Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. Includes the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ news. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Phone (02) 9565 5522. Visit
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Weapons of mass destruction Our politicians and other theorists, who will not be at risk at the sharp end of action, talk glibly of the need to eliminate weapons of mass destruction (WMD). We know they are talking about weapons such as chemical,
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SYDNEY — For the last two months, a coalition initiated by the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network has been meeting to organise a “Stop the WTO agenda” rally for noon on November 14 in Hyde Park. Another coalition,
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LONDON — For 40 years, Australian governments have colluded with state terrorism in Indonesia. Now, the Bali outrage allows Australian Prime Minister John Howard to distract attention from his hypocrisy. Howard says
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The mini-ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which is to be held in Sydney on November 14-15 will be met by a number of protest actions. One of the protest actions planned for November 14 is a youth
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Given the current political developments and balance of forces, how can we best strengthen the socialist project? That is, how do we use our resources, experience and the political openings in the present context to win more
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As an active delegate and trade unionist and also being actively involved in the Socialist Alliance as an independent, it is my opinion that the proposal from the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) has not come quick enough. It should
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BY SUSAN REES & SUSAN AUSTIN CAIRNS — More than 300 psychiatrists, health academics, mental health practitioners, advocates and cons- umers converged on Cairns from September 12-14 for the triennial conference of the Royal Australian and New
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and ain't i a woman?: Fighting global violence When we think about war, images of planes dropping bombs and troops running with guns in hand come to mind. However, there is a silent killer in war that receives little if any attention at all.
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CANBERRA — Harry Quick, an anti-war federal ALP MP from Tasmania, told a Socialist Alliance forum here on October 23 that he and several other federal ALP MPs are prepared to vote against Australian involvement in a war
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Most Australians do not expect to have to answer to the military. So it took some confidence for Prime Minister John Howard to announce on October 24 that the government was considering involving the Australian Defence Force (ADF)
News
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SYDNEY — The 45,000-strong anti-war rally in Melbourne on October 14 has spurred anti-war groups here to unite to build the largest possible rally on November 30. A meeting of some 60 people on October 21 agreed to organise a
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NEWCASTLE — On October 21, a rally of 300 students forced Newcastle University vice-chancellor Roger Holmes to commit to the full retention of resources and services at the Huxley Library. A university administration proposal
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Translation: 'economy' means US oil and armaments profits "The successful prosecution of the war [on Iraq] would be good for the economy." — Lawrence Lindsey, George "The Crusader" Bush's chief economic adviser. Not a purist "Tonight I want
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BY SUE BULL MELBOURNE — Some 10,000 workers rallied in support of Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) leader Martin Kingham as he marched to the Magistrates Court on October 24. Kingham, who is the CFMEU state
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CANBERRA — By the close of voting on October 23, 93% of staff in the federal Department of Health and Ageing (DHA) had voted in favour of the department's next certified agreement. This overwhelming endorsement followed a
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MELBOURNE — Some 400 people on October 23 attended a forum on the Bali bombings. It was organised by Asialink and was also simulcast on Radio National and was addressed by academics Arief Budiman, Merle Ricklefs and Tim
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BRISBANE — Members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) employed by Centrelink, the federal government's social services agency, will meet across Australia over the two-week period beginning October 28, to the
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PERTH — Refugees' rights activists scored a major victory on October 22, as students voted to declare the University of Western Australia Guild a refugee safe haven. Nearly 900 students voted during the half-day of polling,
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The 8500 refugees who hold temporary protection visas are already denied the right to bring their families to Australia, are not allowed to have access to free English language classes, resettlement services or employment
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Across Australia protesters gathered on the evening of October 25 to participate in annual Reclaim the Night marches demanding an end to violence against women. The largest march was in Brisbane. Maria Voukelatos reports that close to 1000 women
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SYDNEY — On October 20, the Socialist Alliance Port Jackson branch launched a bold socialist campaign for the 2003 NSW state election, under the theme of "For the millions, not the millionaires!" The launch encapsulated what
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SYDNEY — In a stunning backflip, one day after the Greens defeat of the ALP in the October 19 Cunningham federal by-election, NSW Labor planning minister Andrew Refshauge and Port Jackson Labor MP Sandra Nori announced that
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On October 24, the Victorian state council of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union appointed Dave Oliver as state secretary of the AMWU, and industrial officer Steve Dargavel as assistant state secretary, with responsibility for
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BRISBANE — Queensland's 16,000 public hospital nurses on October 25 won a 3.8% interim pay rise and the first round in their Australian Industrial Relations Commission battle with the state government. The increase will come into
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SYDNEY — On October 22, Klaus Rohland, the World Bank country director for Papua New Guinea, East Timor and the Pacific Islands, addressed a lecture at Sydney University on instability in PNG and the Pacific. The abstract
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SYDNEY — Around 3500 people stood for a minute's silence on October 26 to remember the 353 refugees who drowned needlessly one year ago to the day. The victims of the October 13 Bali bombings were also remembered.
