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Hospitality workers get organised

BY KIM LINDEN& KATHY NEWNAM NEWCASTLE — When you're on your next holiday, spare a thought for the people cleaning your hotel room. Chances are that their pay and conditions are below those set out in the award, they are being bullied and harassed

'I feel ashamed to be Australian'

BY SARAH STEPHEN "I feel ashamed to be Australian", is the most frequently appearing comment on the online petition calling for a royal commission into the Australian government's treatment of refugees. More than 7000 people have signed on to the

Godfrey Hirst workers win trust fund

BY GRAHAM WILLIAMS GEELONG — Production workers at the Godfrey Hirst carpet factory are one of the first groups of workers in the country to win a trust fund that guarantees all their entitlements if the company goes bankrupt. The Manusafe

ACEH: 'Australia is helping the army to kill my people'

BY MAX LANE "It was extremely disappointing to see Australian Prime Minister John Howard shake hands so enthusiastically with Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Doesn't he know how her government treats the people, not just in Aceh, but

Action Updates

Refugees' campaign builds in Rockhampton ROCKHAMPTON — Forty people gathered on February 15 to greet the Freedom Bus that has been visiting refugee detention centres across Australia. The meeting also launched the Rockhampton Rural

Why protest at CHOGM

BY TIMOTHY KERSWELL BRISBANE — Premier Peter Beattie's February 12 media statement, entitled "50 reasons not to protest this years' Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting" (CHOGM) is a deceptive attempt to prevent people from joining the March

Why they have to lie about refugees

BY SARAH STEPHEN It's now common knowledge: the federal Coalition government lied to win the November 10 election. Prime Minister John Howard and his ministers continued to maintain, long after they knew it wasn't true, that in October some

News Briefs

Barns: "prejudice" claims proven HOBART — Disendorsed Liberal candidate Greg Barns appealed to the Liberal Party on February 14 to have his disendorsement overturned. Barns had accused the Howard government of playing the "fear and prejudice

CAMBODIA: UN tries to sabotage Khmer Rouge trial

BY ALLEN MYERS PHNOM PENH — In a surprise move on February 8, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) announced its withdrawal from negotiations to establish a mixed Cambodian-international tribunal to try surviving leaders of the Khmer

Write on: Letters to the editor

Who owns Palm Sunday? On February 11, for the second time in two weeks, I found myself excluded from a meeting of the Working Group to Stop War and Terrorism (the committee organising the 2002 Sydney Palm Sunday peace rally). I attended the

Socialist Alliance

Lord Mayor campaign launched DARWIN — Members and supporters of Socialist Alliance gathered in the Resistance Bookshop on February 13 to launch the campaign for Lord Mayor. The candidate, Ruth Ratcliffe, told those assembled that, “now, more

The Liberal Warp

[To the tune of "The Time Warp" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.] It's astounding, how prejudice is growingand xenophobia takes its tollListen closely for it's about time you did soRacism is taking controlIt's just a jump to the rightAnd then a