Issue 75

News

Record ozone loss over Antarctica This year's Antarctic ozone hole is deeper than ever before and started forming earlier than ever before, Greenpeace said on September 24. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has revealed
Wilderness Society says forest ad is wrong By Peter Anderson SYDNEY — The Wilderness Society has appealed to the Trade Practices Commission, the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal and the Advertising Standards Council for a nationwide ban on
Transport stop-works By Rebecca Meckelburg ADELAIDE — Members of the Australian Tramways and Motor Omnibus Employees Association in SA held a stop-work on October 7. The meeting was to discuss the Industrial Relations Commission's
By Sean Malloy While the ALP government insists the recession is "technically" finished, hundreds of thousands of people face long-term unemployment, and there is an increasing amount of underemployment, according to two articles in the latest
Benders Quarry set to close By Dave Wright HOBART — The Benders limestone quarry at Lune River in south-east Tasmania will cease operation in January, according to federal environment minister Ros Kelly. But the Wilderness Society and
By Leslie Warne WOLLONGONG — The Wollongong Abortion Rights Campaign was officially launched here on October 1, Abortion Rights Day. Fifty people attended a candlelight vigil, which heard from WARC's Jill Hickson and the Uniting Church's
WA teachers in the mood for change By Ian Bolas PERTH — Delegates at the annual conference of the WA Teachers' Union on September 29-October 1 overwhelmingly endorsed an agenda of change. This was the outcome of a campaign by rank and file
Correction In our September 30 issue, a photograph of an anti-logging protest at Wild Cattle Creek was incorrectly credited. The photographer was Dirk Millburn.
500 Years Week in Brisbane By Bill Mason BRISBANE — "We give homage to all the Mapuches and other people who have shed their blood in the struggle against the European invaders [of the Americas]", Domingo Collicoi, representative of the
By Jeremy Smith MELBOURNE — Some 800 people braved poor weather on October 10 to protest against the performance of Australian governments in eroding standards of social and economic justice. The demonstration was called by the Mobilisation
Tax head a poor performer on "performance pay" By Chris Slee MELBOURNE — John Landau, national head of the sales tax section of the Australian Taxation Office, recently outlined his plans for team-based "performance pay" at a series of
By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — In his victory speech, new Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett tried his best to sound conciliatory. But he soon proved how futile it can be to repress a burning desire (in this case, to put the boot into the union
By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — A just-completed conference of international experts has confirmed that relatively low exposure to lead pollution can permanently damage intellectual development in children. The October 5-9 gathering of the
Green camp for Cuba By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — The Green Team, a new non-profit cooperative, is trying to organise a group of Australians to participate in a new internationalist Green Camp in Cuba next year. According to Wayne Wadsworth,

World

Calls for Queen to waive By Frank Noakes LONDON — We are not amused. Elizabeth Windsor, her family and other animals, look set to feel the cold wind of financial uncertainty. Well, not so much a wind really, more of a fiscal breeze.
Battered wife freed LONDON — Kiranjit Ahluwalia was released from prison on September 25. Her murder conviction, for killing her brutal husband, had been quashed on July 31, and her plea of guilty to manslaughter on grounds of diminished
US nuclear moratorium US President George Bush on October 2 signed into law legislation that requires an immediate nine-month halt to nuclear weapons testing. The act mandates that the president submit a schedule for nuclear test ban talks with
Marchers back cause of Native Americans A number of walks have been organised in the United States to raise public awareness of issues affecting Native Americans, particularly nuclear weapons testing. SHARON NAGLE, who has been participating in
By Catherine Brown An Athens football stadium was packed to capacity with 40,000 people on October 6, and another 20,000 gathered outside, all in solidarity with bus workers, who have been on strike since July. The strikers, who have been
The Party of Labour, Russia's best-known "new left" formation, is holding its official founding conference on October 9 and 10. IRINA GLUSHCHENKO reports from Moscow on the impact the party has already made. An organising committee for the
By Frank Noakes BLACKPOOL — Tory Sir Robert Peel wrote in the 1820s: "Men (sic) who ... have no property except their manual skill and strength, ought to be allowed to confer together, if they think fit, for the purpose of determining at what
By Norm Dixon "Commuters travelling on trains, buses and taxis have been coming under increasing attack and are daily being exposed to the danger of losing their lives while simply travelling to and fro from their work." This description
Mining disaster By Frank Noakes LONDON — The British government will officially announce a plan, already leaked, to close 30 of the remaining deep mined coal pits here, from October 12. Twenty will close immediately, costing 20,000
Some abortions legal in Fiji The Fiji Court of Appeal has ruled that doctors can perform abortions in "good faith" to save women from becoming "physical or mental wrecks", the Fiji Times reported on October 2. In September, director of
By Dewi Sartika From the air, the Indonesian island of Yamdena, with its lush rainforests and turquoise coral reefs, looks like an idyllic tropical paradise. But timber contractors are moving in to cut the trees, and Yamdena's inhabitants fear
By Norm Dixon The people of Angola have decisively rebuffed the bid for power by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in presidential and parliamentary elections held on September 29 and 30. The ruling Popular
Red Cross Bougainville claim queried By Norm Dixon and Tom Jordan The Solomon Islands government is prepared to help transport desperately needed medical supplies into Bougainville. The offer comes after claims by the head of the PNG Red
A United States joint House of Representatives-Senate committee voted on October 2 to delete $2.3 million in International Military Education and Training (IMET) funds for Indonesia from the 1993 foreign aid appropriations bill. The decision was

Culture

Sorrow and triumph Sadness By William Yang Belvoir Theatre, Sydney until October 18 Reviewed by Wayne Ruscoe Sydney photographer William Yang has developed a unique drama form: the presentation of slides with an accompanying monologue
Proud of his enemies By Karen Fredericks SYDNEY — At a public signing of his new book Distant Voices at Gould's Bookshop in Glebe on October 10, John Pilger elaborated upon his refusal to enter into a public brawl with Ben Hills. Hills
By Karen Fredericks SYDNEY — "So much of theatre today is about entertainment, rather than art and ideas", says Don Mamouney, artistic director of the Sidetrack Theatre Company. To help overcome such stagnation, the company's Performance Week
War by other means War by other means A documentary by John Pilger Soon to be shown on ABC TV Reviewed by Tamara Desiatov "War and debt are exactly the same things, and you don't have to occupy the same territory", says writer and director
By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE — "Woman for sale" says the eye-catching headline on the leaflet. "Tired of cooking? Cleaning? Well, look no further!", it continues. "She dices, slices, cuts, grates, vacuums and nurtures in seconds. Made from a
The murder that stays with us Swoon Directed by Tom Kalin Starring Craig Chester and Dam Schlachet Valhalla Cinema, Glebe; Classic, Brisbane Reviewed by Tom Flanagan Based on the 1924 murder of a young boy by two Chicago youths, Swoon
Sirocco, Alan Stivell and Dedannan Sydney Town Hall, October 6 Reviewed by Bernie Brian I had the opportunity to hear Alan Stivell and Dedannan play at an Irish pub in Paddington a week before their October 6 concert. The smell of the coal

Editorial

'Remembering' Vietnam Seventeen years after the April 30, 1975, liberation of Saigon, the world's first "television war" is again dominating the screens. This time the effect is to produce a new history of the first colonial war that the US and