Union backdown on tax office agreement
BY CHRIS SLEE
MELBOURNE — Unionists in the Australian Taxation Office have ended their industrial campaign after voting on June 27 to accept a recommendation by the tax section council of the Community and
Issue 411
News
John Howard, the 'miniature man'
BY PETER JOHNSTON
DARWIN — Prime Minister John Howard's million dollar centenary of federation trip to London stood in contrast to his government's mean-spirited treatment of members of the stolen generations of
Tasmanian upper house stymies land rights
BY KAMALA EMANUEL
HOBART — Showing the extent to which the official reconciliation process has served as a smoke-screen for refusing justice to Aboriginal people, the Tasmanian upper house has released
Sydney protests against the GST
BY ALANA KERR
SYDNEY — On the day the curtain was raised on the "new tax system", 200 people participated in a lively demonstration outside the Sydney Town Hall to protest against the impact the GST will have on
Textile workers win right to pattern bargain
BY SUE BULL
GEELONG — One hundred and ten textile workers at Brintons Carpets here became the first in their industry in the region to win an enterprise agreement which allows for subsequent
BY SEAN HEALY
SYDNEY — Having already enunciated the doctrine of "trade uber alles", the world's business and political leaders are preparing for a new "assault on the commons" and the "privatisation of everything", Canadian activist and author
BY JENNY LONG
SYDNEY — The NSW Industrial Relations Commission handed down its long-awaited ruling on the pay equity test case on June 30. The decision established a new wage-fixing principle on equal pay for work of equal value — the equal
Arabunna walkers reach Broken Hill
BY NERISSA ELI
Arabunna elder Kevin Buzzacott left his home at Lake Eyre South on June 10 to begin walking to Sydney. He is being joined by local, international and indigenous supporters. His walk is to
Queensland hospital workers strike
BY BILL MASON
BRISBANE — Nurses, doctors and support staff in south-east Queensland staged a snap 24-hour strike on July 6 in an unprecedented display of anger against poor wages and working conditions in
BY JUSTIN RANDELL & CHRIS ATKINSON
BRISBANE — Student environmentalists are set to combine their campaigns with those that are part of the growing international sentiment against corporate greed, after intensive discussions by 400 activists
'World heritage in danger' campaign intensified
By Jim Green
Traditional owners and campaigners opposing the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory are intensifying their push to have Kakadu National Park listed as "World heritage in
Clouds gather over Bondi stadium
BY MARINA CARMAN
SYDNEY — "Gladiator winds may take out the Bondi Colosseum before construction is even finished", Waverley City indigenous councillor and Bondi Olympic Watch member Dominic Kanak has claimed.
World
Tactfully buried in the World Trade Organisation's mountain of internal papers is the snippet that it's considering holding its next Ministerial Conference — its biannual peak decision-making meeting — in Qatar. In contrast to the relative peace
MEXICO CITY — The July 2 presidential elections here have resulted in a crushing, historical defeat for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which has been in power for 71 years. It would be difficult to underestimate the importance of this
GERMANY: The end of nuclear power or the end of the Greens?
Germany's "red-green" Social Democratic Party/Green Party coalition government has delivered on its promise to close the country's 19 nuclear power reactors. Or has it? An agreement was
IRAQ: Let's destroy this lethal weapon!
