Issue 386

Second wave legislation slammed By Mark Cronin BRISBANE — About 60 people gathered at the Sailing Club in West End on November 11 to discuss workplace relations minister Peter Reith's second wave of industrial legislation. David Peetz, head of

Queensland anti-abortionists go on the rampage By Kamala Emanuel and Robyn Marshall COOLUM — Queensland National Party MP Fiona Simpson has said she will bring a private member's bill to limit late-term abortions. The threat follows anti-choice

NTEU wins coverage of general staff By Daniel Jardine A decision handed down on November 15 by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission will give the National Tertiary Education Industry Union the right to cover general, non-academic, staff

Labor privatises Trust Bank By Alex Bainbridge HOBART — Tasmania's Labor government has decided to privatise the state's Trust Bank. The bank's sale to Colonial Ltd for $149 million is being presented by the government and the Mercury newspaper

NSW councils to oppose reactor and waste dump By Jim Green The campaign against the federal government's plan for a new nuclear reactor in the southern Sydney suburb of Lucas Heights has received a boost. The annual Local Government Association

New centre for Resistance in Melbourne By Arun Pradhan MELBOURNE — After more than a decade of housing left activism in Melbourne, the Anthony Street Resistance Centre has closed its doors permanently. A new Resistance Centre has opened, on the

Staff angry at university management's 'contempt' By Daniel Jardine SYDNEY — Macquarie University staff reacted angrily, at a general meeting on November 18, to management's rejection of a union enterprise bargaining offer, claiming it showed

CFMEU and CARE in East Timor dispute By Michael Bull MELBOURNE — Negotiations have begun between the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the aid agency CARE Australia, after some bizarre incidents occurred during reconstruction

Newcastle art attack NEWCASTLE — Artists for East Timor and Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor commemorated the 1991 Dili massacre by launching an "art attack" on the city square, Wheeler Place on November 12. Thirty people,

By Alex Bainbridge HOBART — A new investigation into the police shooting of Joe Gilewicz in 1991 has been ordered by the state government, after new evidence and further allegations of a police cover-up were presented in the manuscript of a

By Doug Henwood The concept that has now entered daily speech as "globalisation" is used pretty recklessly. It's described as an innovation, when it's not; it's described as a weakening of the state, though it's been led by states and multi-state

East Timorese criticise UN role By Jon Land United Nations officials have come under heavy criticism from leaders of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT). In a move to reduce tension between CNRT and the United Nations

The transition in East Timor By Avelino da Silva Before the August 30 referendum, the Socialist Party of Timor (PST) had called for the formation of a transitional Democratic Collective Government to represent all the existing political forces in

Friends of the Earth meet in Ecuador Leanne McLean and Cam Walker have recently returned from the Friends of the Earth (FoE) International annual meeting, held in Quito, Ecuador. Having admitted three new members — from Colombia, Cameroun and

Kuzbass Workers Council elected By Steve Myers Four hundred and twenty-five factory committee delegates, plus observers from across Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, attended the Kuzbass Workers Conference in Novokuznetsk this month. The Kuzbass is

By Sean Healy A videotape smuggled out of Burma by Thai drug investigators has provided further evidence of the close links between Burma's military regime and heroin traffickers. The videotape shows an October 1 meeting between intelligence chief

In the Blood: God, Genes and DestinySteve JonesHarper Collins, 1996300 pp., $24.95 (pb) Review by Dot Tumney Steve Jones' In the Blood is a useful overview of inheritance in all its forms and of the interaction of biological, religious, economic

The Liverpool dockers put their case Review by Allen Myers Dockers: Writing the Wrongs and DockersABC-TV, Wednesday, December 1, 8.30 and 9.30pm The story of the Liverpool dockers' heroic two-and-a-half-year struggle to regain their jobs — and

Students protest in Burkino Faso OUAGADOUGOU — Hundreds of students demonstrated on November 16 to demand the reinstatement of their colleagues who where expelled from Sabou and Koudougou high schools, 100 km outside the capital. The angry