News

  • 'Don't tax recycled paper'

    'Don't tax recycled paper' SYDNEY — The Australian Conservation Foundation, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace last week called on the federal government to retain the sales tax exemption on 100% recycled paper. Their call was supported by

  • Loose cannons

    Or any other "We all lived in this century; I didn't live in this century." — US Vice President Dan Quayle] How much? "I wouldn't leave this country if you paid me." — Patriotic businessman Lenny McPherson, asked to undertake not to leave

  • Sarawak tribes step up forest struggle

    Tribespeople in the mountainous rainforests of Sarawak have been battling logging companies with a network of blockades for four years. Australian and other international activists recently participated in the protests, and

  • 'Winners and losers' of Gulf War

    ADELAIDE — Israel, Syria, Turkey and Iran were the big winners in the Middle East as a result of the Gulf War, Dr Robert Springborg told a 200-strong public meeting here on August 5. The meeting was organised by the Gulf Peace

  • Sand mining blockade predicted

    Sand mining blockade predictedBRISBANE — Queensland conservationists have warned of a Franklin Dam-style campaign against the Goss Labor government's decision to approve mineral sand mining in the Byfield national park region

  • Medicare fee means 'lower health standards'

    At present, if a person visits a doctor who bulk bills, Medicare covers the full cost, and the patient pays nothing directly (though they do through the taxation system). The Hawke government's proposal to impose a fee (probably

  • International protesters jailed

    International protesters jailedBRISBANE — Nancy Rolfe from Perth is among six international protesters serving 70-day jail sentences in Sarawak following anti-logging protests in early July. The convictions were the first in

  • Jobless figures: economy still on the ropes

    The unemployment rate jumped from 9.3% to 9.8% in July, dampening weeks of media speculation that an end to the recession was in sight. Some 83,000 more jobs were lost, bringing the total number lost in the last year to 305,000.

  • Talking union

    MELBOURNE — Ford Australia announced on August 1 that it would cut about 550 jobs in its Broadmeadows and Geelong plants partly through voluntary redundancies because it was halving its production of Capri sports cars. The Vehicle Builders Union is

  • Coal companies attack safety conditions

    By Bernie Brian. WOLLONGONG — Southern District coal miners will hold stop-work meetings on August 7 to discuss moves by NSW coal companies to deregulate safety conditions in the mines. South Coast District check inspector Glen Dwyer told

  • Battle continues for Chaelundi forest

    CHAELUNDI — NSW Forestry Commission operations in the Chaelundi forest were halted at least temporarily on August 1 by the discovery of a rare beech skink habitat in the path of proposed roading and logging operations.

  • Nuclear-free Brisbane campaign

    Nuclear-free Brisbane campaignBRISBANE — Hiroshima Day was the launching pad for a public campaign to call on the new Labor-controlled Brisbane City Council to declare the city nuclear free. Brisbane's previous nuclear-free