Life of Riley: It was I
Just the other day I went for a walk. It was my lunchtime. The sun was shining, and the cold wind which normally blows from the south had dropped. Under my arm I carried a ration of all the main food groups.
After walking
-
-
Government adopts One Nation's policiesDespite trying to distance itself from One Nation's policies with the launch of its "Harmony" anti-racist propaganda campaign, the Howard government has adopted more of the policies
-
These are the favourite web sites of Sean Healy, national coordinator of Resistance, the socialist youth organisation that has organised the high school student demonstrations against racism around the country. Sean's list appeared in the Icon
-
WOLLONGONG — The massive inundation of the region has been a compelling and sobering experience for all who live here. The normally imposing fabric of our built-up environment and the lives it enables us to lead have been shown to
-
Fact and fantasy In recent weeks, the establishment media across the world have focused their attention on the private exploits of US President Bill Clinton and his testimony before the grand jury. Did he have an affair in the hallowed halls of the
-
China and Che In GLW #328, Bob Saltis is critical of Eva Cheng's support for "workers' democracy" in GLW #315. It is a pity that Bob, who is president of the Cuba Friendship Society in SA, has not taken Fidel's advice to study the economic
-
Looking out: Sisters and brothersThe warden said to me the other day,"Why come the black boys don't run offlike the white ones do?"I lowered my jaw and scratch my headand said (innocently I think) "Well, suh,I ain't for
-
Action updates Protesters occupy mining company office HOBART — About 40 protesters occupied the offices North Forest Products on August 21, in a spontaneous response to the Federal Court's dismissal of the appeal by the Mirrar people against
-
Racism: the record of the Coalition and ALPPeter Beattie, the Queensland Labor premier, was quoted in the August 8 Courier-Mail responding to charges by Resistance that both major parties had carried out racist policies
-
Melbourne to rock against racism MELBOURNE — An all-ages benefit gig featuring the Brolga Boys will be held on Sunday afternoon, September 13, at Melbourne's Trades Hall. The event will bring together well-known local acts, as well as several
-
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 Thursday, 10pm and Saturday, 7pm. Ph 9565 5522. Access News —
-
Dishonest opportunism in anti-racism campaignCANBERRA — Socialist Worker, otherwise known as the International Socialist Organisation (ISO), has reprinted the August 28 anti-racism walkout promotional leaflet
-
Australia's anti-nuclear movement: a short historyAustralia's involvement in the nuclear industry began with supplying uranium for the US and UK's weapons programs during and after World War II. British weapons tests in South
-
... and ain't i a woman?: A shove into enslavement One of the more ignorant and backward diatribes against feminists' criticisms of the federal government's tax "reform" package appeared in the Daily Telegraph on August 18. There, Miranda
-
Western Sydney anti-racism campaignPARRAMATTA — Despite driving rain, about 50 people representing many of western Sydney's migrant communities rallied here on August 22 against racism and the One Nation party. The rally
-
Resistance: 'Why we are socialists'Resistance, the socialist youth organisation, has become well known in recent weeks for its role in organising actions against racism by secondary students and other young people. Students from
-
Trades and Labor Councils in WA, SA, NSW South Coast and the ACT have adopted resolutions of support for the August 28 student walkout against racism, organised by the socialist youth organisation Resistance. The SA United Trades and
News
-
Election forumADELAIDE — Thirty people attended a 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly forum on August 20 to hear a range of progressive federal candidates speak on "Fighting Hanson, Howard and racism". The meeting was also addressed by Stephen
-
Student left set for election campaignSYDNEY — The left — organised in a grouping called Activate! — is set for a strong showing in Students Representative Council elections at the University of Sydney in September.
