We spend at least one-third of our lives at work. Wages and working conditions, health and safety conditions, the right to organise, levels of stress and how hard our employers push us are all very important to workers. These
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After the launch of the federal government's Job Network on May 1, employment minister David Kemp hailed it as one of the great social reforms of the last 50 years. It would provide the best employment matching system in the world,
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Student demonstrations resumeOn September 8 in Jakarta, 2000 students joined a march and rally at the national parliament building. Several hundred students, who stayed overnight, were violently ousted from the parliamentary grounds,
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As rioting and looting spreads to more provincial towns in Indonesia, there is a growing danger that these outbreaks may be transformed into anti-Chinese riots. During the last 30 years, social and economic frustration amongst
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Unemployment among 15 to 19 year olds has now reached 29.9%, or close to 90,000 people. The unemployment benefits of 46,000 young people were cut with the Coalition's introduction of the common youth allowance (CYA) on July 1. Some
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...and ain't i a woman?: Abortion under attack, again The tabling of the Paul Osborne anti-abortion bill in the ACT parliament should not have come as much of a surprise to people who are pro-choice. The bill is an attempt by the mis-named
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The Dutch ruled Indonesia for more than 350 years by using the strategy of "divide and rule". Whenever confronted with the people's wrath, they used the Chinese settlers as a shield to deflect the anger, and cleverly created the
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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. Ph 9565 5522. Access News —
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BRISBANE — The mass media has been attempting to quieten fears of the possibility of One Nation winning seats at the federal election. The September 6 Sunday Mail said Hanson could lose the seat of Blair, claiming that an
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'We have to be political' Against the background of escalating attacks on youth people's rights by governments and the media, Resistance members SARAH PEART and WENDY ROBERTSON last week spoke to a range of students at Sydney University about how
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Greens change their immigration policyAt their national conference, held in Melbourne from July 31 to August 2, the Australian Greens made significant changes to their immigration and population policies. The Greens' 1996
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Write on: Letters to the editor Immigration A reality check is useful in deciding who to believe as to the outcomes of having more of our species competing for a share of this planet's scarce resources. Well-meaning people such as Francesca
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Sexism and racism By Brandon Astor Jones nigger (niger),n. 1. Disparaging and offensive. a. a [B]lack person. b. a member of any dark-skinned people. 2. to criticize in a peevish way; carp ... -niggler, n. — Webster's College Dictionary The
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Relaxed and comfortable? HOBART — PM John Howard did not look relaxed and comfortable when he started his September 8 vote-buying tour of Tasmania with breakfast on Hobart's Elizabeth Street Pier. He was greeted by about 60 protesters, with
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A recent TV commercial showed two school girls eating their morning tea. One has a shop-bought cake and is admonished at length by the other about how her mother always bakes her own cakes at home, with the most important
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There is nothing quite like election time to bring out the worst in politicians, and in this election campaign the "promises" and "pledges" are coming thick and fast. The spin-doctors for Labor and Liberal are desperately trying to piece together
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Elections pose the question of the political strategy of progressive organisations such as the National Union of Students (NUS) more sharply. Whereas Resistance calls on the student movement to campaign
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Speaking at a media conference on September 11, Indonesia's armed forces chief General Wiranto said the military would take strong action against student demonstrations. Wiranto warned, referring to student actions, that "freedom
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David Hill has finally resigned as head of Sydney Water. The man who gave the harbour city undrinkable drinking water denied any responsibility for the disaster, claiming he was leaving only to concentrate on his
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Big business pays for its parties but who pays for a socialist campaign? Advertisement Big business pays for its parties but who pays for a socialist campaign? Labor and Liberal can afford expensive advertisements in the mass media mainly
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NEWCASTLE — In the early 1980s, during the push for the 35-hour week, workers did not rely on Labor politicians winning office in the hope they would meet workers' demands. Instead, mass meetings of workers endorsed an
News
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DARWIN — The Democratic Socialists' candidate for the house of representatives seat of Northern Territory, Natalie Zirngast, has hit the headlines here. Her candidacy was the subject of an article in the NT News headlined
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TAFE CrusadersMELBOURNE — Student union elections are taking place on the university and TAFE campuses of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. On the TAFE campus, two tickets are running, the TAFE Crusaders and the TAFE
