Immigration minister Philip Ruddock's announced increase in migration places for 2000-2001 further shifts Australia's immigration policy towards wealthier and better educated business and skilled migrants and away from family reunion and humanitarian
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Congratulations on 400 issues I've enjoyed reading Green Left for nearly 10 years. The coverage of world events over the past decade has been exemplary. There are few left publications in the world that consistently defend and fight for the
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Socialists condemn deportations of Kosovars The Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) has added its voice to those of refugee advocates demanding that the 500 Kosovar refugees still in Australia be allowed to stay for as long as they wish. The DSP's
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War crimes The Genocide Convention Act 1949, which came into force in Australia on January 12, 1951, makes it clear that Australia had a mandatory obligation to prevent and punish the genocide unleashed against East Timor by the Indonesian military
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Networker: Mobile computing Mobile computing The rise of the internet as a means of mass communication has made the requirement for interconnection between personal computers almost universal. The primary means is through the
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How Pauline Hanson became prime minister "Howard takes policy advice from One Nation", "Nationals steal another One Nation policy", "[Bob] Carr may bag One Nation but gee he likes our policies" — these are just some of the headings on press
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Fill it I am gone into the fields To take what this sweet hour yields Reflection, you may come tomorrow, Sit by the fireside with sorrow. You with the unpaid bill, Despair You, tiresome verser-reciter, Care I will pay you in the
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A faux pas So there is no such thing as a stolen generation? Maybe what we have here is a failure to communicate. It's all a misunderstanding. Or maybe the government got its dates mixed up — "Oh, you mean that generation. But there were so
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Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9-11pm. Ph 9565 5522. Access News — Melbourne community TV,
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'We need a bit of a blue' The incumbent leadership of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) is in for a bit of a shock over the next few weeks. The militant Workers First team is contesting the position of national secretary, the first
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> Here's to science The Right to Life organisation has found a new reason for its state of perpetual moral indignation. An article in the latest issue of the international science journal Nature Biotechnology reported that
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While the Australian government seeks to avoid its obligations under United Nations conventions against racial discrimination in regards to mandatory sentencing, it is trying to toughen the terms of another UN convention to further narrow the
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On April 6, Prime Minister John Howard and minister for Aboriginal affairs Senator John Herron were forced to apologise over the federal government submission made to the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee's inquiry into the stolen
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DARWIN — There seems to be a movement by stealth to dispossess many small, remote Aboriginal communities by a heartless application of laws set up to control large business corporations. It is targeting communities who struggled for years to get
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BRISBANE — The just-released Criminal Justice Commission report, "Prisoner Numbers in Queensland", confirms that the massive increase in the prisoner population during the 1990s is unrelated to crime rates or state population
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Fitting farewell to committed socialistWOLLONGONG — Socialists, trade unionists, union singers, environmental activists, friends, comrades, relatives and workers filled Heineiger Hall in Dapto here on April 1 to farewell George
News
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Mass DNA test in NSWSYDNEY — Civil libertarians expressed horror at the mass screening of DNA samples from men in the north-west New South Wales town of Wee Waa. It is the first mass screening in Australia. Police hope the
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Stop Nuclear Dumps group formedOpponents of a planned national nuclear dump in northern South Australia have formed a new group, Stop Nuclear Dumps. The group was formed by Everyone for a Nuclear Free Future (formerly the Adelaide
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Protesters confront HowardSYDNEY — More than 300 people gathered in Faulconbridge, in the Blue Mountains, on April 7 to protest against Prime Minister John Howard's racist government. The protesters were high school students
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ALP won't decriminalise marijuanaHOBART — The ALP government has reneged on an election campaign promise to decriminalise marijuana use in Tasmania. Instead, minor violations of the laws against marijuana use will result in
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GEELONG — Union leaders have described as a great success a strike by Deakin University staff, who walked off the job on April 5 to protest against stalled enterprise bargaining negotiations. Michael Pegg, Victorian assistant
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Business as usual "It's a question of taking care during the recovery phase of the relationship to ensure that everything is going to promote a speedy recovery." — Prime Menzies John Howard on Australia's relationship with Indonesia, April 6.
