Visas denied to Marxism 2000 guestsSYDNEY — Three international guests scheduled to speak at the Marxism 2000 conference in Sydney in January were denied entry visas to Australia. Another guest was granted entry only after public
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Networker: Picking winners Since the deregulation of the United States telephone system in the 1980s, a saying has emerged in the information technology field: "Governments shouldn't try to pick winners". Instead, the wisdom goes, governments
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Media sharks just got biggerThe January 11 US$350 billion merger of the world's largest media company, Time Warner, and US internet giant America Online (AOL) will spur a new wave of mergers and acquisitions, centralising control
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Churches take over Job NetworkIn a $3 billion round of contracts offered at the end of 1999, the Coalition government largely completed its privatisation of the employment services previously provided by the Commonwealth
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Women's health funding restricted — again The federal government has announced that it will cut by more than 20% rebates for ultrasound scans for women in early pregnancy. This will curb "overuse" of the service, it claims. Acting health
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While the federal government's December 21 decision on digital television was not popular with all of the media moguls, it will help ensure their long-term domination of the airwaves. Digital transmission allows far more efficient use
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Discrimination in East TimorDILI —The stated aim of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) is to effectively administer the country during the period of transition to a popularly elected
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Right-wing rag By Brandon Astor Jones "There may be worse things in the universe than letting your Voice subscription expire . . . frankly, we can[not] for the life of us figure out why you — seemingly — ignored our previous notices. If
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The low wages that workers receive in East Timor today are little different from the pre-referendum rate, but given the dramatic increase in food and basic commodity prices since then, East Timorese can afford to purchase only a
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Write on: Letters to the editor East Timor Marcus Larsen's latest on East Timor (GLW #388) at least has the merit of displaying Larsen's unspoken assumptions. How, he demands, can the Democratic Socialist Party call for armed intervention in East
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Keeping us safe from marauding queue jumpers Welcome back. Didyahavagoodone? We sure did — me, the partner and sprogs. Made all the right moves and spent the preceding period stretched out like a lizard drinking. On a beach no less. Happy little
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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, 9-11pm. Ph 9565 5522. Access News — Melbourne community TV,
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Einstein was a socialistTime magazine's "Person of the Century" issue gives a great example of the mendacity of bourgeois journalism. Albert Einstein was selected for the honour, as representative of "the explosion of
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Message to Marxism 2000 from John Pilger I am very sorry and disappointed I can't attend such an important and exciting conference. We have cause for optimism. A little over a year ago, who would have thought Suharto would be history,
News
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Labor faces by-elections in QueenslandBRISBANE — The Queensland Labor government will face two by-elections in traditionally safe Labor seats on February 5. The by-elections are the result of the resignations of former
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Hundreds of BHP iron ore workers in Western Australia's Pilbara region are to strike for four days in their fight for a collective agreement on wages and working conditions. Workers at Mount Newman voted at a
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SYDNEY — Teachers at Seaforth TAFE have entered their fifth week on the picket line protesting against Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE's decision to close the college last December. The picket line was set up after the
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Mortality "The danger of Mr Pinochet dying is permanent." — Chile's ambassador to Britain, Pablo Cabrera, on why the former dictator should never stand trial for ordering the murder of thousands of Chileans during his rule. Remember Longford?
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Late on Christmas eve, federal education minister David Kemp released a government report revealing that the Coalition government has cut funding to higher education by $600 million over the past four years. Direct yearly government
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ADELAIDE — On January 7, the South Australian police, on government orders, broke up a protest camp of Arabunna people and their supporters outside Government House on North Terrace. Police arrived at the camp at 6am, removed
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Port Kembla Hospital protest WOLLONGONG — Twenty-five angry protesters confronted Colin Markham, the MLA for Wollongong, on January 14 demanding that the accident department at Port Kembla Hospital remain open. The closure has been
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Court affirms: Brander is still racistADELAIDE — The South Australian Supreme Court has reaffirmed an earlier court decision that Michael Brander is a "racist in the worst sense". This is despite its January 12 ruling partially
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SYDNEY — Participants at a public meeting of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras held on December 11 strongly supported the elimination of restrictions on bisexuals gaining Mardi Gras membership. The meeting, attended by 40
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Artists for East Timor exhibition By Stephen O'Brien NEWCASTLE — An art exhibition here, organised by Artists for East Timor and Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET), raised more $3000 for East Timor. The exhibition was
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MELBOURNE — When you have that feeling that maybe you shouldn't go to work today, perhaps you should act on it. You could save a limb or even your life. Jason Carter would most likely agree. The 19-year-old apprentice had his
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Nikki Ulasowski MELBOURNE — At the National Education Activists Conference held here on November 28-29, more than 100 people met to discuss the future of the campaign against the privatisation of higher education. One inspiring discussion at the
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SYDNEY — Opposition is rising among public servants in New South Wales to a pay offer made by the state Labor government. The pay deal is being put forward as an agreement between the NSW government, the Public Service Association
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Mass meetings of unionists who are part of the Metal Trades Federation of Unions have overwhelmingly endorsed a log of claims and campaign strategy for "Campaign 2000", which aims to end enterprise bargaining and move to an
