IWD: 'Women and workers united'
IWD: 'Women and workers united'
By Margarita Windisch
MELBOURNE — The International Women's Day Collective has decided that this year's theme will be "Women and workers of the world united in action". The day's
Issue 346
News
National Action is racist, court rules
By Jessica Rose
ADELAIDE — The leader of National Action, Michael Brander, has lost a defamation action after a magistrate ruled that he is a racist. Brander's claim for damages over a 1995 column by
Mine owners ravage West Coast Tasmania
By Dave Andrews
ROSEBERY — Three of West Coast Tasmania's major mines are facing bleak prospects as management and financial backers threaten mass sackings, back-breaking roster changes and possible
Cops attack Timbarra protest
By Nick Fredman
LISMORE — Police violently attacked a protest at the entrance to the Timbarra gold mine, under construction near Tenterfield, on January 19. Twelve people were arrested at the peaceful action. The
Lucas Heights EIS released
By Jim Green
SYDNEY — On January 18, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) released the final environmental impact statement on a new nuclear reactor in the southern Sydney suburb of Lucas
One Nation MP in row over CJC
By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — Queensland One Nation MP Jack Paff has pledged to introduce bills to abolish the Criminal Justice Commission and its parliamentary watchdog, the Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee.
Tamils protest Sri Lankan minister's visit
By Jon Singer
CANBERRA — Australian Tamils and their supporters from Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney protested outside the Sri Lankan embassy and National Press Club on January 22. About 150 protesters
By Kylie Moon and Mark Abberton
MELBOURNE — On January 18, Victoria's Student Unionism Network (SUN) met. More than 40 student activists from a wide range of Victorian universities and National Union of Students (NUS) state and national
Pakistan socialist speaks
CANBERRA — Farooq Tariq, secretary of the Labour Party of Pakistan, was the guest speaker at a Green Left Weekly public meeting, "The struggle for people's democracy and nationhood in South Asia", on January 14.
Farooq
MUA rank and file group grows
PERTH — On January 18, the Western Australian Maritime Union of Australia rank-and-file group held a successful general meeting at the Buffalo Club in Fremantle. The turnout of 80 members was double the inaugural
Jabiluka campaign gathers pace
By Emma Webb
ADELAIDE — Three anti-uranium activists are facing charges including assaulting a police officer, obstructing arrest and property damage following a December 13 rally and march against the Jabiluka
Injury highlights mine safety crisis
By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — On January 20, mining apprentice Brant North had both legs amputated in a horrific accident at MIM's Oaky Creek mine, about 350 kilometres north-west of Rockhampton. North is in a
Textile workers force company to talk
By Susan Price and Chris Slee
MELBOURNE After 50 days of being locked out, members of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union (TCFUA) at the Australian Dyeing Company (ADC) have won a couple of victories in
By Wendy Robertson
Sydney — On January 17-18, around 150 students, a number of academics and staff gathered at the University of Technology Sydney for an anti-VSU ("voluntary student unionism") planning conference. The conference adopted four
Education workers score 'great win'
By Melanie Sjoberg
ADELAIDE â Following recommendations by the Industrial Relations
Commission that the government release funds for extra staffing in schools
and that the Australian Education Union
World
The EAST TIMOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT CENTRE argues that the Australian government's supposed "historic shift" in policy on East Timor, recently announced by foreign minister Alexander Downer, is much ado about little. Since the 1970s, both
Airline passengers and crew can be exposed to hazardous pesticides without
their knowledge, according to a report by the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives
to Pesticides (NCAP). Flyers Beware: Pesticide Use on International and
Domestic
US
By Neville Spencer
Brazil's financial crisis, which erupted on January 13, had been anticipated since the middle of last year even by those, such as President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who tried to reassure the markets by denying the obvious.
100,000 remember Liebknecht and Luxemburg
BERLIN — The traditional January 9 march to the graves of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, the revolutionary Communist leaders murdered in 1919 on the orders of the Social Democrats, attracted 100,000
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on January 12 restored the powers of the speaker and deputy speaker of the Sindh provincial assembly. The federal government of Nawaz Sharif had dismissed the Sindh provincial government, ruled by Sharif's Pakistan
Dita Sari rejects bail offer
THE INDONESIAN MEDIA announced on December 13 that Indonesian political prisoner Dita Sari had been offered early bail by the Habibie government. Dita, a labour activist and leader of the People's Democratic Party, was
Landowners threaten to shut Ok Tedi mine
Landowners near BHP's giant Ok Tedi gold and copper mine have threatened
to close the mine if the Papua New Guinea government does not agree to
review an agreement between the state and landowners by
East Timor: is a breakthrough looming?
