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Victorian teachers stop work

By Norrian Rundle Despite promises of no more cuts, the Victorian government has announced another round of attacks on state schools. This time, no dollar value has been attached to the cuts. One hundred and thirteen schools have been targeted for

Life of Riley: The importance of being earnest

Money and FriendsBy David WilliamsonDirected by Sandra BatesEnsemble Theatre, SydneyReviewed by Brendan Doyle If you have the money ($35 for a regular ticket) and friends who are equally well-off, or are Ensemble subscribers, you can join the north

International solidarity campaign with Indonesian democracy activists begins

Pickets, vigils, hunger strikes, press conferences, petitions and protest letters were organised around the world on October 28, the International Day of Protest for Human Rights and Democracy in Indonesia called by Action in Solidarity with

Education cuts begin to bite

By Marina Cameron University administrations are already planning, and in some cases implementing, measures to make up funding that was cut in the federal budget. This coincides with a new round of enterprise bargaining being undertaken by the

High school students rally

By Michael Schafe WOLLONGONG — Students from Illawarra high schools walked out of class on October 25 to protest the government's cuts to education funding, Austudy, Abstudy and the dole. As students rallied in the Wollongong mall amphitheatre,

CPSU deal to deliver Telstra profits

By Leo Wellin Around the country, Community and Public Service Union members in Telstra are being asked to vote on a draft competency-based pay and training (CBP&T) agreement which unashamedly aims to deliver "commercial outcomes of improved

Critiques of modern medicine

What Makes Women Sick: Gender and the Political Economy of HealthBy Lesley DoyalMacmillan Press, 1995. 280 pp., $34.95 (pb)Reviewed by Karl Miller Lesley Doyal and her partner Len Doyal have, separately and together, written several books critiquing

Struggle on the rise in Germany

By Manuel Kellner GERMANY — On October 24, members of the German metalworkers' union (IG Metall) participated in the most spectacular nationwide mobilisations since June 15 when 350,000 people responded to a call by the trade-union federation DGB

Role reversal

Dating the EnemyWritten and directed by Megan Simpson HubermanReviewed by Afrodity Giannakis Dating the Enemy is a gender-swap comedy in the tradition of many popular movies of the '80s. In this one, the change happens in two ways, with a woman and a

Queensland government faces growing crisis

By Bill Mason BRISBANE — The Queensland Coalition government is lurching further into trouble following the resignation on October 29 of Kenneth Carruthers. Carruthers quit as chief of the Criminal Justice Commission probe into an alleged corrupt

Police violence caught on video

By Kylie Moon and Sonny Witnall HOBART — On October 22 at 5.40pm, four Aboriginal people were arrested in Franklin Square. The excessive violence used against two of those arrested was caught on home video. The footage was distributed to the

Qld government faces huge compensation pay out

By Bill Mason BRISBANE — The Borbidge government risks a massive blow-out in compensation to Queensland Aborigines after its refusal to give six Palm Island elders $7000 each for under-payment for wages while employed by the state during the