Issue 366

News

Fight to save Sydney bushland By Lachlan Malloch SYDNEY — Residents and concerned environmentalists are vigorously protesting against the destruction of a large section of beautiful bushland in the Manly Dam catchment area in Sydney's northern
By Chris Spindler More than 200 members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union at Dorf Industries are on strike and staffing a 24-hour picket line. They are opposing the company's attempt to relocate to Sydney and their treatment. The
MUA officials withstand challenges By Dick Nichols The final results of the 1999 elections for the Maritime Union of Australia are now in. Both nationally and at branch level, the incumbent leadership has managed to withstand the challenge of
By Tom Flanagan SYDNEY — Housekeeping staff at the Hyde Park Plaza in Sydney have won an important victory. Their employer, Mirvac, backed off from its attempt to contract out their jobs after a lively and well-attended picket on June 25.
24-hour strike at Email plants By Shane Bentley MORE THAN 5000 workers employed by whitegoods manufacturer Email took part in a 24-hour stoppage on June 17. The stoppage affected all 22 Email plants across the country, except the largest, in
'Brucegate' scandal spurs demand for Carnell to go By James Vassilopoulos CANBERRA — ACT Chief Minister Kate Carnell is embroiled in a major crisis which could result in her being sacked or her minority Liberal government being thrown out.
Eyewitness report on Indonesian elections BRISBANE — Fifty people gathered in the Paddington Workers Club on April 24 to hear from Karen Fletcher and Graham Matthews, who recently returned from Indonesia. The new documentary Indonesia in
Anti-GST rallies around the country Thirty people attended an anti-GST rally organised by the Greens at parliament in Canberra on June 21, Karen Burns reports. Several speakers addressed them on the GST's impact. Greens Senator Bob Brown said that
Candlelight march for political prisoners By Rohan Gaiswinkler DARWIN — A rally, candlelight march through the city streets and an overnight vigil outside the Indonesian consulate took place here on June 19-20. The events, organised by the East
Albury residents protest against freeway By Karen Burns CANBERRA — Sixty people travelled from Albury on the NSW-Victoria border to Parliament House on June 21 to protest against the federal government's refusal to consider alternatives to
Settlement won by staff at Sydney University By Tyrion Perkins SYDNEY — National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) members at the University of Sydney have agreed to accept the latest enterprise bargain offer made by management on June
By Alison Dellit NEWCASTLE — On June 25, the Newcastle University Council debated a motion to withdraw funding from the university and community radio station 2NUR FM. 2NUR is the only community radio station in the Hunter region. It broadcasts
By James Smith SYDNEY — There is a perception amongst some that Bob Carr's NSW Labor government is a working people's government. The government's fifth budget, announced on June 22, reveals where its allegiance really lies. Treasurer Michael
Thousands rally against forest agreement By Martin Schenke BRISBANE — A 3000-strong crowd rallied in King George Square on June 14 to oppose the state government's regional forest agreement (RFA). The rally was organised by the Wilderness
Road to destroy coastal wetlands By Peter McCallum MACKAY — The Queensland government seems set to push ahead with a major new road in Mackay that will destroy 12.3 hectares of coastal wetlands, despite Environment Protection Agency (EPA)
By David Gosling CANBERRA — More than 900 staff at the Australian National University voted overwhelmingly on June 24 to demand an enterprise bargaining agreement that guarantees no net job losses, maintenance of superannuation contributions and
Solidarity from AMWU workers for East Timor and Indonesia By Sarah Lantz MELBOURNE — East Timorese independence activists Alex Tilman and Gil Santos from Fretilin and Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) member Bronwyn
Camel trek fights nuclear dump By Alistair Spong and Mel Bull In mid-July, nine women — Humps not Dumps — will start a 1000-kilometre camel trek through the South Australian desert in order to raise awareness about the national radioactive
University of Melbourne manoeuvres on wages MELBOURNE — University of Melbourne management announced on June 9 that it would unilaterally grant a 2% pay increase to all staff as a "reward" for meeting previous revenue targets. The National
By Mary Merkenich and Norrian Rundle MELBOURNE — Australian Education Union (AEU) members at two state schools have taken action over moves to privatise state schools. Sandringham Secondary College and Blackburn High School are in the front line

