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
-
-
On November 20, NSW's largest selling tabloid, the Daily Telegraph, screamed "Direct threat" on its front cover. Prominently displayed above the headline was a quote from acting federal attorney-general Chris Ellison: "The
-
Racist prejudice is alive and well in Australia. Just cast a glance at the letters in tabloid newspapers, or listen to a few minutes of the shock-jocks' talk-back radio. People judge others according to their national
-
COMMENT BY TIM GOODEN GEELONG As a Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union steward and activist, I am concerned with the decision by the CFMEU and the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) to become so identified with a Vote 1
-
In the central Australian desert, just 19 kilometre south-west of Alice Springs, is the Pine Gap Joint Military Defence Facility. In simple terms, Pine Gap is a US military spy base. Pine Gap will play an important role in any
-
'Balaclava-clad lemmings' In an article in the November 19 Byron Shire Echo, Greens NSW MLC Ian Cohen attacks the NSW Labor government for vilifying anti-WTO protestors, stating that there was an "avalanche of propaganda dehumanising the
-
You see them on street corners everywhere in the city, recognisable as people trying to get themselves out of a rut; but Big Issue vendors in Melbourne have discovered that their bosses are, well, just like any other boss. The Big
-
As the possibilities for deeper left unity is being debated within the Socialist Alliance, the Socialist Alternative (SAlt) group has written to the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) to suggest unity talks between the two
-
The Baxter refugee detention centre near Port Augusta in South Australia is the latest addition to the federal government's anti-refugee arsenal. The purpose-built facility was supposed to demonstrate the government's commitment to
-
I have followed the Socialist Alliance unity debate. As a member of the Socialist Alliance but not a member of either the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) or the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) it has
-
A furore has broken out in mainstream papers and on radio talk-back programs about the a line of clothing and "lifestyle accessories" for young girls. Released by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the twin actors who first appeared on the TV program Full
News
-
LAUNCESTON Amongst the usual tinsel, angels and reindeers of the annual Christmas parade on November 30, there were a couple of floats that carried a different message. Peace on Earth, goodwill to all; no war on
-
PERTH — The Fremantle branch of the ALP held a rally on November 23 in opposition to a war on Iraq, which drew around 120 people. Local MP Carmen Lawrence told the crowd that she believed "our aim should be the removal of weapons
-
BY ANNE O'CASEY MELBOURNE — A crowd of around 10,000-15,000 turned out to oppose war on December 1, the day after the Victorian election. The rally was chaired by Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia state secretary Michele O'Neil
-
MELBOURNE The victory of the Labor Party in the Victorian state election has surprised few. The most encouraging aspect of the election was the huge increase in the left-of-Labor vote, which in some inner-Melbourne
-
Despite claims that the police and navy had no way of surveying, or receiving, a distress call from SIEV-X, the asylum-seeker boat which capsized last October, it appears that Australian authorities may have had far more
-
CANBERRA — People in the ACT could soon be faced with attacks on their civil liberties in the form of new "anti-terror" laws being put to the ACT Legislative Assembly. On December 10, a new bill will be debated by the
-
PERTH — On November 22, members of the Western Australian branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's construction and general divisions began the process of implementing of a new enterprise agreement. The
-
HOBART — Around 400 people gathered in Franklin Square on November 30 to protest against the planned US-led war on Iraq. The rally was organised by the Peace Coalition of Tasmania. The people then set off on a short march to
-
MELBOURNE — Around 30 people attended the campaign launch for Judy McVey, the Socialist Alliance candidate for Brunswick district, on November 27 at Cafe Mingo. Speaking with the candidate were Construction, Forestry, Mining
-
CANBERRA — Five-hundred people attended a November 30 rally outside the US Embassy and Prime Minister John Howard's residence, the Lodge. The protest was organised by the ACT Network Opposing War. Speakers included ALP MP
-
SYDNEY — Despite a ban on all political activity in the Manly Corso, the beachside suburb's famous pedestrian mall, 200 activists held a "No war on Iraq" rally there on November 23. The rally was initiated by the Northside Socialist
-
SYDNEY — "Newspapers often categorise people into moderates and extremists. You are the moderates, the government are the extremists", declared John Pilger, addressing an anti-war rally in Sydney on November 30.. The Australian
-
DARWIN — The Socialist Alliance here are gearing up for a big year in 2003. That was the conclusion after a discussion by members and supporters over a dinner on November 23. Seven of the 14 people attending were members of
-
SYDNEY — While I have always supported struggles for social justice in Palestine and I am opposed to the US war drive against Iraq, I find that, as a gay man, my own community is under attack from not only Christian
-
BY LESLIE RICHMOND & EMMA MURPHY ADELAIDE — Around 2000 people attended a November 30 anti-war protest, representing a broad cross-section of Australians. Contingents had been organised by Quakers, the Greens, the Construction, Forestry, Mining
-
SYDNEY — A December 14 conference of the nine NSW branches of Socialist Alliance will preselect at least eight more candidates to complete its Legislative Council (upper house) ticket for the March 22 state election. The
-
