For the vast majority of Australians, visiting the doctor is an unavoidable part of life. While it's not something to look forward to, its nice to know that the service is there and, under the Medicare system, essentially free.
-
-
Under the guise of helping more unemployed young people to find work, the Howard government's Workplace Relations Bill will seriously reduce wages and conditions. Provisions include that apprentices will not be paid for their
-
Life in the world's oceans is under siege from commercial interests obsessed with short-term profits regardless of the long-term costs. Unsustainable and wasteful fishing practices, pollution, poaching, unrestrained and irresponsible bio-prospecting,
-
Health workers' bans HOBART — The Health and Community Services Union, representing 4500 workers, has taken industrial action to demand a $50 per week safety net pay rise for workers on low wages. On May 29, industrial bans were imposed which
-
Telstra sale alternative The proposal by the Federal Government to sell off part of Telstra to fund its environmental promises is a blunder. Other viable and proven options are available. What is wrong with the Government using interest free or
-
Barry Williams is feeling good. As head of the 5000-strong national Lone Fathers' Association, he's sure his crusade to publicise the plight of battered husbands — who he believes, are terrorised and beaten by their wives in
-
Last week we received five copies of a book recently reviewed in 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly's Cultural Dissent pages. Attached was a letter from the author explaining that the copies were to be used to raise funds for the paper, adding a note of thanks for
-
The May 8 issue of 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly carried an editorial criticising a proposal for a tradeable emissions scheme for electricity distributors. CLIVE HAMILTON argues in favour of the idea. Late last year the NSW parliament passed a truly historic
-
MELBOURNE — A youth wages campaign was launched by the Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network (VTSAN) on May 31 in response to the federal government's plans to allow employers the option of paying apprentices and trainees
-
A durable fire "True love is a durable fire, the mind ever burning,Never sick, never old, never dead,From itself never turning." — Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) Despite their poetic brevity the four lines above say a lot in truth above love.
-
Beatrix Campbell — feminist, author, film maker and former leader of the now defunct Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) — on a national speaking tour sponsored by the Search Foundation, addressed gatherings in Canberra (May
-
Gay law reform bill passed HOBART — A gay law reform bill introduced by the Tasmanian Greens was passed in the House of Assembly here on May 23. If passed by the Legislative Council, the bill will mean the end of Tasmania's discriminatory laws
-
HOBART — On May 22, Hobart had the largest protest rally against university funding cuts for over a decade. Almost 2000 people from all political backgrounds — students, university staff and the
-
(If It Could) A foetus speaks They all take care of me: the church, the state, the doctors and judges. For nine months they all wish me the best. I am something precious and they protect me. As an unborn I am supposed to grow and flourish.
-
Nick Origlass, a central figure in the history of the Trotskyist movement in Australia, died on May 17 at the age of 88 with more than 60 years of political activity on the side of the working class behind him. Origlass was born in
-
Happy birthday, dear Lizzie, happy birthday to — us! That's right, 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly is taking advantage of the queen's birthday to have a one-week break. The next issue of the paper will be dated June 19.
-
The election of the Howard government and the re-election of the Kennett government suggest that it will be full steam ahead for privatisation. While the Democrats and Liberals may still debate whether or not there is a mandate to sell
-
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, 4pm-7pm. Access News — Melbourne community TV, Channel 31,
-
Politicians attack right to choose On May 20, the Senate voted to ban the "abortion drug" RU486. Independent Senator Brian Harradine, an anti-abortion campaigner, introduced the Therapeutic Goods Amendment Bill to restrict the importation of
News
-
The May 30 national strike called by the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union (NTEU) and supported by the National Union of Students and other student and community groups sent a very clear message to the Coalition government: increase
-
By Tim E. Stewart DARWIN — The NT government has stepped up its campaign against educators covered by the Australian Education Union (NT) by threatening indefinite lockouts, sending an open letter to individual households in the Darwin area and
-
SYDNEY — Eighty people gathered to express their solidarity with the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) against attacks by the Coalition government at a May 30 meeting at the Teachers Federation. The speakers were Warren Smith,
-
SYDNEY — The gay community here is closing ranks to defend itself against a McCarthy-style witch-hunt by a royal commission which is supposed to be investigating police corruption. Former Sydney Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras president
-
By Jamie Parkerand Maung Maung Than Big companies such as CRA and BHP come to mind as examples of multinational destruction and exploitation. Yet in Burma, smaller companies are playing a significant part in legitimising and resourcing the
-
A representative of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and the All India Students Association will attend the Resistance national conference, to be held in Melbourne July 5-7. The AISA is a mass organisation with hundreds of thousands of
-
Everyone does it "Everyone here is guilty from time to time of using other people's words." — Liberal MP Richard Evans, caught delivering a long speech to parliament which turned out to be a magazine article by US commentator Peter Drucker.
