Fifty Australasian Correctional Management guards at Port Hedland immigration detention centre ended a 12-day strike on October 6, after reaching an agreement with ACM management on increased staffing levels during day and night
-
-
CHICAGO — The San Francisco Chronicle called it "a rising rumble". On October 6, opponents of George Bush's war drive against Iraq hit the streets in cities across the United States in the biggest numbers yet. Up to
-
It is no secret that for a long time the socialist left has suffered through being fragmented into lots of little groups, all of which had appointed themselves the vanguard, but none of which have demonstrated a capacity to
-
[This is an abridged version of a talk presented to a panel discussion on the Socialist Alliance at the 31st Resistance national conference, held in Melbourne, September 27-30. Dick Nichols is a member of the national executive of
-
On October 8, US Secretary of State Colin Powell hinted that a "compromise" within the UN Security Council on a resolution for "tough" new weapons inspection guidelines in Iraq was close to being struck. Such a resolution would
-
WOLLONGONG — Green Left Weekly's OWEN RICHARDS spoke to CHRIS WILLIAMS, the Socialist Alliance's candidate in the October 19 by-election for the federal seat of Cunningham. What's the focus of the Socialist Alliance campaign? We want to make
-
Socialist Alliance I The value and necessity of a united response from the left on key issues has been borne out during the current debate around asylum seekers. The Socialist Alliance has consistently been present in (and often driving) community
-
At its special rules conference on October 5-6, the ALP adopted a first: parliamentary quotas not just for women, but for men. The compromise motion passed by the delegated conference guaranteed women 40% of safe Labor seats and men 40%, with the
-
The main argument made by the US government to justify its planned invasion of Iraq is that, as George Bush told reporters at a March 13 press conference: "[Iraq] is a nation run by a man who is willing to kill his own people by
-
Until the Senate "children overboard" committee began to enquire into SIEV-X, the boat that sank on its way to Christmas Island on October 19, 2001, drowning 353 people, mostly women and children, we knew nothing about a clandestine
News
-
WOLLONGONG War and racism affect us all and students have an important role to play in struggles against injustice, Belinda Selke told Green Left Weekly. Selke is part of the No War No Racism ticket running in the
-
LAUNCESTON — On October 5, more than 400 people attended a rally at Princes Square against the looming war on Iraq. It was organised by the No War on Iraq public forum. Speakers included Kim Booth from the Greens, Jules
-
NEWCASTLE — The Newcastle University Students Association (NUSA) will remain an activist-led organisation after a fierce and political election campaign run September 23-26. This year, NUSA has been led by a progressive
-
MELBOURNE — Braving wet and windy conditions on September 26, 45 people came to Melbourne's Federal Court to support the prosecution of 30 companies over alleged breaches of the outworker and contractor provisions of the
-
Action for Aceh DARWIN — On September 30, around 20 people, wearing gags across their mouths and carrying placards, marched to the office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. They were demanding that the Australian government assist
-
CANBERRA On September 22, a group of Australian Jews released a statement in support of the rights of Palestinians and condemning the actions of the Israeli government in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Rick Kuhn, a
-
BY ALEX MILNE & KIM HALPIN ALICE SPRINGS — For three days from October 5, activists from across Australia converged on the US-controlled military spy base at Pine Gap. More than 300 people made the journey to voice their anger at the Australian
-
MELBOURNE Meeting on October 3-6, the national council of the National Tertiary Education Industry Union discussed its agenda for the fourth round of enterprise bargaining with universities. The pattern bargaining
-
The future of the Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia is in jeopardy. It has been revealed that the owner, Canadian-based company Southern Cross Resources (SCR), does not have a commercial mining and milling licence. The
-
PERTH I've been knocked off by the Tories, I've been knocked off by stinking grubby builders, I've been knocked off by the [building industry] task force, but it was a bit hard to cop getting knocked off by the Labor
-
CANBERRA — The militant Members First rank and file group in the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has nominated candidates for union positions representing workers in many federal government agencies across the country.
-
SYDNEY On October 10, 30 people gathered at the Manly library to watch John Pilger's documentary Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq. The screening was organised by the Northside Socialist Alliance branch.