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'Mandatory sentencing is a crime'BRISBANE — Forty people picketed the Northern Territory Tourist Bureau here on April 3. Aboriginal rights activist Sam Watson spoke of the need for more people to join the campaign to overturn
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ILO condemns Australia on labour laws The federal government has again come under international scrutiny and criticism, this time for its record on labour rights. The International Labor Organisation (ILO) has condemned the Workplace Relations Act
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Stolen children protest CANBERRA — Three hundred members of the stolen generations, and their supporters, rallied here on April 6 to condemn statements by PM John Howard and Aboriginal affairs minister John Herron. The rally marched from the
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New threat to Fraser IslandFraser Island, off Queensland's central coast, was "saved" in the early 1990s, when the federal government intervened to stop logging on the island following a concerted campaign by many environment
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Members First to contest CPSU national electionsArguing that the current leaders of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) have not stood up to challenge massive job losses and outsourcing in the Australian Public
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Three Somalis wish to stay Three Somali asylum seekers, held in Port Hedland detention centre since 1997, have reversed their attempt to withdraw their application for a protection visa. The three had said they were so weighed down with years in
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Tasmania Uni cuts provoke angerHOBART — Official attempts to transform the University of Tasmania into a "business-friendly" institution have provoked anger from students whose departments are being de-funded. Thirty-five
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WOLLONGONG — A proposal to unite the different threads of environmental action in the Illawarra into one "super-group" was adopted unanimously at a public meeting at Macabe Park on March 19. Organised by the Illawarra
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Telstra anti-privatisation rally plannedBRISBANE — With the leaders of Telstra unions concentrating their campaign efforts in towns like Geelong and Townsville, the left-wing Members First activist group in the Community and
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Week of action against mandatory sentencing The socialist youth group Resistance has called a national week of action to demand that the federal government overturn mandatory sentencing laws in the Northern Territory and Western Australia and
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Kakadu crunch timeThe future of the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory may become clearer following meetings in coming weeks between Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) and its parent company, North Limited. The main
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Timorese support call for scholarshipsNEWCASTLE — Young East Timorese are enthusiastic about calls for the Australian government to extend scholarships so they can study in this country, an activist recently
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Asylum seekers protest Asylum seekers at the remote Woomera detention centre in outback South Australia have launched a peaceful protest, demanding to be released. Several hundred men, women and children gathered on April 7 near the razor-wire
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New abortion clinic for regional NSWCANBERRA — A new, privately owned gynaecological clinic in the NSW regional city of Queanbeyan, bordering the Australian Capital Territory, is to provide services to women, beginning with
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Forest activists occupy Timbercorp MELBOURNE — Forest campaigners from Friends of the Earth (FoE) occupied the offices of Timbercorp here to protest against the company's destruction of one-third of red tail black cockatoo nesting sites at a
Analysis
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UN a tool, not the answer The call by Geoff Clark, chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, for the federal government to invite members of the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial
World
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MADRID — What Have I Done to Deserve This? is the title of a popular movie directed by Spanish film-maker Pedro Almodovar. This is a question that I have often asked myself since living in Spain. I was born in Chile, left in 1975 following Augusto
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Strikes across Indonesia JAKARTA — Protests were held in cities across Indonesia on April 1, most demanding that the government's planned fuel and electricity price increases be cancelled, not merely postponed. In Makassar, the capital of South
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SWEDEN: Parliament acknowledges Armenian genocide SWEDEN: Parliament acknowledges Armenian genocide Sweden's parliament on March 29 formally acknowledged the Armenian and Assyrian genocide, committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. During World
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Protests are to be held here outside meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 16 and the World Bank on April 17 as part of a campaign to demand a world economy managed for people, not corporate profit. Other
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Russia: Everyone loses in 2000 electionMOSCOW — The official results of the March 26 Russian presidential election were no surprise. Former president Boris Yeltsin's handpicked successor, Vladimir Putin, won in the first
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KURDISTAN: 'The PKK is threatened with decay' On February 16, 1999, Abdullah Ocalan, the chairperson of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was kidnapped by Turkish intelligence in Nairobi, Kenya, and taken to the prison island of Imrali. Twelve
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Indonesia: Opposition grows to IMF plan Mounting pressure has forced the Indonesian government to delay implementing key elements of an economic restructuring package negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The April 1 budget did not
