'Being stateless is not a crime!'
Andrew Hall, Canberra
Protesters gathered in several cities around Australia for the September 9 "national day of shame", marking stateless refugee Peter Qasim's seventh year in detention.
At the Canberra
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Now a spokesperson for Lismore's No War on Iraq group, I've been an environment and social-justice activist for more than 20 years, and am proud to say I was one of those arrested for blocking bulldozers on Mt Nardi (near Nimbin) in 1981. Those
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Kathy Newnam Candidates for the Greens and the Socialist Alliance have called for the Northern Territory's Ranger uranium mine to be permanently shut down. On September 4, operations at the mine were disrupted after 20 litres of radioactive
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Louise Walker& Sue Bolton Over the last few months, Howard's Coalition government has been lobbying big business about the dangers of the ALP's industrial relations policy giving trade unions "too much power". Labor workplace relations shadow
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Ian 'Jammo' Jamieson, the Socialist Alliance candidate for Fremantle, explains why he is contesting the federal election. I have been involved in the socialist movement for 35 years. Currently I'm working as a wharfie down in Fremantle. Since the
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Kerryn Williams Anti-war activists have claimed that the September 9 bombing near the Australian embassy in Jakarta proves that invading Iraq has not made the world a safer place. "This bombing in Jakarta is a tragedy. But the bigger tragedy is
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Don Jarret Ron Gray, treasurer of the Australian Peace Committee, died in Adelaide on August 13 at the age of 79. The following is an abridged version of the speech given by Don Jarret, the APC South Australian branch president, at Ron's funeral.
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Chris Johnson, the Socialist Alliance candidate for Corangamite in Geelong, explains why she is contesting the federal election. I have been an activist since my teens, having marched in anti-Vietnam War moratorium and anti-nuclear rallies. I am a
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Rohan Pearce The James Hardie scandal is one of corporate Australia's worst. While the amount of money involved may be less than some of the high-profile corporate collapses of recent years, the cynicism with which Hardie's management evidently
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"The military, mostly high-ranking officers, continued to use rape as a weapon to subdue ethnic minorities between 2003 into 2004", the Women's League of Burma (WLB), an umbrella organisation for groups of different ethnic origin, said in a report,
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Alex Milne We now have scientific confirmation that sit-ins, rallies and boycotts are more likely to influence the government's environmental policy than schmoozing to politicians. A study by American sociologist Jon Agnone, published in New
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Max Lane I condemn the bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on September 9, which has taken at least nine lives and injured more than 180 Indonesians — mainly people doing business at the embassy and passers-by. I express my full
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Linda Seaborn Sole parents would face gains and losses under the ALP's family tax policy released on September 7, according to Dr Elspeth McInnes, the convenor of the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children. Sole parents who receive
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Sue Bolton It's hard to think of any unionist in recent times who has been more vilified by the mainstream media than former Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) Victorian branch secretary Craig Johnston. The previous most vilified trade
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Iraq John Howard yaps behind the US and British dogs of war while his faithful warmongrel, Larry Anthony, obsesses with the vital events of our time — the Casino/Murwillumbah railway and the Ocean Shores sports field — in an attempt to blinker
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Sue Bolton On September 10, the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) executive unanimously adopted a resolution expressing its "concern at the jailing of Craig Johnston and the excessive length of the custodial sentence imposed by the Court of
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Andrew Hall On September 9, Australia's longest-serving political prisoner, Peter (Muhammad) Qasim, had been held in immigration detention for six years. An August 6 High Court decision means that Qasim is one of a the "stateless" asylum seekers
News
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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,
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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
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#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",
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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"
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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
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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
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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
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#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
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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
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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
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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
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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
Analysis
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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
World
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
Culture
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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