Issue 51

News

By Peter Boyle The Democratic Socialist candidate for the Wills by-election, Bob Lewis, has condemned the latest ACTU call to cut immigration as a "thinly veiled appeal to racist sentiment" and a "total cop-out on seriously addressing
Gareth Evans runs in Wills By Jeremy Smith and Vanessa Hearman MELBOURNE — Foreign minister Gareth Evans on the Wills campaign trail for Labor in Coburg on April 4, was forced to flee by East Timorese activists angered by the government's
By Steve Painter SYDNEY — Despite the fact that the vast majority of scientific opinion accepts the reality of global warming, there is a backlash in the corporate sector says Dr Jeremy Leggett, Greenpeace International's director of science
Thiess loses bribery appeal By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Prominent developer Sir Leslie Thiess could face a legal bill of more than $2 million after the Full Court upheld a jury's findings that he bribed former Queensland Premier Sir Joh
Green Left banned By Chris Spindler ADELAIDE — Supporters of Green Left Weekly are campaigning for the paper to be distributed at the Central Markets. Market management has repeatedly stopped people selling the paper despite its
By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — Although there will be 22 candidates on the ballot paper when the Wills by-election takes place on April 11, one progressive independent, Coburg football coach Phil Cleary, believes he has a chance of beating the
By Kim Spurway SYDNEY — Three gay men have been forced to leave an inner-city high school because of death threats, verbal abuse and anti-gay messages left on blackboards. The three were followed home by gangs and were physically abused and
Qld legal aid in danger By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Community centres providing free legal advice could be forced to close because of a Queensland government cut in funding, a legal organisation warned on April 2. Karen Fletcher, convener
Talking union ADELAIDE — Mitsubishi workers at two plants walked off the job here last week. About 1000 stopped work at the Lonsdale iron foundry in response to management attempts to cut penalty rates and change work patterns. About 200 trim
By Margaret El-Chami Most charges against more than 200 people arrested during last November's anti-Aidex protests were dropped last week because of lack of evidence. Organisers from Stop Aidex (now called Stop Aus-Tec) say this shows that
Building union clerks on strike By Jenny O'Donnell SYDNEY — Thirty clerical union staff employed by the Building Workers Industrial Union and the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Association have been on strike since March 30 over the

World

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — Was this to be the next Chernobyl — only 100 kilometres from Russia's second largest city? Early in the morning of March 24, a steam pipe ruptured in the third reactor block of the Sosnovy Bor nuclear power plant
By Peter Annear PRAGUE — The murder of a Romany man late last year — he was thrown from a window by a group of marauding racists — tragically focussed attention on the problems faced by the Romany national minority, commonly referred to
Inkatha threat to Zimbabwean government By Norm Dixon Chief Gatsha Buthelezi's Inkatha Freedom Party has promised opponents of the government in neighbouring Zimbabwe that, should it achieve power in South Africa, it will work to remove
Campaign for Kenyan political prisoners By Norm Dixon A spokesperson for the Release Political Prisoners Pressure Group (RPP), Njoroge Murimi, in an appeal sent to Green Left Weekly, has called on the international community to withhold aid
By John Ross It didn't take long for popular support for Russia's economic shock therapy to start evaporating. On January 18, little more than two weeks after the reforms had been introduced, Muscovites were asked if the Yeltsin government's
PNG investigating timber companies According to Clement Miria, writing in Papua New Guinea's pidgin newspaper Wantok, as many as 40 timber companies which are operating in the country without environmental plans will lose their operating
By Peter Annear in Prague The victory of Salih Berisha's Democratic Party in the country's second general election in 12 months marks the opening of a new stage in Albanian politics. The conservative victory signals the failure of reforms begun
By Winfried Wolf Growth having fallen for three successive quarters, it was announced on February 18 that Germany was officially in recession. The hope had been that Germany could play a role of locomotive and bring the recession to an end
BRUSSELS — Representatives from African and eastern European countries plagued by waste exports from western Europe have urged the European Community to cooperate in ending all hazardous waste exports. At a press conference on March 20,
By Steve Painter Libya has condemned United Nations sanctions, imposed by the Security Council against the small north African state last week, as a violation of international law. A Libyan statement says the decision violates the
US prisoners brutalised By Steve Painter Prisoners in the US state of Montana were stripped naked for four days after an alleged riot at the state prison last September, says the American Civil Liberties Union. Authorities sent in a SWAT
By Boris Ikhlov PERM — In Magnitogorsk on February 25 the funeral took place of Vladimir Vitalevich Lebedev, one of the main activists of the political association "Worker". Lebedev was driving a Moskvich car and was absolutely sober when he
ANC youth leader framed By Norm Dixon Rapu Molekane, secretary general of the African National Congress Youth League, has been arrested for alleged possession of arms. The ANCYL says Molekane has been framed by police and demanded his
By Julian Mellor Situated on the banks of the Salween River, the Thai frontier village called Tha Ta Fang had an air of lawlessness about it. Men sitting in the waterside cafe eyed us suspiciously, a couple of rifles rested against the wall

Culture

Obituary em = By Geoff Francis Who's gonna mourn for this rich man? Who'll miss this millionaire? The papers are full of their obituaries, But who's gonna shed any tears? So the rich man has died, This famous millionaire, Who carved out
By Tracy Sorensen Every now and then, a documentary film sparks controversy and action. It happened when ABC TV showed Cop it Sweet recently; it has happened many times over the 30-year history of Four Corners; and John Pilger had the
Rambo can be funny, part time Stop! or my mom will shoot Directed by Roger Spottiswoode Written by Blake Snyder, William Osborne and William Davies Starring Sylvester Stallone and Estelle Getty Reviewed by Ulrike Erhardt I wanted to see
Pornography and Feminism: The Case Against Censorship By Feminists Against Censorship Edited by Gillian Rodgerson and Elizabeth Wilson Lawrence and Wishart, 1991 79 pp. $15 pb Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen Is there evidence of a direct link
Trumpets and Raspberries By Dario Fo Presented by Melbourne's New Theatre as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival The Organ Factory, Clifton Hill until April 18 Reviewed by Peter Boyle Italian playwright Dario Fo has a unique talent for
The Bush Poets Live Kookaburra Recordings through Festival Records Available on CD and cassette Reviewed by Denis Kevans I have heard, performed with and met poets on this CD. Murray Hartin and Mark Gliori I heard at Maleny Folk Festival and
Politics and the Accord By Peter Ewer, Ian Hampson, Chris Lloyd, John Rainford, Stephen Rix and Meg Smith Pluto Press, 190 pp. $16.95 Reviewed by Steve Painter Finally, out of the trade union left comes an honest attempt at a critique of the
When the miners arrive Mining and Indigenous Peoples in Australasia Edited by John Connell and Richard Howitt Sydney University Press. 200 pp. $22.95 Reviewed by Emlyn Jones Scholars from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji examine the effect
By Harry Perlich Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer has caused a minor controversy. It contains a series of brutal murders depicted with a powerful degree of realism, though not unusually graphic. They are undoubtedly gruesome, though not
A pioneer of 'World Jazz' By Norm Dixon The outstanding success of the recent WOMAD festival in Adelaide was just the latest manifestation of the growing popularity of what has become known as World Music. In the early '80s, the World

Editorial

Symptoms of crisis There have been some alarming trends in recent European elections, with Jean-Marie Le Pen's neo-fascists winning nearly 14% of the vote in French regional elections, neo-fascists winning large votes in Belgium and