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Police crack down on anti-IMF/World Bank activists WASHINGTON — It was around 8 o'clock last Thursday evening [March 30] when the buzzer rang in activist Adam Eidinger's apartment. Thinking that some of his fellow activists had arrived a bit
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Since around April 1, an estimated 7000-10,000 Turkish troops have crossed the Turkey-Iraq border and are pressing deep into southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) to attack fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), according to reports carried by
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UNITED STATES: 'Hurricane' speaks out for Mumia The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal held a press conference on March 25 in Pittsburgh. A featured speaker was Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the former middleweight boxer who
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ENGLAND: Blair stumbles in mayoral grabLONDON — Following a monumental effort to pre-select the least winnable candidate for London's new mayoral office, the British Labour Party continues to stumble towards defeat in the May 4
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UNITED STATES: A dozen reasons to protest on April 16 The next citizen showdown against corporate globalisation will be on April 16 and 17, when thousands of people come to Washington, D.C., to protest — through legal demonstrations and/or civil
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Toxic hot spots in Europe Central and eastern Europe could be polluted again by toxic mine wastes, following several spills of cyanide and heavy metals spills from Romanian mines in recent months. A "Rivers of Life, Rivers of Death" conference was
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Alternative economic program The People's Democratic Party (PRD) says that the government does have alternatives to slavishly following the International Monetary Fund's austerity prescription for Indonesia's ailing economy. Its alternative
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UNITED STATES: From the news media to Elian, with love Oh Elian, we love you! We're the news media. And you're incredibly special. Many politicians, legal experts, psychologists, celebrities and pundits have wanted the world to know that they
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LOS ANGELES, California — This was the year California schools went test-crazy. In every district, students have taken the new state-mandated STAR (Standardised Testing and Reporting) test by the thousands. Based on their scores, every school in
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IRELAND: Civilians the main targets BELFAST — In what is being hailed as "the most comprehensive study to date" of Troubles-related deaths, an April 1999 University of Ulster study confirms what has long been hidden by British propaganda and
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ENGLAND: British Nuclear fooled again The problems facing British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) continue to mount. On April 2 it was revealed that four workers at BNFL's Sellafield plant in north-west England were sacked for forging entry passes. The
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Icebergs provide new global warming alert Two massive icebergs — one as large as Jamaica — have broken away from Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf, again drawing attention to warnings that human-induced global warming and its potentially catastrophic
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INDONESIA: General faces US lawsuit Activists in the United States have launched a lawsuit against General Johnny Lumintang, the former deputy chief of staff of the Indonesian army. On March 31, Lumintang was served with a subpoena at Washington's
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Top food manufacturers shifting from GMOs Federal agriculture minister Warren Truss argues that Australia should continue with trials of genetically modified crops in order to avoid "missing the boat on the new science". However, in Europe, many
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DILI — Sixty East Timorese workers at the aid agency World Vision walked off the job and demonstrated on April 3, demanding an explanation from management for the sacking of eight security guards. World Vision management claimed the organisation
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Mozambique, a country of 20 million inhabitants, has just suffered its worst floods for 30 years. The government estimates the cost of reconstruction at US$250 million. While governments of the industrialised countries point to the emergency aid they
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BOUGAINVILLE: Help needed now Bougainville's struggle for self-determination has reached a critical point. A full political settlement hangs on just one crucial concession from the government of Papua New Guinea. The alternative is renewed war. The
Culture
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A wake for the Brisbane Resistance CentreBRISBANE — On April 1, Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) and Resistance members and supporters held a wake for the Resistance Centre in Terrace Street, New Farm, in which the
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No Border, No Cry — the revolutionary vision of Stoic Frame By Bill Nevins ALBUQUERQUE — The US-Mexico border region is a hot, turbulent zone of cactus, songs, snakes, spicy food, guns and brave gente (people) doing what
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The University of Wisconsin Madison (UW-M) in the United States is hosting a conference on hip hop music and culture from April 14-16. "The conference is meant to empower youth of all backgrounds and those willing to advance their
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Mixed insights into East Timor East Timor: too little too lateBy Lansell TaudevinDuffy and Snellgrove, 1999$24.95, 319 pp. Ballot and bullets: Seven days in East TimorBy Tim FischerAllen and Unwin, 2000$19.95, 149 pp. Review by Jon Land A swathe
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Review by Stuart Munckton SchwerpunktBombscareAvailable at gigs for $5 or contact <oibombscare@hotmail.com> Punk rock has come a long way. The pop-punk, like that of Blink 182, which dominates the airwaves these days has little in common
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Cartoons from out of Leftfield, and on the webMore than 2000 people have already visited a new web site which features political cartoons by Arun Pradhan. The cartoons include the fortnightly feature in Green Left Weekly, "From out