Issue 509

News

• 'Radical times' conference slams war plans

  BRISBANE — The September 7-8 “Radical Times: Brisbane in the '60s and '70s” conference overwhelmingly condemned US plans to wage war against Iraq. Participants demanded that the Australian government keep out of any war in
• Socialist Alliance stands in Cunningham

  WOLLONGONG &#151 The Illawarra Socialist Alliance met on September 8 and unanimously endorsed Chris "Will" Williams as its candidate in the October 19 federal by-election for the NSW seat of Cunningham. Williams is a 24-year-old
• ATO unionists to strike

  MELBOURNE &#151 Members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) employed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) held stop-work meetings during the week of September 9 to 13, at which they voted to hold a two-hour strike on
• Loose Cannons

  Respectful, like a subordinate should be "The United States helped found the United Nations. We want the United Nations to be effective, and respectful, and successful." &#151 George "The Crusader" Bush, addressing the UN General Assembly,
• Residents stop mobile phone tower

  BY JULIE ALBERDI& JILL WESTAWAY MELBOURNE &#151 On September 8, residents of Heidelberg Heights won their campaign against the erection of a mobile phone tower on their local church. They had been advised in mid-August by the Rosanna Baptist
• Foreigners and local interpreter detained in Aceh

  On September 11, the Indonesian army in Aceh announced that it had taken into custody two foreigners — Lesley McCulloch, an Australian academic of British citizenship, and Joy-Lee Sadler, a US nurse — and their Acehnese
• Pampas workers strike for pay rise

  MELBOURNE — Workers employed at the Pampas factory in West Footscray have been on strike since September 4, after negotiations about wages and conditions broke down. It is the first strike at the plant in 20 years. The
• Musicians to perform for refugee rights

  SYDNEY &#151 Bands and performers from a range of music styles have joined forces with refugee-rights activists to organise a Rock for Refugees benefit concert next month. The all-ages, seven-hour concert on October 27 will
• Action updates

  Protesters target Howard CANBERRA &#151 One hundred people protested against the federal government's pro-war and anti-refugee policies on September 11 outside the National Press Club while Prime Minister John Howard was giving a speech. 9/11
• Activists to challenge for UWA guild positions

  PERTH &#151 "We want to see more events such as the 200-strong student general meeting held on September 3, which debated issues such as refugees, the looming war on Iraq and Palestine", Fred Fuentes told Green Left Weekly. Fuentes,
• Anti-WTO coalition turns down anti-war demand

  SYDNEY &#151 The coalition organising a mass unity rally protesting against the World Trade Organisation "mini-ministerial" meeting on November 14 decided not to have opposition to an impending war on Iraq as a main demand of the
• OPM denies responsibility for Freeport attack

  SYDNEY &#151 Rex Rumakiek, a long-standing OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) representative in Australia, denied that the West Papua independence group was involved in the August 31 attack on the giant US-owned Freeport gold and
• 300 attend anti-war meeting

  BRISBANE — Three hundred people attended a September 14 forum organised by Australians for a Just Peace around the slogan “our grief is not a cry for war”. The forum was chaired by ABC radio presenter Sandy McCutcheon,
• Students vote for refugees in low key elections

  HOBART — Office-bearer positions in the September 10-13 elections for the Tasmania University Union (TUU) were predominantly won by a ticket called SHAG. A referendum to declare the campus a refugee safe haven won two
• Socialist Alliance approaches Victorian registration

  MELBOURNE &#151 On September 13, the Victorian Electoral Commission sent letters to all 764 Socialist Alliance members in Victoria. The letters ask one simple question &#151 "Are you an Australian citizen 18 years or over and
• Fight to declare UWA a refugee safe haven

  PERTH &#151 Despite a 200-strong student general meeting at which students voted overwhelmingly to hold a referendum in order to declare the University of Western Australia a refugee safe haven, it is unclear whether the referendum
• 'Illegality is not the issue'

  WOLLONGONG &#151 In the lead-up to the September 17 University of Wollongong student general meeting, activists have again met resistance from the Student Representative Council. The SRC meeting on September 13 reaffirmed its
• Meeting supports 'Cuba Five'

  BRISBANE — Thirty people attended a public meeting on September 12 to mark the fourth year since five Cubans were arrested in Miami and convicted in June 2001 for espionage. They had been involved in monitoring right-wing
• Australian police implicated in people smuggling

  For two years, Kevin John Enniss was a paid informant of the Australian Federal Police (AFP). He was also at the heart of the people-smuggling business in Indonesia. Enniss went far beyond the normal role of an informant. At the