Issue 78

News

Groom's industrial relations package condemned Dave Wright HOBART — The Liberals' Fightback! package and industrial relations strategy were condemned at a meeting here on October 20. Trades and Labour Council secretary Jim Bacon said some
By Karen Fredericks SYDNEY — The Aboriginal Legal Service has launched a campaign against Sydney's bid to host the Olympics in the year 2000 — despite claims by bid officials that Aboriginal people in NSW support the bid. Activists from
By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — The Kennett Liberal-National government hit the public's pocket and the environment in an October 28 mini-budget. Victorian families will be up to $870 worse off on the average because of increased state taxes and
Morals campaign 'worse than Joh's' By Dave Riley BRISBANE — A state government plan to tap telephones and arrest suspects without warrants has been labelled as more draconian than any legislation during the era of Premier Joh
'We'll show the Liberals how to fight back!' By Jason Cheng MELBOURNE — A mass meeting of 3000 shop stewards and delegates from all unions affiliated to Trades Hall on October 29 unanimously passed a motion to hold a 24-hour stoppage and
Human Rights Day Concert By Liz Temple ADELAIDE — A Human Rights Day Concert will be held on Saturday, December 12, at the Railway Institute Oval. First held on International Human Rights Day in 1991, the "Make A Noise For Those With No
SA government attacks WorkCover By Liam Mitchell ADELAIDE — The state government has introduced legislation to reduce workers' entitlements to compensation for injury under the WorkCover system. Currently, employers pay a levy of 3.5% of
Thousands in reclaim the night marches "This is the one night of the year when we are safe to wear what we like, go where we like and say what we like without fear of violence", said Joy McEntee form the Women's Action Group to a crowd of 100
NSW resource package 'a sweetheart deal' The NSW government's proposed natural resources package is a sweetheart deal between the government and large timber corporations which would privatise NSW forests without giving any real job security to
S activist to speak on Malcolm X By Sally Low Malik Miah has been involved in the black movement in the US for more than 20 years. In January he will be a speaker at the Socialist Activists' Education Conference in Sydney. He will present
Groom's industrial relations package condemned Dave Wright HOBART — The Liberals' Fightback! package and industrial relations strategy were condemned at a meeting here on October 20. Trades and Labour Council secretary Jim Bacon said some
By Norm Dixon The government's Australian International Development Assistance Bureau is training paramilitary police squads in Papua New Guinea for jungle warfare in the highlands and on Bougainville. These police squads have a penchant for

World

By Max Lane Joel Rocamora is a political analyst and activist in the progressive movement in the Philippines. He was recently in Australia to attend the Philippines: 100 years of Struggle; 100 Years of Solidarity Conference organised by the
By Chris Beale After narrowly winning the general election on September 13, Thailand's new pro-democracy government is already being destabilised by a series of bomb attacks. The same bombing and assassination tactics used during the
Nicaraguan solidarity conference By Stephen Marks MANAGUA — "We need to have alternatives ready when its failure and mass opposition bring the neo-liberal project down." This was one delegate's comment at an international conference in
By Norm Dixon The Papua New Guinea government has sent 40 troops to Bougainville who have just completed intensive counterinsurgency, jungle warfare and commando training at the Australian Defence Force base in Canungra, near the Gold Coast in
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — "We need a decent living wage!" Aleksei Bogdanov, delegate from the Lianozovo Electromechanical Plant, told the packed stadium. "How are people supposed to live on 3000 roubles a month?" Metalworkers' leader Yuri
Sanctions causing deaths in Libya Reuters reported on October 20 that four members of the British parliament who visited Libya said they had learned that at least 200 Libyan civilians had died so far as a result of UN sanctions imposed on April
Anger over French blood trial By Catherine Brown French haemophiliac groups, relatives of the victims and ACT UP, the anti-AIDS action group, have denounced as inadequate the sentence of three state-employed doctors, who have been convicted
By Pinar Selinay ISTANBUL — How easy is it to hide a war? In its rapidly escalating war against the Kurds, Turkey is careful to keep the matter as hushed as possible, while the Kurds lack the resources to make their cause known
By Abdullah Saleh YOGYAKARTA — Riot police attacked about 100 people attending a forum on the need for independent youth organisations here on October 27. Participants in the forum wanted to discuss alternatives to the Indonesian National
Mass rally for miners and jobs By Frank Noakes LONDON — Up to 250,000 people from around Britain marched through central London in appalling weather on Sunday, October 25, to show their anger at continuing job cuts and in particular the
US President George Bush on October 23 signed into law the Torricelli Bill, tightening Washington's blockade against Cuba. The law forbids US subsidiaries abroad to trade with the island, sanctions countries trading with Cuba or giving it
World Cup message LONDON — The north of England is the heartland not only of the mining industry but also of rugby league. As the October 24 World Cup Final between Australia and Britain approached, rumblings were heard from British players

By Miriam Tramer

A unique feature of the Israeli kibbutz has been the totally communal child-care arrangements. These were made possible only by the complete social ownership of all property — even, in the early days, to the extent of personal clothing and effects.

The commitment to the ideal of communal work and ownership extended to communal upbringing of the children. It was strongly believed that the bourgeois family was at the root of individualistic impulses and that communal child rearing would inculcate cooperative ones.

Culture

Hot Cafe By Margarita Windisch MELBOURNE — Hot Cafe are five talented and inspiring musicians who mix jazz with world music and take listeners on an unforgettable musical roller coaster ride through places like Spain, Russia, Ireland and
Mitteleuropa Three-part documentary series SBS Television Begins Sunday, November 8, at 7.30 p.m. Part One: From the Balkan Wars to the invasion of Poland Reviewed by Peter Anderson A lot more attention has been focussed on the Central
By Peter Anderson Two recent publications by the Australian Government Publishing Service continue the discussion about structural reform within the Australian economy. While Macquarie University researcher Brian Pinkstone raises questions
Feral Children Shooting Parties em = By Denis Kevans Fortunately, for the jaded international telescope rifle hunter, there are large and increasing numbers of outcast children living a carefree life in the broad expanses of Western Sydney.
Unfree liberators Liberators is a 90-minute special on the role of black US soldiers in World War II, with a particular focus on the battalions that freed prisoners of the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps. Black soldiers of course
Opera on the edge Lacuna Performed by Chamber Made Opera Composed by David Chesworth Libretto and direction by Douglas Horton At the Gasworks Theatre, Melbourne, until November 7 Reviewed by Lin Wolfe This is a difficult production to
Police Shootings in Victoria, 1987-1989: You deserve to know the truth By the families of Mark Militano, Jedd Houghton and Graeme Jensen and the Flemington/Kensington Community Legal Centre Paperback, 116 pp. $10 Reviewed by Alex Cooper

Editorial

Endangered species: Back to square one To say the least, the draft Endangered Species Protection legislation adopted by Cabinet on October 27 is very inadequate. It will prove to be better than nothing at all only if it does not prevent