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. Phone 9565 5522.
Access News —
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One of the selling points for many genetically engineered crops has been that farmers will need fewer inputs and therefore have higher returns per hectare. However, two recently released studies indicate that this may not be the case. Researchers at
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Kennett attacks public servants The Victorian government is preparing another attack on public servants via a new Public Sector Management and Employment Bill. The Community and Public Sector Union only viewed the bill on its presentation to
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NSW stolen children activities launched SYDNEY — Two dozen of 60 Sorry Day sponsors helped launch the NSW activities for the inaugural May 26 National Stolen Generation Sorry Day on May 6, at the Opera House. The Sorry
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Solidarity with IndonesiaThree days of solidarity with the people of Indonesia have been called for May 28-30 under the slogan "Stop supporting the dictator Suharto". The diplomatic support offered by the Australian government is
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Racism in sentencing confirmedSYDNEY — Young Aborigines and Pacific Islanders are subjected to harsher sentences in NSW courts than young white people, a study just released has found. This confirms the direct experience of
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Tax cheats Whatever the final outcome of the government versus the wharfies and the unions, one thing is clear — that as wharfies are PAYE taxpayers, they do pay their taxes. Contrast this with the situation revealed in the Age newspaper at the
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Second national day of action calledStudent organisations, activist groups and the National Union of Students have called a second national day of action against education cuts and attacks on students. The day is scheduled for May
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Mum Shirl: fighter for Aboriginal rights "Mum Shirl" was born Colleen Shirley Perry on November 22, 1924, at Cowra, into what many whites accepted as preordained penury. Even the two surnames she bore were borrowed from an alien culture —
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On May 26, exactly one year after the "stolen children" report was tabled in federal parliament, the first national "Sorry Day" will be held. The day's aims, reflected in many different activities, include publicly recognising
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Punishing the victims On May 1, doctors in the public hospitals and one of the two private abortion clinics in WA stopped performing abortions. These doctors do not oppose women's right to choose abortion. On the contrary, their vocal support
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SYDNEY — On May 1, Luke Whitington from the Labor left was declared the new president of the University of Sydney Students Representative Council. An electoral appeal had previously removed the conservative Adair Durie, elected
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JOHN PILGER's documentary Apartheid Did Not Die was shown on British and South African television on April 21. On April 17, the Johannesburg-based Weekly Mail & Guardian published an article in which Pilger described his first visit to South
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One-eyed coverage of waterfront disputeTruth was the first casualty in the waterfront dispute, embattled wharfies being outgunned by the propaganda clout of Patrick Stevedores, backed to the hilt by the Howard government, the
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The growing protests throughout Indonesia against the Suharto dictatorship are worrying for the imperialist powers. Due to the failure of the IMF package, foreign investors are leaving Indonesia in droves. The May 7 Financial Review editorial
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People suffer from IMF 'medicine'Foreign minister Alexander Downer has made it clear that Australian government approaches to the IMF and World Bank have been designed to ensure that the situation in Indonesia remains "as
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Free speech attacked ADELAIDE — Green Left Weekly sellers on May 8 were ordered to stop selling the paper at the Adelaide Central Markets. Since its inception, Green Left has had a presence at the markets. Distributors were given no convincing
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Indonesia in revoltJust six months ago, publicly burning a photograph of the Indonesian dictator Suharto would have meant tempting arrest and a lengthy jail sentence. But over the last week, such scenes have occurred almost
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PADDY CRUMLIN is the Maritime Union of Australia assistant national secretary. He was interviewed for Green Left Weekly by ANA KAILIS and IGGY KIM. Question: Where does the dispute go now, after the High Court decision and the return to work? It
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Regarding the last 30 years And so we go ever forward sentenced to make the best of what we find. The years pass and with their passing we may sometimes forget what we have won and lost. Yet, I cannot help feeling ... — Is this going to
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The federal Coalition has already clocked up an atrocious track record on the environment. Consequently, any announcement, even of something as routine as a review of environmental legislation, is yet another reason to get nervous.
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Shooting themselves in the foot By Brandon Astor Jones "As part of the struggle for equality, feminists have ... argued that ... women's physical and mental health and safety sometimes require male-free zones. There is no ...