BY MARCEL CAMERON & TIM STEWART BRISBANE — More than 50 people attended a lively debate on November 23, sponsored by the Socialist Alliance and discussing the way forward for the left. The meeting was addressed by University of Queensland
-
NEWCASTLE — On November 26, the Newcastle City Council gallery was packed with an impressive number of refugee-rights supporters, who cheered on the passing of a motion making Newcastle a "Welcome City" for refugees. Moved by
-
Free society I "[Free] trade creates the habits of freedom... It gives people, consumers, the opportunity to demand product, which is part of a free society... And the habits of freedom begin to create the expectations of democracy and demands for
-
SORRENTO, Victoria Hundreds of angry Mornington Peninsula residents brought their concerns to the city on November 1, holding a rally at the steps of the State Library to protest at the state government's and Melbourne
-
LISMORE — Around 350 people attended a lively and colourful "No War on Iraq" rally at Spinks Park on November 30. Speakers included Mavis Davies, a Bundjalung elder, Lismore councillor and former mayor Ros Irwin, Sister Margaret
-
MELBOURNE — About 40 people attended a forum on the peace process in Sri Lanka, held at Monash University on November 24. It was organised by supporters of the Uthayam Tamil newspaper and Radio Shakthi, a Sri Lankan radio program on
Analysis
-
On November 25, the trials of Australian-based, British-born academic Lesley McCulloch and US nurse Joy-Lee Sadler began in Aceh. They are being tried for visa violations, after the prosecution failed to make espionage charges stick. McCulloch is a
World
-
In a set-back for Washington, on November 19 Danish government prosecutors have charged Nizar al Khazraji with war crimes. Khazraji is the highest-ranking general to have defected from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime. The
-
A United Nations investigation into the killing of British UN worker Iain John Hook in Jenin on November 22 has begun. An investigator from the UN arrived in Jerusalem on November 24. The Israeli army maintains that it "responded"
-
On November 24, former army colonel Lucio Gutierrez comfortably won the Ecuadorean presidential elections as the candidate of the Patriotic Society January 21 (SP21) alliance and Pachakutik, the main national Indigenous people's
-
JAKARTA Any analysis of Indonesian politics during the last year three years, especially since the downfall of President Abdurrahman Wahid, has to take account of the steady rise in the masses alienation from the
-
The "troubles" in Northern Ireland are back, courtesy of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Protestant loyalists who refuse to share power with Ulster's Catholics. The current crisis, during which the British government
-
HONG KONG — On November 25, a Kowloon City magistrate found three political activists — Leung Kwok-hung of the April 5 Action Group and Hong Kong Federation of Students members Christopher Fung and Chris Lo — guilty of
-
Ignoring the fact that Iraq is fully cooperating with United Nations weapons inspectors, Washington continues to prepare for war. The November 19 New York Times reported that the US "has quietly doubled the number of its troops in
-
"Highways are blocked with barricades, creating huge traffic jams. Protests and tear gas fill streets; police patrols are few; residents stick by their radios and TVs, ingesting venomous political rhetoric while seeing if it's
-
The fracture, and subsequent sinking, of the oil tanker Prestige off the Spanish coast has created a major environmental disaster, brought the region's fishing industry to a standstill and put the spotlight on the controversial
-
The US military campaign in Afghanistan was called Operation Enduring Freedom. In January, US President George Bush said in his State of the Union address, "The last time we met in this chamber, the mothers and daughters of
-
On November 27, an Indonesian court sentenced notorious militia chief Eurico Guterres to 10 years in prison for crimes committed during the violence in East Timor following the 1999 referendum for independence. The judge said
-
On November 14, Argentina gained the status of a financial delinquent when it defaulted on its repayments to the World Bank. While in Washington, Argentina's economy minister Roberto Lavagna delivered the news that Argentina
-
It is astonishing what the bourgeoisie will let slip when they're talking to one another and don't think we're listening! In light of federal trade minister Mark Vaile's ludicrous claims that the people who protested
-
Mir Zafarulah Jamali, a feudal lord from Baluchistan, was elected as prime minister on November 21 by Pakistan's national assembly. After months of attempts to install a puppet "civilian" government, General Pervez Musharraf's
-
McCulloch trial adjourned On November 27, the trial in Aceh of Australian resident and academic Lesley McCulloch and US nurse Joy-Lee Sadler was adjourned for three weeks at the insistence of the prosecution. The women fear the trial may drag
Culture
-
Marxist Writings on History and PhilosophyBy George NovackResistance Books, 2002269 pages, $21.95 (pb)Order at <http://www.resistancebooks.com> REVIEW BY JONATHAN STRAUSS When the ideologists of imperialism in the 1950s declared "the
-
Wasilli Kandinsky was born in Moscow in 1866 to a wealthy merchant family. He could have become the law professor that he trained to be. Had he done so, he would probably have disappeared into obscurity. Instead, his name has become
-
Green Day's singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong has spoken out against US President George Bush's moves to wage war on the people of Iraq. He has launched an online petition to build opposition to war among Green Day fans and
-
REVIEW BY SARAH STEPHEN BridgesBy Tonchi McIntoshOrder at <http://www.tonchi.com.au> It is impossible to pigeonhole Tonchi McIntosh's musical style, which includes mixtures acoustic folk and rock, and touches of reggae and country. It
-
MELBOURNE — Kino Dendy Cinemas are to present a special screening of award-winning journalist John Pilger's new documentary The New Rulers of The World, together with The Timor Conspiracy: Death of a Nation, on December 11. Both films will be