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Health insurance should be unnecessary Recent reports to the federal health minister have once again raised the perennial problem of Australian politics — health funding. For ideological and self-interested reasons, the debate is unlikely to
By Dave Mizon MELBOURNE — Delegates and officials from the main unions in the oil industry met with ACTU secretary Bill Kelty on June 14 to discuss a campaign in response to the massive attack by Caltex on the wages and conditions of Kurnell
By Gareth W.R. Smith CANBERRA — Gareth Evans, speaking of the November 1991 Dili killings, described them as "horribly aberrant behaviour ... rather than a deliberate, centrally directed act of state policy". However, the experience of
Indonesian warship fiasco By Jon Land A controversy has erupted in Indonesia over the refitting of 39 German warships purchased last year by the Suharto government. Technology and research minister Jusuf Habibie arranged the deal without
'Armed and Dangerous': My Undercover Struggle Against Apartheid By Ronnie Kasrils Heinemann, 1993. 374 pp., $15.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon When Ronnie Kasrils touched down at Johannesburg airport in 1989, he had chalked up 30 years
Tuntuni Bhattacharyya and Pat Brewer Abortion is a political issue On July 11, pro-choice activists held a picket outside the NSW ALP conference. The picketers were demanding from delegates that the ALP end its conscience vote on abortion
By Paul Oboohov SYDNEY — The NSW ALP state conference, June 11-13, appears to have settled, for the moment, the battle between left and right factions over preselections for state parliament. A casualty was right-winger Peter Anderson,
By Frank Enright Mounting internal and international pressure has finally forced the Papua New Guinea government into peace talks with representatives of the Bougainville Interim Government. The talks are being held in the Solomon Islands
New trade union for Indonesia? By Max Lane In a statement issued on June 13, the Free Discussion Forum (FBB), a group with extensive links among Jakarta factory workers, called for the formation of a new national trade union. The FBB
By Kath Gelber Legal reform and anti-discrimination measures have been the focus of much debate and activity in the lesbian and gay communities over recent years. Legal recognition of lesbian and gay relationships has been a particular
By Jeremy Smith MELBOURNE — A fiery meeting of 250 community activists on June 15 launched a campaign against VicRoads' proposals to expand the F19 freeway. With the exception of the VicRoads' representative, a panel of speakers roundly
By Norm Dixon JOHANNESBURG — Prisons throughout South Africa were convulsed by protests which began on June 9. The South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights (SAPOHR) called on inmates to begin peaceful mass action after the new