Issue 338

News

Activists storm forestry office By Nick Fredman LISMORE — Seventy activists from the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) occupied the Casino office of State Forests on October 20 to highlight the Carr Labor government's failure to put forward an
Indonesian forum SYDNEY — About 100 people attended a forum presented by the Indonesian Welfare Association here on October 16. Speakers from the NSW Rape Crisis Centre spoke of their visit to meet with volunteers working with the ethnic Chinese
Resistance seminar on fighting racism By Danny Fairfax SYDNEY — Forty people, including a number of new faces, attended an anti-racism seminar held by Resistance on Saturday, October 10. The event sought to get to the heart of racism and how to
Touch One, Touch All premiered By Margaret Perrott WOLLONGONG — On October 21, 50 people attended the launch of the new film by Peter Ewer, Touch One, Touch All, about government attacks on unionists in the Illawarra. The film draws parallels
Organising Reclaim the Night Melbourne By Lynne Kennedy Organising this year's 1998 Reclaim the Night has had its share of problems and successes. The fact that we have been unsuccessful in all our requests for funding highlights, yet again,
Wharfies' anger at Patrick deal grows By James Vassilopoulos Wharfies are angry following their experience of the enterprise agreement between Patrick Stevedores and the Maritime Union of Australia. The deal came into operation in early October.
Workers First contests organiser elections By Chris Spindler The Workers First team, which won the leadership of the Victorian branch of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union earlier this year, is standing candidates for seven organiser
Timbarra protesters attacked By Bernie Wunsch LISMORE — Police and mining company employees have violently attacked and injured protesters and local residents at the gates of the Timbarra gold mine near Tenterfield in north-eastern NSW.
Rally to defend native title By Jo Williams MELBOURNE — About 450 people gathered on the steps of Parliament House on October 22 to protest against Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett's attempts to ram through native title extinguishment in
'Vote for a steelworker, not a politician!' NEWCASTLE — Green Left Weekly's STEVE O'BRIEN interviewed GEOFF PAYNE, Democratic Socialist candidate for the federal seat of Newcastle, between his shifts at the BHP steelworks. The vote in the seat
Liberals prepare sale of ACTEW By David Gosling CANBERRA — Kate Carnell's Liberal government is proposing the sale of the ACT's electricity and water provider, ACTEW. Carnell claims the sale is necessary to pay for superannuation liabilities.
Land for health swap 'an outrage' By Peter Johnston DARWIN — The Jawoyn Association announced last week that, following negotiations with the Northern Territory government, it would drop a claim for land 20 kilometres south of Katherine in
Industrial commission undermines wages By James Vassilopoulos The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) ruled on October 20 that paid rates awards — awards that specify actual pay, rather than minimum pay — will be changed so as
Rallies against Pinochet By Sean Magill ADELAIDE — Around 100 people rallied outside Parliament House here on October 22 in support of the arrest and extradition to Spain of Augusto Pinochet to stand trial for murder and torture. Organised by
Rio Tinto sacks Hunter Valley miners By James Vassilopoulos Rio Tinto, the giant Anglo-Australian transnational, announced on October 20 the sacking of 115 coalminers at its Hunter Valley No. 1 open-cut mine. The retrenchments are aimed at
Dita Sari interview smuggled from prison By Tuntuni Bhattacharyya SYDNEY — Film maker Jill Hickson addressed a meeting of 60 people at the Resistance Centre here on October 13. She presented footage from her most recent trip to Indonesia,
Dorf workers push company back By Chris Spindler MELBOURNE — After two weeks of being locked out, about 200 workers at the Email Dorf plant in Melbourne's south-east have returned to work after the company accepted most of the workers' demands.
International day of action against Jabiluka mine International day of action against Jabiluka mine Protests against the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine took place in Madrid, Paris, Cologne, Bonn and Osaka on October 20. In Madrid, representatives
Protest planned against nuclear ship visit By Alex Bainbridge and Jeroen Benes HOBART — Activists and progressive groups have vowed to protest against two US nuclear warships due to arrive here in the next month. The first ship is scheduled to
Coober Pedy says no to nuclear dump By Lyn Hovey The people of Coober Pedy, in outback South Australia, are organising to oppose the National Radioactive Waste Repository (i.e. dump) proposed for Billa Kalina. A public meeting was organised in
Mixed results in Wollongong SRC elections By Justin Randell WOLLONGONG — Wollongong University Student Representative Council elections were held on October 13-15. There were mixed outcomes for the left, with good results for the SRC and some

