Issue 49

News

Tas duck season opens By Lisa Maclean COLES BAY, Tas — Almost 60 members of Duck Rescue were on location here in Moulting Lagoon (one of the world's great wetlands) for the opening of the state's duck season on March 7. Thanks to a
Ian Jackson On March 14, Ian Jackson died following a short illness. Ian, aged 33, fell ill while travelling throughout Europe during 1991. Upon his return to Australia, he was admitted to Woden Valley Hospital in Canberra. Ian had been active in
SYDNEY — Several unions are supporting a Sydney Workers' Cultural Project, which will take up a variety of social and cultural issues among workers. An initial project will take up the question of workers with disabilities. Main supporters of
By John R. Hallam In what has almost become a ritual, the ALP is yet again preparing to tear up the "three mine policy" on uranium. Everyone agrees that the policy is not entirely rational. It can't be, because it is a political compromise
By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — The Wills by-election on April 11 is shaping up as a dry run for a full federal election. Labor and Liberal campaigns are being run by Prime Minister Paul Keating and opposition leader John Hewson. The policy debate
By Tracy Sorensen SYDNEY — The Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee has made a scathing reply to a column in the Sydney Morning Herald on March 19 by former NSW magistrate Kevin Waller. "The families of Aboriginals who have died in
By Rose McCann SYDNEY — On March 6, the day before Sydney's annual International Women's Day march, Helena Pollard had her car radio tuned to the Doug Mulray breakfast program on 2MMM. The program included a skit that involved a woman being
By Peter Boyle Desperate for a job? How about $3000 a week to work with a British construction company in Kuwait? You answer the ad and get a letter promising return air fares, all meals and free accommodation. All you have to do is send $30 to
By Monique Choy SYDNEY — On March 10, more than 2500 timber workers and their families converged on state Parliament supporting the Timber Industry (Interim Protection) Bill, which was supposedly designed to protect jobs in the timber
Terror campaign against black leader By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Aboriginal community leader Don Davidson has accused police of racism over their refusal to provide his family with 24-hour protection, following three fire-bomb attacks on his
Coode Island options bad news for environment By Megan Rush MELBOURNE — The Coode Island Review Panel, convened after last year's fire at the hazardous chemicals terminal in Melbourne's inner west, has looked at seven possible
Uni staff fight restructuring By Alex Bainbridge MELBOURNE — Office, library, cleaning and maintenance staff at Melbourne University struck over award restructuring on March 19 as part of a national campaign of rolling strikes. Almost all
Women of conscience By Tracy Sorensen SYDNEY — About 80 people turned out to an Amnesty International public meeting on March 20 to hear accounts of women's social and political struggles around the world, and the repression against them.
Janet Parker A huge crowd gathered at the port of Havana to welcome the merchant ship Bahia de Cardenas on January 27. The ship carried much-needed raw materials donated by the Paris book industry trade union and the French Communist Party. The
Union battle looms over WA mines By Geoff Spencer PERTH — With the announcement of merger talks between the WA branches of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and the Metal and Engineering Workers Union (MEWU), battle lines have been drawn

World

By Steve Painter The United States and Britain are ignoring international law in their insistence that Libya hand over two of its citizens for trial in Britain on charges arising from the 1988 Lockerbie air disaster. The affair took a dangerous
By Irina Glushchenko and Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — Free, universal health care is fast vanishing from the Russian Republic. In theory, it is to be replaced from the beginning of next year by a compulsory system of medical insurance. But as
Philippines bases polluted When the US navy eventually withdraws from the Subic Bay naval base at the end of the year, there is one thing it is unlikely to take with it: toxic waste which has accumulated at the site for decades. In a report
By Sean Malloy The United States is threatening new bombing raids and possibly other military action against Iraq. The pretext is the alleged Iraqi refusal to destroy factories capable of producing missiles, but the real stakes have more to do
By Marion Davies The Scottish National Party, until recently viewed by many as tartan Tories, is riding high as growing numbers of Scots call for independence. Thanks to the SNP's prominent role in fighting the poll tax and other unpopular
PNG in second attack on Solomons By Norm Dixon Papua New Guinea Defence Force commandos and their Australian-supplied patrol boats attacked a village in the Solomon Islands for a second time on March 18. The raid destroyed the Kariki
By Norm Dixon "Men, woman and children are dying for the lack of medicines because the Papua New Guinea government, supported by the Australian government, has blockaded Bougainville", Melbourne barrister Rosemary Gillespie told a press
Last week, there was rejoicing in the US at signs that the long recession might be coming to an end. But, writes WINIFRED WOLF, the withering of the US economy has reached a point which recalls the defeat of British industry as it drifted away
By Teresa Gutierrez NEW YORK — President George Bush — guilty of war crimes as charged. Vice President Dan Quayle, defence secretary Richard Cheney, Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Colin Powell, General Norman Schwarzkopf — they too were
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — The administration of Moscow Mayor Gavriil Popov has continued its attacks on human rights, banning an opposition demonstration planned for March 17. The city government has also reportedly ordered the
A report titled "Democracy is still buried", compiled by 11 Indonesian human rights organisations and alternative research groups, was released last month by the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation. As well as condemning widespread corruption and lack

Culture

By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE — The Age Comedy Festival has become a major event on the festival circuit. This year it features such treats as Bea Arthur from the popular Golden Girls TV comedy series, and regular events like the Charity Gala
Backfire: The CIA's Biggest Burn By Ron Ridenour Jose Marti Publishing House, Havana, 1991. 174 pp. $5.00 Reviewed by Steve Painter This is the story of one of the CIA's most embarrassing, and least publicised, incidents: its infiltration by
Difficult Women Budinski's Theatre of Exile 388 Brunswick St, Fitzroy March 24 & 31. Bookings 417 4791. Cost $6 Reviewed by Jolyon Campbell Above an unobtrusive cafe in Fitzroy is the current home of a small but original theatre company.
Island in the storm Edited by Gail Reed Ocean Press. 200 pp. $19.95 Reviewed by Stephen Robson The Cuban Communist Party's Fourth Congress was held in October 1991, at the time of the most severe economic crisis since the revolution 33 years
Admission Impossible By Alec Morgan A Film Australia production in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Screening on ABC TV Sunday, March 29, 8.30 p.m. Reviewed by Barry Healy This short documentary delves into the
Bite Pull Suck The One Extra Dance Company The Performance Space, Sydney Directed by Graham Watson and Julie-Anne Long Choreographed by Sue Healey, Sue Peacock and Julie-Anne Long Until April 5 Reviewed by Angela Matheson Choreographer

Editorial

End of the recession? Last December's economic figures, just released, show a 0.3% growth in the economy, and some economists are now saying the recession bottomed out about six months ago and a slow recovery should follow. It's difficult to