Issue 330

News

Liberals clutching at straws By Tony Iltis HOBART — The Liberal state government is desperately trying to convince an increasingly sceptical Tasmanian population that privatising the Hydro Electric Corporation will benefit the community.
Nurses strike at Prince Alfred Hospital By Shane Bentley SYDNEY — More than 500 nurses from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) at Camperdown held a 24-hour strike on August 18 against staff and service cuts. The strike and rally were held
UWA student elections By Sean Martin-Iverson PERTH — University of Western Australia student guild elections are to be held from September 7-10. Left student activists have united to form a ticket to challenge the entrenched bureaucracy of the
Police want open access to schools By Chris Latham PERTH — The WA Crown Solicitor's Office has advised a parliamentary enquiry that: "A principal should permit police officers to enter school premises for the purpose of conducting a search of
By Bill Mason BRISBANE — The Queensland Indigenous Working Group (QIWG) is considering a court challenge to the state ALP government's native title legislation, tabled late last month. Peter Beattie's first legislative act as premier was to put
Election forum By Martin Iltis ADELAIDE — Thirty people attended a Green Left Weekly forum on August 20 to hear a range of progressive federal candidates speak on "Fighting Hanson, Howard and racism". The meeting was also addressed by Stephen
Telstra unions strike over enterprise agreement By Leo Wellin Telstra workers in the Community and Public Sector Union voted overwhelmingly for a 24-hour strike on August 28 to protest Telstra's latest enterprise agreement offer, announced to
By Dan CANBERRA — Aboriginal activists — Wadjularbinna Nulyarimma, Kevin Buzzacott, Isobell Coe and Robbie Thorpe — have begun legal action against John Howard, Tim Fischer, Brian Harradine and Pauline Hanson, and all federal
Socialists and the Northcote by-election By Maurice Sibelle MELBOURNE — The Northcote state by-election on August 15 was the first electoral test for One Nation outside Queensland. They were resoundingly defeated, scoring only 5.7%, despite
More budget cuts for schools By Melanie Sjoberg ADELAIDE — South Australia's specialised adult re-entry schools are facing cuts of $1 million each year for the next three years. Adult re-entry schools cater for people returning to study, as
By Sue Boland The federal government's campaign to convince us that we'll all be winners under its tax package (code for the goods and services tax) has suffered setbacks from criticism by lobby groups representing people on low incomes. After
Greenhouse pollution According to Greenpeace, Queensland shale oil developers Suncor Energy and Southern Pacific Petroleum have misled the public and their shareholders by claiming that their planned Stuart shale oil project will reduce the amount
Student left set for election campaign By Keara Courtney SYDNEY — The left — organised in a grouping called Activate! — is set for a strong showing in Students Representative Council elections at the University of Sydney in September.
By Sarah Lantz and Kerryn Williams MELBOURNE — The first organising meeting of the 1999 Network of Women Students Australia conference was held at the RMIT on August 21. One of the first agenda items discussed was the question of whether or not
Young socialist to contest federal seat of Canberra CANBERRA — The Democratic Socialists have announced 23-year-old Nikki Ulasowski as their candidate for the federal electorate of Canberra. Ulasowski is an active environmentalist and campaigner
By Nick Everett Members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) in the federal government's agency Centrelink served a log of claims on their employer on August 14. Ninety-seven per cent of CPSU members in the agency voted in support of the
By Tony Iltisand Kamala Emanuel HOBART — About 50 people, mostly women, attended a forum on August 18 organised by the Women's Electoral Lobby to discuss issues of interest to women in the August 29 state election. Women candidates presented
By Jim Green SYDNEY — The environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed new nuclear reactor in the southern Sydney suburb of Lucas Heights was released on August 17. The EIS was prepared by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Building workers 'seasonally employed'? By Shane Bentley SYDNEY — The federal government has decided that construction workers are "seasonally employed" and therefore not entitled to unemployment benefits when a job ends. The change means that
Davids workers need solidarity By Jennifer Thompson SYDNEY — The Davids warehouse workers' fight against the company's attempt to casualise the work force and gut working conditions is continuing. Unionists are picketing Jewel grocery stores
By Trish Corcoran MELBOURNE — August 21 was the deadline given by Burma's democracy movement leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for the military regime to convene the national parliament elected in 1990. Protests were held at Parliament House in

