Women in Politics conference
The Women in Politics conference in Adelaide over the past week has been hailed by the establishment press as "the revival of the women's movement". But seeing these women sipping champagne in cocktail lounges and talking about the "feminisation" of the boardrooms and parliaments, one wonders about this claim.
"Feminisation" of the boardrooms and parliaments is the idea that all women have some innate benevolence and by entering traditionally male power structures they can alter these structures or make them more "human". Yet the experience of leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Bronwyn Bishop has shown us that a woman can be as right wing and conservative as any man. And the reign of the ALP has shown us that you can't change power structures from within, because you simply get co-opted into them.
If this conference was about the women's movement, then where were the discussions about how enterprise bargaining negatively affects women, or about the cuts to welfare and child care services? Where were the Aboriginal and migrant women talking about the issues of their community, racism and land rights? And where were those women from the Third World who daily experience oppression and exploitation?
A group of upper class women getting together to plan financial mergers and corporate takeovers does nothing to empower ordinary women in Australia or in the Third World. We have to see that likewise, very little change is happening in the boardrooms and parliaments. The real potential lies in grass roots movements, in the organisation and involvement of ordinary women who see the need to change this system fundamentally.
Sujatha Fernandes
Sydney
[Edited for length.]
Cuba and Amnesty
I commend Daniel Hellinger for his balanced response to the Amnesty report on Cuba (GLW #161). I've been a member of Amnesty since the 70s and have had ideological problems along the way with how human rights abuses have been treated in countries that have been under siege by the US and its satellites.
Having been a sociology student during the days of Allende in Chile and the resultant slaughter of Chilean people by US-supported despots, I am equally aware of how sociological and anthropological research can be used to destroy people opposed to US-type "freedom".
What should be remembered is that such research is done in good faith and certainly not for CIA or US military purposes — but it is used for these purposes!
The word "freedom" is used discriminately by US policy-breakers. Freedom means freedom to oppress and intimidate those who take away US "rights" to use the world as a way to continue to overfeed itself (on the world's highest budget deficit) and use the smaller nations as its rubbish dump.
That's why it is essential that organisations like Amnesty International remain politically aware of how they treat individual human rights abuses in countries that have been constantly abused by US imperialist "development".
Diana Rickard
Casuarina NT
[Edited for length.]
'Quemada'
The legend of Toussaint-Louverture, who led Haiti out of slavery in the late eighteenth century, was revived by Trinidadian historian and revolutionary, C.L.R.James, in a book he wrote about it, The Black Jacobins.
James' book inspired a new generation of black nationalists and served as an inspiration for Quemada (released in Australia with the title Burn), one of Marlon Brando's best films.
The release of Quemada in 1968 coincided with the highpoint of the sixties radicalisation. Director Gillo Pontecorvo and co-writer Franco Solinas had previously collaborated on the semi-documentary, The Battle of Algiers (1965), a film that is more widely known here, which dealt with Algerian revolution of 1961.
Pontecorvo's film treats the Haitian slave revolt as a metaphor of the Vietnam war and the leading character, Jose Delores, shares many of the attributes of Che Guevara, who had been murdered in Bolivia one year prior to the film's release.
Quemada is inspiring cinema. At this time of yet further US meddling in the Caribbean it should be re-released.
Unfortunately, this film has been difficult to locate. Maybe a Green Left Weekly supporter, and film buff, could track it down and, if necessary, import it for national showings sponsored by this newspaper. The exercise would be time and energy well spent. Quemada, like the cinema of Chaplin and Eisenstein, is a film that should be embraced by each new generation of activists.
Dave Riley
Nundah Qld
Small business taxes
This week, Democrat Leader Senator Cheryl Kernot is introducing an amendment in the Senate to cut the provisional tax "uplift factor'" on small business from the current 8% to 5%.
This reduction in the "uplift factor" will put $250 million back into small business and help create between 7,000 and 10,000 extra jobs.
The current 8% uplift factor is 4 times the inflation rate and is an unjustifiable impost on small business.
As a small business person myself for many years, I know of the problem caused by provisional tax and in particular the automatic increase in provisional tax payments each year.
This Democrat move is supported by the Council of Small Business Organisations, the Small Business Coalition, the Retailers Council, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Tax and Accountants Association.
This Democrat move will affect hundreds of thousands of small businesses, including farmers and self-funded retirees. I would like to ask your readers to urge the Liberal and National Senators to stop playing politics and support this move to reduce one of the burdens on small business.
Richard Jones MLC
Sydney
Keating on Iraq
How ignoble Paul Keating's recent sentiments on Iraq. No doubt if the US and Britain ever remove their obscene blockade of Iraq — which Bill Clinton and John Major seem to delight in all the disease, suffering and death it causes — then our recently retired pig farmer's bigoted statement (about crushing Iraq) will put Australia at the "arse end of the world" as far as trade is concerned.
What a pity this supposed statesman can't see past the Timor Gap treaty when it comes to the genocide in East Timor caused by his Indonesian mate Suharto.
Robert Wood
Surry Hills NSW
General Sutrisno
This is a letter of thanks and congratulations on the protest organised to "welcome" General Try Sutrisno on his arrival at the Regent Hotel in George Street, Sydney. Well done, from us, to all Resistance people who were there on the day, at short notice on Thursday 22nd September.
Some people are concerned that the East Timor issue may become a "left wing" issue. We believe it is, or should be, an issue for all people who consider themselves decent and fair, whatever they believe themselves to be politically.
We look forward to the day when, should Senator Evans or PM Keating be misguided enough to invite further representatives of Indonesia's appalling regime here, there will be very large protests, showing what most people think of it, and this Labor Government's association with it.
Well done, Resistance, for being there and paving the way ... and for shaming the "Butcher of Dili" into entering the Regent through the back door.
Stephen Langford
Secretary, Australia-East Timor Association NSW
(phone 02 331 5986)
NSW health system
NSW Health Minister Ron Phillips faced a censure motion in state parliament on 11.10.94. The NSW health system is in a real mess and is deteriorating rapidly, mainly due to mismanagement, lack of compassion and a top heavy bureaucracy, all of which is Phillips' responsibility.
The rest of NSW aside, Phillips deserves censure because of his pig headed attitude towards the residents of Port Macquarie and the surrounding area. On November 2nd, 1994, our large public hospital will close its doors and attempting to take its place will be a private for profit hospital, run by Mayne Nickless.
That this new private hospital is going to be already too small upon opening, for this growing area, matters not to Phillips. I don't believe that people from other areas can understand the dire predicament we are going to be in once this travesty of Phillips' opens. He signed a 20 year secret contract that no FoI has managed to crack. For this alone I feel he needs a censure.
With the private hospital less than a month away from opening, the operator Mayne Nickless still only has a provisional licence to operate this very small private "base" hospital.
Mayne Nickless (HCOA) has also been given control of the cream of community health, including mental health. All without a licence. They are unable to take scheduled mental health patients like real base hospitals.
ICAC found that Mayne Nickless had been guilty of corruption of government officials to gain access to confidential government information, and that this behaviour was at the highest levels in the company. Also Mayne Nickless is one of three companies against whom proceedings have commenced by the Trades Practices Commission, alleging collusive tendering.
Therese Mackay
Port Macquarie NSW
[Edited for length.]