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A week of action in Kakadu JABILUKA — Traditional owners of the Jabiluka mineral lease, the Mirrar, are inviting people to the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park between September 26 and October 3 to form a strong, united presence to
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March of progress "I'm sure there are lots of [millionaires] out there that would [do the same] if they knew the potential existed." — Mark Westhusin, the director of a cloning laboratory in Texas that is being paid US$5 million by a millionaire
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Vigil in support of Chinese IndonesiansSYDNEY — "Even though I'm Chinese Australian now, I have a lot of sympathy with you", Thiam Ang, a Malaysian doctor who experienced the 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur, told a crowd of 700
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A film is being made about Kamal Bamadhaj, the only foreigner murdered in the 1991 massacre of more than 200 East Timorese protesters by the Indonesian military at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili. At that time, 20-year-old Kamal had been studying in
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GLW annual dinner SYDNEY — The annual Green Left Weekly fundraising dinner, with the theme "Struggle, solidarity, socialism", was held in Leichhardt Town Hall on September 5. Around 180 people enjoyed a three-course Indonesian meal, music from
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SYDNEY — On September 9, Resistance members PAUL BENEDEK and RYAN LIDDELL ventured into PM John Howard's Sydney electorate of Bennelong to protest at a One Nation meeting which featured Pauline Hanson's chief adviser David Oldfield. Below is Paul's
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Richmond anti-racism march MELBOURNE — Local residents protested against the racist policies of One Nation in Richmond on September 12. The rally was one of a series of anti-racism protests in local communities since the Queensland election.
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ACT to privatise public transportCANBERRA — On August 8, a mass meeting of ACTION bus drivers, called by the Transport Workers Union, rejected an enterprise agreement that would reduce conditions and introduce three split
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MELBOURNE — More than 100 people gathered at the Mount Waverley Community Centre on September 9 to hear Professor Chandrakanthan speak about the war against Tamils by the Sri Lankan military. Chandrakanthan is based at
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SYDNEY — "The Democratic Socialists' campaign is different — it's out in the streets. Our fundamental conviction is that society can be changed for the better by people power", declared Sam Wainwright at the launch of the
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Incumbents complacent in UQ electionsBRISBANE — Some left activists have expressed concern that Zest, the broad left ticket in the University of Queensland student union election, is running an apolitical campaign. The last
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DARWIN — According to the media collective at the Jabiluka uranium mine blockade, at midnight on September 9 there was an unprovoked attack on the blockade camp. A 24-wheel semi-trailer towing heavy machinery broke through
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Rally supports Telstra workers By Tim E. Stewart BRISBANE — Following a stop-work meeting of Community and Public Sector Union members working at Telstra on September 7, a lunchtime rally attended by 100 people supported the striking Telstra
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MELBOURNE — A round-table of non-major party candidates in the federal election was broadcast by independent radio station 3CR on September 11. Charmaine Clark (Greens), Jim Downey (Australian Democrats) and Maurice Sibelle
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ADELAIDE — Senator Bob Brown spoke to around 100 people on September 12 at the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel to launch the SA Greens' federal election campaign. The meeting also marked the third anniversary of the formation of the
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Launch of Origlass biographySYDNEY — More than 150 people attended the launch of Red Hot, Hall Greenland's biography of Nick Origlass, at Balmain Town Hall on September 6. Origlass was one of Australia's original Trotskyists,
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Undemocratic rules force change of candidateSYDNEY — The Democratic Socialists have been forced to name a new candidate for the western Sydney seat of Reid because its original candidate is a federal public servant. Under the
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Tasmanian Labor wins a rigged race By Alex Bainbridgeand Tony Iltis HOBART — Tasmania has a Labor government, it was announced on September 12. The election was the first since Labor and Liberal "reformed" the Tasmanian parliament. The new
Analysis
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Either John Howard and Peter Costello believe that they have supernatural powers, or they are desperately lying in order to win the federal election and implement their plan to cut taxes for the rich and increase them for everyone else. Since the
World
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MOSCOW — "If we don't have any money, the price of the dollar can go up 10 times and it won't make any difference to us!", declares Lyudmila Tyulenko, sitting by a makeshift hut outside Moscow's main federal government office
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NY cops 'came ready for war'In a flagrant denial of freedom of speech and assembly, New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani unleashed his racist police force to harass, then brutally attack, a rally of African Americans in Harlem
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At least 24 East Timorese inmates at Becora Prison in Dili are on hunger strike demanding the release of imprisoned resistance leader Xanana Gusmao. According to prison officials, more inmates are expected join those already protesting.
