Living conditions for Iraqi women deteriorated dramatically after the 1991 Gulf War. US-enforced sanctions have wrecked Iraq's economy, depriving people of everything from medical supplies and school textbooks to the European beauty products that are
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BAXTER, South Australia — Ali wants to study calculus and become a computer programmer. But he spends so much time writing articles and letters to newspapers that his friends and family think he has a future in political
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Prime Minister John Howard's decision to send more than 2000 troops — the largest Australian combat force since the Vietnam War — to participate in a US-led invasion of Iraq is a commitment by his government to be complicit in the mass murder of
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FREMANTLE — After nine months of national and local negotiations, wharfies employed at P&O Ports are being forced by maritime union officials to accept an enterprise bargaining agreement for the next two-and-a-half years,
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“Elections results don't change very much for ordinary people.” Surprisingly, this comment was made by Lisa Macdonald, a candidate in the March 23 NSW state elections. But perhaps her comment was not so surprising, since
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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. Includes the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ news. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Phone 9565 5522. Visit
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Hellfire Now that John Howard has seen the results of the conflagration in the ACT where hundreds of homes, public health laboratories, a fire station, a sewerage treatment plant and a high school have been destroyed perhaps he has developed an
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PERTH — Unions WA affiliates met on February 4 to discuss the Western Australian union movement’s reaction to the looming war on Iraq. The meeting unanimously adopted a strong anti-war position and decided to encourage
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A war on Iraq would create an unparalleled humanitarian crisis and generate a massive outflow of refugees, according to a confidential United Nations High Commission for Refugees document leaked in January. The UNHCR document
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PERTH — Police powers contained within WA's Prostitution Act already affect all people, especially those who work in the sex industry. They include the "right" to enter premises without warrant, strip search and cavity search
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[The following is a model motion for trade unionists on action against a war on Iraq. It is being circulated by members of the Socialist Alliance. If your union or workplace adopts it, please inform the Socialist Alliance at
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Depriving the Yorta Yorta of land BY EMMA MURPHY On December 12, the legal system once again failed the Indigenous peoples of Australia. Since the High Court dismissed the Yorta Yorta people's appeal against a Federal Court decision that they no
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On October 30, White House mouthpiece Ari Fleischer told journalists that Washington "has no interest in controlling Iraq's oil reserves if [US President George Bush's] administration decides to take military action to remove Iraqi
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US President George Bush's plans to invade Iraq have nothing to do eliminating "weapons of mass destruction", preventing terrorism or ending human rights abuses. An attack on Iraq will be the first phase of a pre-existing strategy to increase US
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Why is Prime Minister John Howard's Coalition government supporting the US in its march to a war against Iraq? Since late last year, Howard has provided two main justifications. The first is that it is in "Australia's national
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PORT AUGUSTA — Port Augusta is known as the "crossroads of the outback"; a town of 17,000 people, located where highways join from the north, with many travelling south from Alice Springs and west from Perth. Like other towns
News
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MELBOURNE — Opponents of the Howard government's policy of mandatory detention of "illegal" refugees are planning to converge on the Baxter detention centre outside Port augusta over the Easter weekend, April 18-21. Baxter is
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MELBOURNE — Thousands of people cheered, chanted along, clapped and urged on the Peace Not War/Socialist Alliance contingent at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transexual Pride 2003 march on February 2. Although crowds were down
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And we'll keep doing it in the 21st "Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations, built armies and arsenals, and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world." — George Bush, in his State of the
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WOLLONGONG — On February 8, the people of this working-class city mobilised in numbers never before seen in the Illawarra, exceeding even the protests against the Vietnam War. More than 5000 people came out to demonstrate their
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"This is a crucial time for all feminists to take a stand. Now more than ever we need to come out against this most unjust and cruel war, which poses the biggest threat to peace and security for communities across the Earth... War
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500 march in BendigoAccording to the Bendigo Advertiser, on January 31 more than 500 people joined a rally against war on Iraq, marching through the town's streets in "scenes reminiscent of the anti-war-in-Vietnam rallies of