World

China, Taiwan and Hong Kong: growing integration and joint struggle HONG KONG — AU Loong YU is a leader of a small socialist group, Pioneer, formed in the early 1980s from a split in the now defunct Revolutionary Marxist League (RML). It
UN delays vote in East Timor By Jon Land United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on June 22 that the UN-administered vote in East Timor, scheduled to take place on August 8, would be delayed until August 21 or 22. In a
Dirty Dozen pesticides: banned but still traded A review of recent US exports of the Pesticide Action Network's "Dirty Dozen" pesticides indicates that a national ban is not sufficient to prevent a pesticide from entering a country. According to US
Kashmir: freedom struggle confronts barbarism By Eva Cheng Most establishment media reports portray the military confrontation in Kashmir as simply a border conflict between India and Pakistan. This ignores the aspirations and the persistent
Philippine solidarity with East Timor DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The Asia Pacific Coalition for East Timor (APCET) launched the Help East Timor Now campaign with a week of solidarity activities here starting on June 14. The campaign is part of
Wiranto: 'No gatherings of the masses!' By Max Lane On June 25, the Jakarta daily newspaper Kompas quoted the minister of defence and commander in chief of the armed forces (TNI), General Wiranto, as stating that the government would
Latest on Indonesian elections The Joint Media and Operations Centre in Jakarta, which has been monitoring the Indonesian vote count, has estimated the final vote for the major parties to be: Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic

Culture

DIG: The last history of Burke and Wills A short story by Craig Cormick ROBERT O'HARA BURKE waves his top hat triumphantly and leads Mr Wills and Mr King into the fortified stockade at Cooper's Creek. They've covered the last hundred miles with
SBS to screen new Jabiluka doco As the final decision of the listing of Kakadu National Park on the "World Heritage in danger" list approaches on July 12, SBS is to screen Cathy Henkel's documentary Walking Through a Minefield. Narrated by film
How To Attract Capital Take a pageFrom Auschwitz Auschwitz attractedPlenty of Capital Two huge factoriesKrupps and Siemens Why was AuschwitzSuch a beaconFor Capital? The reason is simple:Labour at AuschwitzCost nothing. Denis Kevans
Jazzed up, anti-racist and danced out By Arun Pradhan MELBOURNE — More than 400 people packed the Prince of Wales Hotel on June 16 to hear a range of artists perform in Green Left Weekly's Jazz Against Racism. The audience was treated to
By Danny Fairfax SYDNEY — Four hundred people packed the Globe Cinema on Friday, June 25, for the premiere of John Pilger's documentary The Timor Conspiracy, presented by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) and Green Left

Editorial

The theft of Telstra The Senate vote to privatise more of Telstra is another theft of public assets and is not in the interests of consumers or telecommunications workers. Last year, Telstra made a net profit of $3 billion, and it is expected to

General

Serbia under Milosevic: politics in the 1990sBy Robert ThomasHurst & Company, London, 1999 Review by Chris Slee Slobodan Milosevic has been in control of Serbia since 1987. This book deals with his rise to power and the political struggles that
A conflict created by chauvinist intellectuals Kosovo: A Short HistoryBy Noel MalcolmPaperMac, 1998 Review by Michael Cooke This book provides historical background to current events in the Balkans. Malcolm's work is even-handed, judicious and
Kosova: what remains after 'victory'? By Michael Karadjis Who won the Kosova war? According to Western leaders, NATO did, and Slobodan Milosevic "totally capitulated". According to Milosevic, the war ended with a "victory for Serbia's peace

Resistance!

J18 rally attacks corporate tyranny By Erin Killion SYDNEY — On June 18, a global carnival against corporate tyranny was held. It began here with an "Anti-Business Lunch", a rally of about 350 people in Martin Place. Speakers came from a range
Youth wages: slavery in the free market? By Ky Moon On June 24, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) handed down its final report on junior wage rates. With the federal Coalition government and big business hailing the findings
By Toni Stevens MELBOURNE — Student union leaders at Chisholm TAFE are optimistic about maintaining student control of the fledgling Chisholm Association of TAFE Students (CATS) after a recent occupation of the administration office at the
Tough deal for sex workers By Alison Dellit On June 20, the Queensland Labor government introduced what Premier Peter Beattie called "a tough package of prostitution law reform". The "reforms" will legalise and regulate brothels, while increasing
By Sean Healy Actions all around the world are planned in solidarity with the Burmese freedom struggle on September 9 this year (9-9-99). The global day of action will include protests and activities in at least 14 countries, including Britain,
By Angela Luvera "The National Organisation of Women Students Australia (NOWSA) was born during a period of student activism in opposition to tertiary fees and the graduate tax. The original NOWSA activists fought for women's access to education,
Flexible: The high level of youth unemployment acts as a pressure on young people to accept extremely poor workplace conditions and low wages. This means young people are more easily forced to accept jobs which are largely casual positions with