Michelle Horvane, an activist from the Environmental Youth Alliance, was one of three Australian delegates to an international youth conference on "Environment and Development" held in Costa Rica March 22-29. The other Australian delegates were
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French Greens divided In the March 22 regional elections, France's two green parties polled 14.6% between them in the context of a large protest vote against the main parties of both left and right. The green vote surpassed the 13.9% of the
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Dr Andrew Katelaris Give hemp a chance The first European Conference on Industrial Crops was held in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in November. One of the main items discussed was the Dutch government's hemp project. This is investigating the
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Brian Martin Many people believe that Australian military forces are necessary to defend against an invasion from Indonesia. But there's a much better way to eliminate the alleged Indonesian military threat: support people's opposition to the
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'We Won't Go Back' A million march for women's lives By Tracy Sorensen In possibly the biggest march on Washington ever, on Sunday, April 3, nearly a million people turned out to defend a woman's right to choose abortion. Individuals and
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It was a week when Phil Cleary won the Wills by-election, but absolutely nobody lost. Even though both the Coalition candidate, Mr Delacrumb, and the socialist candidate, Mr Couldamissedus, both knew from the outset that they
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An Irish hero At Easter 76 years ago in Dublin, Irish Republican rebels declared independence, hoisted the tricolour flag over the GPO and fought courageously for a week to defend their dream of a free and socially just Ireland. One of the
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ISO's open letter I notice the International Socialist Organisation is circulating an open letter accusing 91̳ of writing off the Aidex protests. This prompted me to look back over your reports, as during the action you were supportive
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A secret US Navy document instructs commanders that they may not need to contact all the relevant authorities, like foreign governments, when a nuclear-powered vessel has an accident in a foreign port. The document, "OPNAVINST 3040.5B, Nuclear
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Action updates BRISBANE — One hundred students marched through the city on April 7 in protest against inadequate Austudy payments and cutbacks to tertiary education. The rally was organised by the Students Against Cutbacks inter-campus
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Military excluded from conscientious objectionA bill now before parliament, to amend the 1903 Conscription Act, has been presented as liberalising rules for conscientious objection. But according to at least two
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"... The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste ... The end of living and the beginning of survival." — Chief Seattle, 1854 All
News
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Third World nations and non-government organisations (NGOs) are gloomy about prospects for the United Nations' Earth Summit following an unproductive five-week preparatory meeting (Prepcom Four), which finished in New York on
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It should be known in about three weeks whether exhibits which helped to convict Ray and Peter Mickelberg of the 1982 Perth Mint swindle were fabricated. Last month, WA Chief Justice David Malcolm ruled that it was "in the
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Sack racist cops, says Boney familySYDNEY — Priscilla Boney, mother of Lloyd Boney, who died in a Brewarrina police cell in 1987, is demanding the dismissal of two police who mocked her son's death and that of David Gundy
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Talking union ADELAIDE — The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union has placed green bans on the development of a sand dune site in Tennyson to prevent its sale by the government. The site is zoned residential, but residents say it
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Bail hostel for Aboriginal childrenSYDNEY — A bail hostel for Aboriginal children will open next month in Chippendale. The project was designed for Aboriginal children on remand, who can be refused bail and forced to live in
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After years of dumping tonnes of waste into rivers supplying many indigenous communities around the world, several major mining companies have been accused of damaging fragile ecosystems and found "guilty" in a controversial
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It seems Associated Pulp and Paper Mills (APPM) is bent on replicating the New Right's most spectacular assault on trade unionism to date — the 1986-87 lockout at the Robe River iron ore operation in WA. APPM last week
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Pilbara Aborigines plan for jobsPERTH — Aboriginal people in the Pilbara region are planning to establish enterprises to boost jobs and achieve greater independence. The Karijini Aboriginal Corporation, representing the
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Easter break 91̳ is taking a one-week holiday over the Easter period, so there will be no issue dated April 22. We will return to our regular weekly schedule with the issue dated April 29.
