By Peter Boyle It was an ABC television reporter who led the question about whether the 34,000 Chinese nationals offered temporary residence in Australia after the Beijing massacre could bring in a further 300,000 relatives under the
Issue 56
News
Anti-racism trust set up in WA By Leon Harrison PERTH — The parents of an Aboriginal youth killed in January in a racist attack have set up a trust to counter racism. Bill Johnson is still deeply angered by the death of his 19-year-old
Discrimination charged in teacher sacking By Melanie Sjoberg ADELAIDE — David Jobling, an artist employed on contract by Jamestown Primary School, has been sacked by the Education Department, on the grounds that he has published "offensive"
By Adam Hanieh ADELAIDE — Indonesian environmental and human rights activist Dipa Ramelan spoke here at a crowded public meeting on May 15. Dipa is being toured by Environmental Youth Alliance and AKSI(Indonesian action) to inform and
The timber and paper needs of Victoria could be satisfied entirely from existing plantations, creating 2000 jobs in the process and saving native forests from further encroachment. These are the findings of a recent report commissioned by the
By Sue Bull SYDNEY — A spirited and moving demonstration was held here on May 10 in support of imprisoned Cambodian boat people. Held outside the Villawood detention centre, it showed that a strong coalition against the xenophobic and
SA transport to be slashed By Liam Mitchell ADELAIDE — The South Australian State Government and the State Transport Authority (STA) have proposed a slashing of the government's expenditure on public transport by about 15%, or about $24
By Sean Malloy The youth organisation Resistance, widely known for its recent campaign around the Fact and Fantasy File Diary, will discuss a charter of youth rights at its national conference in July. The group is seeking suggestions and
Judith Ward, jailed by a British court in 1974 over an army coach bombing in which 12 people died, was freed on May 11 after an appeal court ruled her conviction unsafe and unsatisfactory. Her release after 18 years follows numerous other
By Dick Nichols SYDNEY — The crash of the paper entrepreneurs of the 1980s — Bond, Skase and the rest — has been accompanied by the waning of "economic rationalism", the doctrine that sanctified the decade of greed. Now "economic
By Ken Setter LIVERPOOL, Sydney — Even the rain couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd attending a May 12 rally here against the high rates of unemployment in the south-western region of Sydney. The protest, part of the National Day of
By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE — The lesbian and gay community now have a new paper. Called Brother Sister, it hit the streets on May 1, combining local and international news, reviews, information on health and other issues, humour and social
By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — The National Conference in Solidarity with Cuba, held in the Victorian Trades Hall on May 9-10, attracted more than 200 participants from all around the country. They represented a wide range of organisations and
By Barry Healy SYDNEY — The first week of the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into the Terry Metherell scandal has been a difficult one for Premier Nick Greiner. Far from encouraging the fiasco to fade quietly, the inquiry
Car workers reject package ADELAIDE — 4000 workers at Holden's Elizabeth plant, covered by the Vehicle Builders Employees Federation, Metal and Engineering Workers Union, Federated Clerks Union and the Electrical Trades Union have voted to
CSIRO finds sea levels rising For the first time in the southern hemisphere, there is evidence that the deep ocean has increased in temperature, resulting in a sea level rise. The CSIRO reported on May 13 that its oceanographers had found
NEW YORK — A new report detailing the threat to coral reefs from global warming was released on May 6 by Greenpeace. Coral reef damage from "bleaching" would endanger low-lying coastlines and island states, says the report, written by Dr Sandy
By Ian Jamieson BURNIE — "It's not just our problem, or a problem for the unionists at Robe River", says Brian Green, a metalworkers' union delegate at the strikebound Burnie mill of Associated Pulp and Paper, a subsidiary of the New
Dalai Lama tour a success By Cameron S. Boyd BRISBANE — More than 5000 people crammed Brisbane's Albert Park to hear the Dalai Lama speak on May 13, and a further 2000 attended a public meeting at the Cultural Centre the night before.