-
Telstra unions strike over enterprise agreementTelstra workers in the Community and Public Sector Union voted overwhelmingly for a 24-hour strike on August 28 to protest Telstra's latest enterprise agreement offer, announced to
-
Nurses strike at Prince Alfred HospitalSYDNEY — More than 500 nurses from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) at Camperdown held a 24-hour strike on August 18 against staff and service cuts. The strike and rally were held
-
Young socialist to contest federal seat of Canberra CANBERRA — The Democratic Socialists have announced 23-year-old Nikki Ulasowski as their candidate for the federal electorate of Canberra. Ulasowski is an active environmentalist and campaigner
-
More budget cuts for schoolsADELAIDE — South Australia's specialised adult re-entry schools are facing cuts of $1 million each year for the next three years. Adult re-entry schools cater for people returning to study, as
-
UWA student elections By Sean Martin-Iverson PERTH — University of Western Australia student guild elections are to be held from September 7-10. Left student activists have united to form a ticket to challenge the entrenched bureaucracy of the
-
The federal government's campaign to convince us that we'll all be winners under its tax package (code for the goods and services tax) has suffered setbacks from criticism by lobby groups representing people on low incomes. After
-
Building workers 'seasonally employed'?SYDNEY — The federal government has decided that construction workers are "seasonally employed" and therefore not entitled to unemployment benefits when a job ends. The change means that
-
Greenhouse pollution According to Greenpeace, Queensland shale oil developers Suncor Energy and Southern Pacific Petroleum have misled the public and their shareholders by claiming that their planned Stuart shale oil project will reduce the amount
-
Police want open access to schoolsPERTH — The WA Crown Solicitor's Office has advised a parliamentary enquiry that: "A principal should permit police officers to enter school premises for the purpose of conducting a search of
-
By Tony Iltisand Kamala Emanuel HOBART — About 50 people, mostly women, attended a forum on August 18 organised by the Women's Electoral Lobby to discuss issues of interest to women in the August 29 state election. Women candidates presented
-
By Dan CANBERRA — Aboriginal activists — Wadjularbinna Nulyarimma, Kevin Buzzacott, Isobell Coe and Robbie Thorpe — have begun legal action against John Howard, Tim Fischer, Brian Harradine and Pauline Hanson, and all federal
-
Members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) in the federal government's agency Centrelink served a log of claims on their employer on August 14. Ninety-seven per cent of CPSU members in the agency voted in support of the
-
Davids workers need solidaritySYDNEY — The Davids warehouse workers' fight against the company's attempt to casualise the work force and gut working conditions is continuing. Unionists are picketing Jewel grocery stores
-
Socialists and the Northcote by-electionMELBOURNE — The Northcote state by-election on August 15 was the first electoral test for One Nation outside Queensland. They were resoundingly defeated, scoring only 5.7%, despite
-
MELBOURNE — August 21 was the deadline given by Burma's democracy movement leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for the military regime to convene the national parliament elected in 1990. Protests were held at Parliament House in
-
BRISBANE — The Queensland Indigenous Working Group (QIWG) is considering a court challenge to the state ALP government's native title legislation, tabled late last month. Peter Beattie's first legislative act as premier was to put
-
SYDNEY — The environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed new nuclear reactor in the southern Sydney suburb of Lucas Heights was released on August 17. The EIS was prepared by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
-
No alternative "You give answers to the best of your intent and belief at the time, and if circumstances change, well, sometimes you have no alternative but to change." — Prime Menzies John Howard, about his decision as federal treasurer to
-
Liberals clutching at strawsHOBART — The Liberal state government is desperately trying to convince an increasingly sceptical Tasmanian population that privatising the Hydro Electric Corporation will benefit the community.
-
MELBOURNE — The first organising meeting of the 1999 Network of Women Students Australia conference was held at the RMIT on August 21. One of the first agenda items discussed was the question of whether or not
Analysis
-
A terrorist state At 7.15pm on August 20, without warning, a series of massive blasts destroyed the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in the heavily populated northern suburbs of Khartoum, capital of Sudan. The factory's janitor and his family are
World
-
OZ Asia in Japan's Embrace: Building a Regional Production AllianceBy Walter Hatch and Kozo YamamuraCambridge University Press1997 (first published in 1996)281 pp., $34.95 (pb) Review by Eva Cheng Asia in Japan's Embrace tries to establish that
-
Insincere apologies from Indonesian governmentOn August 15, President B.J. Habibie promised that the Indonesian parliament — the one "elected" under the rigged laws of the Suharto dictatorship — would now respect human rights.
