The Liberal-National federal government spends about $43 million a day on the military — more than twice what it spends on higher education and research. It spends more on handouts to private schools than on universities, which it justifies by
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Dave Riley The recent rail crisis in Sydney has drawn attention, once again, to the future of public transport in Australia. Since most Australians travel by car, the fate of the nation's public transport infrastructure may not seem overwhelmingly
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The federal government claims that the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which the respective countries' representatives agreed to in late January, will bring substantial gains to "Australia", because of the opening up of for
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Rohan Pearce "A whitewash" is how anti-war activists are describing the report of the parliamentary inquiry into intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD), released on March 1. The warmongers, predictably, greeted the report's
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Bird flu is just the latest disease to cause panic across the globe. Last year, the SARS virus seemed poised to sweep the world with terrifying consequences. TB continues to blight lives and is making a return in the West. US-based socialist and
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Alex Tighe The South Australian branch of the Australian Services Union (ASU) won a groundbreaking case in late January, when the industrial commission confirmed the right of some long-term temporary workers to be granted permanent employment.
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Kamala Emanuel & Alex Bainbridge In 1995, massive opposition to export woodchipping poured onto the streets of major cities in Australia. At the time, at least 80% of Australians were opposed to woodchipping in old-growth forests. Ten years
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Missed opportunity Alexander Downer's reference to the anti-war movement as a bunch of Saddam supporters is as amusing as John Howard's reference to the February 14-16 protesters as a "mob". No amount of name-calling by the Howard government will
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Although you wouldn't guess it from casting a look over the range of government-sponsored events and $40-a-head breakfasts with the local who's who to celebrate this year's International Women's Day, it is a day with very different origins. The
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Pip Hinman On March 20, 2004 — the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by the Coalition of the Killing — people all around the world will take to the streets once again. They will protest a war that has claimed tens of thousands of Iraqi
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Kerryn Williams These days, there is widespread acceptance of the concept of gender equality. Most girls grow up believing they are just as "good" as boys, and the majority of people agree that women and men should have the same opportunities.
News
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Sue Bull, Melbourne Thousands of Victorian teachers took to the streets of Melbourne on March 3, in protest at stalled negotiations with the state Labor government over their pay and conditions campaigns. It was an historic day of unity as 12,000
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Lachlan Malloch, Sydney "The views of the Aboriginal community in general, and residents of the Redfern Block in particular, have fallen on deaf ears since the death of TJ [Thomas Hickey]", Redfern Aboriginal leader Lyall Munro told a meeting of
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Alex Tighe, Adelaide Federal workplace relations minister Kevin Andrews visited South Australia earlier this months to publicly declare that the state Labor government "must abandon the Fair Work Bill" because, he claimed, if passed into law it
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IWD: 'no sexism, no war!' Erin Cameron, Melbourne On March 6, 250 people attended an International Women's Day march under the banner "Women against war, racism and sexism". Aboriginal rights activist Leonora Jackson explained the extreme
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Jess Melvin, Sydney The University of NSW Student Guild has launched a major attempt to ban students' freedom of speech by calling police onto campus to shut down campus bookstalls run by left-wing UNSW students. Since campus started for the
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NEWCASTLE — On March 5, 250 students rallied at Newcastle University in a bid to prevent the university administration from dramatically raising fees. The protest was organised by the Newcastle University Students Association (NUSA). Students
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3 NTEU initiates education campaign The Victorian division of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) launched a "Cost of education" campaign at its February 28 council meeting. Targeted at schools, community groups, families and other
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Kerry Vernon, Newcastle "Working people in this town are under attack from many sides; they need an ally in the local government to help them fend off these attacks", said Geoff Payne, the Socialist Alliance's candidate for lord mayor in the March
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Marcus Pabian, Melbourne On March 4, 600 rural residents from three shires converged in front of the Victorian parliament to oppose the state Labor government's plans for a toxic waste dump in rural Victoria. On November 12, the state government
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2 Newtown parades for peace SYDNEY — Fifty soaked but determined people took to Newtown's cafe strip on March 6 to publicise the March 20 global day of action against war. The "Parade for Peace" was organised by the Newtown Peace Group. The
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Bad rap "Capitalism gets a bad rap these days. Executives are seen as greedy shysters who do anything to make a buck. Companies are perceived as amoral exploiters of the poor, and polluters of the environment." — Chicago Sun-Times, February 23.
