Glenn Shields is the Socialist Alliance candidate for Franklin. As a long time campaigner for a healthier environment and for the preservation of Tasmania's forests, he has played a leading role in challenging the introduction of wood-fired power stations in Tasmania such as the Southwood Woodchip Mill.
Issue 598
News
#3
SIEV X book launched
BRISBANE — The story of SIEV X, the unseaworthy, overcrowded refugee boat that sank in October 2001, drowning some 350 asylum-seekers off the Indonesian coast, involves a "massive Australian government agency cover-up",
Support is growing daily for the national "End the lies!" rallies scheduled for the October 2-3 weekend. Following are messages of endorsement for these actions.
Jo Vallentine
It's important for people to be seen to be speaking out about the need
2
Free Craig Johnston campaign gains support
SYDNEY — The campaign to free jailed Victorian union militant Craig Johnston has achieved its first union support in NSW, with the adoption of motions of support by three local branches of the NSW
Socialist Alliance's Sue Bull reports from the election campaign trail on September 11.
Armed with a one-tonne ute, a two-metre-high billboard, red flags and a megaphone, Socialist Alliance candidates Tim Gooden and Chris Johnson headed off into
Marce Cameron, Brisbane
An alliance of progressive organisations is planning a peaceful rally and march at PM John Howard's official election campaign launch on September 26. This will be one week before the national pre-election "End the lies"
Stuart Munckton& Sarah Alamein, Sydney
"Why do we need a brand new garden bed? I just want access to courses!" said University of Western Sydney (UWS) student Melissa Abram to 100 cheering students on September 8 at a speak-out against course cuts
Paul Benedek, Sydney
"The union would have no control, we'd lose the award, lose hours, lose jobs - we're being flushed down the cleaners!", said Condell Park High School cleaner John Everett, one of 2000 cleaners who rallied on September 8 to
3
Iraq occupation 'root cause of violence'
SYDNEY — On September 11, 85 people packed the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre to hear independent reporter John Martinkus and former human shield in Iraq Donna Mulhearn. Martinkus also screened his film
Well-known Indigenous activist Ray Jackson will run alongside Kylie Moon on the Socialist Alliance ticket for the Senate in NSW. Jackson is the president of the Indigenous Social Justice Association. For more information visit
MELBOURNE — More than 180 people crammed into the Brunswick Town Hall on September 4 to celebrate and raise funds for Green Left Weekly. A range of prominent GLW supporters addressed the event, including Moreland councillor and Construction,
Kate Stockdale, Sydney
On September 11, more than 80 people attended a public forum at the Bankstown Town Hall to discuss the community's response to repressive "anti-terrorism" laws. The forum was initiated by the Socialist Alliance and the
#1
Timor benefit concert
BRISBANE — Several hundred people crowded into the No 12 Lounge Bar in Fortitude Valley on September 9 for the "Dem Belly Full?" benefit concert for East Timor.
The event was sponsored by the Roots 'n' All Foundation
Greg McFarlane, Sydney
The battle between the local community and Northern Sydney Health over future hospital services in Sydney's northern beach suburbs is heating up, following NSW health minister Morris Iemma's announcement on September 6 that
Cascade Brewery workers formed a picket line on September 10 in response to the company's attempt to stand down 30 workers. By the end of the day the jobs were reinstated and the workers won a pay rise. The workers previously imposed work bans
Tony Iltis, Melbourne
A mass meeting on September 8 of about 400 members of the Victorian branch of the Ambulance Employees Association (AEA) voted to reject offers put forward by the Metropolitan Ambulance Service and Rural Ambulance Victoria
SYDNEY — Three-hundred people, mostly of Sudanese background, marched on September 5, singing and chanting Peace, peace in Sudan" and "Down, down Janjaweed!" Hugh Rimington from Channel 9's Nightline called for governments to act through the
World
Eva Golinger, New York
Documents recently obtained from the US Department of State under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by <http://www.venezuelafoia.info> demonstrate that more than US$5 million annually during the past two years
Jeffrey St. Clair is a US environmentalist and author of Been Brown So Long it Looked Like Green to Me: The Politics of Nature. He is also the co-editor with Alexander Cockburn of the radical muckraking newsletter and online site Counterpunch, as
Doug Lorimer
United Nations inspectors have found no clear evidence of a nuclear weapons program in Iran, according to a report circulated to the board of governors of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Iranian government
Rupen Savoulian
According to the Russian government, about 330 people, one-third of them school children, were found dead after Russian special forces (Spetsnaz) stormed a school gymnasium in the North Ossetian town of Beslan on September 3. How
Well-known Indonesian human rights campaigner Munir died onboard a flight to the Netherlands on September 7. He was 38 years old. The following statement was issued by Tapol, the British-based Indonesia human rights campaign organisation.
Tapol
SOUTH AFRICA: Stop Telkom retrenchments
Workers employed by South Africa's Telkom are facing a new wave of retrenchments. The telecommunications giant plans to shed another 4181 workers in three years, despite its record 4.592 billion rand profit
Doug Lorimer
Iraqi resistance fighters are steadily rolling back the US-led occupation of their country, turning one city after another into a "no-go" zone for the occupation troops.
Over the past eight months, US troops have been driven out of
Rihab Charida, a member of the Socialist Alliance and Palestinian solidarity group Sawiyan, travelled to Palestine and Lebanon in June to help at the refugee camps. This is one of her tales from Palestine, sent to Green Left Weekly on September 2.
Bill Nevins, New York
The August 30-September 2 Republican National Convention in New York City was marked by systematic and cynical violation of the free speech and free assembly rights of those protesting President George Bush and his war on
Culture
Left Hook co-editor M. Junaid Alam recently discussed the political and the personal with the radical Palestinian-American activist and rap artist Will Youmans, who dons the moniker "Iron Sheik". His clever and powerful music is aimed against
We all want an FTA with the USA.We've got lots of money to give away.Don't worry about the jobs we lose,sacked workers can hit the booze.Australian intellectual property rightswill only lead to endless fights.If you worry about the PBSit will only
Ochre and Water — The Himba people of Namibia are on a collision course with the forces of progress due to a massive dam that would provide much-needed energy but would flood huge tracts of Himba land, destroying sacred grave sites and vital
Metallica: Some Kind of MonsterBy Joe Berlinger and Bruce SinofskyReleased on September 16
REVIEW BY OWEN RICHARDS
Heavy metal legends Metallica on the couch with Dr Phil? Well, not quite, but Berlinger and Sinofsky's documentary Metallica: Some
Love and Rage Volume 1Various artistsLove and Rage Records
REVIEW BY HANG THE DJ
This is the CD that came before Warnography, reviewed in Green Left Weekly #587. Like Warnography, Love and Rage Volume 1 is a compilation of political music in a
A Certain Maritime Incident: The Sinking of the SIEV XTony KevinScribe320 pages $32.95
REVIEW BY SARAH STEPHEN
Introducing a discussion with Tony Kevin, author of A Certain Maritime Incident: The Sinking of the SIEV X, Phillip Adams, the
Editorial
Anti-war activists have refused to be silenced or intimidated in the wake of the September 9 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. It is crucial for the anti-war movement to remain steadfast in its vocal and determined opposition to the