Issue 425

News

Democracy ACT-style CANBERRA — ACT chief minister Kate Carnell announced her resignation on October 17, just before a no-confidence motion was to be debated by the ACT Legislative Assembly. Carnell's resignation prevented the possibility of an
S11 debrief BRISBANE — Activists who travelled from Brisbane to participate in the blockade of the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne on September 11-13 told their side of the story at a public meeting on October 19. Called by the
BY JANINE CURLL SYDNEY — On October 16, Sutherland Entertainment Centre echoed to the chants of "Refugees yes! Racism no! Philip Ruddock has got to go". Fifteen activists from the Refugee Action Collective (RAC) confronted the federal
BY BRONWEN BEECHEY ADELAIDE — One hundred and twenty steelworkers at BHP's Whyalla plant walked off the job on October 17, after the company refused to secure their entitlements. The workers, all members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers
BY NICK FREDMAN LISMORE — Sizeable meetings and lively discussions have been held across northern NSW about the meaning of the S11 protests against the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne, reflecting both the many people from the area who
BY HELEN BRANSGROVE SYDNEY — Sixty people marched on the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre on October 14 to protest against the mandatory jailing in grim, high-security prisons of men, women and children seeking refuge from persecution.
BY FEDERICO FUENTES SYDNEY — Students and staff at the University of Western Sydney rallied outside a board of trustees meeting on October 18 to protest against the UWS administration's refusal to guarantee that the amalgamation of the
BY JO BROWN& KIM BULLIMORE Efforts towards peace in Palestine can only succeed if past injustices are redressed, Alex Koutab from Victoria's Palestinian community and the Australian Arabic Council told 50 people at a public meeting organised by the
BY MARG PERROTT WOLLONGONG — The Joy Mining picket will end this week when the 60 workers return to work after 29 weeks "on the grass", having beaten an attempt by the company to break their union and their spirit. The workers won all their
BY CHRIS SLEE MELBOURNE — Victorian tip-truck owner-drivers are on strike for better cartage rates. They have forced the state's plant hire companies to agree to improved rates, but are still in dispute with quarry owners. Most of the drivers
BY BRONWEN BEECHEY ADELAIDE — South Australian TAB workers took industrial action for the first time on October 14, shutting down all TAB outlets and phone betting, and picketing the board's headquarters to oppose a government plan to sell the
BY CHRIS SLEE MELBOURNE — Australian Manufacturing Workers Union members at five Southcorp factories here are in the second week of strike action, which began on October 11 in support a new enterprise agreement. Southcorp has offered an average
BY ANTHEA STUTTER & KAMALA EMANUEL HOBART — A lively evening rally and march was held on the Salamanca Lawns on October 13 as part of the World March of Women 2000. Combining with the annual Reclaim the Night march, the action was initiated to
BY SHANE BENTLEY SYDNEY — Although Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime seems to be improving its relations with the rest of the world, Iraqi communists should continue to fight both the United Nations sanctions on the country and Hussein's Ba'ath
BY ZANNY BEGG SYDNEY — Inside the luxurious Westin Hotel on October 20, young business entrepreneurs rubbed shoulders with corporate leaders from such companies as Chubb Security, AMP, Multiplex, Coles Myer and British American Tobacco and then
BY BRONWEN BEECHEY ADELAIDE — The South Australian Labor Party's annual convention on October 13 departed from tradition in two ways, both of which sought to reassure big business that the party will cooperate if it wins the next election. The

