Simon Butler

Richard Flanagan's timely terrorist

The Unknown Terrorist
By Richard Flanagan
Picador, 2006
RRP $32.95

Venezuelan campesinos march for Chavez

Up to 20,000 people mobilised for a four-hour march through Caracas on November 20. The demonstration, led by campesinos (peasants), was in support of the reelection of revolutionary Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the December 3 election.

Going underground in Bolivia

Before we descended into the mine, our mini-bus (or micro) dropped us at the local “miner’s market” so we could buy sticks of dynamite, bags of coca leaves and a few 2-litre bottles of soft drink. These were gifts for some of the miners we were about to visit underground who still work the Cerro Rico — the famous mountain of silver that towers over the city of Potosi, located 4100 metres above sea level in the Bolivian Andes.

Newcastle council seeks ban on AWAs

Simon Butler, Newcastle The Newcastle City Council motion passed in late July to stop companies who force their employees onto Australia Workplace Agreements (AWAs) from receiving council contracts, has come under fire from local business groups,