Issue 426

BY TONY ILTIS& SUSAN PRICE MELBOURNE — Labor Premier Steve Bracks had lied about protester violence at the S11 blockade of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting, a protest of 200 outside the ALP's state conference on October 21 was told. Paddy

BY BEN COURTICE MELBOURNE — Plant operators at the Qenos refinery in Altona, owned by oil giant ExxonMobil, have been locked out of work in a dispute over staffing levels. Management at the plant, formerly called Kemcor, wanted to put a clause

BY JOHN GAUCI SYDNEY — Teachers, parents and students have attacked a federal government bill which would increase private school funding, saying the bill will damage public education and only advantage the wealthiest families in the most elite

BY ZANNY BEGG The Finance Sector Union has beaten back an attempt by the Commonwealth Bank to coerce its workers onto individual contracts, for now at least, but the dispute remains bitter. The two parties have set a deadline of October 31 to

BY CHRIS SLEE MELBOURNE — Workers at five factories here owned by manufacturing company Southcorp returned to work on October 23 after a 12 day strike, having won several of their main demands. The workers, members of the Australian

BY MAURICE SIBELLE MELBOURNE — Some of the more repressive sections of Victoria's anti-student organisation legislation, enacted by the former Kennett government in 1994, were repealed on October 25, although the Coalition and independents were

Students at Waikato University have paid a heavy price for a decision two years ago to implement voluntary student membership of the Waikato Student Union. But they have now rescinded that decision, voting overwhelmingly to reinstate compulsory

Protesting community members in East Kalimantan were violently attacked by the Indonesian Mobile Police Brigade (BRIMOB) on October 8. Seven protesters were shot, several were seriously wounded, and two were declared missing. The violence ended a

Hundreds of people confronted the world's most powerful finance ministers during three days of protest against the October 24-25 meeting of the G20 in Montreal. Protest organisers said the G20 — which includes the Group of Seven richest

East Timorese solidarity activists in Australia have condemned federal government attempts to maintain control of large parts of East Timor's oil-rich seabeds, accusing it of being “still greedy for blood money”.  In an October 27

On August 22, hundreds of members of the Riau Farmers Union demonstrated outside the Indonesian People's Bank in Pekanbaru demanding rural assistance loans so that they could buy seeds for the next harvest season. On the same day in Sumatra's largest

The Jubilee 2000 anti-debt coalition has condemned the practice of "vulture funds", private hedge funds which buy Third World countries' debt cheap and then sue for full repayment, after one such fund received a one-off $58 million payment from Peru

Anti-dam protesters and villagers have vowed to fight a two-to-one decision in India's Supreme Court allowing work to continue on the controversial, half-finished Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River in the western state of Gujarat. Medha

While combat raged in Colombia, more than 300 delegates of the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second-largest rebel group, as well as from the United States, European Union and Latin America, began a three-day

Australia's only national environmental film festival, Wild Spaces, has been launched for the fifth year. The festival will hit 18 cities and regions, covering every state of Australia, on November 3-5. This film and video festival, which is

BY MELANIE SJOBERG Short films, documentaries, experimental and animation pieces, all made by women, as well as digital and interactive artwork by women, are but some of the planned highlights of the 10th annual international film festival,