"Crime against democracy" was how the Australian's May 15-16 editorial described Senator Brian Harradine's May 14 decision to reject the goods and services tax (GST) as "inherently regressive". Other newspaper editorials and
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Kosovars' rights At a May 6 Melbourne meeting of the newly formed Coalition to Stop the Bombing, we were outraged to find ourselves alone in arguing for the need to support Kosovar self-determination. Representatives from Committee for
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... and ain't I a woman?: It's serious business! "It's serious business", said Australian Fashion Week founder Simon Lock as he talked up the week when the fashion industry invests millions to showcase "the latest daring and sexy designs".
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A new book by Marc Lappe and Britt Bailey, Against the Grain, makes it clear that genetic engineering is revolutionising US agriculture almost overnight. In 1997, 15% of the US soybean crop was grown from genetically engineered seed. By next year, if
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Let's hear it for fools! @column int = Aboard this ship of fools you will find all kinds: the Shakespearean fool, the village idiot, the holy fool, the simpleton, the moral fool, the oinseach, the amadan, Mad Sweeney, an pleota, an bobarzn agus
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Federal ALP "policy development" and "rethinking" on welfare shows that the party intends to defend and extend the policy it carried out before the Coalition government was elected in 1996. In a speech to the Evatt Foundation on
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On May 20, federal industrial relations minister Peter Reith announced that "pattern bargaining" between unions and employers, in which unions negotiate a single wages and working conditions structure for an industry, will be
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The bombs"Bombing cannot be a solution ... but the same goes for the forceful displacement of ethnic Albanians from their homes." — Reverend Jesse Jackson A reader in South Australia wrote and asked why I have not
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Has someone raised the 'speed limit' on Australia's economy?"These are some of the best conditions we've seen in Australia since the 1960s", treasurer Peter Costello declared on May 6. "We are still among the fastest growing
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Stop press: the rich get richer The London Independent on May 17 reported that the world's richest people are richer than was thought and are getting a lot richer every day. According to the World Wealth Report by investment bank Merrill Lynch
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Correction Due to a typing error, the article "Citizenship and nationality in fortress Australia" in GLW #360 stated that the US Supreme Court ruled in 1998 to uphold citizenship by birthplace. It should have said 1898.
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At first glance, the recent federal budget looks rosy for refugees. The provisions for the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) have extended the Asylum Seeker Assistance (ASA) scheme to "a limited number of people
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Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Thursday, 10pm and Saturday, 7pm. Ph 9565 5522. Access News —
News
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Two events in May have dealt a blow to forces in the student movement who want to substitute the actions of a hyper-militant minority for the actions of the mass of students. The first occurred at Sydney University on May 5. One
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LISMORE — A May 19 stop-work meeting of more than 200 unionists — the largest at Southern Cross University (SCU) for many years — unanimously rejected an enterprise bargaining agreement offer and discussed possible industrial
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CANBERRA — The future for Indonesia's struggle for democracy was the topic of the May 19 Politics in the Pub here. The forum, organised by the ACT Trades and Labor Council, was billed as a debate between Dave Gosling, a member of
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On May 19, thousands of students in nine cities took to the streets to oppose the government's proposed "voluntary student unionism" (VSU) legislation. The rally, with the theme "VSU: it's not about choice, it's about silence", was organised by the
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VSU: dead in the water?NEWCASTLE The passage of the federal government's "voluntary student unionism" (VSU) legislation looks increasingly unlikely with Senator Mal Colston announcing last week that he will vote against it. Without
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Building workers support East TimorSYDNEY — Three hundred and fifty building workers held stop-work meetings at their sites on May 19 to show their support for a free East Timor. The meetings, which where called by the
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Hard to understand "Many people here find it hard to understand how holy brothers can stoop to this." — Thierry Arnal, head of one of three ferry companies operating between Cannes and Ile Saint-Honorat. The island is owned by Cistercian monks,
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WA forest campaign goes nationalFollowing the signing of the Western Australian regional forest agreement (RFA) on May 4, Bunnings hardware stores in Melbourne have been targeted by environmentalists. Actions at the shops,
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Democracy film premieres in Lismore By Nikki Sullings LISMORE — A highly enthusiastic audience of more than 70 attended the premiere of Indonesia in Revolt here on May 13. The showing raised $200 for the Indonesian solidarity
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May 27 has been designated a national day of solidarity with East Timor. Actions on the day are endorsed by, among others, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Australian Council for Overseas Aid, APHEDA (the ACTU's aid agency), Amnesty
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Australia: Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor; Australia East Timor Association NSW; Resistance; Democratic Socialist Party; Tasmanian University Students Union; Tasmanian Trades and Labor Council; Hobart East Timor Committee;
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Thousands march for independence and democracyOn May 21 student protests in Jakarta marking the first anniversary of Suharto's resignation were attacked by the Indonesian military (ABRI). The protests reflected growing anger
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PERTH — A 10,000-square kilometre native title claim covering the Perth metropolitan area has successfully passed the federal government's stringent registration test. A number of native title claimants united their efforts to
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BRISBANE — Nick Everett and Mike Bryne from the Democratic Socialist Party and Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) highlighted the injustices maintained by the Habibie regime when the Indonesian ambassador
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Churches and solidarity groups demand a free East TimorSYDNEY — On May 20, the last of a series of Free East Timor pickets organised by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) was held outside the Indonesian