World

OZ Asia in Japan's Embrace: Building a Regional Production AllianceBy Walter Hatch and Kozo YamamuraCambridge University Press1997 (first published in 1996)281 pp., $34.95 (pb) Review by Eva Cheng Asia in Japan's Embrace tries to establish that
US shows its 'reach is long' — again By Sean Healy LAHORE — In yet another demonstration to the world of military might, US President Bill Clinton has bombed targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. The air strikes, by jet and cruise missile, were
By Max Lane On August 10, Indonesia's State Administrative Court upheld an appeal by Budiman Sujatmiko, as president of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), against a ministerial regulation banning the PRD and its affiliated mass organisations. The
Democracy in Cuba By Barry Sheppard In early August, my companion Caroline Lund and I visited Cuba as part of the Eighth US-Cuba Friendshipment, organised by Pastors for Peace. As with all Friendshipments, this one openly defied Washington's
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — The last hopes held by Russian coal miners in the regime of President Boris Yeltsin, historians may yet decide, expired on August 11 in a potato field south of the Ural Mountains city of Chelyabinsk. That was where some
Labour Party formed in Sindh By Sean Healy KARACHI — The struggles of workers and peasants in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh have taken a big step forward with the formation of the Labour Party of Pakistan in the province. The Labour
The disappeared The following Indonesian democracy activists, who disappeared in the last 17 months, have not yet been found: Mohammed Yusuf, United Development Party, May 1997 Dedy Hamdun, United Development Party, May 1997 Noval Alkatiri,
By Mahmoud Najjar and Adam Hanieh RAMALLAH — On August 5, a new cabinet was announced by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. The announcement met controversy over the size of the new cabinet; 10 new ministers were added, bringing the total
Old Indonesian communists still imprisoned On August 17, justice minister Muladi announced the release from prison of 78-year-old Manan Effendi Tjokroharjo and 80-year-old Alexander Warouw. Both were Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) leaders in
By Dave Riley Internment without trial was used against nationalists in the north of Ireland in the 1970s. Many hundreds were incarcerated in Long Kesh prison between 1972 and 1976. While internment was dropped from the British statute book only
'Forever protest the annexation of Hawai'i' By Zohl de Ishtar On August 12, 100 years ago, the US illegally annexed Ka Pae'aina (Hawai'i). The US had invaded the archipelago in 1893, overthrowing the Maoli Queen Liliu'okalani. In 1993 President
Xanana denies BHP meeting Xanana Gusmao, the imprisoned leader of the East Timorese resistance, has rejected an article in the August 20 Sydney Morning Herald which reported that a high level BHP petroleum representative recently met with him in
Tamils urge UN to probe alleged mass graves Thousands of Tamils demonstrated outside the United Nations' European headquarters in Geneva on August 17 in support of a call for an international probe of alleged mass graves in Sri Lanka. Protesters
Insincere apologies from Indonesian government By Max Lane On August 15, President B.J. Habibie promised that the Indonesian parliament — the one "elected" under the rigged laws of the Suharto dictatorship — would now respect human rights.

Culture

The Interview By Conrad Barnett The serenity of a dimly lit room with a sleeping character slouched in his chair is broken along with the front door as a bunch of cops charge in shouting and brandishing guns. The introductory sequence of the film
John Howard's safety, security and stability Safety is the catch on a 38 magnum.Security is the hole it makes.Stability is what you getand death is all it takes. By John Tomlinson
Not an advertisement Fair go! ACOSS and poor people are complaining about a GST on food. But what about multimillionaires? We haven't paid taxes on much of anything for years, and now the government is going to make us (or our companies) pay GST
Morde — Written by Paul ReesLion Theatre8pm nightly, until August 29$18/$10 concession ADELAIDE — What has St John's Church in Darlinghurst, Sydney, got to do with nuclear weapons in Israel? Morde draws them together in an excellent play about
Forrest Gump goes to war Saving Private RyanDirected by Steven SpielbergWith Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Matt DamonIn major cinemas from August 24 Review by Louis Proyect The only thing surprising about Saving Private Ryan is how

Editorial

A terrorist state At 7.15pm on August 20, without warning, a series of massive blasts destroyed the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in the heavily populated northern suburbs of Khartoum, capital of Sudan. The factory's janitor and his family are