It is clear to many people, just from day-to-day experience, that public opinion has become enormously polarised on the issue of asylum seekers.
This polarisation reflects a positive trend — that while support for the
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The ALP's current navel-gaze reminds me somewhat of the Time Warp. Not John Howard's back-to-the-1950s time warp, but the Rocky Horror dance: a jump to the "left", a step to the "right", a bit of pelvic thrusting and you end up
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In the present period we have Labor governments in all states and yet nothing much seems to be different. The NSW government sends mounted police against pickets, the Victorian government collaborates in victimising the "Skilled Six"
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I attended the [Western Australian] state conference of the ALP back in June. All in all, I've got to say that it was a pretty disillusioning experience — and it left me feeling frustrated as hell! So I went back home and in
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... and ain't i a woman: 'Affirmative action' in the ALP? The National Committee of Review's report into the Labor Party, headed by former prime minister Bob Hawke and former NSW premier Neville Wran, has been angrily criticised by the
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Museworthy: Life, Related to 'Bread' Todaythat man's sister, his wife,two of histhree children?a new path. The small boyrescued from the pyrehe feeds withbits of bread. Despite painthere is no question:These are your lives!These are your
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[Former Queensland Democrats state leader Peter Sykes knows all about compliance committees and getting the boot for speaking his mind. Now a veteran of the Australian Greens, he follows up his April 1998 GLW article which asked,
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Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. Includes the Green Left news. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Phone 9565 5522. Visit
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Since the MV Tampa incident one year ago, a broad and vibrant protest movement has developed. It is matched by no other social movement in recent years. The movement has swelled well beyond the ranks of those who have
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At 2.30pm on August 7, Green Left Weekly received an email from Taylor & Scott, lawyers acting on behalf of Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Doug Cameron, in which they demanded that an article
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GLW's coverage of South Africa Mazibuko Jara, the South African Communist Party's media spokesperson, states (Write On #504) that he is "rather surprised that Green Left Weekly seems to have taken a stance not to engage the SACP in a comradely and
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PERTH — "Today, men are the only standing target. It is no longer permissible to take potshots at women. A few decades of lobbying by women activists has taken care of that. But men are still fair game for television
News
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BRISBANE — Public hospitals in Queensland face another 24-hour strike within weeks unless the state government boosts its wages offer to non-nursing staff. Union delegates for Queensland Health employees on August 15 resolved to
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Solidarity with Craig Johnston MELBOURNE The Socialist Alliance is organising a public meeting in solidarity with the elected Victorian leader of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Craig Johnston and the Skilled Six on September
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LISMORE Twenty people attended the launch of a hunger strike and outdoor refugee embassy on August 16, organised by the Refugee Action Collective. The hunger strike will culminate in a public meeting with Howard Glen of Australians for
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MELBOURNE — Hundreds of people have turned out to hear Afghan refugee Riz Wakil's presentation, "Is it safe to return to Afghanistan?", during his visit here on August 12-14. The federal government claims war-torn Afghanistan is
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BALLARAT — Progressives have done well in the July 10-22 National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) elections. In the poll for national office bearers, the incumbents were returned. Carolyn Allport was returned as
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MELBOURNE More 100 people attended the 'War on Terrorism': Democracy Under Challenge conference in Melbourne on August 9. The conference was hosted by the Victoria University law school and supported by the Federation of
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MELBOURNE On August 12, Denis Matson, one of the two national industrial officers for the printing division of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union was summarily sacked by AMWU national secretary Doug Cameron, and
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South African-based fast food chain Nando's has come under fire for a radio advertisement that mocks the desperate situation refugees face in Australian detention centres. The ad, which was pulled after a deluge of
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SYDNEY On August 15, 80 people attended an information night at the Tom Mann Theatre to learn more about the upcoming Sydney Social Forum, which will be held on September 21-22 at the University of Technology, Sydney. Two
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MELBOURNE — To respond to the increasing activities of the misogynist Blackshirts, the Diversity and Safety Community Network was formed on August 7 at a meeting of 25 local residents and activists in Brunswick. The
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BY SEAN MARTIN-IVERSON PERTH — An August 8 High Court ruling on the Miriuwung and Gajerrong people's native title claim to their land in east Kimberley acknowledged that they retain limited traditional ownership rights. The ruling is
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BRISBANE Construction of Steritech's food irradiation facility at Narangba has resumed after police broke a protest picket on August 13. No work had been done at the site since 200 people picketed on August 7. The
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BRISBANE — Students from the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University surrounded the UQ chancellery building on August 12. The 200-strong protest, organised by Campaign Against Fees
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WOLLONGONG — Four hundred of the Illawarra Grammar School's 600 students attended a voluntary assembly on August 16 to discuss the plight of refugees in Australia's detention centres. The meeting was organised by about 20
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War is peace "I know all the war rhetoric, but it's all aimed at achieving peace." — George "The Crusader" Bush, August 7. Having a bet each way "The death tax is punitive on small business owners. It is very tough on farmers and ranchers.
