Issue 87

News

PSU rank and file launches election campaign By Barry Healy SYDNEY — "I'm not running to show a banner. I'm running because I see on the faces of the members I represent the effects of the pressures and stress that are bearing down on
Labor cuts housing funds The federal government is to cut $50 million from state-tied housing programs, which will affect low income earners harshly. For years the New South Wales government has underfunded the community housing sector,
Building workers' wages vanish By Peter Chiltern SYDNEY — The Building Workers Industrial Union is seeking outstanding wages and entitlements for 40 workers on construction projects at Singleton army base, Richmond TAFE college and an
Trammies accept deal with Kennett By Alex Cooper MELBOURNE — A mass meeting of members of the Australian Tramway and Motor Omnibus Employees Association on February 4 voted overwhelmingly to accept a deal struck between state secretary
Rainbow Warrior on tour of Australia By Joe Kim PERTH — Greenpeace launched its Cities and Coasts campaign in Fremantle on Australia Day, January 26, with the arrival of its flagship, Rainbow Warrior. The vessel sailed into Fremantle
By Stephen Robson PERTH — The government of Carmen Lawrence was dumped on February 6, bringing to an end 10 years of Labor in Western Australia. It was a decade marked by shonky business deals with the big end of town and of corruption.
By Maurice Sibelle BRISBANE — Several hundred people joined a rally for democratic rights in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall on February 5. The rally was a response to the Brisbane City Council's campaign to remove all political groups from
A great start to the year By Jorge Jorquera The first two issues of Green Left this year have had a boost in distribution thanks to sales by members of Resistance and the Democratic Socialist Party. Without any special campaign,
More cuts in mining industry By Peter Chiltern The mining industry in NSW has been further hit by closures and cutbacks at Broken Hill and the Illawarra. The city of Broken Hill will lose more than a third of its 1350 mineworkers with the
By Steve Painter The Mayne Nickless conglomerate, whose fleets of armoured cars have sometimes been the target of gun-wielding desperadoes, pulled a heist of its own over the holiday period. With an audacity that makes the Melbourne Club
Protest against sexist images By Kylie Budge MELBOURNE — A noisy and highly visible rally and march here on February 5 protested against sexist and degrading attitudes towards women in the media and in the judicial system. In
Questions on national parks funding By Darin Huddy ADELAIDE — Following serious concerns about funding levels to national parks, a federal parliamentary committee has projected that $200 million will be spent nationally on acquiring
By Ray Fulcher MELBOURNE — A meeting of 1500 union delegates on February 4 voted unanimously for a March 1 stoppage and rally in Victoria against the Kennett government's reactionary policies. The meeting was considerably smaller than
Bob Brown: 'World needs social justice for all' By Jim McIlroy BRISBANE — "Social justice will not have been achieved until everyone in the world has social rights and the right to live", Tasmanian Green MP Bob Brown told a dinner for
Queensland health services face cuts By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Queensland public hospital services face a cutbacks crisis as administrations attempt to confront a $52 million shortfall in the state health budget. Over the next few
By Ray Fulcher MELBOURNE — Williamstown residents and users of the Williamstown train line are campaigning to prevent closure of the much used line in Melbourne's west. The Kennett government intends closing the line from Newport to
Concerned Citizens picket SYDNEY — The Concerned Citizens group continues to hold a weekly picket outside the Israeli consulate here to demand that all the Palestinians deported by Israel be allowed to return to their homes. The picket

