By Steve Painter Arthur Scargill, the British mineworkers leader who was unofficial public enemy number one for much of the reign of Margaret Thatcher, has politically outlived the prime minister who threw enormous resources into a number of
Issue 6
News
By Jon Singer PERTH — The first weeks of the WA Inc royal commission have shed some light on the operations of the Peppermint Grove set and how a good number of the financial and political "geniuses" of the '80s became the bankrupt (though by no
By Angela Matheson Photo by David Brazil SYDNEY — The Rainbow Warrior concluded its month-long tour of Australia with a week's visit at Darling Harbour, where more than 3000 people were shown over the ship by Greenpeace members. The Warrior
Duck rescuers out in big numbers By Mark Berriman Animal rights and environmental groups launched some of the largest operations yet to retrieve dead and injured waterfowl as the 1991 duck season opened on March 16. In NSW about 200 rescuers
The slaughter of Bool Lagoon By Pamela Irving -1>ADELAIDE — At 6.45 a.m. on March 2, the sky over Bool Lagoon in South Australia's south-east echoed to the boom of guns and the cries of water birds taking flight as 550 camouflage-clad,
By Adriaan Anarco-Troika DARWIN — The chief political reporter for the Murdoch-owned Northern TerritoryNews, Frank Alcorta, is being criticised for accepting a $20,000 commission from the CLP government to write a book. The "coffee table" book is
Black deaths commission slams cops By Leon Harrison PERTH — Kalgoorlie police have been slammed by the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody over their treatment of three Aboriginal prisoners who died in the Kalgoorlie lockup.
By Garry Walters MELBOURNE — Rail unionists are concerned that plans for reorganisation of Australia's railways could open the door to privatisation of the main inter-city routes while the remnants of the old state networks are left to fall into
By Michael Bell BRISBANE — Green Alliance candidates polled up to 26% in local government elections here on March 23. While the Greens didn't win any seats, their preferences are expected to decide several. In a surprise win for the Labor Party,
Green Left schedule Green Left is taking a one-week Easter holiday. The next issue will be dated April 10.
South Sydney Greens set preselection By Peter Boyle SYDNEY — The South Sydney Greens have organised two public meetings to preselect candidates for the seats of Marrickville and Heffron in the coming state elections. The Marrickville meeting is
By Dick Nichols SYDNEY — After three weeks of indecision, the Australian Democrats' two members of the New South Wales Legislative Council voted on March 21 to support Greiner government legislation for a referendum that would reduce the chamber
'Arabs to pay' for Gulf War By Jim McIlroy BRISBANE — The Arab world, in particular the ordinary people of the Middle East, will pay much of the enormous cost of the US-led war against Iraq, Dr Robert Springborg told an audience of 120 here on
World
Finns for fuel efficiency By a big majority, the people of Finland prefer greater energy efficiency to the building of new power plants, according to a poll published on February 26. Commissioned by Greenpeace and conducted in January, the
Student demonstrations, a military clampdown and an emigre exodus have marked the lead-up to Albania's first multiparty elections, scheduled for March 31. From Prague, Green Left correspondent PETER ANNEAR reports. The exodus of 20,000 Albanians
By Peter Annear The Straits of Otranto — an 80 kilometre stretch of the Adriatic — were the corridor for the exodus of 20,000 Albanians in the second week of March from Durres, Vlore and Shengjin to Brindisi, Otranto and other ports in the
Since 1986, about 1 million civilians have fled their homes to escape the fighting in the Philippines. The plight of this destitute, homeless tribe — "internal refugees" — is still not fully recognised by the Aquino government. DAVID ROBIE
By Jacqui Kavanagh The African National Congress has expressed "outrage and deep disappointment" at the South African government's white paper on land reform, tabled in parliament on March 12. The paper fails to address the crucial issue of land
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — They were the first eggs I had seen in my local food store in over a month. I stood in line, seized a packet, and headed for the check-out. On the packet was printed in large letters: "Price 1 rouble 34 kopeks".
