Issue 395

Refugee rights protest PERTH — Twenty people picketed the immigration department's office here on February 19 to protest against the government's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. The action, organised by Resistance, demanded that

ACI flying pickets By Chris Slee MELBOURNE — Locked out workers from the ACI glass mould manufacturing plant in Box Hill have gone on the offensive. After more than two months of picketing the plant, they have begun paying visits to companies

On March 8, the World March for Women 2000 will be launched in 146 countries. The WMW 2000 aims to highlight the issues of women living in poverty and violence against women. CATHIE PICCONE, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Shell fined for safety breaches By Chris Spindler GEELONG — The Shell oil company has been fined a total of $225,000 for six breaches of Victoria's health and safety laws in 1998 at its plant near here. The inadequacy of the fines is clearer

Yanner wins job back ABORIGINAL ACTIVIST Murandoo Yanner has been reinstated as coordinator of the Carpentaria Land Council (CLC). The board of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission on February 22 overturned a ruling last month by

By Erica Haines ADELAIDE — Members of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union have agreed to accept a package offered by the state government. The agreement will partially settle a dispute which began on January 28, when the government announced that the

National Textiles workers address students Sacked workers from the National Textiles factory at Rutherford spoke to students and staff at the University of Western Sydney's Werrington campus on February 17. The workers said that Stan Howard's top

How the generals got away with murder in East Timor By James Balowski "In a forest west of Dili, Filomena Amaral is about to learn the details of how her husband, a village schoolteacher and church leader, was tortured and killed. Photographs of

By Iggy Kim The January Marxism 2000 conference in Sydney hosted the first overseas delegation of South Korea's newly formed Nodongja-euy Him, the Power of the Working Class (PWC). The delegation's presence was the first contact between South

Demonstrations for Elian in the US By Hayden Perry SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands of people demonstrated in six United States cities on February 19 demanding that six-year-old Elian Gonzalez be returned to his father in Cuba (see article on next

By Jody Betzien MELBOURNE — Two human rights workers from West Papua visited Melbourne last week to draw attention to the training of pro-Indonesian militia and arbitrary killings in the Indonesian province. Albert Rumbekwan, a lawyer from the

By Iggy Kim SAN FRANCISCO, US — Overhead, a towering computer-image bull accompanies a gloating invitation to "Be Quick, Be Smart, Be Bullish". Around the San Francisco Bay area, these new billboards for stockbrokers Merrill Lynch come across

Indonesia: Kong Tai workers protest By May Sari JAKARTA — Having failed to gain satisfaction from their employer or the Indonesian government, thousands workers from PT Kong Tai Indonesia protested outside parliament here on February 21. The

By Eva Cheng On March 18, the people of Taiwan will elect a president for the second time in the island's history. Around the time of the last presidential election four years ago, China's government "test fired" missiles near Taiwan to discourage

Indonesian students enter a new phase of struggle By Simon Butler The mass anti-government protests of May 1998, which forced President Suharto to resign after 32 years of dictatorial rule, were largely led by students. The student movement

Indonesia — struggling for democracy and justice By Kerryn Williams During the first two weeks of February, 11 Australian solidarity activists took part in a student exposure tour to Indonesia. We met with activists from various sectors and

Abortion is not safe, legal and accessible in any state of Australia. Women receive (on average) two-thirds of the average male wage. Women do the majority of the unpaid labour in the home, work which is neither recognised nor valued. One in four