Issue 38

News

Tasmania gets women's abortion clinic By Kath Gelber HOBART — Tasmania's first independent abortion clinic opened here in November. Previously, only limited abortion services were available in some hospitals, and many women were forced to go
By Melanie Sjoberg MELBOURNE — Outrage on the part of many trade union activists over the massacre in Dili and persistent activity by the Timorese community and solidarity groups have produced a response from the organised trade union movement.
Conference on fighting the New World Order By Bill Mason BRISBANE — International and Australian issues facing the left under the New World Order were the focus of a conference at the Resistance Centre in New Farm on the weekend of November
Adelaide protest against Aidex Story by Liam Mitchell Photo by Rob Graham ADELAIDE — "Unless we in Australia end the traffic in war, the blood will be on our hands", Uniting Church minister Reverend Lee Levitt-Olsen told a 300-strong rally
AIDS quilt displayed in Sydney By Kim Spurway SYDNEY — As part of World AIDS Day events, 1000 people living with AIDS and their friends and family attended the unfolding ceremony of the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt here on November 30. The
The Aidex arms bazaar wasn't just an exhibition of military hardware. Police from around the country treated it as a training exercise, and their latest techniques were on display. In this department, little changes, it seems. Boots, fists, batons,
South Coast unions ban steel to Indonesia By Bernie Brian WOLLONGONG — Steel industry delegates have voted to ban the shipment of 30,000 tonnes of BHP slab steel destined for Indonesia in response to the recent massacre by Indonesian troops
East Timor embassy opened By Craig Cormick CANBERRA — An East Timorese embassy has been established here, further straining Indonesian-Australian government relations following the November 12 massacre in Dili. Relations were already strained
Story by Dave Wright SYDNEY — United States President George Bush was tried for crimes against humanity by a people's court here earlier this month. The event was organised by the Mobilisation Opposing Bush, a coalition of peace, environment and
By John Tognolini CANBERRA — "This exhibition is one which has attracted controversy and I stress once again that this event is not the 'arms bazaar' its opponents claim it to be", claimed defence minister Robert Ray in the magazine distributed
By Steve Painter The Hewson tax package has been seen as the opening of the next federal election campaign. It is the program with which the Liberals hope to win government by offering big business more than the ALP-ACTU Accord does. The
By Camilo Jorquera SYDNEY — Australians will be sending a shipload of supplies to beleaguered Cuba. This is one of four solidarity campaigns adopted by a meeting here on November 22. The meeting was attended by a wide range of groups
By Bill Mason BRISBANE — The Queensland government's Anti-Discrimination Bill poses a threat to all teachers with alternative lifestyles, not just homosexual teachers, according to the Queensland Teachers Union. "So far the concentration of
MELBOURNE — In an impressive community action, an estimated 7000 supporters of Croatian independence marched through the city on November 17. The Sunday afternoon action climaxed in a rally outside parliament. The demonstrators called on the
According to a new report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 46% of employees earn less than $440 per week (a Morgan poll estimated recently that a family of four requires $441 per week to "keep in health and live decently"). Further, some
By Tracy Sorensen There has been a new round of arrests of Emerald Beach residents and supporters. They are opposing the construction of an ocean outfall sewage system at the Look at Me Now headland near Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales.

World

Dr WALDON BELLO, executive Director of the Institute for Food and Development Policy in the United States, is a Filipino-American who has written widely on Third World debt, militarisation and economic policy, with a special focus on South East Asia.
The following letter was sent by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on November 21 to various heads of government, including Bob Hawke, George Bush, Francois Mitterrand, John Major and Mikhail Gorbachev. The translation is by the Croatian Ministry of
By Stephen Robson "Although we have achievements such as the increase of food production, the reduction of inflation, the expansion of foreign economic relations including foreign trade and investment, big problems are still there", Do Duc Dinh
By Norm Dixon Demonstrators in the Papua New Guinea capital, Port Moresby, have accused the Australian and PNG government's of turning a blind eye to the recent massacre in Dili and the denial of the East Timorese people's right to
By Norm Dixon In the face of widespread calls for tougher action against the Indonesian regime over the Dili massacre and the continued illegal occupation of the East Timor, the Australian government refuses to do anything that may disrupt the
By Will Firth BERLIN — The huge stone statue of Lenin no longer dominates the "United Nations Square" in Berlin's inner east. It has been removed despite the efforts of the deceased Soviet sculptor's family lawyer and groups of locals who wanted
Excerpts from November 21 and 25 US State Department press briefings: Q: Do you have any news from the Indonesia commission of inquiry into the massacre in East Timor? Ms Tutweiler: I don't have any new news. Once again, as we have all — I
RUBEN ZAMORA is a leader of the Democratic Convergence and member of the National Assembly in El Salvador. He was interviewed by DANIEL KNOTT on October 29 in San Salvador. There has been a lot of work put in over a long period of time on the
GENEVA — A major world trade union body has accused South Korea and Thailand of widespread suppression of workers' rights. The International Metalworkers' Federation (IMWF) has called on the United Nations' International Labour Organisation (ILO)
By Satendra Prasad SUVA — Fiji's interim regime promulgated three decrees in the first week of November which, according to the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC), "are aimed at crushing the trade union movements in the country". Decrees 42,

Culture

Sacred Sex Produced and directed by Cynthia Connop Reviewed by Barry Healy In the words of the old song: "Birds do it, bees do it, Even educated fleas do it". But Cole Porter never thought that humans could reach nirvana doing it. However,
The Best of Abbie Hoffman By Abbie Hoffman Edited by Daniel Simon New York: Four Walls Eight Windows Reviewed by Craig Brittain Twenty years after the Vietnam War, it is hard to remember the sheer craziness of the time. Not only were thousands
Nelson Mandela in Havana How Far We Slaves Have Come By Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro New York: Pathfinder. 80 pp. $10.95 Reviewed by Camilo Jorquera When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, he made a point of visiting Cuba on July 26
Pictures of Cambodia Horrendous stories of killings and hardship under Khmer Rouge oppression in Cambodia have shocked the world for two decades. Nevertheless, life goes on for the Cambodian people. Australians now have an opportunity to see the
Timely pamphlet on Timor Opening Up. Travellers' impressions of East Timor 1989-1991 Edited and compiled by Kirsty Sword and Pat Walsh Australia East Timor Association. 1991. 50 pp. $5 Available from AETA, PO Box 93, Fitzroy 3065 Reviewed by
The sun em = Upik Pelangi We left our ancestors' land. For the sun was no longer friendly. We made for the city to find again the friendliness of the sun. It was a foggy morning. The sun having not smiled in full yet we stepped into a
Trust Written and directed by Hal Hartley Produced by Bruce Weiss Starring Adrienne Shelly and Martin Donovan Reviewed by Mario Giorgetti Hal Hartley's first successful film, The Unbelievable Truth, an off-beat romantic comedy set in Long
By Peter Boyle When progressive Israeli film maker Orna Ben-Dor Niv took her most acclaimed film, Because of That War, to the US, she found a reluctance among many more liberal Jews to come to the film. They were suspicious that this was going

Editorial

George Bush and the Khmer Rouge The several thousand Cambodians who drove Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan from Phnom Penh on November 27 have been described as a lynch mob. In fact, they were angry Cambodians justifiably terrified of any