World
Poor vote for British Greens British Green Party national council member Penny Kemp says the party's poor result in the recent national elections was due to a move to the right and an undue concentration on electoral politics. The party lost
Granma comments on upheaval HAVANA — In a full-page editorial on May 6, the Cuban newspaper Granma says that while vote-hunting in Miami recently, President Bush predicted social upheavals in Cuba. Bush obviously did not realise, it notes,
By Peter Annear PRAGUE — It has already been dubbed Murongate. Jaroslav Muron, a deputy privatisation minister, was allegedly offered a bribe to favour one bid for a dairy enterprise in the south of the Czech Republic. The manager of the
By Irina Glushchenko and Boris Kagarlitsky MOSCOW — How big a bribe do you have to pay if you want some service performed by an employee of the Moscow mayor's office? Ten per cent of the total value of the business involved. This figure
NZ Greens endorse Alliance AUCKLAND — Green Party delegates voted by a large majority to formally join the third-party Alliance at a national conference in the city of Nelson. The May 10 vote was 54-11, more than the 75% majority required
By Patrick Debrest A mission from the French human rights association "Enfants du monde, droits de l'homme" visited Iraq from February 8 to 16. Its aim was to monitor the situation of Iraqi children one year after the Gulf War, especially in
By Norm Dixon The Bougainville Interim Government says that the Papua New Guinea Defence Force has begun to commit atrocities following the landing of troops in southern Bougainville's Siwai district on May 9. There are also reports that the
By Sean Malloy Outgoing Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates has turned the arrest of Damian Williams into a media show, symbolising that Los Angeles is back under police control. Williams is one of three people accused of attacking Reginald
Striking Indonesians jailed and beaten By Colin Pemul MEDAN — The obstacles which Indonesian workers face in defending their wages and conditions are revealed by events at three factories here earlier this year. The factories, Sanjo
By Sally Low and Peter Annear The resignation of finance minister Andrzej Olechowski again signals the inability of the fractured Polish parliament to form a workable government or adopt an acceptable economic policy in the face of depression and
By Jose Gutierrez Every day, in the cities or in the countryside, at places of work, factories, farm cooperatives, schools and marginal communities, Salvadorans gather in small circles for a daily ritual — to tune in to Radio Farabundo
By Laszlo Andor BUDAPEST — As the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development held its assembly here last month, and its leader Jacques Attali pointed out the advantages of the Hungarian path to a free market, one-third of Hungarian
The executive board of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union in the US released the following statement on May 6. We have abridged it slightly. Sunday's White House statement blaming social programs of the 1960s for the Los
Culture
Beatrice goes underground Breathing Under Water Directed by Susan Murphy Dermody Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen Why on earth has humanity set the stage for its own extinction? In Breathing Under Water, the question is explored in a circular
By Dalia Acosta HAVANA — Over a year a go Holly Near was in Cuba, and I was reminded of her on April 15, when a group of artists, intellectuals, and AIDS activists and professionals met with the public in the Juan David Gallery of the Yara
Whitefella comin': Aboriginal Responses to Colonialism in Northern Australia By David S. Trigger Cambridge University Press, 1992. 250 pp. $45 (hb) Reviewed by Andrew Honey Trigger's book focuses on Doomadgee, a mission settlement on the
At the Sydney Film Festival Night on Earth Written, Directed and Produced by Jim Jarmusch Starring Winona Ryder, Giancarlo Esposito, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Roberte Benigni Reviewed by Ulrike Erhardt Night on Earth, one of many offerings at
Rebirth of the Cool By Norm Dixon One of the more interesting and welcome developments in contemporary music is the evolution of what has been tagged "acid jazz". While it's yet to garner a large audience in Australia, the success of the
Defending the Earth: A Dialogue Between Murray Bookchin and Dave Foreman Edited with an introduction by Steve Chase A Learning Alliance Book from South End Press, Boston, Mass. 1991. 147 pp. Reviewed by Joanne Dittersdorf In recent years the
Now And In The Time To Be: Ireland and the Irish By Thomas Keneally Pan MacMillan, 1991. 208 pp. $39.95 Reviewed by Bernie Brian In his foreword, Thomas Keneally suggests that "sentiment is the malaise of the returning pilgrim of Irish
Editorial
A small blow for justice In recent weeks the Australian government struck a small blow for justice in the Middle East when it dropped its ban on government contact with the Palestine Liberation Organisation and foreign minister Gareth Evans