World

PRD suit against Suharto hampered On October 18, the chairperson of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) Budiman Sujatmiko met with the National Ombudsman Commission to complain about "unprofessional" incidents by the court that have disrupted a law
JAKARTA — Following a long battle, the militant Indonesian National Front for Workers Struggle (FNPBI) has finally won legal status as one of the country's 38 recognised unions. The decision, by the ministry of labour, was based on a new law
MANILA — Ten thousand people rallied here on October 18 calling for the impeachment or resignation of Philippine President Joseph Estrada (known by his nickname "Erap"). The rally was organised by the RIO (Resign Impeach Oust Erap) alliance centred
While little has been revealed about the discussions during the first formal round of negotiations between the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and Australia on the future of the Timor Gap Treaty, the Australian
BY SEAN HEALY Canberra's plans to secure greater Asian markets for the big Australian corporations took a beating in Chiangmai, Thailand, on October 8 when a meeting of economic ministers of the Association for South-East Asian Nations rejected
Giant United States bank Citigroup announced a $3.1 billion third-quarter income and record year-to-date earnings on October 17. But its wealth couldn't help it avoid protests in 50 cities across the US and around the world, which demanded that
Anger is rising at the rising cost of South Africa's massive rearmament program. The National Assembly's standing committee on public accounts learned on October 11 that the cost of the program — budgeted at 30 billion rand (US$4.2 billion) in
HAVANA — Almost half the population of Havana — 800,000 people — led by President Fidel Castro, marched on October 18 to protest against the false impression being created by the United States that it has relaxed its blockade against Cuba. At
LAHORE — On the first anniversary of the military's takeover of the country, national attention was focused on the Lahore Press Club, where over 700 political activists packed into a conference to denounce Pakistan's military rulers and demand the
PRAGUE — The following is the first in a three-part eyewitness account of the large anti-corporate tyranny demonstrations outside the meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Prague in September by Russian writer and
While the rest of the world is racking its brains trying to figure out why the world's currencies are plummeting against the US dollar, the United States elite is using the strong greenback to set in concrete its dominance of the world economy. The
The following is a statement, slightly abridged, from the coalition of Korean unions and radical groups protesting against the October 20 summit of the Asian-European parliamentary meeting, ASEM, in Seoul. Today, the United States, the World Trade
On October 18, the United States Senate approved legislation that will tighten the blockade against Cuba. The legislation was passed by the US House of Representatives last week. Claims that the bill has relaxed the blockade are untrue. For the
Green members of New Zealand's national parliament raised West Papua's Morning Star flag on the steps of parliament on October 18 to welcome Free West Papua Movement (OPM) representative and West Papuan exile John Ondawame. Ondawame met with New
The US presidential election takes place on November 7. According to public opinion polls, it's a dead heat between the Republican nominee, Texas Governor George W. Bush, and the Democratic nominee, vice-president Al Gore. What makes the election
South Africa is "not ready" for the introduction of a 40-hour week, African National Congress labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana declared on October 17. Mdladlana was commenting on a feasibility study on reducing the current 45-hour working week.
Angry residents of the Zimbabwe capital Harare's impoverished "high density" satellite townships began a three-day protest on October 16 against price increases for basic commodities. The spontaneous protests, which were triggered by young people
Seattle protesters sue SEATTLE — Lawyers for anti-corporate tyranny activists sued Seattle officials on October 3 for violating the free-speech rights of hundreds of people arrested for entering an emergency "no-protest zone" during the
SEOUL — In a series of lively demonstrations here on October 20 — dubbed O20 — against the Asia-Europe Meetings (ASEM), South Koreans linked up with the worldwide people's movement against corporate tyranny. The first ASEM, opened in Bangkok
In August 1975, as the Suharto dictatorship was preparing to invade East Timor, Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Richard Woolcott, sent a cable to Canberra urging compliance with Indonesia's plans to annex East Timor. He wrote: "It would seem

Culture

Galileo's Daughter: A Drama of Science, Faith and LoveBy Dava SobelFourth Estate, 2000429 pp., $22.95 (pb) The verdict was "vehemently suspected of heresy" for holding the false doctrine, "contrary to Holy Scripture", that the Sun, not the Earth,
A Room for Romeo BrassDirected by Shane MeadowsWritten by Shane Meadows and Paul Fraser REVIEW BY JONATHAN SINGER The dramatic and comic realism of A Room for Romeo Brass carries an emotional punch, but in the end the blow is only lightly felt.
S11: This is What Democracy Looks LikeProduced by Jill Hickson and John Reynolds, Actively Radical TV, Sydney Melbourne RisingProduced by SKA TV, Melbourne REVIEW BY SIMON BUTLER The 20,000-strong blockade of the World Economic Forum's summit

Editorial

On October 15, more than 130 Solomon Islanders — representing the rival militia of the Malaita Eagle Force and Guadalcanal's Isatabu Freedom Movement, as well as the central Solomon Islands government and the Malaita and Guadalcanal provincial