World

By Norm Dixon Popular discontent with Zaire's brutal and corrupt dictator, President Mobutu Sese Seko, has again erupted in the streets of the capital, Kinshasa. Soldiers, angered by being paid with worthless banknotes, rose in rebellion.
By Sean Malloy "This is a unique historical period. The collapse of Stalinism has opened the way in the US for some regroupment beyond the old formations and the old currents", said Malik Miah, a member of the leading committee of the
By Frank Noakes LONDON — Even though most Europeans oppose the Maastricht Treaty, the project has the overwhelming support of all major political parties, which dishonestly present the debate as narrow nationalism versus broad Europeanism.
Chinese arms to Burma Reliable border sources have confirmed that on the night of January 9 and 10 approximately 100 Chinese army trucks travelled from Mang Shi in Yunnan province to Shwe Li in Burma, carrying military equipment. Witnesses on
By Santiago Cardosa Arias First it was the rain, torrential and somewhat cold. Then when we sheltered in "old Rafael's" carpenter's shop, with its pleasant, pungent smell of sawdust, plywood, pine and caoba shavings and neighbours' furniture
Haitian refugees still held at US base Attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City are still concerned about 271 Haitian refugees imprisoned in the US military base at Guantánamo in Cuba. All have credible
MANAGUA — Hundreds of armed rebels began gathering in so-called "security zones" on January 27 and preparing to discuss with the government the terms of their surrender, the chief of the Matagalpa province police, Roberto González,
Unrepresented peoples meet More than 60 delegations participated in the third general assembly of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO), held January 19-24 in the Netherlands. This is twice the size of last year's
By Bryan R. Thomas In the 1960s Turkish immigrants were welcomed to Germany with open arms to help fill the gap in the work force created by the economic boom of the time. Back then, there were around 500,000 job vacancies, with only 180,000
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — As early as mid-year, President Boris Yeltsin's power as ruler of Russia could come to an end. This has become a distinct likelihood with the prospect that massive voter abstention will invalidate the
By Pat Brewer "There is an increase in organised violence against women, internationally and nationally, carried out by political and religious groups for political gain." Marie-Jose Ragab, director of the international division of the
Twenty years ago, on January 22, 1973, supporters of women's reproductive rights in the United States rejoiced at the surprise Supreme Court decision to legalise abortion. Yet abortion in the US today is anything but a guaranteed right. Claudette
'Cold-blooded murder' by PNG troops By Norm Dixon Papua New Guinea Defence Force troops executed six Bougainvilleans in cold blood after their motorised canoe was intercepted on January 28. The massacre was reported by a sole survivor
Spock, US pastors in Havana HAVANA - Renowned US paediatrician Doctor Benjamin Spock presented US$82,000 in medicines to the Cuban Red Cross on the morning of February 1. The shipment was donated by people in 41 US states. The Cuban Red Cross

Culture

The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf By Ramsey Clark New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. 1992. 325 pp. $35 Reviewed by Allen Myers Ramsey Clark doesn't mince words on the Gulf War. He breathes indignation, backed by facts: "What
By Norm Dixon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, one of Africa's most popular, courageous and politically outspoken musicians, may finally be silenced, much to the relief of Nigeria's corrupt political and military elite. Having suffered decades of
The Guilt Industry em = By John Tomlinson Don't talk to me of guilt or want, Don't tell me where I'm in default. Your country now is mine by right of English law and oversight. Blackburn did terra nullius decree for mines and
Bringing up baby En route to see Baby With the Bathwater, our reviewer fell off his bicycle, suffering grievous injuries that prevented him viewing this new play at the Rep Theatre in Newtown, Sydney. So you'll have to see and judge it for
By Sherna Berger Gluck The outbreak of the intifada on December 9, 1987, made the Palestinian cause a reality that could not be ignored. No longer could a Golda Meir get away with her (in)famous pronouncement that there were no
Jackys Marsh Forest Festival By Zari Duniam Surrounded by the Great Western Tiers, the Jackys Marsh Forest Festival was held over four days, January 29 to February 1. A festive atmosphere blended with the tranquillity of the Tasmanian
Young women's sexual health festival By Carla Gorton SYDNEY — Information for young women about HIV and AIDS issues will be the main focus of a national festival at Bondi Pavilion on February 19-20. "Australian studies warn that
Sean Kenan em = By Denis Kevans Kill the harpists, chop off their hands, Give them a niche or a coign to be flung in, Slash the long tendons of their fluttering strings, Find a blind bog for their body to be flung in. CHORUS:

Editorial

Taxing politics of political bankruptcy John Hewson, Paul Keating, WA Liberal leader Richard Court ... politicians around the country, and in both main parties, are insisting they haven't done anything illegal to get their taxes well below