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Cancers diagnosed in children younger than 15 are increasing at about 1% per year in the US. (Charles W. Schmidt, "Childhood Cancer: A Growing Problem", Environmental Health Perspectives Vol. 106, No. 1, January 1998, pp.
News
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MELBOURNE — More than 100,000 people rallied against the Howard government's Workplace Relations Act (WRA) and attack on the maritime workers here on May 6. The rally was part of a day of action adopted by
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Activists at Flinders University have formed a "Broad Left" ticket to contest the May 19-22 elections for the Student Association Coordinating Group (COG) and National Union of Students (NUS) delegates. The Broad Left's platform
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PERTH — State MP Cheryl Davenport's private member's bill to remove abortion from the WA Criminal Code, which passed through the upper house last month, was finally passed by the lower house on May 7. It remains the Davenport
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The news that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will use $10 million from AusAID for a famine relief program in West Papua (Irian Jaya) is welcome. Such an effort has been needed for many months. Ninety defence personnel, three
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After a month of mass pickets, wharfies are back at work at the major Patrick operations, following the Maritime Union of Australia's win in the High Court. Mick O'Leary, national organiser of the MUA, told Green Left Weekly
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On May 3, a 21-year-old man became the 26th person to die while in a NSW prison since July 1, 1997. The apparent suicide by hanging at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre was the fourth prison death in NSW in the last three weeks. "Members
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MUA alleges sabotage BRISBANE — Waterside workers who triumphantly returned to work at Patrick's wharves at Hamilton and Fisherman Island on May 8 have alleged that the non-union work force damaged facilities, including the boom of a
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BRISBANE — "The past eight years have provided Russians with a refresher course in the evils of capitalism", declared Green Left Weekly journalist Renfrey Clarke at a public meeting here on May 6. Clarke was addressing around 60
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Patrick attempts to thwart High Court decisionADELAIDE — With most Patrick wharves back in operation, the previously quiet docks in Adelaide were swarming with people who had responded to a call from the Maritime Union for a
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Biggest Labour Day in 25 yearsAs the last of the more than 10,000 Labour Day marchers poured into Albert Park at 11.40am on May 4, Maritime Union national organiser Jim Tannock announced the MUA's High Court victory from the
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Conservation Council's funding cutBRISBANE — Queensland Conservation Council chairperson Carol Booth has accused the Coalition state government of campaigning against outspoken conservationists, following natural resources
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Battle to save Kimberley Fitzroy River On April 30, the WA government tabled a memorandum of understanding between the government and Western Agricultural Industries (WAI) regarding a large-scale irrigation scheme in the west Kimberley region.
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BRISBANE — Under intense criticism, including from within its own ranks, the Queensland Liberal Party has hesitated over its plan to allocate preferences to Pauline Hanson's racist One Nation party ahead of the ALP. On May 8, the
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Labor-Democrats debate a non-eventBRISBANE — On May 5, the University of Queensland ALP and Australian Democrats clubs presented a debate about "Labour, Unionism and Change: Perspectives on Industrial Relations Reform —
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Sounds good "People are coming from all over the place, and when there is a mass of people gathered, anything can happen." — An Indonesian National Police spokesperson on anti-Suharto demonstrations. The things that matter "Political reform
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'Stop the rot!' SYDNEY — On May 8, as federal health minister Michael Wooldridge arrived at Westmead Hospital in Sydney's west, he was confronted by 100 health workers chanting "Stop the rot! Save our teeth!". The NSW Public Service Association,
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The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) construction division has called a national strike for May 20 to protest against the government and the building industry bosses' attempt to strip back national building industry awards.
