Women in Australia and in most other countries still do not have control over their reproductive lives. Abortion is still a crime in all states of Australia.
Women's access to abortion services still depends on judicial
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US President George Bush's January 29 State of the Union speech, and his proposed US$396 billion 2002-2003 war budget, sent shudders through peoples and governments throughout the world — including Washington's imperialist allies in
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A five-day fact-finding mission to the Woomera detention centre, conducted by Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC) officers, has produced a damning report. The February 6 report, produced as part of a
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In GLW #479, Leon Parissi from Workers Liberty, an affiliate party to the Socialist Alliance, accuses me of "cheering on those voices who are in favour of decreased union influence in the ALP". But what I, and the Democratic
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Since its formation in October, Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) has organised hundreds of people to campaign in defence of refugees. With 16 RAR groups having been formed, the network has boosted the fight to close refugee
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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 Sunday, 9pm. Ph 9565 5522. Visit <; for
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On February 15 last year, at least 500,000 litres of an unknown mixture of toxic chemicals exploded in the Perth working-class suburb of Bellevue, after a fire broke out at the "waste collection/recycling" facility operated by Waste
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HOBART — The ALP and the Liberals in Tasmania have both been rocked this year by scandals reflecting in different ways the ongoing crisis of legitimacy of the major capitalist parties. This demonstrates that the solid
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Protesters storm Grand Chancellor Hotel HOBART — US ambassador Tom Shieffer was met on February 7 by protesters chanting, "Drop the debt, not the bomb". Shieffer was in Hobart to speak to a luncheon of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and
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"Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United
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and ain't i a woman?: Gender and the 'sanctity of marriage' "Kevin" and "Jennifer" (names assigned to them by the Family Court) are a perfectly ordinary couple in their mid-30s, except that Kevin was born a female. In 1965, Kevin started life
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DARWIN — Socialists, youth workers and human rights activists are alarmed at proposals by Northern Territory police and businesspeople for curfews to be placed on young people aged under 16 in Darwin. Proponents of "zero
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Museworthy: Advertising Works (for Morris Dees) The ad said "Soft On Crime"the black man was out of prisonon work release and did what prisonersdo on that, committed a crimeAttacked a white woman in a photoon telly in a wedding dress (white)
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Public outcry and protests against racist laws, human rights violations and Third World debt have dogged heads of government over the past 30 years during the biannual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and as CHOGM meets next
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Nutters I'm scared! I am afraid! I really am frightened — that great superpower (the United States of America) is now being ruled by nutters — a cabal of nutters. Its president, and his mates (Richard Wolfowitz in particular) are talking of
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Shayan Bedraie made the perilous journey from Iran to Australia by boat with his Kurdish family, fleeing from government repression. He was only four years old, but the Australian immigration system placed him in mandatory detention,
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Immigration minister Philip Ruddock lied when he said that processing of Woomera detainees' asylum claims was halted due to changed conditions in Afghanistan. On February 4, Marc Purcell, the executive director of the Catholic
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Seattle, November 30, 1999: The summit of the World Trade Organisation, a gathering of world leaders and corporate chief committed to implementing a new round of pro-business trade talks is stopped by 80,000 protesters blockading
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With the commencement of bombing in Afghanistan, US President George Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair started proclaiming that the fall of the Taliban regime would be a victory for women's rights. If this were the case perhaps
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Women still only get on average two-thirds the average wage of men. — Susan Austin, Brisbane. It's always women who bear the brunt of capitalism's attacks. Feminism is about getting out there and doing something about it, whether you're a man or
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Corporate Scumbag: Qantas Qantas is doing well. The world's second-oldest airline boasts more than a thousand flights a day, Australia's largest airline loyalty program and 30,000 staff. In the financial year 1999-2000, Qantas profits soared
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The brave hunger strikers in Woomera and other immigration detention centres have sparked broad and growing opposition to the federal government's anti-refugee policies. Three months after a federal election campaign, in which the
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BRISBANE — After attending an evening lecture at one of this city's universities last August, a young woman was dragged into the bushes and raped in a badly lit area of the campus. She could not identify her attacker. The woman
News
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SYDNEY The two main unions covering Qantas maintenance workers, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the Australian Workers Union (AWU), won a small victory on February 4 when they forced Qantas to stop
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HOBART - The Policy and Intergovernment Committee of the Hobart City Council decided on February 5 against holding a public consultation about activities in city's Elizabeth Street mall. The consultation was originally proposed
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BYRON BAY — People power hit the streets on February 14 when 500 people defied the rain to march for refugees' rights. It was by far the largest pro-refugee action ever held in northern NSW. Protesters chanted, "Freedom not
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Sorry "I'm sorry that we didn't liquidate him." — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat. Embarrassed "He can't leave his home. He is so embarrassed about this." — Tom Skilling on his brother,
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PERTH — Almost 700 people turned out on February 4 to hear John Pilger condemn the corporate media bias in coverage of, and academic silence on, the so-called war against terrorism, refugees, globalisation and Australian government
