448

Looking out: Not fitting the establishment's agenda

It is not fashionable today to write something good about an ex-convict. Nevertheless, that is what I am setting out to do in this essay. I received a letter recently from a correspondent who lives in Wales. In it, she relates having met a

BRITAIN: Police repression can't stop global justice movement

BY PHIL HEARSE LONDON — Ten thousand police were mobilised here on May 1, against the "threat" posed by 5000 anti-capitalist demonstrators. This grotesque overkill was accompanied by a weeks-long barrage of press hysteria, warning of "anarchy"

Keeping the poor poor

BY MELANIE SJOBERG If you are one of the estimated 1.8 million low-paid workers in Australia reliant on an award for your wage, your pay packet will soon receive a $13 (before tax) boost, courtesy of the national wage case decision handed down by

ALP: Whose light on which hill?

BY JOHN PASSANT "We have a great objective — the light on the hill — which we aim to reach by working for the benefit of mankind." So spoke Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley half a century ago. Now Kim Beazley, celebrating the 100th anniversary

Post office inquiry a farce, say ill workers

BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — A report into the mysterious concentration of illnesses at the Capalaba Post Office, south-east of the city, has been described by former workers as "superficial" and "a farce". Up to 40 current and former Australia

Write on: Letters to the editor

Curtin impugned Your denunciation of militarism ("Lest we forget what?", Editorial, GLW #446) was weakened by the attack on Labor's World War II PM, John Curtin. It was "Pig Iron Bob" Menzies, not Curtin, who sent Australian troops to the Middle

PHILIPPINES: Wave of repression as masses protest

BY SONNY MELENCIO MANILA — While President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo formally lifted the week-long "state of rebellion" she had declared on May 7, the "terror effect" remains. The police and army are still maintaining checkpoints around this city

'scab busters' claim victory in Mobil dispute

BY BRONWEN BEECHEY ADELAIDE — The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has claimed victory after a strike at Mobil's Port Stanvac refinery. The strike was part of a long-running dispute with Mobil over plans to reduce the work force at Port

'There is hope for a better future'

BY KATHY NEWNAM ADELAIDE — Following the overwhelming success of Adelaide's M1 blockade of the Australian Stock Exchange, more than 500 people joined the annual May Day parade here on May 5. A spirited contingent of Socialist Alliance members

Socialist Alliance says: End locking up of refugees!

BY ALISON DELLIT As the 2001 federal election approaches, immigration minister Philip Ruddock has signalled that the government intends to make racist scapegoating of refugees a central part of its re-election strategy. Launching the

Truckies blockade Brisbane depots

BY JIM MCILROY BRISBANE — Long-distance truck owner-drivers have blockaded major transport depots on Brisbane's southside, and have forced major companies to sign up to improvements in payments and conditions, according to Transport Workers Union

BRITAIN: Foot & mouth — the cure is worse than the disease

BY NORM DIXON  Television viewers across the world could be forgiven for believing that rural Britain has been struck down by a plague of biblical proportions. Nightly, as the foot and mouth disease (FMD) “crisis” unfolded, breathless