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COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels slammed the government for prolonging the country's ethnic conflict and offered to resume peace talks through third-party mediation, in remarks published on September 6. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's
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Searching for truth and justiceSANTIAGO, Chile — In a country which still celebrates the anniversary of the military coup which ousted the democratically-elected Salvador Allende government in 1973 with a public holiday, it
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The fate of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) president Laurent Kabila's government and the oppressed Banyarwanda and Banyamulenge people in eastern Congo now rests in the hands of the DRC's neighbours. Contrary to the loud claims
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Detained-disappeared in Chile Year of disappearance by number of disappeared 1973 632 1974 279 1975 85 1976 136 1977 35 1978 11 1979 1 1980 2 1981 5 1983 2 1984 3 1985 1 1987 5 1989 1 Total 1198 (1125 men, 73 women, 75
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Starting in the 1950s, awareness of environmental destruction developed slowly in the US. Various events slowly shook the public awake: atomic fallout from weapons testing in 1956-1963; a nationwide pesticide scare in 1959; birth
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International news briefs Muhammad Ali calls for end to Cuban blockade Former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, in Havana on September 11, called for the lifting of the US blockade of the island. Lonnie Ali said her husband's
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MEXICO CITY — While the Asian and Russian disasters have contributed to Mexico's current economic crisis, domestic issues also play a central role. The inability of the Mexican government and the Congress to resolve the
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SALINAS, California — Twenty-eight years ago, at the end of the great Salinas lettuce strike of 1970, virtually all of the valley's largest vegetable growers signed contracts with the United Farm Workers (UFW). Among them was the
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The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is cultivating a "partnership" with the United Nations. It is pushing for the implementation of a "framework of global rules" that it plans to help draft. The ICC
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MOSCOW — A few days ago, my friend Rod came around unexpectedly to visit. He brought a bottle of vodka, but he wasn't feeling festive. Quite the reverse. An Englishman who has spent much of the 1990s in Moscow, Rod had just lost
Culture
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The GST A song by Peter Hicks and Geoff Francis Little Johnny has a brand new fiscal plan,To bring prosperity to this land,It's dressed up like the Christmas turkey,Juicy, plump and fat.But when you strip away the skin,Underneath you'll find an
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Circus Oz supports indigenous Australians MELBOURNE — On Thursday, September 24, at the Melbourne Town Hall, Circus Oz will be joined by Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter, Linda Gibson, Milton White and Aboriginal dancers for a performance to raise funds
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Stock market tigers There's a rouble in the rubbleBut the trouble with the bubbleis it's burst. I said to Renie Rivkinit's time to put the boot in,the Hang Seng grown flakyand the Nikkei looking shakytime to sell right nowbefore the Dow turns
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GST: the Winners and LosersBy Austin DonnellyWrightbooks, 1998129pp., $?? Review by Sue Boland GST: the Winners and Losers is Austin Donnelly's second book about a goods and services tax. The first, The GST and Fightback Package — a Nightmare
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Mary Bryant — A musicalBy Nick Enright and David KingDirected by Crispin TaylorEnsemble Theatre, SydneyUntil October 10 Review by Brendan Doyle Try to imagine the movie Titanic redone as a musical, set in a longboat on a tiny theatre stage,
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Ecology of FearBy Mike DavisMetropolitan Books, 1998342 pp., $55 Review by Ben Reid Natural disasters are generally viewed as independent of human control. However, their impact is inextricably linked to the social structures of particular
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A play for our century Mother Courage and Her ChildrenBy Bertolt BrechtDirected by David RitchieNew Theatre, Newtown, SydneyUntil October 24 Review by Brendan Doyle Fifty years ago, Bertolt Brecht was in Stockholm, exiled from his native Germany
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Last November, Channel Nine screened the documentary Cape of Dreams in a number of cities. In it, the Aboriginal people of Cape York, the Merkins, were described as cannibals: "There were hundreds of cases of miners being killed
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Labour: A Party Fit For ImperialismBy Robert CloughLarkin Publications1992 Review by Ben Courtice The famous Russian communist V.I. Lenin would have shuddered if he had foreseen how his characterisation of the British Labour Party (BLP) as a
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Series glosses over the real Mosley MosleyA Channel Four productionWith Jonathan Cake and Jemma RedgraveABC TVSundays beginning September 20, 8.30pm The screening of this four-part drama series on the life of British fascist Oswald Mosley spawned