-
CANBERRA — Three hundred people gathered in Civic on October 11 for a rally against the US drive to war on Iraq. The event was organised by the ACT Network Opposing War. Speakers included ACT Labor MLA John Hargreaves, health
-
PERTH — On October 2, 80 people attended a forum on "Why war?" at the Fremantle Hotel, organised by the Fremantle branch of the ALP. The meeting was addressed by local federal MP Carmen Lawrence and WA Legislative Council member
-
MELBOURNE In a massive outpouring of anger against proposed Australian support for war on Iraq, 45,000 people rallied on October 13. Jammed shoulder to shoulder across several city blocks, the participants marched
-
The 168 East Timorese asylum seekers whose claims were rejected by the immigration department on September 25 are the first of almost 1700 asylum seekers who face the prospect of being forcibly returned to East Timor, despite many
-
ADELAIDE — On October 5, some 3000 people joined a protest rally and march organised by the Network Opposing War and Racism (NOWAR) against the US-led war drive against Iraq. Anglican archbishop Ian George, Uniting Church
-
MELBOURNE — On October 4, the Federal Court handed down its judgement on the dispute over control of the Victorian branch of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. The decision was not a clear victory for either the
-
PERTH Construction workers walked off a Perth building site on October 7, after construction company Sizer Builder installed surveillance equipment to monitor union activities. The Construction, Forestry, Mining
-
SYDNEY On October 10, unionists gathered outside the Hilton hotel to protest the proposed sacking of 450 workers. Photo by Amy McDonnell. From Green Left Weekly, October 16, 2002. Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.
-
Sympathetic "If they've done it because they expect that naming a child after me that they may get a more sympathetic claim... You don't get preferment through flattery", immigration minister Philip Ruddock told Associated Press on October 8, after
-
PERTH — On October 2, some 1000 members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's construction division protested against the return to Perth of the royal commission into the construction industry. CFMEU state
-
SYDNEY — The US war on the people of Iraq has persisted since 1991, an October 9 public meeting in Bondi Junction, hosted by the Eastern Sydney branch of the Socialist Alliance, was told. Layla Mohammad, from the Worker
-
MELBOURNE — On October 2, the Victorian Electoral Commission received the 502nd positive response to a questionnaire it sent to all Socialist Alliance members in the state. Five-hundred positive returns were required by
Analysis
-
A cosmetic change Like most ALP conferences during the past three decades, the special rules conference held on October 5-6 was a carefully stage managed affair. It was designed to bolster the image of federal Labor leader Simon
World
-
Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva — candidate of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT, Workers Party) — received over 46% of the vote in the first round of Brazil's presidential elections, held October 6. He must contest a second round
-
MOSCOW — It is paradoxical that every time the pace of military engagements increases in the mountains of Chechnya, plans are revived in Moscow for the peaceful regulation of the conflict. Chechnya is like an unhealed
-
On October 5, Indonesian police arrested Ricky Tamba, secretary-general of the Popular Youth Movement (GPK), an urban poor youth organisation that acts in political solidarity with the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD). Tamba was
-
US President George Bush has thrown his weight behind the bosses of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) in their struggle to break the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) which covers 10,500 US west coast dock
-
On September 20, the Bush administration released a new National Security Strategy (NSS) document. The document justifies US aggression on a world scale — pre-emptive strikes, "regime change", unilateral action. "We will not
-
Thousands of people took part in rallies, public meetings and marches across India on September 28 to protest against new attacks on Muslims by Hindu chauvinists in the state of Gujarat. The largest protests were held in Ahmedabad,
-
"The [World Health Organisation's] objective is 'the attainment of all peoples of the highest possible level of health', and WHO defines health as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence
-
LONDON — If Tony Blair uses the royal prerogative, "the absolute power of kings", to join George Bush's attack on Iraq, he acts in a manner no different, in principle and deed, from Germany's unprovoked attacks that ignited the
-
JOHANNESBURG — The October 1-2 national general strike against the privatisation of South Africa's electricity, telephones, water and transport services was a mixed success. But combined with other recent developments and
Culture
-
"Religion is the heart of a heartless world",Marx said, resolving some confusion.If we change society, transform the system,we won't need those old illusions. The Body of Christ will become wafer againand His Blood will be drunk at our
-
WoomeraWritten by Joshua WakelyPerformed by Joshua Wakely, Susannah Hardy, Laurence Coy, Hillary Manning, Ben Barrack and Craig MenaudOld Fitzroy Hotel Theatre, corner of Cathedral and Dowling streets, WoolloomoolooTuesdays to Saturdays, 8pm;
-
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 (02) 9565 5522. Visit
-
If you don't hear from methen don't be surprisedcause I am a criminalin ASIO's eyes. I'm opposed to starvation.I'm opposed to the war.I want liberationand food for the poor. I want justice and freedomand a whole lot moreand a livable incometo
-
REVIEW BY BILL NEVINS Coeur FideleCap EnrageZachary RichardSelect RecordsVisit <http://www.zacharyrichard.com> Everyone interested in the struggle for the soul and heart of the North American continent should own these two fiery albums.
-
Amerika Psycho: Behind Uncle Sam's Mask of SanityBy Richard NevilleOcean Press, 2002126 pages, $18.95 (pb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON "The wounded Goliath" (the US after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001) "is on a rampage — armed to the