-
Old Indonesian communists still imprisoned On August 17, justice minister Muladi announced the release from prison of 78-year-old Manan Effendi Tjokroharjo and 80-year-old Alexander Warouw. Both were Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) leaders in
-
'Forever protest the annexation of Hawai'i'On August 12, 100 years ago, the US illegally annexed Ka Pae'aina (Hawai'i). The US had invaded the archipelago in 1893, overthrowing the Maoli Queen Liliu'okalani. In 1993 President
-
Internment without trial was used against nationalists in the north of Ireland in the 1970s. Many hundreds were incarcerated in Long Kesh prison between 1972 and 1976. While internment was dropped from the British statute book only
-
On August 10, Indonesia's State Administrative Court upheld an appeal by Budiman Sujatmiko, as president of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), against a ministerial regulation banning the PRD and its affiliated mass organisations. The
-
Tamils urge UN to probe alleged mass graves Thousands of Tamils demonstrated outside the United Nations' European headquarters in Geneva on August 17 in support of a call for an international probe of alleged mass graves in Sri Lanka. Protesters
-
The disappeared The following Indonesian democracy activists, who disappeared in the last 17 months, have not yet been found: Mohammed Yusuf, United Development Party, May 1997 Dedy Hamdun, United Development Party, May 1997 Noval Alkatiri,
-
RAMALLAH — On August 5, a new cabinet was announced by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. The announcement met controversy over the size of the new cabinet; 10 new ministers were added, bringing the total
-
Xanana denies BHP meeting Xanana Gusmao, the imprisoned leader of the East Timorese resistance, has rejected an article in the August 20 Sydney Morning Herald which reported that a high level BHP petroleum representative recently met with him in
-
Labour Party formed in SindhKARACHI — The struggles of workers and peasants in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh have taken a big step forward with the formation of the Labour Party of Pakistan in the province. The Labour
-
US shows its 'reach is long' — againLAHORE — In yet another demonstration to the world of military might, US President Bill Clinton has bombed targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. The air strikes, by jet and cruise missile, were
-
Democracy in CubaIn early August, my companion Caroline Lund and I visited Cuba as part of the Eighth US-Cuba Friendshipment, organised by Pastors for Peace. As with all Friendshipments, this one openly defied Washington's
-
MOSCOW — The last hopes held by Russian coal miners in the regime of President Boris Yeltsin, historians may yet decide, expired on August 11 in a potato field south of the Ural Mountains city of Chelyabinsk. That was where some
Culture
-
John Howard's safety, security and stability Safety is the catch on a 38 magnum.Security is the hole it makes.Stability is what you getand death is all it takes. By John Tomlinson
-
The InterviewThe serenity of a dimly lit room with a sleeping character slouched in his chair is broken along with the front door as a bunch of cops charge in shouting and brandishing guns. The introductory sequence of the film
-
Forrest Gump goes to war Saving Private RyanDirected by Steven SpielbergWith Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Matt DamonIn major cinemas from August 24 Review by Louis Proyect The only thing surprising about Saving Private Ryan is how
-
Not an advertisement Fair go! ACOSS and poor people are complaining about a GST on food. But what about multimillionaires? We haven't paid taxes on much of anything for years, and now the government is going to make us (or our companies) pay GST
-
Morde — Written by Paul ReesLion Theatre8pm nightly, until August 29$18/$10 concession ADELAIDE — What has St John's Church in Darlinghurst, Sydney, got to do with nuclear weapons in Israel? Morde draws them together in an excellent play about