News

Bryan Sketchley, Melbourne The Victorian Labor government has offered its 25,000 public servants a pay cut (in real terms), and a reduction in working conditions, in the current round of enterprise bargaining. By scrimping on public servants'

Kathy Newnam, Darwin On October 19, social justice campaigner Stuart Highway was sentenced to eight months' jail, suspended after three months, for his involvement in a smoke-in on October 2002. The smoke-in, organised by the drug-law reform

On January 29, John Kobelke, minister for Consumer and Employment Protection, released Restoring Fairness, Balance and Certainty: Workers' Compensation Reforms. The document's introduction states that it is the final stage of checking before the legislation is submitted to parliament.

Alex Bainbridge, Hobart After years of advocating for a bill to legalise brothels, the state government announced on October 5 that it would amend draft legislation to instead ban brothels outright. The new legislation was passed by Tasmania's

Alex Bainbridge, Sydney Sixty unionists and their supporters gathered to defend specialised maintenance workers at the Sydney Opera House on February 24. The protest was directed against a new anti-union contractor who has refused employment to the

Dale Mills, Sydney NSW Police are to trial Tasers hand-held stun guns that fire two metal probes attached to copper wires, delivering 55,000-volt electric shock that lasts for five seconds. Victims typically fall to the ground and involuntarily

Peter Short, Perth "The voice of West Papua must be heard, it has been silenced for 45 years", West Papua solidarity activist Ned Byrne told a crowd of 140 people who packed into Fremantle's Kulcha venue on January 31. Organised by Project

Peter Boyle Have you had enough of the tug of war between John Howard and Peter Costello over who gets to run the government of the corporate rich in Australia? You promised me I could be PM, whines Costello. Howard responds with standard Howardian

Amanda Zivcic, Melbourne On January 25 and 27, Union Solidarity organised a community picket outside the Fitzroy Postal Delivery Centre. The picket was called in solidarity with shop steward Peter Vining, who was sacked last year. "Peter was

Sue Bull, Geelong On July 5, unionists at the University of Ballarat voted to accept a new collective agreement. The agreement is the result of a long fight led by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) against the university and the

Justin Tutty, Darwin The Radioactive Waste Management Act was passed by federal parliament on December 8 after debate was postponed to allow 20 days for an inquiry into the legislation. The inquiry was uncommonly brief — it failed to visit the

John Vidovich & Rachel Evans After campaigning for over a year, queer students at Western Australia's Edith Cowan University (ECU) have finally won a space for the use of queer students, — as exists on most campuses. "Women's and indigenous