Issue 34

News

Victorian schools dispute partially settled By Ann Steele MELBOURNE — On October 29, the Kirner government finally decided to honour its industrial agreement with the Victorian Secondary Teachers Association (VSTA). The decision came just two
By Jim McIlroy BRISBANE — Farcical scenes broke out in the Queensland parliament on October 31 as attorney-general Deane Wells began to read a statement by special prosecutor Doug Drummond justifying his refusal to proceed with a second trial of
Abseilers attack government light bill By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Environmentalists staged a novel protest against Queensland government power wastage here on the evening of October 30 by abseiling down the side of the Executive Building in
By Tracy Sorensen SYDNEY — In a new victory for environmentalists, the NSW government lost its appeal on November 1 against the Land and Environment Court's ruling that logging in the north coast Chaelundi state forest would be in breach of
Residents arrested defending Emerald Beach By Tracy Sorensen One hundred and seventeen people have been arrested at the Look At Me Now Headland at Emerald Beach near Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, for attempting to stop work on an
New call to demolish brewery By Leon Harrison PERTH — The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission has called on the state government to abandon any redevelopment of the old Swan Brewery. WA ATSIC delegates have urged federal
WA gay pride march By Leon Harrison PERTH — Five hundred members of Perth's gay and lesbian community celebrated gay pride through Northbridge on 26 October. The march had a party-like atmosphere with floats, many banners, balloons and the
By Michael Tardif I was expelled from Indonesia on October 29, more than a day after being arrested while photographing a student demonstration in Bogor. The demonstration had been called against companies in the area that refuse to pay their
By Helen Jarvis Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen visited Australia last week and was welcomed by an unprecedented display of unity in the Khmer community. A packed dinner of more than 500 people at Fairfield on October 27 gave an enthusiastic
WA Greens choose senator By Frank Noakes PERTH — The Greens WA have chosen a new senator to replace Jo Vallentine, who steps down on January 31, 1992. Christabel Chamarette, formerly better known as Christabel Bridge, but now using her
Solidarity with Cuba By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — About 450 people attended a rousing meeting in solidarity with Cuba here on November 2. Visiting Cubans Nieves Alemany and Eva Seone addressed the crowd which included many people from the Latin
Partial step on driftnets BRUSSELS — Moves against driftnet fishing adopted by the European Community Fisheries Council on October 28 might have been a step in the right direction, if the largest driftnet fleet in the north-east Atlantic had not
Call to end use of traps SYDNEY — Animal rights activists demonstrated outside Parliament House on October 24 to protest against the use of the steel-jaw leg-hold trap in New South Wales. The traps are theoretically banned under the
Coles sackings prompt strike By David Mizon MELBOURNE — Members of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association at the Coles New World warehouse in Port Melbourne began their third week on strike on November 2. The strike started
By Geoff Spencer PERTH — Sacked maritime workers from the iron ore port of Port Walcott near Cape Lambert in WA's north-west are in their eighth week of picketing the offices of Robe River Iron Associates and its partner Mitsui Australia. The
By David Mizon MELBOURNE — Residents and community and environmental groups are demanding that clean-up and relocation costs from the Coode Island fire in August should be borne by the companies and not by the public. At an October 27 public
By Tracy Sorensen SYDNEY — Two racing industry workers have been sacked because they refused a management order to work in the place of unionists who took part in the October 23 NSW general strike against the Greiner government's Industrial
By Adrienne Barrett MELBOURNE — Victorian Premier Joan Kirner has hailed proposed new rape laws as "trailblazing", but Melbourne barrister Jocelyn Scutt says the changes will do no more than bring Victorian law into line with reforms in WA, NSW
By Tom Flanagan HOBART — The spectacular failure of Tasmania's minority Labor government to pass its resource security legislation may not mean the end of the bill. Although Labor has made an agreement with the five Green Independents that the
AVS welcomes Vietnam aid By Stephen Robson CANBERRA — The national meeting of the Australia-Vietnam Society on October 26 welcomed the Australian government decision to resume bilateral aid to Vietnam. National chairperson of AVS Tom Uren