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CANBERRA — After artwork depicting the plight of children living in detention was removed from a library, the Refugee Action Committee (RAC) has been overwhelmed by offers of support and interest in the display. RAC
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Fish farm protested BRISBANE — Around 500 people took to the water on August 14 in the biggest protest yet against plans to build a fish farm the size of four football fields in Moreton Bay. The protesters, representing 50 environment,
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MELBOURNE — As the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry began sitting again in Melbourne, a union leader has been threatened with imprisonment, a former union leader has condemned union activities and 5000
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CANBERRA — The 30-year-old symbol of the fight for Indigenous justice, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns in front of Old Parliament House, is facing serious threats of removal. This follows hard on the heels of the July
Analysis
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For the past three years, corporate polluters have been working to undermine the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), at which delegations from 174 countries will gather in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 26 to September 4.
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The human cost of the 'Pacific solution' On August 26, 2001, 433 asylum seekers aboard an Indonesian fishing boat, the KM Palapa 1, overloaded and sinking, were rescued by the Norwegian freighter, MV Tampa. On August 27, the Howard
World
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A carefully choreographed meeting of the "Iraqi opposition" was held in Washington on August 9 and 10. Attending were leaders from six right-wing groups opposed to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The US government is seeking to
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ABITEYE, Niger delta — Abiteye village lies in the heart of the Niger Delta region. American oil giant ChevronTexaco has a gas plant and an oil flow station here. But for its oil installations, the company's premises could pass
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[The following statement was issued on August 5 by the central committee of the newly formed Workers Party of the Philippines.] MANILA In a historic step forward for the Philippine left, more than a hundred delegates from three
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SAN FRANCISCO Once again an amateur's videotape is spoiling the lawful deeds of cops in Los Angeles county. In 1991 it was Rodney King. Today it is a teenager. Unbeknownst to the cops, these videotapes exposed the men in
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Tamim's family live in Joee Sheer, which means "stream of milk". But, outside his slum home, a stream of warm, reeking sewage flows. Never was there more reason to take off your shoes at a wooden door. Inside, you climb a narrow
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LAGOS One woman was shot dead on August 8 in Nigeria's southern oil town of Warri when groups of women protesters besieged the premises of oil transnationals Royal-Dutch Shell and ChevronTexaco, witnesses said. They said two groups of
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BY DALE T. MCKINLEY JOHANNESBURG Not far from the predominately working-class Northwest Province town of Rustenburg, where the South African Communist Party (SACP) recently held its 11th congress on July 24-28, lies the garish ramparts
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MOSCOW — No-one is surprised any more to hear economic bad news from the United States. Nevertheless, the failure of WorldCom has been something out of the ordinary. It is not just the scale of the bankruptcy. Six months
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BY FAROOQ TARIQ & RAJA MEHBOOB HUSSAIN LAHORE On August 8, the military government of President Pervez Musharraf declared that its previously announced plan to privatise Pakistan's educational institutions would not take place.
Culture
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The days are getting colderThey stretch before me all in a lineEach night gets a little bit longerAnd these stars that once were strange now I call mineOh, it's been so long since I saw her faceAnd I just can't find my way out of this placeI took the
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REVIEW BY SHANE HOPKINSON The Future Seekers: Refugees and the Law in Australia By Mary Crock and Ben SaulFederation Press 2002152 pages, $24.95Order at <http://www.fedpress.aust.com/Books/CrockFutSeek.html> The Future Seekers is a
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Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So HatedBy Gore VidalThunder's MouthPress/Nation Books, 2002160 pp., $29.20 (bp) REVIEWED BY ROLAND SHEPPARD "Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war to whip the citizenry into a