By Max Lane
Speculation on the future of East Timor is rife in Jakarta. There have even been unconfirmed reports that the Habibie-Wiranto military regime may allow East Timorese resistance leader Xanana
US
Threat to gay rights in Fiji
SUVA — Right-wing political forces and conservative church groups in Fiji are attempting to reverse a constitutional provision that outlaws discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. A clause in the Bill
By Farooq Tariq
LAHORE — In a drastic move to curb trade union activity in the power and water sector, the Pakistan government last month "suspended" the trade unions covering the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA)for two years. On
Culture
Review by Geoff Francis
UnAustralian SongsBy David Beniuk and the UnAustraliansTo order, write to PO Box 29, Wollongong East 2520. Many contemporary Australian folk artists have fallen into a rut of churning out a succession of bland "feel good"
Godfrey Bigot gets back to basics
By Brad Pedersen
The major parties are lining up for a law and order policy auction,
each seeking to make the highest bid. They will trade in pseudo-solutions
that prey on the public's fears and
Let the rainbow shine
By Shayne Wilde
Judy Small has long been recognised as the voice of our times. Describing
herself as a singer who writes songs, Judy has recorded eight CDS, mainly
in the folk tradition, but her music also has
Three of the world's top bands have joined forces to highlight the frame-up
of radical journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. Rage Against the Machine, rap group
Beastie Boys and Bad Religion have scheduled a benefit concert on January
28 in East
Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian LandscapeBy Ken S. InglisMelbourne University Press, 1998522 pp., $49.95 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon
On Anzac Day each year, the air hums and whines with a verbal barrage — "sacrifice", "bravery",
Godfrey Bigot, spokesman for the political establishment and candidate for the NSW upper house, shares his vision for society and helps us to understand where the current law and order debate is taking us.
"It is time to get back to basics", says
Lost Civilisations of the Stone AgeBy Richard Rudgley Century Books, 1998$39.95 Review by Robert Hodder
The words "Stone Age" and "civilisation" are rarely seen together in popular history. Richard Rudgley's book sets out to turn our assumptions
Down but not quite out in New York
US
Visiting Mr GreenBy Jeff BaronDirected by Sandra BatesEnsemble Theatre, Sydney Review by Brendan Doyle
Another New York Jewish play, I hear you groan! Another play about the generation gap! Okay, but this
Editorial
Cop of the world
It didn't get a lot of media coverage — being nowhere nearly as interesting
as the ongoing Washington soap opera, Monicagate — but US
President Bill Clinton has proposed an increase in the US government's
military
Resistance!
Last year Resistance led the high school walkouts against racism. Here
is what our opponents said about the rallies:
Shaun Nelson (Queensland One Nation MP): Putting children into the
line of fire ... is child abuse ... these
Rage against the regime: students fight for democracy in Indonesia
By Chris Latham
Last May mass demonstrations toppled one of the most brutal dictators in the world — President Suharto of Indonesia. Having held power for over 32 years, with
By Angela Luvera
The first International Women's Day (IWD) was organised by women
active in the socialist movement in the early 1900s. They wanted to set
aside a day on which women could organise for their demands and celebrate
their
By Arrow Tong and Tristan Miller
Young people need a voice. We can't just hang around until we are
18, when we get to vote for the racist policies of Liberal or Labor. That
is why last year Resistance organised the high school walkouts
Stop VSU: we will not be silenced!
By Wendy Robertson
On December 21, federal education minister David Kemp announced that
the government would introduce "voluntary student unionism"(VSU) legislation
in the next sitting of
US
By Zanny Begg
1. We can understand history
The 10 richest people in the world own more wealth than that produced each year by the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. Facts like these are often presented to us as inexplicable, just part of the ways
Fight the System: join Resistance
By Sean Healy
The system sux — but the question is what are you going to do about it? Resistance is getting organised in the knowledge that people are more powerful collectively than on their own. Resistance