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Rank and file oppose Australia Post agreement Workers in Australia Post are voting on a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union, which covers most postal workers, supports the agreement and is
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The federal government's Online Services Bill, a harsh internet censorship law announced by federal communications minister Richard Alston on April 21, is proceeding rapidly through parliament and may be passed before July. This year
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Organising the working class WOLLONGONG — Fifty people attended a meeting organised by Broad Left titled "Organising the Working Class" on May 16. Speakers included Dick Nichols from the Democratic Socialist Party, Anna Pha from the Communist
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SYDNEY — Despite recent funding problems which may force the closure of some of its most prominent faculties, the University of New South Wales has purchased a corporate suite at the Olympic Stadium. UNSW pro-vice-chancellor Jane Morrison, when
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Drugs: how 'zero tolerance' costs livesThe NSW Drug Summit, called after the state Labor government closed down a needle exchange in Redfern before the last state election, met May 17-21 to discuss the problem of drug abuse and
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Why Abbott bashes the unemployed It would be too easy to dismiss the "job snob" remarks of employment services minister Tony Abbott as merely expressing the in-bred contempt for working people of the silver spoon brigade, blessed with more money
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Mexican students stage huge demoMEXICO CITY — On May 12, students from the strikebound National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) staged a demonstration in the central city which mobilised more than 150,000. This is the
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On May 19, consultants to the World Heritage Committee (WHC) released reports on the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory. The reports of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International
World
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Italian communists' congress confirms left courseROME — Since its foundation in 1991, Italy's Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC) has had a turbulent history. Only two of its seven initial leaders, Bianca Braccitorsi and
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A declaration condemning the NATO attack on Serbia was released in April by 17 organisations which have long opposed the Serb national chauvinist regime of Slobodan Milosevic. Their stance reveals how little NATO's
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Kani Xulam, director of the Washington-based American-Kurdish Information Network, has condemned the NATO attack on Yugoslavia and defended the Kosovar Albanians' right to national self-determination. Addressing an anti-nuclear
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Workers' football match for Korean unification With a clear goal of helping to end the division of Korea, South Korea's Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the North's Korean General Confederation of Labour have scheduled a historic football
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The Fiji Labour Party (FLP), the key partner in Fiji's coalition government deposed almost 12 years ago in a military coup led by Sitiveni Rabuka, scored a big win in Fiji's May 8-15 general election. For the first time, voting was
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Murder and Ireland's 'peace process'The Pat Finucane Centre in Derry has recently published a 50-page report into the circumstances leading to the murder of one of Ireland's most prominent human rights lawyers, Rosemary Nelson. On
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MOSCOW — After what has happened to thousands of Albanians in Kosova, it is hard to argue that the West has helped them. Washington can put on a brave face while declaring that they anticipated everything and that the
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Fighting for democracy in China HONG KONG — LEUNG KWOK HUNG and FRANCIS LAU, political activists in Hong Kong since the mid-'70s, talked to һƷ̽ Weekly's EVA CHENG about the current state of workers' resistance and the struggle for
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RAMALLAH — The Israeli elections on May 17 resulted in a resounding victory for Ehud Barak and the Labour Party over the incumbent Benyamin Netanyahu and Likud. In the vote for prime minister, Barak won 56% to Netanyahu's 44%. In
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Attempt to galvanise anti-Golkar sentimentOn May 17 a joint communiqué was signed in Indonesia by the leaders of the three high-profile anti-Golkar political parties. The National Awakening Party's (PKB) Abdurrahman Wahid, the
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@ May 10, Xanana Gusmao, president of the National Council for Timorese Resistance, issued a statement criticising the People's Defence Council of the Democratic Republic of East Timor (RDTL) for organising student demonstrations outside the
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Between May 14 and 16, delegates from militant worker committees from several cities around Indonesia met in Bandung and voted to form a new national workers' organisation, the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggles (FNPBI).
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Jesús Montané Oropesa, 1923-1999Cuban revolutionary Jesús Montané, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, died of a respiratory disease on May 7. He was one of the few
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Colombian revolutionaries protect the peopleSAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, "Liberated Zone", Colombia — The Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) was formed on May 27, 1964, in response to the
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"Despite the great sympathy in the UK for the Kurdish people, it is not in the public interest for any broadcaster to use the UK as a platform from which to incite people to violence", intoned the chairperson of Britain's Independent
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Liberal and radical democracy in Indonesian electionsIt took the Suharto regime five to seven years to become firmly established in Indonesia after Suharto seized power in the 1965 coup. The process required the slaughter of more
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The Kosova conflict and the CPAThe April 7 issue of һƷ̽ Weekly carried a two-page statement by the national executive of the Democratic Socialist Party condemning NATO's bombing campaign against Serbia and supporting the
Culture
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Labor Essays 1998: New visions for governmentEdited by Gary JungwirthAustralian Fabian Society and Pluto Press1998, 194 pp., $20 (pb) Review by Sue Boland The Australian Labor Party was soundly thrashed in the 1996 federal election. The
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When Labor jailed unionists and communists and broke the coal strike Going My Way? Australia's Choice in 1949Until October 31Old Parliament House, Canberra. Reviewed by Kim Bullimore This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1949 federal
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Film festival exposes nuclear industry Review by Conrad Barnett The Wild Spaces film festival, which kicks off around the country next week, features documentaries which expose the dangers to people around the world of the nuclear industry. Just