The chairperson of Rio Tinto, Sir Robert Wilson, told an mining industry conference in 1999 that a "pressing concern for the mining and metals industry is the need to overcome its poor public perceptions of our industry's performance in relation to
-
-
"The challenge facing those in Australia who understand and act upon urgent issues, such as the treatment of asylum seekers, or the issue of racism in general, is to draw together a national focus or campaign that brings direct
-
Until 1988, the United States at every turn blocked attempts to secure a negotiated settlement between the left-wing Peoples Democratic Party government in Afghanistan and sections of the right-wing mujaheddin opposition. This delayed
-
Israel Sorry, Philip Mendes, but Narendra Mohan Kommalapati is quite clear in denouncing the State of Israeli as a racist state, while you muddily mix up the Israeli state and the population that lives under its misrule. The state is a weapon of
-
BRISBANE — In a keynote address to the Women in Prison Conference on November 28, African-American feminist and anti-prison campaigner Angela Davis revealed that are now more armed Immigration and Naturalization Service agents
-
Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor, ASIET, has changed its name to Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific, ASAP. ASIET was at the forefront of the campaigns in support of the East Timorese independence
-
Are women inherently peaceful and men violent? Is there a basic difference between the natures of women and men so that men are the cause of wars and destruction and women are caring and nurturing? Many people argue that this is the case, not just
-
The Woomera Immigration Detention Centre, in the South Australian desert, has been the site of a series of riots, hunger strikes, suicide attempts and escapes over the last two years. The federal government, with the assistance of
-
BY ADRIAN D'HAGE [The following is an abridged version of a speech made by retired brigadier Adrian D'Hage, a Vietnam War veteran and head of defence security for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, to the Public Meeting for Peace held in the Brisbane
-
The US ruling class has seized the golden opportunity presented by the terrible September 11 mass murders in New York and Washington — exploiting and manipulating the US people's fear, horror and anger — to launch a permanent Cold
-
"It's not going to be all that easy [under the third-term of the Coalition government] but we're just going to have to fight on. I'm sure the militant unions will be up to it", Craig Johnston, Victorian state secretary of the
-
PERTH — As a homophobic campaign rages in Western Australia, the November 6 sacking of Edith Cowan University Catholic chaplain Father David Watt has raised questions about how best to defend gay and lesbian rights. Watt was
News
-
BRISBANE — A new group has been established in Queensland to influence the Australian Labor Party's policy on refugees and immigration. Queensland Labor for Refugees was launched on November 27 at a meeting attended by 35
-
SYDNEY — Arriving at Parramatta station for a Green Left Weekly selling spot during the afternoon peak hour rush on December 6, I was surprised to see a dog roaming among the commuters near the ticket gates. Dogs are normally
-
BRISBANE — The US military machines, the oil companies which are central to the US's war aims in Central Asia and the Israeli government which brutalises the Palestinians all came under sustained fire from activists at an anti-war
-
A South Australian government report has revealed that trial mining at the Honeymoon uranium mine in the north-east of the state in 1999 led to the leakage of a radioactive acid leach solution through an "impervious" clay barrier.
-
BY STEPHEN O'BRIEN NEWCASTLE — A memorial service for long-time activist and socialist Elfriede Burghardt was held here on November 27. Burghardt was born in Germany in 1918 and grew up as part of an anti-fascist family living under the Nazis.
-
SYDNEY — The Australian Press Council on November 30 denounced the federal government's restrictions on media access to asylum seekers. Council chairperson Professor Ken McKinnon accused the government of "severely restricting the
-
MELBOURNE — In its latest attempt to crush unions, Yallourn Energy is once again attempting to provoke a dispute that will threaten power supplies in Victoria, this time by walking away from an in-principle agreement reached with
-
This is the last issue of Green Left Weekly for 2001. The next issue — #476 — will be published on January 14.From Green Left Weekly, December 12, 2001. Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.
