Rally for Burma
CANBERRA — Eighty protesters demonstrated outside the Burmese embassy on May 27, the ninth anniversary of the 1990 parliamentary election in Burma. The victory of the National League for Democracy in that election was rejected
Issue 364
News
ATSIC blames One Nation for KKK in Australia
By Margaret Allum
On June 2, ATSIC chairperson Gatjil Djerrkura condemned One Nation for contributing to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Australia. One Nation national director David Ettridge
Pelican Point campaign continues
By Bronwen Beechey
ADELAIDE — Opponents of the proposed power station at Pelican Point on the Le Fevre Peninsula are continuing their campaign, despite the determination of the state Liberal government to push
By Sue Boland
The opposition to the GST, 58% against according to opinion polls, is being reflected in the angry letters flooding newspapers condemning the deal between the Australian Democrats and the federal government. Newspaper editors appear
On May 28, about 400 members of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) at East Swanson Dock terminal met for eight hours and discussed the enterprise bargaining offer by P&O Ports, which is designed to match the changes implemented by Patrick
By Bronwen Beechey
ADELAIDE — The privatisation of the Electricity Trust of South Australia looks certain to go ahead following ALP legislative councillor Trevor Crothers' announcement on June 3 that he has come to an agreement with Liberal
Freedom of association
SYDNEY — The May 27 Sydney Morning Herald reported that the federal government hastily dropped a plan to allow employers to sack workers for being union members after the paper asked the office of industrial relations
By Jim McIlroy
BRISBANE — The Wilderness Society and other conservation groups have called a rally in King George Square on June 14, at noon, to demand an end to the destruction of native forests in south-east Queensland. A leaflet issued by the
Comment by Marcel Cameron
PERTH — Now that the regional forest agreement (RFA) has been signed, the Western Australian Forest Alliance (WAFA) and the Greens (WA) have launched a campaign to convince people to vote against Liberal candidates in
By Chris Spindler
MELBOURNE — On June 3, more than 8000 workers marched to Parliament House to call on the Liberal state government to improve job security in the manufacturing industry. The rally, endorsed by the Victorian Trades Hall Council
Chisholm TAFE's union busting
By Vannessa Hearman
MELBOURNE — Chisholm TAFE Institute student union leaders are accusing TAFE management of trying to destroy the student union. At the Frankston campus, student representatives have been served
The money or the box!
SYDNEY — University of NSW students and staff, incensed at the vice-chancellor's decision to spend nearly $500,000 on a corporate box at the Olympic Games at the same time as crying poor, protested outside the
5000 'reclaim our forests'
By Marcel Cameron
PERTH — Five thousand people streamed into the Perth Entertainment Centre on May 30 to attend a "Reclaim our Forests" public meeting called by the Western Australian Forest Alliance (WAFA). The
World
Soripto: portrait of a revolutionary
By Karen Fredericks
SOLO, Central Java — The Solo headquarters of Indonesia's People's Democratic Party (PRD) is abuzz with young people painting banners, counting leaflets, drinking tea and smoking kretek
PRD rallies with masses in Jakarta
By Sam King
JAKARTA — On May 28, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in support of Megawati Sukarnoputri and her Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-S). Thousands of workers, urban poor, students
Peace demonstrators defy the madness
By Farooq Sulehria
LAHORE, Pakistan — Following India's nuclear blast on May 11, 1998, Pakistan's ruling elite created the impression that there was a national consensus about going nuclear. It was not so;
'More like a demonstration than an election campaign'
By Edward Johnstone and Karen Fredericks
SOLO — The centre of the city of Solo in Central Java is a burnt-out shell, ravaged by anti-Chinese riots orchestrated by the military in its
By Patrick Bond
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa's June 2 national and provincial elections confirmed expectations that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) would gain two-thirds of the vote, up from 63% in 1994, while a dozen tiny opposition
Fighting for democracy in Hong Kong
HONG KONG — Hong Kong's economy is in a dire state. Wage cuts are widespread, but resistance is stalled by rotten union leadership. Hong Kong's citizens are still denied the basic right to choose their own
By Barry Sheppard