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MELBOURNE — On February 4, librarians employed at the State Library of Victoria, staged a one-day strike in support of their demand for a 6% pay rise and worker representation on the SLV board. SLV librarians are among the lowest
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SYDNEY — More than 100 people took part in a demonstration organised by the Refugee Action Coalition outside a Liberal Party function at Darling Harbour on February 7. The dinner was hosted by NSW opposition leader John Brogden
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BY GRANT COLEMAN & EMMA CLANCY WOLLONGONG — Following the February 8 anti-war protest in Wollongong, 25 students from high schools and universities held a meeting to plan action for the international student strike on March 5. The strike
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Clare Valley marches against warCLARE, South Australia — On February 8, about 150 concerned citizens marched down the main street of this town, protesting against the possibility of a war on Iraq. Singing and chanting, the
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MELBOURNE — Ten-thousand building workers marched from Trades Hall to the Melbourne Magistrates Court on February 6 in support of Martin Kingham, Victorian state secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union
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SYDNEY — Anger in the northern suburbs is rising against the federal government's support for a US war on Iraq. Anti-war film screenings and protest meetings are attracting large crowds. On January 22, a Chatswood screening of
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Meeting discusses crisis in Venezuela SYDNEY — On January 31, 120 people gathered at Trades Hall to hear Socialist Alliance activist Jorge Jorquera speak on the political situation in Venezuela. The meeting was organised by Committees in
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MELBOURNE — On February 4, 150 apprentices who are members of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) in Victoria went on strike for 24 hours as part of their campaign to put an end to unpaid downtime in the construction, maintenance
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MELBOURNE — A coroner's inquiry into the death of a 52-year-old Tongan man at Maribyrnong detention centre, has been told by one witness that the man jumped from a basketball hoop after he had been sitting on it for eight hours.
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CANBERRA — Six hundred people turned out on the evening of February 4 to watch a public debate in Old Parliament House entitled “Should Australia go to war in Iraq?”. Chaired by Radio National's Late Night Live host Phillip
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MELBOURNE — The Gellibrand Socialist Alliance branch decided on February 5 to contest the March 15 Maribyrnong and Brimbank council elections. The Socialist Alliance promises a “working council for working people”. The
World
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GLASGOW — Tens of thousands of Scots anticipate giving British Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair a warm welcome on February 15. Scotland is set to become one of the pivotal points of protest against the impending war on Iraq.
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The Philippines government, in alliance with Washington, is using the "war on terror" as cover for a full-scale assault on the revolutionary left. Immediately after the 9/11 attacks in the US, Manila announced its backing for
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"Many people outside the country believe that Afghan women and girls have had their rights restored. It's just not true" — that's the conclusion of Human Rights Watch official Zama Coursen-Neff, co-author of a report released in
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HANOI — The United States Department of Commerce (DoC) ruled on January 24 that Vietnam is "dumping" catfish on the US market. The ruling was based on a decision made by the commerce department last November that Vietnam is
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"Ladies and gentlemen, these are not assertions", US Secretary of State Colin Powell assured the UN Security Council on February 5. "These are facts, corroborated by many sources, some of them sources of the intelligence services of
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LAHORE — The first thing I did after crossing the border into Pakistan was catch a bus into the city. Buses in Pakistan are divided in two by a barrier. The first quarter of the bus is reserved for women and their
Culture
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The Algebra of Infinite JusticeBy Arundhati Roy Flamingo, 2002305 pages, $21.95 (pb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON "How many dead Iraqis will it take to make the world a better place?", asks a waspishly angry Arundhati Roy in The Algebra of Infinite
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If ever there was a reality check needed amidst the noise and dust whipped up by the US war machine, this simple photograph exhibition about Iraq is it. No satellite photos and no fuzzy phone intercepts, just mountains of evidence
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Won't Pay!, Nobel Prize, Shane Morgan, Mike Piccerilli, Gabriella Maselli, Heidi Gledhill, Mark Duffy , Damien Pleming, Cat & Fiddle Hotel"> Dario Fo comes to Balmain Dario Fo comes to Balmain SYDNEY — The contemporary
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Last month, Iraq delivered to the United Nations a 12,000-page report denying it had weapons of mass destruction. Knowing President George Bush does not have the attention span to read such a large document, the Iraqis also provided a confidential