules
At first glance, it seemed almost a tautology. "Hypocrisy on waterfront" was the title on the Sydney Morning Herald's April 10 editorial. But really, "hypocrisy" and "Sydney Morning Herald editorial"
Asia Pacific Women's Solidarity Network launched
By Pip Hinman
SYDNEY — The Asia Pacific Women's Solidarity Network (APWSN) has held its first meeting to help progressive women in the region cement their links. The meeting was attended by women
By Chris Slee and Ben Courtice
Australian Taxation Office workers have rejected an attempt by management to push through a non-union agency agreement. Some 62% of general employees, (those in the lowest seven levels of the public service
By Ben Reid
MELBOURNE — A delegates' and activists' meeting of Victorian Trades Hall Council affiliates on April 16 voted unanimously for a statewide stop work and rally on May 6 in support of the MUA and sacked maritime workers. Six thousand
By Zanny Begg
The final report of the federal government's review of higher education was released on April 17. The review committee, chaired by Roderick West, was launched last year to recommend policy options for the next 20 years. The final
NEWCASTLE — An angry, 500-strong rally greeted PM John Howard when he arrived at a civic reception in Maitland Town Hall on April 17.
World
By Peter Gellert
Mexico City — The Mexican government is waging a major political offensive on several fronts against the Zapatista rebels of Chiapas. At the same time, the situation in the southern Mexican state is marked by a growing
DOROTEA WILSON, a leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and a member of its National Directorate, is on a tour of Australia, speaking about the issues of land rights and autonomy. She is from the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua and
Russian wages crash
Two University of California at Berkeley sociologists have discovered that real wages in Russia have declined by 50% since the fall of communism. The study, due to be published in the July issue of the American Journal of
Adam Hanieh
RAMALLAH — On Sunday, March 29, I was sitting with some friends watching TV when a friend burst through the door inquiring whether we had heard about a bomb blast here. She had heard the news on BBC radio as she was travelling by taxi
By Dave Riley
The recently concluded Irish peace deal has not been received enthusiastically — despite media claims to the contrary. The Loyal Orange Lodge has rejected it out of hand, and the main loyalist party, the Ulster Unionists, is
Suharto steps up repression in East Timor
By Jon Land
Indonesian military and security forces have intensified efforts to suppress the people of East Timor. Resistance sources estimate that up to 10,000 additional Indonesian soldiers have been
By Norm Dixon
At least 51 Acehnese refugees have been murdered by Malaysian and Indonesian forces since March 25. News of the terrible atrocities, which have been ignored by the Australian mass media, was revealed by representatives of the Aceh
Italian initiative for Australian stolen generations
The municipality of Florence on April 6 approved a motion concerning Australian Aborigines who were forcibly separated from their families in past decades. The motion, proposed by the Italian
Culture
A short story by Craig Cormick
A shell explodes overhead. Bright. Like a star. It startles Private O'Connor awake. His eyes snap open wide. Staring around quickly. He sees the snow and icy mud of the trench. Sees Private Duigan staring at him. Like
Eisenstein: A Life in ConflictBy Ronald BerganLittle, Brown and Company, 1997 — 384 pp., $39.95 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon
When the sailors on the battleship Potemkin mutiny and (under the red flag in the last reel) persuade their comrades on
The Two Bums
The bum on the road is an enemy of mankindThe other is driven around to his club, is feted, wined and dinedAnd they who curse the bum on the road as the essence of all that's badWill greet the other with a winning smile and extend the
Blue-eyed Bonking Bill
Chorus:
I am the US President, I'm Blue-eyed Bonking Bill,And if Saddam don't get you, be sure my missiles will.
Back in the 1970s, we needed a strong manTo fight a little war for us in far away Iran,So we said to our
Hidden AgendasBy John PilgerVintage, 1998. 680 pp., $19.95 (pb) Review by Saffron Howden
In an age of escalating social problems, few are even properly acknowledged. Hidden Agendas is a tribute to some of the strugglers against oppression,
Editorial
Editorial: Beware of soft cops
Beware of soft cops
The wharf dispute must be pretty serious: after a couple of decades indoors, be-suited ALP politicians have been appearing on (well, alongside) picket lines. Last week, Kim Beazley did a photo