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Workers act against ACI lockoutMELBOURNE — Members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union are picketing the ACI glass mould manufacturing plant in Box Hill. The workers have been locked out since December 20. The union
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ALP-Labor Council-unions deal: a mini-Accord?SYDNEY — The NSW government's pay offer to nearly 200,000 public sector employees (see article on this page) should be approached by workers with considerable caution. The involvement
Analysis
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Australia: haven for Nazis There is outrage at alleged Latvian Nazi mass murderer Konrad Kalejs' most recent safe return to Australia. In recent years, Kalejs — who arrived in Australia in 1950 and became an Australian citizen in 1957 — has
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"In the world, the tendency today is to bury Marxism and communism. The equation is simple: the collapse of the European socialist bloc is the end of the ideology and the theory
World
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Mahathir cracks down on Malaysian opposition The Malaysian government has begun an attack on opposition groups. The United Malays National Organisation/National Front government of Prime Minister Mahathir is arresting leaders of opposition groups
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In the longest such dispute by an enterprise union in South Korea's history, a sit-in strike by members of the Sammi Specialty Steel Workers Union (SSSWU) has now past its 1100th day. The dispute began when Pohang Steel Company
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Among the Philippines' contingent at the Abortion in Focus conference in Coolum, Queensland, in November were SYLVIA ESTRADA CLAUDIO and ALEXANDRINA MARCELO from the newly formed Reproductive Rights Resource Group. 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly's KAMALA EMANUEL
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Cuba's path out of underdevelopmentSince 1959, the Cuban revolution has been an inspiration to millions around the world. A small underdeveloped nation, Cuba has been able to demonstrate what is feasible with a
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"The massacres that never were", ran the headline in the right-wing London Spectator. The article reported claims by journalist John Laughland that "only" hundreds of Albanians had been killed in Kosova during the NATO-Serbia
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In early November, a seventh grade Texan class was asked to write a "scary" story. One student read his story out to the class. The teacher awarded the student a mark of 100%. Later that day, the school staff informed the district
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NZ unionist killed on picket lineAUCKLAND — The New Zealand port of Lyttelton, near Christchurch, came to a standstill on January 5 as 250 port workers defied their employer, the Lyttelton Port Company, and walked off the job
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Woman forced to return to Iran An Iranian woman fearing persecution for making "pornographic" films in her home country has lost her attempt to stay in Australia. The Federal Court has dismissed her appeal against an earlier decision to refuse her
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German police attack leftists' commemorationBERLIN — The police of Germany's new capital city had a lucky day on January 10. An obviously insane person threatened to attack the annual commemoration of the deaths of Karl
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Popularising Marxism in Indonesia Since the coming to power of Indonesia's brutal New Order regime in 1965, discussion and dissemination of Marxist ideas has been banned in Indonesia. However, on November 20, 200 students and activists gathered at
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On January 14, more than 100,000 people marched in Cuba to demand that the United States government immediately return six-year-old Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba. Despite calls by Elian's father and the Cuban government for the child's safe
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AUCKLAND — A new group, Justice for Asylum Seekers, has been formed here to agitate against the scandalous treatment of those seeking refuge from persecution. The inspiration for the group's formation was the hunger strike by
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Political asylum seekers detained in Greece At least 36 Iraqi and 33 Afghani political asylum seekers are being held in deplorable conditions in a Greek prison on Kios Island. They have been held there since October 6. The detainees include women
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The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA) on January 6 expressed its shock and grief at the murder of Kumar Ponnampalam, a human rights lawyer and general secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, a political party in Sri Lanka. He
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Iraqi Kurdistan has been plunged into an atmosphere of lawlessness and terrorism after the 1991 US-sponsored Operation Desert Storm invasion of Iraq. Following the Gulf War, Iraqi Kurdistan was separated from Iraq under the United
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SAN FRANCISCO — The Battle of Seattle, the days of protest in December against the World Trade Organisation, has focused many people's minds on global inequality and "corporate capitalism" and inspired many to join the struggle
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MOSCOW — The campaigning for the December 19 elections to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, was notable for the listlessness of everyone who took part. It was not simply that the various candidates and
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For the first time since 1974, a public split has emerged within the Indonesian army's top generals over how best to preserve the political authority of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI). The split has been provoked by the inquiry,
Culture
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The sound of the United States' futureCalifornia is infamous for the 1991 bashing of black motorist Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles "riot" — in reality a spontaneous uprising — that was triggered when the cops responsible
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Out of IrelandBy Christopher KochDoubleday, 1999, 706pp., $39.95 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon During the Great Famine in Ireland from 1847-51, one and a half million Irish people starved to death while millions of pounds worth of food was exported,
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A scientific guide to revolution Fundamentals of Historical MaterialismBy Doug LorimerResistance Books, 1999216 pp., $12.95Available at all Resistance Bookshops, or write to PO Box 515, Broadway NSW 2007. Review by Chris Slee Historical
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One Word ... Magnificent! One Word ... We!New Theatre, 542 King Street, NewtownUntil January 29Book through MCA Ticketing on 9873 3575 Review by Wendy Varney Sydney's summer brings rich theatre offerings but surely none warmer and of better value