World

Indonesian regime suffers further setbacks By Max Lane The Habibie-Wiranto regime suffered another major setback on October 22 when the parliament finally passed a law on "public expression of opinion". The final version of the law undid
By David Bacon BERKELEY, California — There is an immigration crisis in the United States. But it is not caused by uncontrolled borders or too many immigrants, the stereotyped images used to inflame anti-immigrant hysteria. It is the return of
UN votes 157-2 against blockade of Cuba The United Nations General Assembly on October 14 voted against the US blockade of Cuba by a record margin, 157-2. Only the US and Israel voted in favour of the blockade. Twelve countries abstained. The vote
By Francesca Davis High school students in France, angry about large class sizes, badly maintained buildings, too few teachers and shortages of resources, have taken to the streets in their hundreds of thousands. Student strikes began in Nimes, in
By Norm Dixon By any calculation, the October 17 oil pipeline disaster in southern Nigerian rates amongst the worst industrial accidents ever. As of October 21, the death toll was estimated at 700; it is expected to climb above 1000. The western
By Renfrey Clarke KEMEROVO, Russia — Gennady Filatyev, director of the Volkov coalmine near this city in the Kuzbass industrial region of Siberia, is a bull of a man. When he leans across a lectern, gesticulating as he makes a point, he could be
uth = By Barry Sheppard Two bicyclists were riding in the evening in Laramie, Wyoming, when they saw what appeared to be a scarecrow tied to a fence along a ranch, its arms outstretched. On getting closer, they saw it was a human being,
Chilean dictator Pinochet arrested By Roberto Jorquera The dictator General Augusto Pinochet, who ruled Chile for more than 16 years, was arrested in a London hospital on October 19. The arrest by Interpol came on a request from Spanish
Putting people first Speaking to the UN General Assembly's third commission on social, humanitarian and cultural issues in early October, Rodolfo Reyes, second secretary of Cuba's UN mission, said Cuba will continue to be a society that puts its
By Leigh Cookson AUCKLAND — With less than a year to go before the 1999 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) leaders' summit here, a high-profile civil court case against the New Zealand spy agency, the Security Intelligence Service (SIS),
By Max Lane The People's Democratic Party (PRD) announced on October 22 that it had held a national congress in Yogyakarta October 9-11. Eighty-five delegates representing 23 branches, the national leadership and the affiliated mass organisations
By Helen Jarvis Three months after the July 26 elections, a new Cambodian government is yet to be formed. Despite participating in the National Assembly swearing-in ceremony on September 24, the majority of elected opposition members are now

Culture

A Vietnamese Revolutionary Talks To Jesus You say you were six hours on the Cross?— That's true, six hours of sun and dust and sweat.I am still young, and I have been a scoreOf years in battle. I was born upon a battlefield. You say your mother
Waco: The Rules of EngagementDirected by William GazeckiFifth Estate Productions Review by Arun Pradhan "Do I really want to spend the next two hours watching a film about mad, Christian fundamentalist Americans?" was the question going through my
By Bronwen Beechey ADELAIDE — The second annual Feast Lesbian and Gay Cultural Festival got off to a fiery start on October 23 with an opening night party that featured a lively mix of highlights from performance, dance and music. After its
Year of hope 1968: Marching in the StreetsBy Tariq Ali and Susan WatkinsBloomsbury Press, 1998. 224 pp., $49.95 Review by John Nebauer "'Order reigns in Warsaw!' 'Order reigns in Paris!' 'Order reigns in Berlin!' This is how the reports of the
Dorney misses the forest and the trees The Sandline Affair: Politics and mercenaries and the Bougainville crisisBy Sean DorneySydney: ABC Books, 1998352 pp., $24.95 Review by Max Watts Since the Bougainville "crisis", (I'd call it the
How Can It Be? How can it be that we have come to this?Australia must be a land of foolish masochistsOnce you might overlook, but someone tell me now,Did we really put up our hands for more of Johnny Howard? Civilisation will hold us in

Editorial

Packer's taxes and ours Was anyone really surprised by the October 13 Federal Court ruling which rejected attempts by the Australian Tax Office to make Kerry Packer (through the companies he owns) pay taxes on some $500 million of income? The