By Norm Dixon Japan's most serious nuclear power accident has given the anti-nuclear movement a powerful impetus. Japan barely escaped a nuclear accident of Chernobyl or Three Mile Island proportions on February 9, when a pipe broke inside the
By Norm Dixon As industrialised countries adopt stricter, more costly regulations on disposal of toxic wastes, a whole industry of shadowy operators has developed to promote dumping wastes in the Third World. Late last year, a California-based
By Norm Dixon Mecky Salosa, a senior leader of the Free West Papua Movement (OPM), which is fighting for independence of Indonesian-occupied West Papua, was sentenced to life imprisonment on March 18 by an Indonesian District Court in Jayapura.
By Andrew Nette Aung Naing Oo is one of thousands of students who fled Burma's cities in the wake of the crushing of the nation's democracy movement in 1988. In fear of military retaliation for their central role in the opposition, they moved into
By Steve Painter Five days of mass protests shook the Yugoslav and Serbian capital, Belgrade, in mid-March. Two people were killed and up to 160 injured as police, backed briefly by army tanks, attacked the protesters. The tanks were withdrawn after
By Norm Dixon SYDNEY — "The president of the white people, F.W. de Klerk (he's not my president as I never elected him, I have no voting rights in South Africa), has been doing the rounds telling the international community that apartheid is at an
Tirana, Washington resume relations By Peter Annear PRAGUE — After 52 years without diplomatic contact, the United States agreed to restore full diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15. Talks on resuming ties were virtually completed
Culture
Rory McLeod, currently touring Australia, entertains not only with his skills as a guitarist, harmonica player, tap dancer, spoon player and vocalist but also with the stories told in his songs, many of which he writes himself. He has performed in
I>The Story of Boys and Girls Directed by Pupi Avati Produced by Antonio Avati Academy Twin Cinema, Paddington (Sydney) Reviewed by Sally Low Remember some seemingly endless all afternoon extended family lunch? Women folk, with some help from
Large Stars Looking Small By Connie Frazer Gasp with shock, you spaced-out wide bright twinklers. Soon there will be more of us than you. Yet consider the power of small things together — as trillions of fleas in a house kept out the
By Harry van Moorst For three days in March, the sleepy old fishing village of Port Fairy comes to life with the ballads, shanties, jigs and reels that characterise Victoria's largest, and Australia's most charming folk festival. Amidst the
The Dishwasher ME = By Teresa Dowding When She smiles it's (give us a smile sweetheart) taking a breath or simply desperation and She is blank to survive. Pain transforms Her body (nice legs shame about the face) into an abstraction that
The Removalists By David Williamson Directed by Marcelle Schmitz Deck Chair Theatre, Fremantle. Tues-Sat nights until April 13. Reviewed by Ian Bolas "You dead cunt", Kenny yells at the police sergeant who has beaten and humiliated him. It's a
Nuts By Tom Topor Directed by John Rado With Bede Gwynne, Richard Payten, Geoff Hickey, Nan Vernon, Ted Webster, David Beard, Simon O'Rourke, Paul Van Reyk, Wednesday Kennedy. New Theatre, Sydney Reviewed by Rod Webb By at least one of the
The Nasty Girl Starring Lena Stolze Directed and written by Michael Verhoeven Reviewed by Barry Healy The nasty girl of the title is Sonja Rosenburgen, who outrages the good burgers of the Bavarian town of Pfilzing by digging into the sordid
Moir's Gulf Wild and Woolley. 1991. $12.95. Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen When the mainstream media began the six-month march to war last year, cartoonist Alan Moir decided he wasn't going. Instead, he stayed where he was — beside the Sydney
Kitchen Talk Newsletter Published six times per year by Michael and Janet Boddy Subscriptions ($42 per year) from The Bugle Press, Binalong NSW 2584 Reviewed by Dave Riley Food now produced by so few is scrutinised by so many so intently. Its
Editorial
Editorial: Caught in the act In the last week, people all around the world watched a home video of US police mercilessly beating and kicking a black man. The cops had stopped him for speeding, then, thinking they were unobserved, had passed