Analysis
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353 deaths overshadowed by child that wasn't thrown The Senate committee set up to investigate whether asylum seekers threw their children into the sea last year found that they didn't, and that former defence minister Peter Reith
World
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The US government's difficulty in convincing France, Russia and China to agree to a new United Nations Security Council resolution that would authorise a large-scale US-led military attack on Iraq may have disrupted Washington's
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JAKARTA — While Indonesian police investigations, conducted in cooperation with Australian, US, British and other police forces, continue into the October 12 Bali bombings, the policy responses to the bombing by President Megawati
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CHICAGO — Iraq is one of the largest oil resources in the world — with proven reserves of 112 billion barrels of oil, second only to Saudi Arabia. This simple fact has shaped Iraq's relationship with the rest of the
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Members of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) are continuing their strike for better pay and working conditions. Takavafira Zhou, PTUZ president, declared on October 21 that the arrest and torture of union leaders, and
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GLASGOW — The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is averaging 9% support in the latest opinion polls for elections to the Scottish parliament, which puts it on par with the Conservative Party. The SSP is looking to increase its
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MOSCOW — There are times when the image of Russia in the Western press calls to mind the consciousness of a schizophrenic. On the one hand, we are told that everything is fine; on the other, that everything is
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IRAQ Clean lies, dirty wars BY PATRICIA AXELROD Twenty-two months after Desert Storm, I was finally on my way to Amman, Jordan, the gateway to Iraq. Somewhere over Europe, I caught a glimpse of the Kafkaland to come when I heard that
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JAKARTA — In a scene reminiscent of the Suharto era, on October 24 a Jakarta court sentenced two pro-democracy activists from the Popular Youth Movement (GPK) to one year in prison for "insulting the head of state". The two
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"The Iraq story boiled over last night when the chief UN weapons inspector, Richard Butler, said that Iraq had not fully cooperated with inspectors... As a result, the UN ordered its inspectors to leave Iraq this morning." — Katie Couric, NBC's
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LONDON — The Socialist Alliance candidate Paul Foot came third with 4187 votes, 12.7% of the total, in the October 17 mayoral election in the east London municipality of Hackney. Foot beat both the Liberal Democrat
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US President George Bush continues to demand that the United Nations Security Council endorse a massive military attack on Iraq on the basis of tenuous "evidence" that Saddam Hussein might have the capability to develop nuclear
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WASHINGTON — Nothing makes a newspaper prouder than a juicy foreign-policy scoop. Except, it seems, when the scoop ends up raising awkward questions about a US administration's drive for war. Back in 1999, major papers ran front-page
Culture
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Bloody SundayWritten and directed by Paul GreengrassWith James Nesbitt, Declan Duddy, Tim Pigott-Smith, Mike Edmonds and Nicholas FarrellShowing at Palace Academy Twin and Norton Street Cinemas, Sydney; Nova and Rivoli Cinemas, Melbourne; and the
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ALBUQUERQUE — A New Mexico tribal drum circle concludes an honour song and John Trudell steps onto the stage, all in black, even his eyes shielded by opaque lenses, his dark hair streaming past his shoulders. His band Bad
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When using force to secure the peace,and encouraging more shopping to save the economy,and children and teens play video games that rewardfor every person decapitated and limb severed.When old women and babies are pepper-sprayedand rubber bullets
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MELBOURNE — Creative arts students from the University of Melbourne have responded to Australia's treatment of asylum seekers with Asylum, a theatrical work that addresses issues of "border protection" and the farce of the
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MayDay, MayDay: Songs of Solidarity Various artists Wobbly Radio and Unions NSW REVIEW BY DANIELLE BUHAGIAR There has been a proud history of pro-worker tunes dating back to the early days of the 20th century. In 1915, Ralph