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Brewarrina convictions quashedSYDNEY — Arthur Murray and Sonny Bates walked out of the NSW appeal court on April 6 with their convictions quashed from last year's Bathurst trial over the Brewarrina "riot" of August 15,
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'Relax Bougainville blockade' The International Red Cross has urged the Papua New Guinea government to relax its blockade on medical supplies to Bougainville on humanitarian grounds. A senior Red Cross International officer based in Rabaul,
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Cover-up over oil blazeADELAIDE — In an apparent cover-up following a fire at the Mobil Port Stanvac oil refinery, management is claiming there are no possible health effects of the blaze and no cause for concern over
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Nuclear margin "There's always a margin for error in these clean out procedures and a skilled worker will know how to exploit these to remove material. The company will never know whether it was lost or deliberately diverted." — Paul
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Huge jobless numbers in BallaratBALLARAT — Underemployment could be as high as 34.8% overall and over 50% among youth in this Victorian regional centre, according to a survey by the Ballarat University College and the
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Melbourne will host a national conference on Cuba on May 9-10. Convened by the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, the conference will provide an opportunity to discuss the situation in Cuba today and what Australians can do to help Cuba to maintain its
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WA criticised on land rightsPERTH — A University of Western Australia law professor, Richard Bartlett, has criticised the WA government's record on returning Aboriginal land as the worst in Australia. He was speaking
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MELBOURNE — Victoria's Kirner Labor government could soon surpass the Greiner Liberal-National government of NSW in privatisations. The State Bank of Victoria was sold to the partially privatised Commonwealth Bank in
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KATOOMBA — Readers of the Blue Mountains Gazette must be increasingly bemused by the paper's commentaries on ongoing development disputes. Ralph Williams, structural engineer, was mayor of the Blue Mountains until the
Analysis
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Editorial: Terrorism and the Iranian embassy Sections of the media have referred to the April 6 raid on the Iranian embassy as an example of terrorism, with the implication that Australian "security" organisations should be strengthened. Several
World
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BUDAPEST — Following persistent attempts by the ruling Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) to concentrate more power in its own hands, key figures in the Hungarian liberal intelligentsia signed a Democratic Charter summarising
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Campaigning on its most right-wing platform ever, the British Labour Party lost the April 9 elections after leading the Tories in opinion polls by up to 20% just before the replacement of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister. In
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WASHINGTON — A congressional investigation has revealed that backing by key Bush administration officials for arms shipments to Iraq before the Gulf War may have been in pursuit of the officials' private interests. House
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"In South Africa all issues are linked together. Homophobia is part of discrimination. We can not deal with it in isolation. We are trying to link our struggle with the struggle of the majority of the people against apartheid and
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We must not row the canoe — this is Gewai and Sowegi's task; we are guests. We sit on the platform of the outrigger doing nothing, while the mangroves at the edge of the lagoon pass endlessly. The tropical midday sun is
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The Bush administration is placing North Korea ever higher on its enemies list, despite Pyongyang's sweeping concessions on the volatile issue of nuclear proliferation. The Pentagon cited the Korean peninsula as a likely war
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Four women have been arrested in Athens for handing out leaflets supporting self-determination for the Macedonian people and opposing the chauvinist hysteria which has gripped Greece in recent months. The four were handing
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Japan has been the "economic miracle". Everywhere it turned, it conquered markets; its "recessions" would have been considered semi-booms by most of its competitors. From 1986 to 1990 it outgrew every other OECD nation every
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By Peter M. Sales Corazon Aquino was swept into office six years ago on the crest of an amazing People Power uprising in the Philippines. But the upcoming election provides stark evidence that the system has not been overhauled. Opportunities
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Peace and environment activists have hailed as a major victory the French government's announcement on April 9 that it would suspend nuclear testing in the Pacific for a year. Stephanie Mills, who led Greenpeace's recent
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Oil for Cuba MEXICO CITY, April 3 — The Mexican solidarity campaign "Va por Cuba" is seeing off a shipment of some 80,000 litres of diesel fuel to the island this Sunday. The gesture marks the beginning of a series of oil donations from
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MOSCOW — Environmentalism as the fascism of our time? In the west, such charges are heard commonly enough in corporate boardrooms — but not in the pages of "quality" daily newspapers. In Russia things are different.
Culture
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Kev Carmody launches new singleKev Carmody, one of Australia's top singer/songwriters, launched the new single from his excellent Eulogy (For a Black Person) album at Sydney's Harbourside Brasserie before a very appreciative
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Street poetsMELBOURNE — "The arts today are devoid of a framework, except for greed", says Tom the Poet — one of a tribe of artists who have banded together in a challenge to the elitist role ascribed to art in current
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Beyond Interdependence. The meshing of the world's economy and the earth's ecology By Jim MacNeill, Pieter Winsemius and Taizo Yakushiji Oxford University Press 159pp. $13.95 Reviewed by Steve Painter With such a title it's obvious the
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Songs and stories of Australians at war When the Poppy Blooms ... Australian Songs of World War One By Denis Kevans & Sonia Bennett ABC-FM Stereo. April 24, 11.30 a.m. This program is 12 new songs by, and about Australians in World War I.
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CANBERRA — More than 40 writers and supporters gathered on the lawns outside the Indonesian Embassy on April 5, in support of fellow writers and protesters in East Timor and other countries suffering abuses of human rights. Among the writers
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BRISBANE — Christy Moore is one of a handful of artists not afraid to make a statement about the wrongs he sees. His songs span many aspects of life, from great traditional ballads like "Lord Baker" and "Little Musgrave" to his
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Mrs Thatcher and the Daffodils(Margaret Thatcher was campaigning for the Tories at Bolton, in northern England, when a woman came forward apparently offering a bunch of daffodils. Mrs Thatcher smilingly stretched forward to
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Faith, Hope and Psychotherapy Written and performed by Liz Sadler Directed by Kirsten von Bibra Courthouse Theatre, Carlton, until April 19 Mistress Written by Tobsha Learner Performed by Michele Williams Directed by Rose Clemente Anthill