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Where now for Indonesia's democratic movement?

By James Balowski JAKARTA — Spending a day at the People's Democratic Party (PRD) headquarters in East Jakarta watching the stream of activists coming and going, it's easy to forget that just three years ago, the party was banned, its key leaders

Poll victory will test Alliance

Poll victory will test Alliance By Eva Cheng The November 27 poll in New Zealand gives the balance of power to the centre-left Alliance (which received 8% of the vote and will gain 10-11 seats, depending on the special votes). This will give this

Che's anti-Stalinism

By Zanny Begg Che Guevara was made head of the National Bank of Cuba in 1960. As head of the bank, and later director of industry, Che wrote a lot about the planning of a socialist economy. Implicit in Che's writings on human socialisation and

Tas Labor stalls on teacher salaries

Tas Labor stalls on teacher salaries By Alex Bainbridge HOBART — The state branch of the Australian Education Union has called on the government to implement its pre-election promise to introduce a "salary nexus" between teachers in Tasmania

Queensland University takes union to court

Queensland University takes union to court By Robyn Marshall BRISBANE — On November 26, the management at the University of Queensland took the National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission

'Putinism' and the war in Chechnya

By Boris Kagarlitsky MOSCOW — While continuing its war in the Caucasus, Russia is due later in December to elect the national parliament. Few people show much interest in the elections. The numerous parties and blocs have had trouble scraping

Outcry over Palestinian Authority crackdown

By Adam Hanieh RAMALLAH — An outcry has arisen following the arrests of several prominent Palestinians living in the West Bank. The arrests came after they had issued a public statement which criticised corruption within the Palestinian

... and ain't i a woman?: The 'irritant' of affirmative action

The 'irritant' of affirmative action A bill has been introduced into parliament to amend the 1986 affirmative action act after a government-ordered review of the legislation resulted in a report called Unfinished Business. The gist of the

Why God hates homosexuals and women (and why we hate Christmas)

By Nick and Kate Carr Tinsel, unbearable family reunions and presents are the contemporary attributes of what was once a festive day for celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. The story of the virgin birth of baby Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem is

CFMEU demands justice for retired worker

CFMEU demands justice for retired worker By Tom Flanagan SYDNEY — Sixty members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union occupied a furniture factory in Milperra, south-west Sydney, on December 1 to demand that 61-year-old Heather

Reject the racist laws on refugees

To add your name to the following petition or obtain copies for wider distribution, please phone (02) 9690 1230, fax (02) 9690 1381, or e-mail <glw@greenleft.org.au>. In 1997 Australia became infamous because of the rapid rise of the

Troops attack West Papuans

Troops attack West Papuans By Linda Kaucher Indonesian military forces shot protesters trying to prevent them lowering the West Papuan independence flag in the south coast town of Timika on December 1. Approximately 30 people were injured by the