News

Journalist jailed for protecting sourceBRISBANE — Former Courier-Mail journalist Joe Budd was released from Boggo Road Prison on March 26. He had served a week of a 14-day sentence for "contempt of court" after refusing to

Timber bill threatens wilderness SYDNEY — An estimated 50,000 hectares of native forest will be logged without any environmental impact statement as a result of the NSW government's new Timber Industry Protection Bill, says Jeff Angel of the

SYDNEY — A press photographer employed by Rupert Murdoch's Cumberland Press has been forced to leave his job at the Manly Daily after a documentary film in which he was the central character was aired on ABC television on

Ecopolitics VI Planning is under way for the sixth ecopolitics conference, to be held in Melbourne on September 25-27. The aims of Ecopolitics VI are to promote interaction between participants from a range of community groups, discuss research

MELBOURNE — Some 5000 supporters of Croatian independence gathered here on March 22. Footscray Park on a wonderfully sunny Sunday afternoon was the scene for the very relaxed and successful picnic-rally. The event was

Affirmative action A discussion paper on the Affirmative Action Act recommends reducing exemptions to the act, extending coverage to group training schemes and making companies which fail to comply with the act ineligible to receive government

Duck slaughter By Margaret El-Chami GRIFFITH, NSW — Only 250 shooters attended the opening of the NSW duck hunting season at Barrenbox Swamp near here on March 21, many fewer than in previous years. Celia Jarvis, a voluntary duck rescuer

GST "I can come over here, get what I want and save a minimum of 50%. I'm not doing any more to Canada's economy than it's doing to me." — George Mathers, an unemployed Canadian, asked why he was one of the tens of thousands crossing into the

Desperate for a job? How about $3000 a week to work with a British construction company in Kuwait? You answer the ad and get a letter promising return air fares, all meals and free accommodation. All you have to do is send $30 to

Uni staff fight restructuringMELBOURNE — Office, library, cleaning and maintenance staff at Melbourne University struck over award restructuring on March 19 as part of a national campaign of rolling strikes. Almost all

MELBOURNE — The Wills by-election on April 11 is shaping up as a dry run for a full federal election. Labor and Liberal campaigns are being run by Prime Minister Paul Keating and opposition leader John Hewson. The policy debate

Union battle looms over WA minesPERTH — With the announcement of merger talks between the WA branches of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and the Metal and Engineering Workers Union (MEWU), battle lines have been drawn