News

  • Loose Cannons

    Glory for the few, poverty for the many "A quarter-century after Deng Xiaoping broke with communist orthodoxy, telling his countrymen 'To get rich is glorious', China has a burgeoning class of tycoons. The country has produced seven billionaires

  • Channel 31 fights to stay on air

    Simon Tayler, Sydney Sydney's community TV channel, Channel 31, will remain on air for now, after a win in the courtroom for the many supporters of the station's current broadcasters. On March 18, the Australian Broadcasting Authority announced

  • Subcontractors to lose out under Work Choices

    Graham Matthews, Sydney Along with the Howard government's Work Choices Bill, draft laws have been introduced into the federal parliament to restrict the rights of industrial subcontractors, particularly in the transport and building industries.

  • Occupy the world's biggest coal port

    A colourful flotilla will occupy and disrupt the world's largest coal exporting port — Newcastle Harbour — on June 5, World Environment Day. We want canoes, kayaks, surfboards, surf-skis, tinnies, rafts, floating banners, flags and people

  • News Briefs

    SYDNEY — On March 8, a police officer approached a bookstall at the University of NSW, staffed by members of the socialist youth organisation Resistance, and told them that unless they stopped handing out leaflets, the students could "disappear

  • Save Recherche Bay, says heritage group

    Alex Bainbridge, Hobart The Recherche Bay Protection Group held a commemoration on October 28 for the 250th anniversary of the birth of French botanist Jacques-Julian Houtou de Labillardiere. The group used the occasion to call once again on the

  • Beaconsfield miners call for independent inquiry

    Duncan Meerding, Hobart A May 11 meeting of workers employed at the Beaconsfield goldmine in northern Tasmania called for an independent judicial inquiry into the rock fall in the mine on April 25 that resulted in the death of miner Larry Knight,

  • IWD: 'no sexism, no war!'

    IWD: 'no sexism, no war!' Erin Cameron, Melbourne On March 6, 250 people attended an International Women's Day march under the banner "Women against war, racism and sexism". Aboriginal rights activist Leonora Jackson explained the extreme

  • 'Anti-terrorism' laws 'creating climate of fear'

    CANBERRA — On October 27, 100 people attended a public forum at the Australian National Library on the federal government's planned new anti-terrorism laws. Organised by Civil Liberties Australia ACT, the forum was told by the group's secretary

  • Cool reception from Unions Armidale

    ARMIDALE — Ten people joined an April 6 protest against Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Peter Hendy, called by Unions Armidale. Hendy had been invited by the local Liberal Party branch to talk about the "merits" of the Work Choices

  • Johnston defence committee gears up for court hearing

    Michael Bull, Melbourne Since its first meeting on February 10, the Defend Craig Johnston Committee has planned a range of activities to defend the former Victorian secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU). Johnston is

  • Women learn about union laws

    Bronwyn Jennings, Geelong Fifty women unionists and community activists attended training sessions at Geelong Trades Hall on October 17, the last in a series organised by the GTH Women's Committee to educate women about the Howard government's