August will witness the 10th anniversary of the economic embargo against Iraq. Ten years ago, the United States, as part of its "New World Order", turned the invasion of Kuwait by the Iraqi regime into an
BY SEAN HEALY
The International Monetary Fund's efforts to repackage itself as an institution motivated by concern for the poor have been dealt a blow by a new report which reveals that the IMF's "Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers" are no different
President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) was severely mauled by the nine-month-old, trade union-backed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe's June 24-25 general election. ZANU-PF barely
The sinking of the overloaded Cahaya Bahari ferry on July 6 — which killed at least 481 Christian refugees fleeing the latest outburst of violence in Indonesia — highlighted the scale of the human tragedy unfolding in the north-eastern province
Sunday, June 4 — We are writing to you from Burj el-Barajneh Refugee Camp in Beirut where the withdrawal of Israel's soldiers from southern Lebanon has meant a phenomena unprecedented. For the first time in 52 years, the Palestinian refugees can
Still reeling under the weight of the 1997-98 Asian economic crisis and angered by government lies, spending attacks and scandals, thousands of people from a range of social groups took to Hong Kong's streets on consecutive weekends in late
International conference against neo-liberalism
GENEVA — Nearly 600 people from all over the world attended three days of intense discussion and exchange of experiences here, June 22-24. The common focus of the participants, who represented some
The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) has announced that it will be implementing measures to increase Timorese participation in the executive bodies of UNTAET. Speaking to the media in Dili on July 2, Sergio de Mello,
Indonesia's most prominent left-wing political party, the People's Democratic Party (PRD), has filed a 5.5 billion rupiah (US$617,000) lawsuit against Suharto over the ailing former dictator's role in the July 27, 1996 attack on the offices of the
Support the campaign against the sanctions
In Australia, the Worker Communist Party of Iraq and the Democratic Socialist Party are calling on Green Left Weekly readers to show solidarity with the just struggle of the Iraqi people for the immediate
AUSTRIA: Trade unions organise day of action
GRAZ, Austria — Austria's trade union peak body organised a day of action on June 28 to condemn the anti-worker program of the new People's Party-Freedom Party government. It was the first day of
FIJI: Military appointed government 'completes the coup'
The following is a statement on the appointment by Fiji's military of a new "civilian" government. It was issued by Felix Anthony, general secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress. The
PAKISTAN: Authorities arrest unionists
LAHORE — Military authorities in Hyderabad in southern Sind province briefly imprisoned 11 trade unionists and have now charged them with "breaching the peace" in an attempt to crush an attempt to form a
The ruling interests in India's north-eastern state of Bihar sent their killer gang, the Ranvir Sena, on a new rampage on June 16, which resulted in the massacre of nearly 50 villagers from Miyanpur in the Aurangabad district in central Bihar. Ranvir
Spotlight on Indonesia-East Timor
Student shot dead by police in Kalimantan
A series of peaceful protests at the parliament in the provincial capital of West Kalimantan, Pontianak, has forced the postponement of a meeting to accept or reject the
SOUTH AFRICA: Thousands march to demand access to AIDS treatment
The prices of HIV/AIDS drugs across the globe are unaffordable. Poor people are dying because they cannot buy drugs or get access to quality health care. Drug prices must come down.
CUBA: Elian's homecoming: when the people heard the news
HAVANA, June 30 — My phone rang a few minutes after noon. It was my neighbour. "The Supreme Court ruled that Elian can come home!", she blurted out. The ordeal would soon be over. Picked
INDONESIA: Yet another human rights investigation compromised
The government of President Abdurrahman Wahid appears to be indulging in a veritable orgy of investigations into human rights violations — ranging from the post-ballot violence in East
Despite its media billing as a substantive loosening of the United States' four-decade-long economic blockade of Cuba, a new bill passed by the US Congress will tighten the blockade by codifying restrictions on travel to the island and by prohibiting
Race and class in the US: 'Downloading while Asian'
SAN FRANCISCO — Racial profiling — the practice of casting suspicion on individuals on the basis of their skin colour — is not new to blacks in the US. African-American parents teach their
Culture
Bring Out The Dead
Starring Nicholas Cage
Directed by Martin Scorsese
At Cinemas Everywhere
REVIEW BY STUART MUNCKTON
One Sunday afternoon when I was feeling a bit down, I went to the
cinema to watch whatever was on in order
Clear and convincing account of socialism
Socialism on TrialBy James P. CannonResistance Books, 1999211 pp., $17.95 (pb) REVIEW BY JULIAN COPPENS
Socialism on Trial, by legendary United States socialist leader James P. Cannon, is an extremely
Emotionally powerful stories of real people
Caution to the WindBy Phil Cohen and Patricia FordHard Miles MusicOrder at <http://metalab.unc.edu/hardmile> REVIEW BY BARRY HEALY
Politically conscious folk music first came to prominence in
General
With this new issue of Green Left Weekly, the first since the GST came into effect on July 1, we have had to increase the cover price from $2 to $2.20.
Through the GST the government will take one-11th of GLW's sales income. As a not-for-profit