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Annie Mandela, Hobart The Hobart Sexual Assault Support Service (SASS) was set up 16 years ago, originally funded to service women on a long-term basis and men in crisis. It provides a 24-hour crisis response and counselling service for all
Analysis
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The war on Iraq was one of the most opposed wars in history. Millions of people marched to stop it before it began, and now that it clear that it was a war based on lies, outrage against the main warmongers, particularly US President George Bush, has
World
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Gillian Russom, Los Angeles After four months and 18 days on strike and locked out, grocery workers in Southern California voted on February 28 to accept a new three-year contract. Voting on the contract was confined to a single day, in which the
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Doug Lorimer On February 19, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan endorsed of Washington's plan to install a non-elected Iraqi government at the end of June. Iraq's leading Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, said on February 27 that
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Sam Pillay "Bushville" — a shantytown of tents — will greet Republican grandees when they turn up for their August convention in New York. America's poor and homeless families will use Bushville to highlight President George Bush's attacks
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Doug Lorimer Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) announced on March 2 that not enough valid signatures had been collected to force a recall referendum on left-wing President Hugo Chavez. The decision is a blow for the US-backed,
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Barry Weisleder, Toronto Despite a very modest recovery in the latest opinion polls, the scandal-rocked Liberal Party remains in a quandary over whether to call the Canadian federal election in Spring, or Autumn, or even later. For now, damage
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Max Lane Of the 19 parties contesting the July Indonesian presidential elections that are not currently represented in the parliament, eight are regarded as critical of the major parties. These are the Vanguard Party (PELOPOR), the National
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Ahmed Nassef, Cairo In an interview with Women's E-News, prominent feminist and human rights activist Nawal El Saadawi discusses the current crisis of Egyptian feminism and the role of progressive activists living under repressive Arab regimes.
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Don't miss the opportunity to hear Abukeshek — a voice from Palestinian youth that is rarely heard. He will be speaking at the following public meetings: Brisbane — Tuesday March 9, 7.30pm. Trades Hall, corner of Peel and Grey streets, South
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Eva Cheng The March 5-14 annual session of China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), will be asked by the country's rulers to approve 14 changes to the country's constitution, the most important of which is to
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Anna Weekes, Mas'ha Hani unlocks a tiny gate embedded between an alarmed fence and an eight-metre-high concrete wall, and ushers the Danish television crew across a military road and quickly into his home. Two Canadian farmers, and three
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Alison Dellit "The Haitian constitution is working", US President George Bush told the media on March 1. It might seem an odd way to describe a country overrun by armed thugs and, now, foreign troops, and whose elected president has been kidnapped
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Saif Abukeshek is a Palestinian youth worker, who works as a coordinator with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Currently in Australia on a national speaking tour, he spoke to Green Left Weekly's Nick Everett. "I come from a political
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On March 5, more than 10,000 people marched from the slums of of Port-au-Prince into the city to demand the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Waving Haitian flags, and pictures of Aristide, the protesters condemned the French and US
Culture
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Hegemony or Survival: America's quest for global dominanceBy Noam ChomskyAllen & Unwin, 2003$24.95 (pb) REVIEWED BY JOHN TOGNOLINI I am lucky enough to have met Noam Chomsky when he was in Sydney, in 1995, when he was defending the East Timorese,
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Do It For Uncle GrahamWritten and directed by Candy JonesFor more information, visit <http://doitforunclegraham.com>. Send a money order of US$24 (VHS) or US$34 (DVD) to JUST-US PRODUCTIONS, L.L.C. 5 BISBEE COURT 109 #218 SANTA FE
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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 9564 1277. Visit
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REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON War Against The Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create A Master RaceBy Edwin BlackFour Walls Eight Windows, New York550 pages, $58.20 (hb) The Montgomery county sheriff's office in Virginia was kept busy in the
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The President v David Hicks SBS televisionMarch 18, 8.30pm REVIEW BY ROHAN PEARCE The President v David Hicks is a moving documentary that follows the journey of a father, Terry Hicks, trying to understand the events leading up to the detention
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Six Lane HighwayDamian CoenThrough Black Market MusicOrder at <http://www.damiancoen.com> REVIEW BY NORM DIXON Australian blues and roots music fans are celebrating the return to recording of one of the cream of the NSW blues scene,