SYDNEY — Anne Gardiner, an opposition candidate for general secretary of the Public Service Association (PSA), the union covering state public servants in NSW and general staff on NSW universities, has described NSW Liberal Party leader John
Issue 595
News
Socialist Alliance member Alex Bainbridge and environmental activist Jimi Cocking outside the Launceston Magistrate's Court on August 17, after police dropped charges against them. The two activists had been arrested protesting against PM John
Jenny Long, Sydney
Following two weeks of rolling 24-hour stoppages, cleaners from 100 public schools and TAFE colleges across inner-city Sydney mounted community information pickets at their schools before rallying at the office of NSW education
An August 21 dinner organised to raise funds for Green Left Weekly and the Socialist Alliance turned into a celebration of Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez easily defeated a recall referendum on August 15.
MELBOURNE — On August 17, a range of speakers addressed a public forum organised by the Darebin Ethnic Communities Council on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Malcolm Witton, Victorian manager of World Vision,
MELBOURNE — On August 21, Irish Socialist Party parliamentarian Joe Higgins addressed a meeting of 70 people as part of week-long Australian speaking tour which included public meetings in Newcastle, Sydney and Perth. Higgins is a member of the
Chris Latham, Perth
On August 17, 40 police broke up the six-week-old Forest Rescuers' protest camp in the Ludlow Forest near Busselton in south-west Western Australia, evicting 70 protesters.
The move against the camp followed the granting of
Jim McIlroy, Brisbane
The Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela is an "unprecedented revolution in participatory democracy", Leonel Vivas, Venezuelan ambassador to Australia, told an audience of around 70 people on August 7.
When Hugo Chavez was
Alex Milne, Melbourne
On August 16, a public forum held in the Melbourne Town Hall heard speakers address a variety of nuclear-related issues, including the new nuclear reactor being constructed at Lucas Heights in suburban Sydney and the
World
BOLIVIA: Landless farmers protest
On August 16, thousands of landless peasants began marching from several points of Bolivia to the capital, joining thousands of peasants already protesting in the country's south. The march is demanding Landless
Barry Sheppard, San Francisco
"The Democratic Party's campaign of dirty tricks to keep [independent left candidates] Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo off the presidential ballot constitutes the most serious threat to voting rights in the US since the
Kylie Moon, Sydney
Family and friends were angry and in tears on August 14 after hearing the NSW coroner's findings on the death of the 17-year-old son of Gail Hickey. Coroner John Abernathy described the February 14 fatality in Redfern as a "freak
On August 7, New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced that he would be joining the African National Congress and encouraged other NNP members to do likewise. Although the NNP will still exist — the ANC allowing dual membership
Malik Miah, San Francisco
Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the trade unions in the United States were regarded by working people as the preeminent vehicles for the defence of labour's interests because they won the best wages, health
Jeff Shantz, Toronto
Working conditions at Toronto's elite Metropolitan Hotel have been so brutal for so long that many among its predominantly immigrant workforce refer to it as a "five star sweatshop".
However, when Met workers turned to their
Omar Karmi, Ramallah
"My daughter has only seen her father twice in her life", said one woman. "It's been two months since I last saw my husband." A young boy, in a faltering voice, then recited a poem he had written to his father, also a prisoner,
Norman Brewer, Bremen
The number of people taking part in the weekly Montagsdemonstrationen (Monday demonstrations) across Germany has been tripling from week to week. On August 16, more than 100,000 people marched in more than 100 cities,
Raul Bassi & Federico Fuentes
On June 29, under the headline "US concerned by piqueteros advance", Argentina's main daily newspaper, Clarin, quoted an anonymous "high level source from the US state department" voicing "concern" over the
Every night of the year 100,000 Australians are homeless.
Of these, 36,000 are homeless children.
Domestic and family violence is the most common reason for people seeking emergency accommodation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
For the last two weeks, there has been considerable discussion in Melbourne's Age comparing the success and role of independent and Catholic schools versus state schools. The discussion began on July 26, with the release of the "On Track" survey.
Rohan Pearce
"Few people doubt that US military forces have the ability to overwhelm Iraqi rebels. But as was the case in Fallujah earlier this year, the need to balance force with politics has stripped away many of their advantages", observed an
Culture
Review by Sarah Stephen
Vicious Streaks: Seven Stories for the New WorldWritten by Alex BrounDirected by George Ogilvie & Lee LewisDarlinghurst Theatre, Greenknowe Avenue, Potts Pointuntil September 4$27/$21 Bookings (02) 8356 9987
"It's about an
Simon Butler
It Can't Happen Here: A Political History of Student ActivismBy Graham HastingsEmpire Times Press, Adelaide, 2003$30 (pb)
On September 27, 1971, five student draft resisters who had refused to fight in the Vietnam War announced to
Review by Paul Benedek
The President Versus David HicksWritten and directed by Curtis Levy & Bentley DeanScreening nationally
"When we took on this film project we were going to follow the legal proceedings around the arrest of David Hicks",
Editorial
The revelation that PM John Howard knew asylum seekers were innocent of the charge of throwing their children overboard, even as he continued to tell voters that it was true, is hardly a shock to most of us. To paraphrase Douglas Adams, politicians
General
As the Green Left Weekly website continues to be the number 1 political website in Australia, we're discovering its prominence on the search engine Google.
A friend of one of our Canberra GLW distributors wanted to catch up with the latest gossip