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GEELONG — At its February 5 meeting, the executive of Geelong's Trades Hall Council recommended to affiliated unions that they call for a more humane approach to the treatment of refugees than that pursued by the federal Coalition
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DARWIN — "It is time both parties stopped playing the game — who can be tougher on refugees?", ALP Senator Trish Crossin told a public meeting on February 5, becoming the latest ALP politician to speak out against inhumane
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SYDNEY — Following the success of the second World Social Forum at Porto Alegre, Brazil, activists will meet at the second Asia Pacific International Solidarity Conference to discuss the formation of a regional social forum. The
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MELBOURNE — Julia Gillard, Labor's shadow minister for immigration and ethnic affairs, told a February 6 public meeting attended by more than 200 people that she was "not ashamed of the decisions Labor took in the run up to the
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MELBOURNE — On February 8, several young people crowded into a temporary detention center were watched by police as they chanted and waved placards. This was not the refugee detention centre at Maribyrnong, however, but outside the
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They are not alone! @box text intr = WOLLONGONG — Drizzly rain couldn't stop more than 100 people acting in solidarity with refugees in the Wollongong mall on February 7. The candlelight vigil, organised by the Illawarra Refugee Action Collective
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On February 5, I attended a meeting of Sydney's Palm Sunday Committee on behalf of the Free the Refugees Campaign (FRC). I had received an email that day from Labor for Refugees co-convenor Amanda Tattersall that explained, "there
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BRISBANE — Young people will vote with their feet against the Coalition government's racist and inhumane policy of mandatory detention of refugees. In Brisbane, Geelong and Sydney high school students from the socialist youth
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Do you want to help free the refugees? Do you have spare time, some ideas or skills you would like to share? The Free the Refugees Campaign (FRC) is active in many communities, high schools, workplaces and universities. It organises protest
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Peter Tatchell, renowned for his fight for gay liberation and human rights, has been denied a visa to Australia. The debacle has prevented him from attending his stepfather's funeral. He was refused entry despite repeated requests
Analysis
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Anti-refugee policy can be abolished Prime Minister John Howard and immigration minister Philip Ruddock stood firm throughout the two-week hunger strike by asylum seekers in the Woomera detention centre. Some said this was proof that
World
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LONDON — On January 28-29, 2500 workers at South West Trains, which daily brings 250,000 commuters to Central London, struck over pay and against the demotion of local union leader Greg Tucker. Over the same two-day period,
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GLASGOW — The latest report released by the National Child Helpline (NCH) Scotland on January 22 shows that 310,000 children (42%) across Scotland are living in poverty. It also shows that nearly half of all children live in
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In an extraordinary move the Papua New Guinea government has passed legislation that prevents any government agency from taking or supporting "in any way" proceedings against BHP-Billiton "in respect of an environmental claim" over
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CARACAS — Venezuela's wealthy elite is using every resource at its disposal to force President Hugo Chavez Frias to retreat or resign. Their offensive reached its highest point yet on January 23, when their "March for Freedom and
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PORTO ALEGRE — The outstanding success of the second World Social Forum dealt a severe blow to the proponents of the "end of the anti-globalisation movement after September 11" pundits. Some 51,300 people from all over the world and
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"We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defence Forces in any mission that serves Israel's defence. The missions of occupation and oppression [in the occupied territories] do not serve this purpose — and we shall take no part in them."
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Predictions made by mainstream media commentators and spokespeople for the ruling elite that the movement against corporate tyranny would die in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks were disproved by the successful protests
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JAKARTA — The driving forces of globalisation are the movement and expansion of capital and technology, through multinational companies. Globalisation, some people argue, has contributed a lot to the creation of a new world, with
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CHICAGO — "There are business scandals that are so vast and so penetrating that they profoundly shock our most deeply held beliefs about the honesty and integrity of our corporate culture. Enron Corp is one of them. This financial
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Under severe pressure from the Bush administration and the International Monetary Fund, the five-week-old government of Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde has chosen the "lesser evil" of floating his country's currency, the peso,
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The United States has escalated its intervention in the civil war in Colombia with its February 5 announcement that Washington will help Colombia "protect" a strategic oil pipeline that is a frequent target of guerilla attacks. The
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At the end of January the US government announced that it was building the biggest-ever war machine. Military spending will rise to US$379 billion, of which $50 billion will pay for its "war on terrorism". There will be special
Culture
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Taliban: Made by the USA and Detention Without TrialBy EyeBlatant PropagandaSend $5 for each CD to PO Box 1327, Woden 2606 ACT, Australia, or visit <; REVIEW BY MARK ABBERTON "Taliban, Taliban: Made by the USA.
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REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas TruceBy Stanley WeintraubThe Free Press, 2001206 pages, $39.95 (hb) It was the war that was supposed "to be over by Christmas". It very nearly was. A spontaneous
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Spy GameDirected by Tony ScottWith Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack and Marianne Jean-BaptisteAt major cinemas REVIEW BY ZANNY BEGG Tony Scott's new film, Spy Game, is an intriguing investigation into how to construct a spy film
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British anarchist band Chumbawamba has turned over $210,000 it received from General Motors to anti-capitalist campaigners. The band was paid the money for the use of its song "Pass it Along" to advertise GM Pontiac cars. "We're planning on using