-
The government's leader in the Senate and minister for the environment, Robert Hill, announced on May 26 that the government is receiving legal advice from the Attorney General's Department about how it can bypass the Senate to
-
ADELAIDE — The state Liberal government handed down its third budget last week amid speculation that the government is poised to overcome its longstanding deficit. Working people here have been bludgeoned with the State Bank debt
-
MELBOURNE — Two thousand union delegates attended a Victorian Trades Hall Council/ACTU rally against the proposed federal industrial relations legislation on May 28. The meeting was addressed by Tim Pallas of the ACTU, who explained
-
The All Burma Students' Democratic Organisation (Australia) organised protests in several Australian cities on May 27. The actions marked the anniversary of the 1990 general election in Burma which was won by the
-
As CPSU leaders retreat, public servants demand actionCANBERRA —Anger is rising among Australian Public Service workers at the feeble and disorganised response of the Community and Public Sector Union to the Howard government's
-
If more proof was needed of the falsity of the federal Coalition's claim that its proposal to privatise Telstra is motivated by a concern for the environment, its move to allow an expansion of woodchip exports provides it. The
-
On May 29, up to 4000 building workers rallied in Sydney against the loss of their travel allowance, which is currently tax exempt. The federal government wants to abolish this exemption retrospectively. Union action had prevented
Analysis
-
June 5 is World Environment Day. Over the last decade, consciousness about the need to protect the environment has grown to the extent that, these days, youth in particular are clear that humankind can either have an adverse or a benign impact on the
World
-
NEW YORK — Marching over four kilometres through downtown Washington in sweltering 38° heat around 200 activists rounded out the six-month "Million Letters for Mumia" campaign by handing over piles of letters from all over the
-
Chinese women in the key industrial city of Wuhan, Hubei province, are forced to pay heavy fines and write "self-criticism" if found to have lost their virginity before marriage, according to a China News Digest dispatch on May 15. A
-
The representation of Tahiti's leading independence party, Tavini Huiraatira (Polynesian Liberation Front), was significantly boosted following recent elections for the Territorial Assembly. While the pro-French forces led by Gaston
-
Are the people of Taiwan entitled to determine their own political future, particularly whether or not to reintegrate with China? This question was sharply posed by Beijing's intimidating military measures last year and its
-
MOSCOW — Voters in Russia who doubted the integrity of President Boris Yeltsin can rest easy. The country's ruler has kept his word. On May 27 a cease-fire agreement with Chechen insurgents was signed in the Kremlin, and the
-
The Alternative Information Centre has recently published the first comprehensive study on Palestinian refugees, written by three Palestinian scholars, Bilal Shakhsheer, Waheed Qirsh and Nayef Jredat. The authors claim that the
-
Russian elections: Yeltsin running scaredMOSCOW — Is President Boris Yeltsin about to romp home an easy winner in the Russian presidential elections, pulling in the support of previously uncommitted voters and overwhelming
-
The Oromo people are the single largest indigenous ethnic group of Africa. They live in east Africa in several countries, but mostly in Oromia, now included in Ethiopia. The Oromo people are crying out for their freedom but the
-
A breach in the blockade A partial victory in the fight to end Washington's immoral blockade against Cuba was won on May 26, when the US Treasury Department released more than 300 computers it had seized to prevent them from going to health
Culture
-
Fire MusicArchie SheppImpulse through GRP/MCATauhidPharoah SandersImpulse through GRP/MCAKarmaImpulse through GRP/MCAReviewed by Norm Dixon John Coltrane's music evolved as black America moved from the optimism sparked by the gains of the mass civil
-
Translated by Tandy Baybars You waste the attention of your eyes, the glittering labour of your hands, and knead the dough enough for dozens of loaves of which you'll taste not a morsel; you are free to slave for others
-
Raymond WilliamsBy Fred InglisRoutledge, 1995. 333 pp., $44.95 (hb)Reviewed by Phil Shannon As Cambridge professor of drama as well as political activist, Raymond Williams, who died in 1988, truly earned the respect that most of the left have for
-
June 3 marks the 33rd anniversary of Nazim Hikmet's death. Hikmet is one of the most famous and celebrated modern turkish poets, recognised worldwide for his international and humanitarian views which transcended barriers of
-
Global IssuesBy John SeitzBlackwell Publishers, 1995. 257 pp., $39.95Reviewed by Lisa Macdonald On first glance, this book looks like an interesting and environmentally conscious study of the major social and ecological issues confronting the world
-
The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and PracticeBy Christopher HitchensVerso, 1995. 98pp., $22.95Reviewed by Norm Taylor Christopher Hitchens has provided many fascinating revelations about the world of Albanian nun Agnes Bojaxhiu,
-
An Phoblacht/Republican News () — An Phoblacht is the weekly newspaper of Sinn Féin, and its website is one of the most interesting. AP/RN is essential reading to keep in touch with
-
We went to the vegetarian picnic and we had a lovely time. I stood on a slug which I thought was a bug cause I needed that particular rhyme. We ate the mayonnaise and had tomato sauce. I had a muffin did a lot of huffing and had the
-
The Ultimate Irish Folk CollectionDouble CD distributed through RTEReviewed by Ian Jamieson For those who enjoy Irish ballads at sessions in pubs, amongst Irish nationalist gatherings or just simply for the great Irish tradition of song, this double