-
Union backs 'no war' resolution BRISBANE — The Queensland branch conference of the Community and Public Sector Union on December 1-2 strongly endorsed a resolution calling on the Australian government to immediately withdraw all military
-
HOBART — Two weeks after the Hobart City Council banned the distribution of Green Left Weekly in the Elizabeth Street Mall, the paper continues to be distributed there daily. As of December 9, there had been no arrests or fines
-
Competition policy "[The federal government] wants to ensure diversity of opinion but not necessarily diversity of ownership." — Senator Richard Alston on why Kerry Packer should be allowed to own even more media outlets. Rollover "I think
-
HOBART — Yet another crisis has hit the provision of abortion services in Tasmania: in the past month doctors performing the procedure in the state's public hospitals have withdrawn the service fearing possible prosecution. In
-
PERTH - On December 7, activists from the Resistance socialist youth organisation staged a "die in" outside the Defence Force Recruitment Centre to protest against the war in Afghanistan. The protesters later walked through the city malls carrying a
-
SYDNEY — On the eve of immigration minister Philip Ruddock's departure for Geneva to attend a landmark ministerial meeting, beginning on December 12, of signatory states to the 1951 refugee convention, refugee rights activists have
-
SYDNEY — On December 8, 80 people converged on the Resistance Centre in Chippendale for a day of films and discussion about the past and present anti-war movements. The "teach-in", organised by Resistance, drew participants from as
-
No racism!Across Australia, thousands rallied on December 9 to commemorate International Human Rights Day. While the theme of the event varied across the country, the dominant demands were: "Stop the war in Afghanistan!" and
-
SYDNEY — "The Australian government, supported by the Labor Party, turns away, terrorises and attacks defenceless people who are themselves fleeing terror, war and persecution", declared Max Lane, coordinator of Action in
-
MELBOURNE - Anti-war student and community activists met at the University of Melbourne on December 2-3 to discuss the challenges facing the anti-war movement. The conference, organised by the National Union of Students (NUS)
-
BRISBANE — The Queen and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will both attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in the Queensland resort town of Coolum from March 2-4, 2002. The elite summit was to
-
LISMORE — Sugar mill workers across northern New South Wales have won a substantial victory over Sunshine Sugar. The company had attempted to cut the workers' real pay and demanded compulsory work on public holidays in recent
Analysis
-
@box text intr = Capitalist governments are no friends of civil liberties and democratic rights at the best of times. Since the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, they have been seizing the opportunity all around the world to
World
-
The crisis-wracked Argentine economy looks likely to take another battering after the International Monetary Fund on December 6 announced it blocked a US$1.3 billion loan which the government had hoped would lessen its financial
-
For 10 years the Bougainvilleans have fought, with bullets and guns, against the world's second largest mining multinational: Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto hid behind multiple veils. The war was — the media told us — a civil war between
-
The unity statement of the International South Group Network included some far-reaching elements: "The 'race to the bottom' character of economic globalisation ... may have increased the participation of the female labour force in
-
US President George Bush junior always promised that his "war on terrorism" would be waged on many fronts, in every corner of the world. And he's delivered: because, just as the war in Afghanistan seems to be nearing an end, the war
-
Japan's constitution "renounces the use of force to settle international disputes". Nevertheless, on November 25, three Japanese warships — a supply ship carrying 130 troops, a minesweeper and a destroyer — were deployed to
-
MANILA — While the spin doctors of neo-liberal globalisation promote its supposed "benefits" to women, participants from 13 countries at the Asian Workshop on Women and Globalisation arrived at an alternative conclusion. The
-
DURBAN — South Africans spend their weekends at funerals of children and people in their 20s and 30s. In some hospitals doctors report that as many as 70% of their patients are HIV+. The country's best medical scientists
-
JERUSALEM — While there was never any doubt that the secular groups within the Palestine Liberation Organisation conducted the intifada of 1987, the Islamist Hamas sees itself as the leader of the present one. The Hamas leaders
-
The cities and towns of the northern province of Aceh were almost like ghost towns on December 4, the 25th anniversary of the GAM, the Free Aceh Movement. In the two largest cities, Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe, all public transport
-
Speculation is mounting over where Washington will select to be the next target in its bogus "war on terrorism". However, the question may have already been answered: it's Palestine. In the wake of three suicide bombing attacks in
-
MANILA — November 30 — Bonifacio Day, and this year the 129th birthday of one of the Philippines' national proletarian heroes — became a day and night of mobilisation and protest by radical forces against the government of
-
If there was an Academy Awards ceremony for terrorism, Israel would sweep every category — and every acceptance speech would have to thank the government of United States, whose generous support has made Israel the most successful
-
Even before "anti-terrorist" legislation, increasing powers to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, has been publicly released, attacks on civil liberties in Australia are increasing. The legislation, first proposed
-
RAMALLAH — Commentary in the capitalist mass media about the measures taken by Israel against the Palestinian population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the wake of the December 1-2 suicide bombings has been strikingly
-
BY MUMIA ABU-JAMAL PHILADELPHIA — With the end-game emerging into view of a bomb-drenched Afghanistan that is now apparently newly pacified, we are seeing the re-emergence of Iraq as America's demon-of-the-month. The justification for this new
-
In a ceremony at the Swedish parliament on December 7, the Right Livelihood Award, generally known as the alternative Nobel Peace Prize, was awarded to Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc, and personally to its tireless
Culture
-
An Evergreen IslandA film by Fabio Cavadini and Mandy KingFrontyard FilmsOrder from <cavadini@tpgi.com.au> We are swamped with information about the impact of corporate capitalism, structural adjustment and the power and
-
JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy has defined the parameters of the fantasy genre since its first volume was published in 1954. It helped inspire fantasy role-playing that began with Dungeons and Dragons in the 1970s. It was
-
@head2 = Billy Connolly versus GodBilly Connolly versus God The Man Who Sued GodDirected by Ben GannonStarring Billy Connolly and Judy DavisAt major cinemas REVIEW BY NATALIE ZIRNGAST Along with movies like The Castle, The Bank, Erin Brockovich