Mandatory sentencing and non-violent protest
By Robert Milne
DARWIN — The Northern Territory's mandatory sentencing laws have always been controversial. Now NT police are attempting to use these laws, originally designed to protect property, to
Issue 355
News
SYDNEY — On March 3, Legal Aid's Children's Legal Service convened a meeting to discuss the announcement by the Ombudsman's Office of a inquiry into serious allegations against management and staff at the Kariong Detention Centre. The centre is the
Anti-nuclear forum
By Keara Courtney
SYDNEY — Dr Helen Caldicott and Dr Jim Green condemned the federal
government's pro-nuclear push — which includes giving the go ahead to
a new nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney's
By Kim Bullimore
The federal Coalition government's hypocrisy was again evident when immigration, multicultural affairs and reconciliation minister Philip Ruddock launched its multi-million dollar "Living in Harmony" program. The program, which
Teachers say 'negotiate'
By Melanie Sjoberg
ADELAIDE — Hundreds of education workers gathered in Victoria Square on March 30 to call on the state government to negotiate genuinely on an enterprise agreement. High school principal and Australian
Palm Sunday marches oppose Jabiluka mine
Anti-uranium protesters used marches held around Australia on March 28 (Palm Sunday) to focus attention on stopping the Jabiluka uranium mine in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. The
MUA election issues begin to surface
By Dick Nichols
Last week, seafarer members of the Maritime Union of Australia attending their monthly stop-work meeting were given the latest issue of Voice, the journal of the Maritime Unionists Socialist
By Emma Webb
ADELAIDE — Around 120 people were addressed by Aboriginal elders and and other activists opposed to uranium mining at a public meeting on March 22 organised by the Jabiluka Action Group. Arabunna elder Kevin Buzzacott spoke about the
Another 'beautiful, boutique' nuclear reactor for Sydney
By Jim Green
SYDNEY — On March 30, federal environment minister Robert Hill announced his approval for the construction of a new nuclear reactor in the southern Sydney suburb of Lucas
By Peter Boyle
SYDNEY — You wouldn't know it from the establishment media's coverage of the result of the March 27 NSW state election, but its greatest significance was the rebuff of the ruling class's privatisation drive by a whopping 56% of
NTEU highlights education decline
By Jeremy Smith
The stand-off between the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and the senior management at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Sydney University, along with a proposed strike at
Company sacks 550 meatworkers
By Bronwen Beechey
ADELAIDE — Five hundred and fifty meatworkers in the small town of Murray Bridge were sacked following the sale of Metro meatworks to the Adelaide-based CR&S. Workers at the plant were stood
World
By Barry Sheppard
Taking a break from the daily bombing of Iraq, US-led NATO forces are escalating the bombing of Yugoslavia, threatening a wider war. This underscores the determination of the US ruling class to build up its already massive
Nigerian environmentalists arrested
Those who think there is now freedom in Nigeria should rethink. The crackdown against environment and indigenous rights activists is continuing, says Environmental Rights Action (ERA). Three environment activists
Cuba denounces US 'human rights' hypocrisy
At the session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva on March 24, Cuba's vice-president, Dr Carlos Lage Davila, replied to charges by the US government that in Cuba there has been a
By Norm Dixon
Britain's Independent Television Commission on March 22 suspended the license of the Kurdish satellite television station, Med TV, for 21 days, forcing it to cease broadcasting. The ban followed the station's screening of live footage
By Yakov Ben Efrat
Abdallah Ocalan, the revered leader of the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK), was abducted from Nairobi on February 15 by the Turkish Special Forces. The event spurred worldwide protests. Ocalan represents 20 million Kurds in
Indonesian PRD resumes open campaigning
By a special correspondent in Jakarta and Max Lane
On March 21, the People's Democratic Party (PRD) organised a series a public meetings in several Indonesian cities to proclaim that it was back in full
By Max Lane
The major East Timorese newspapers Suara Timor Timur and Novas carried lead stories on March 29 about Indonesia's People's Democratic Party's (PRD) position on East Timorese self-determination. That day, the Election Implementation
Mexican indigenous rights referendum a big success
By Peter Gellert
MEXICO CITY — On March 21, almost 3 million Mexicans participated in a makeshift referendum on indigenous rights called by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). The
By Emma Webb
ADELAIDE — Last year, Adelaide academic and president of the Conservation Council of South Australia, Dr Tim Doyle, participated in an international fact-finding mission to examine the impact of Western Mining Corporation operations
Culture
By Dave Riley
With federal MP Trish Draper, amongst others, still insisting that it should be banned outright, Adrian Lyne's new film version of Lolita has finally been released in Australia. Those who recall the anti-censorship campaigns of the
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Premiere screenings of Indonesia in Revolt — Democracy or Death!
Made in Indonesia and Australia between August 1998 and March 1999 in cooperation with activists from the Indonesian political underground.
Sydney
6.30pm,
Is the Communist Manifesto still relevant?
The Communist ManifestoBy Karl Marx and Friedrich EngelsWith a commentary by Leon TrotskyResistance Books, 199880pp., $6.95 (pb) Review by Chris Slee
Generations of socialists have read the Moscow
The after-death experience
The American Way of Death RevisitedBy Jessica MitfordVirago, 1998282 pp., $39.95 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon
It's funerals today, something else tomorrow, warned Mortuary Management in 1961 about the perils of reform of
Bridging the divide
HAVANA — On April 1, the Baltimore Orioles became the first US major league baseball team to play on Cuban soil in 40 years. After the game, musicians from both nations danced the night away at an all-star concert to bridge
Mermaid AvenueBilly Bragg and WilcoWarner Music Review by James Smith
"The world is filled with people who are no longer needed/ And who try to make slaves of us/ And they have their music and we have ours/ Theirs, the wasted songs of a
Resistance!
By Zanny Begg
On March 31, thousands of students took to the streets in rallies across Australia against the voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation. The rallies were a vibrant rebuttal of the Liberals' claim of majority support for VSU.
By Jim Green
The plan to dump 75,000 tonnes of high-level nuclear waste in South Australia or Western Australia is gaining increasing support. The plan came to light in December when a promotional video produced by Pangea Resources was leaked.
By Marina Carman
SYDNEY — Last year a proposal was raised in a number of left student groups that only women members should vote in candidate preselections for women's officers. This position was adopted by the Activist Left group on Sydney
By Margarita Windisch
MELBOURNE — The National Organisation of Women Students Australia (NOWSA) Collective has been meeting to discuss organisation of the annual feminist student conference. NOWSA conferences provide an opportunity for women
By Jackie Lynch
MELBOURNE — After five years of campaigning and several appearances in the Federal and High courts, the Rabelais case is finally over. On March 24, the Victorian director of public prosecutions dropped the charges against the four
By Sean Healy
During March, more than 500 people attended a national campus speaking tour organised by Resistance on the topic: "Socialism vs Capitalism: what would Marx say today". About 70 people attended the forum at Sydney University, at which
By Jacqui Moon
MELBOURNE — People in white radiation suits and with green faces will be appearing at high schools as part of a street theatre organised by Resistance to show the dangers of the nuclear industry. High school students will walk out
By Danny Fairfax
Everybody knows that politicians are liars. A recent survey showed only 7% of the population think that politicians are trustworthy. The election campaign for the March 27 NSW election only served to confirm people's suspicions.