World

By Steve Painter South Yorkshire police have paid more than half a million pounds (around A$1.2 million) compensation to mineworkers arrested at the Orgreave coking plant in June 1984. Orgreave was the centre of bitter clashes between police and
At least two, and possibly four, Timorese were killed in a church in Dili when Indonesian troops attacked it early in the morning of October 28. TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, identified the known victims as Sebastiao Ranel, 18 years,
By Steve Painter Workers at Fiji's Vatukoula gold mine are into their ninth month on strike and say they expect to spend Christmas on the picket line. The strike has restricted production so severely that the company recorded a $20 million loss
By Sally Low Jablonec nad Nisou — This is a pretty Czech town whose name (apple tree on the Nisa River) is a memorial to all that was left standing by Catholic crusaders during one of their wars against Protestant Bohemia. In the foothills of
S tries to block UN debate NEW YORK — The US government is conducting an intensive campaign at the United Nations to block a debate on the US economic embargo against the Caribbean country, Cuba's UN mission stated on October 25. The need to

Roy Medvedev was the leading dissident Soviet historian during the Brezhnev years. He was expelled from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1969. In 1971, following the publication in the West of his monumental study on Stalin, Left History Judge,

NIEVES ALEMANY (a member of the national secretariat of the Cuban Women's Federation, the National Assembly of Cuba and the central committee of the Communist Party of Cuba) and EVA SEONE (vice-president of the Cuban Institute for the Friendship with

Culture

By Norm Dixon Australian audiences have another opportunity to enjoy the vibrant and liberating musical culture of South Africa from the 11 members of Mango Groove, now on tour. Like the other recent South African tourists, Lucky Dube and
Joe Orton three ways Ménage à Trois: an evening with Joe Orton Missing Link Productions Crossroads Theatre, Darlinghurst, Sydney Tues-Sat until Nov 17 Reviewed by Philip Bilton-Smith If it does nothing else, Ménage à
Medicare Blues (with thanks to Elvis for the tune) em = By Phil Shannon Oh, people let's reform your costly Medicare Put a few co-payments in and watch it shred 'n' tear Oh let's reform your ... Medicare I don't want to be a Hewson 'cause
Family Matters Directed by Jiri Svoboda Made in Czechoslovakia, 1990. Subtitled Showing at the 1991 Australian Jewish Film Festival Melbourne November 9-24, Trak Cinema Sydney November 16-December 1 AFI Cinema, Paddington Reviewed by Steve
Anticlimax: A feminist perspective on the sexual revolution By Sheila Jeffreys The Women's Press Ltd, London. Reviewed by Melanie Sjoberg "Male supremacy is centred around the act of sexual intercourse ... justified by heterosexual practice",
Women's Circus leaps ahead By Melanie Sjoberg MELBOURNE — The big top, straw, hard seats, clowns, lion tamers? No, the Women's Circus is very different from the traditional circus. Up to 70 women leap, tumble, juggle, fly and more —
Women, Jazz, Today SYDNEY — A two-day festival celebrating women composers, leaders and improvisers in contemporary jazz is to take place on November 14 and 15. It is being organised by the Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA) and
No Pain, No Gain? Sport and Australian Culture By Dr Jim McKay Prentice Hall, 1991. 189 pp. $24.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Sport tells lies. According to Jim McKay, sport is a social prop to the domination of capitalist ideas and values.
Roots music rules, OK! By Norm Dixon Enthusiasts of roots music — blues, r&b, gospel soul, jazz, zydeco, cajun, Tex-Mex, Afro-Latin and music from Africa and the Caribbean — are getting organised. The OK Music Association has been formed

Editorial

Greiner's law and human rights The Greiner government's anti-union Industrial Relations Act was passed by the NSW upper house on October 30, paving the way for a giant step backwards not only in industrial relations, but also in the sphere of