An article in the latest Scientific American, "Biological Warfare Against Crops", reveals that the US developed weapons that can only be described as weapons of mass destruction. The article states: "The US developed a number of
Censorship and repression in Burma
Ida Rohne
Burma is a country where there has been a complete lack of freedom of association and press since the 1960s. Between independence in 1948 and the coup staged by General Ne Win in 1962, Burma was ruled
MOHAMMED ISSA is president of the Afghan Watan Party (AWP), which ruled Afghanistan for four years after Soviet troops withdrew in 1988. Issa was interviewed by Dr AMJAD AYUB for the Pakistan weekly Struggle. Question: What is the situation in
Culture
By Norm Dixon
African-American film-maker Spike Lee, famous for his film version of the life story of Malcolm X, retains the aura of a "progressive". That aura has dimmed somewhat with his decision to help the US military recruit young black people
The absence of peace: understanding the Israeli- Palestinian conflictBy Nicholas GuyattZed Books, 1998188pp., $39.95 (pb) Review by Melanie Sjoberg
Have you ever wondered about the strange terminology used to describe the conflict over land in the
Laughter on the 23rd Floorby Neil SimonPlayhouse, Sydney Opera House until July 3 Review by Mark Stoyich
There was humour in the United States before the Jews, but the native humorists tended to succumb to those fiery liquors which gentiles find so
Searching for love and acceptance
Torch Song TrilogyBy Harvey FiersteinDirected by Jennifer BoyleNew Farm Nash TheatreThursday-Saturday, 8pm, until June 19Phone (07) 321 6653 for bookings Review by Mike Byrne
Torch Song Trilogy takes us through
Premiere of Pilger's East Timor sequel
By Michael Goldstein
The Timor Conspiracy is dissident journalist John Pilger's documentary sequel to Death of a Nation. In the latest film, Pilger probes the policies of the governments of the United
By Susan Price
MELBOURNE — Community radio 3CR is Victoria's truly uncensored voice.
Programs at 3CR give a public voice to progressive organisations and communities
which are excluded or marginalised by the establishment
Editorial
East Timor's best chances for freedom
Almost every day, more evidence emerges of the Indonesian regime's support and coordination of the pro-integration terror gangs in East Timor. These "militias" are carrying out a terror campaign against the
General
By John Pilger
The room is filled with the bodies of children killed by NATO in Surdulica in Serbia. Several are recognisable only by their sneakers. A dead infant is cradled in the arms of his father. These pictures and many others have not been
By Norm Dixon
Whatever direction NATO's attack on former Yugoslavia takes in coming weeks — either a ground war or a deal that ends the bombing — there is one group of people who cannot lose — United States capitalists. On May 20, the US
The following is abridged from a statement issued by the independent trade union federation NEZAVISNOST in Belgrade on April 29 to mark May Day, May 1. During the Bosnia war, Nezavisnost, which claims 300,000 members in Serbia, joined with other
We are taking a week off
Green Left Weekly is taking a one-week break for the June long weekend, but we'll be back with a new issue on the streets and in your mailbox on June 23. Don't miss it!
By Allen Myers
Having bombed Serbia into what amounts to surrender, the United States and its NATO accomplices will now be looking to establish their direct control over Kosova. The intentions of the US and other Western governments are evident
New web site on the Balkans war
For more information and commentary on the war in the Balkans — including all the articles that have been printed in Green Left Weekly since the bombing began — visit the web site at
Resistance!
Indonesia: why the army still calls the shots
On June 3, Resistance activist SAM KING interviewed People's Democratic Party (PRD) leader DHYTA CATURANI in Indonesia. Caturani will be visiting Australia for three weeks in July and will attend the
By Kylie Moon
BANKSTOWN — Students and staff at the University of Western Sydney's Bankstown campus are united in a campaign to defeat cuts to UWS Macarthur's adult education course. The cuts will affect 135 students and are part of a broader
MELBOURNE — Activists are gearing up for one of the biggest events on the socialist calendar — the annual Resistance national conference, July 8-11. Prior to the conference, Resistance activists will hold a series of actions to draw attention to
Unravelling The Matrix
By Zanny Begg
Rushed out to beat the release of the new Star Wars movie, The Matrix was this season's surprise winner. This latest film by the Wachowski brothers (their earlier effort was the sexy thriller Bound) is