News

  • Mental Health Act increases powers of WA police

    PERTH — Police in Western Australia are to receive increased power to detain mentally ill individuals and seize their possessions as part of the Mental Health Act 1996, which had its second reading in the Legislative Council on

  • Tax Management announces closures

    Tax Management announces closuresAustralian Taxation Office management has announced plans to close the Chatswood office in 1997, and the Bankstown and Cheltenham offices in 1998, with more closures likely to follow. The closures

  • Left-wing queer group kicks off in WA

    PERTH — Queer Radicals — a new lesbian and gay activist group which started as a way to get a left-wing political presence into the Perth Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade in November, decided after its first meeting to become an

  • UNSW academic staff vote for bans

    UNSW academic staff vote for bansSYDNEY — A general meeting of NTEU members at UNSW on November 19 voted to impose bans on submitting assessment results. This was one of a number of motions expressing anger at the restructuring

  • Call for ban on mutant soybeans

    Call for ban on mutant soybeans The Australian GeneEthics Network has called for a ban on US soybean imports contaminated with genetically engineered beans and herbicide residues. US multinationals Monsanto and Cargill want to import soya beans

  • Tjandumurra O'Shane Appeal

    Tjandumurra O'Shane Appeal Tjandumurra O'Shane, the six-year-old boy doused with petrol and burned at his primary school in Cairns, is undergoing treatment in Brisbane and will be hospitalised there for a long time to come. A fund has been

  • Carer's leave: a win for CPSU members?

    CANBERRA — A Community and Public Sector Union national bulletin authorised by the joint national secretary Wendy Caird in September heralded the new package of personal/carer's leave for Australian Public Service (APS) employees

  • Apprentices picket Democrats

    Apprentices picket DemocratsMELBOURNE — One hundred and fifty apprentices picketed Senator Lyn Allison's office on November 15 to protest the Australian Democrats' agreement with the government to pass the Workplace

  • Loose cannons

    Tough "Westpac looks to tougher times" — Financial Review headline on article reporting Westpac bank's $1.132 billion profit. Win some, lose some "The good news is that air bags work and air bags save lives. We also know air bags can cause

  • Homeless Aborigines take action

    DARWIN — A determined group of pensioners and their carers are making a stand against the Darwin City Council (DCC) policy of harassing homeless Aboriginal people. In the last council elections, Mayor George Brown

  • SERCO attempts more inroads into SA public sector

    ADELAIDE — SERCO Australia has lodged a proposal with the state Liberal government to contract for the running of all TAFE administrative, maintenance and grounds duties. SERCO Australia is a subsidiary of the SERCO group, a

  • Left activist receives death threats

    Left activist receives death threatsIt seems that right-wingers will go to any extreme to silence the growing public opposition to Pauline Hanson, John Howard and Co's racist attacks. West Coast Council member Ian Jamieson has