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North coast solidarity with the MUALISMORE — More than 80 people attended a public meeting in solidarity with the Maritime Union of Australia here on May 7. Organised by the Lismore Wharfies Support Group, the meeting was
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HOBART — Hobart Town Hall was filled to capacity for a meeting organised by the Denison branch of the Tasmanian Greens to oppose the proposed Oceanport retail and residential development at Princes Wharf. The proposed six-story
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'A small group of loafers'In the year to September 30, 1997, one of the directors of Lang Corporation, the parent company of Patrick Stevedores, was paid a salary of more than $800,000. This director achieved world's best
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ADELAIDE — On May 6, two speaking engagements by federal industrial relations minister Peter Reith attracted boisterous, noisy crowds of maritime workers and other activists. "Reith, you're past your Dubai date", one placard
Analysis
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Editorial: Big Brother is watching How times change. Eleven years ago, John Howard and the Liberal Party were leading big demonstrations against the Hawke Labor government's attempt to introduce an ID card, called the Australia Card. Howard
World
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Burmese dictatorship targets studentsThe military dictatorship in Burma announced on April 29 that it had sentenced six student activists to death. A statement released by the ruling State Peace and Development Council claimed that
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MEXICO CITY — May Day was marked here with three mass demonstrations, reflecting divisions and new trends in the country's labour movement. The official, pro-government labour movement, organised in the Congress of Labour (CT),
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Communist Party's vision to change Japan KIMITOSHI MORIHARA, vice-head of the Japanese Communist Party's international department, took part in the Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference in Sydney over Easter. He outlined the JCP's analysis
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A Maori protest hikoi (march) against the Multilateral Agreement on Investment is sending shock waves through official circles in New Zealand.
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A new study concludes that this has been the warmest century in 600 years, and that the hottest years during this century have been 1990, 1995 and 1997 (New York Times, April 28; Nature, April 23). This is further evidence that
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The Timorese National Convention, held on April 23-27 in the Portuguese town of Peniche, has been hailed by participants as an overwhelming success. The 218 delegates, representing the main East Timorese political and cultural
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Nigerian riot police killed at least seven people protesting against dictator General Sani Abacha on May 1 in the Oyo state capital of Ibadan. In the days following the shootings, prominent opposition politicians, including a former
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May Day has been a day of celebration of working-class struggles and victories, and of protest against the ongoing exploitation of working people, for 112 years. This year it was marked amidst an economic crisis across Asia, general strikes in
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German solidarity against Jabiluka uranium mine The following "Declaration of Solidarity" was adopted at an April 17-19 conference of the German anti-nuclear movement attended by activists from more than 40 cities. The Nationwide Conference of the
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Strike leader to challenge Hoffa Jr in Teamster electionKen Hall was a key leader, along with former Teamster president Ron Carey, of the victorious strike the Teamsters Union waged against the United Parcel Service (UPS)
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The Danish parliament voted on May 7 to impose a settlement to bring the country's private sector general strike, which began on April 27, to an end. Social Democrat prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said the strike for a shorter
Culture
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Left on-line Voice of Guatemala — An interview with Josi Solis Jordan who has been charged by the US government with "conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States" and faces 25 years in a federal prison if convicted. At
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Emile Habibi: I stayed in HaifaSBS, Wednesday, May 20, 8pm (7.30pm in SA) Preview by Jennifer Thompson Ironically, the life and work of Arab Israeli and Palestinian writer Emile Habibi is not well known in the English-speaking world precisely
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Who's Afraid of the Working Class?Written by Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Christos Tsiolkas and Melissa ReevesPerformed by Melbourne Workers Theatre, featuring David Adamson, Daniella Farinacci, Eugenia Fragos, Bruce Morgan, Glenn Shea and
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Palestine: Story of a landThree-part documentary seriesPart 1, SBS, Monday, May 18, 8pm (7.30pm in SA) Preview by Jennifer Thompson In a sea of versions of the Arab-Israeli conflict, timed for Israel's 50th year, this collection of rare pictures
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An apt ALP hero for the times Nice TryBy Shane MaloneyText Publishing, 1998. 312 pp., $19.95 (pb) Review by Phil Shannon Murray Whelan, senior adviser to the Labor minister for water supply and the arts, is in more trouble than Mandrake again.
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The Peace Arch Concerts and Freedom Train and the Welsh Transatlantic ConcertsPaul RobesonFolk Era RecordsSend US$20 each to 705 South Washington St, Naperville, Illinois 60540, USA Reviewed by Barry Healy In 1925, a young black man in New York
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Chosen by the listeners 4ZZZ Hot 100Through Shock Records Review by Mike Byrne and Lynda Hansen BRISBANE — Community radio 4ZZZ was born 23 years ago, the first FM station in Queensland. Stations like 4ZZZ were set up from funding from the
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17th Doll at New Theatre Ray Lawler's Australian classic, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, has opened at the New Theatre in Newtown. The story of two Queensland cane cutters and their seasonal romance with two Melbourne bar maids is directed by