News

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

#3 SIEV X book launched BRISBANE — The story of SIEV X, the unseaworthy, overcrowded refugee boat that sank in October 2001, drowning some 350 asylum-seekers off the Indonesian coast, involves a "massive Australian government agency cover-up",

Alex Bainbridge, Hobart Doctors began strike action on April 15 and a community rally was held that same day as part of a campaign to restore services at the Mersey Hospital in northern Tasmania. The private operator of the hospital, Healthscope,

Simon Cunich, Sydney Students inflicted a small blow to the Australian military machine on July 18 when they stopped a department of defence briefing at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). The defence department was on campus to promote

Band banned for politics HOBART — On August 24, Hobart College band Mr Mukhole played at the school's assembly. Before the band started to play, the lead singer, Bryn Heathwood, explained the band's name and reason for existing. As Heathwood

Paul Benedek Controversial decisions by the state Labor government to forcibly amalgamate several councils dominated the March 27 NSW council election. In the City of Sydney lord mayoral contest, the thinly veiled ALP manoeuver to gain Labor

SYDNEY — The ABC reported on August 1 that the federal government had issued a "$17 million contract for a private boat that will be fitted with machine guns and used to patrol the waters off the Northern Territory and Western Australia ... The

Jim McIlroy, Brisbane The Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela is an "unprecedented revolution in participatory democracy", Leonel Vivas, Venezuelan ambassador to Australia, told an audience of around 70 people on August 7. When Hugo Chavez was

Paul Benedek, Sydney The Socialist Alliance is running 24 candidates across 10 councils in the March 27 NSW local government elections. The alliance is also fielding candidates for mayor in Newcastle City, Wollongong, Canterbury and City of

Annolies Truman, Perth The conference of the WA branch of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) in Fremantle on July 26-28 strongly condemned the use of section 457 visas, used by employers to bring guest workers to Australia. It denounced the

Susan Austin, Hobart "The issue of old-growth forests has been dominating the political debate in Tasmania", the Wilderness Society's Geoff Law told 500 people who turned up to the University of Tasmania on August 3 to hear him debate Forestry

1 Schools funding policy condemned Prime Minister John Howard's March 11 announcement of a new federal funding policy for schools was condemned by Greens Senator Kerry Nettle. "Today's announcement decreases the public schools sector share of