Analysis

  • Unity and diversity

    As a non-affiliated member of the Socialist Alliance, I would like to contribute to the debate on left unity and the nature of the alliance. I am relieved that the Democratic Socialist Party's (DSP) decision to postpone its

  • Howard's aggression

    Prime Minister John Howard's December 1 statement in an interview on Channel Nine's Sunday program that his government would launch pre-emptive military attacks on neighbouring countries to stop any suspected terrorist strike on Australia has

  • Free Lesley McCulloch and Joy-Lee Sadler!

    On November 25, the trials of Australian-based, British-born academic Lesley McCulloch and US nurse Joy-Lee Sadler began in Aceh. They are being tried for visa violations, after the prosecution failed to make espionage charges stick. McCulloch is a

  • Crean and Carr's cop frenzy

    NSW Premier Bob Carr's enthusiasm for vilifying protesters, police patrols with sniffer dogs and cooperating with Australia's secret police service is not an aberration for the ALP. Federal Labor is also bending over backwards to increase police

  • Labor supports US-UN war on Iraq

    It is a sign of how strong opposition to a war against Iraq has become that the Labor Party federal caucus on November 12 shifted its position slightly. But the shift is an illusion. Come a war, the ALP will almost certainly support it. The ALP now

  • UN vote brings war closer

    UN vote brings war closer The unanimous vote by the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council on November 8 to impose “tough” new weapons inspection rules and deadlines for compliance on Iraq, with the threat of “serious

  • Labor joins attacks on civil liberties

    Labor joins attacks on civil liberties In a stunning display of just how far to the right a Labor leader can go, NSW Premier Bob Carr has called for even more attacks on civil liberties, paving the way for a crackdown on dissent, and

  • 353 deaths overshadowed by child that wasn't thrown

    353 deaths overshadowed by child that wasn't thrown The Senate committee set up to investigate whether asylum seekers threw their children into the sea last year found that they didn't, and that former defence minister Peter Reith

  • A cosmetic change

    A cosmetic change Like most ALP conferences during the past three decades, the “special” rules conference held on October 5-6 was a carefully stage managed affair. It was designed to bolster the image of federal Labor leader Simon

  • Let Timorese stay!

    Let Timorese stay! The immigration department's September 25 announcement that it had rejected 168 asylum claims made by East Timorese refugees is a national disgrace. These are the first of more than 1700 applications which have been

  • Labor sells out on war

    Labor sells out on war The “me-too” approach that Prime Minister John Howard and his cabinet have taken to the US war drive against Iraq has given the ALP some leeway to appear to be an opposition on this issue. It isn't. Both the

  • More Ruddock lies

    As supporters of refugees' rights prepared to mark August 26, the anniversary of the rescue of 433 refugees by the MV Tampa, as Tampa Day to shame the federal government, immigration minister Philip Ruddock fought back. On August 24, Ruddock had