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Dutton’s bid to ban mobile phones

After the defeat in the Federal Court of his bid to ban mobile phones in offshore immigration detention centres, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) Peter Dutton is trying another strategy to subvert the court’s August ruling.

Mobile phones are already prohibited in onshore immigration detention centres and on Christmas Island for refugees who tried to come to Australia by boat.

A day to be believed

A day to be believed By Linda Kaucher ADELAIDE — Giving domestic violence victims a chance to talk and be believed was the main purpose of a meeting called by the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL) on September 4. A

Victorian ambulance service at risk

Victorian ambulance service at risk By Katherine Heneghan MELBOURNE — Cutbacks to Victoria's ambulance service in the last budget have led to the formation of the community group, More Ambulance Services in Victoria. MASIV

Unionists: victims of their own history

The contrast was there for all to see. As the photos flashed around the world of the historic handshake between Albert Reynolds, the Irish prime minister, and Gerry Adams with John Hume, Social Democratic and Labour Party leader, on the steps of the

Big Mac versus small fries

Big Mac versus small fries By Paul Tobias The silence is deafening! Unbeknownst to 99% of Australians, the "McLibel" defamation case is now raging in a London courtroom. Chicago-based McDonald's Corporation is suing

Remembering Pablo Neruda

By Silvia Cuevas September is a sad month for many Chileans: the month in which Salvador Allende's government was overthrown by Pinochet, and the month in which Pablo Neruda, one of Latin America's greatest poets, passed away.

Georges calls for return to ALP

GEORGE GEORGES was for many years a Labor senator for Queensland. In a long career in the ALP, he became a major voice of the party's left wing. But Georges also distinguished himself as an activist outside the party — he was renowned for his

Tomago strike ends

By Shane Hopkinson NEWCASTLE — Seven hundred striking Tomago Aluminium workers returned to work on September 5, after one of the longest disputes in the history of the Hunter Valley. This was a test of the new federal legislation on

SA information jobs to go

SA information jobs to go By Rhonda Williamson ADELAIDE — The Australian Small Business Association recently forecast a dramatic increase in bankruptcies over the next two years, due to an expected influx of thousands of

ASIO: agency of social control

JOAN COXSEDGE and GERRY HARANT continue a debate about ASIO with David McKnight. Instead of responding in endless detail to McKnight's reply (to our criticism of his book, we concentrate on the ideological divide between us. Reverting to

East Timor: 20 years of ALP betrayal

By John Tomlinson and Rob Wesley-Smith There are significant economic and political reasons why the federal Labor cabinet should reassess its position on East Timor. These reasons need to be placed within a historical context. If the

Maritime unions fight to save ANL

By Pip Hunter Members of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Maritime Officers' Union walked off the job on September 8 in protest at the federal government's moves to liquidate the Australian National Line (ANL). The