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Solidarity with maritime union

By Jennifer Thompson SYDNEY — The Maritime Union of Australia's (MUA) Action Conference on May 17 attracted around 1500 participants, mainly maritime union delegates and workers, from around Australia. The striking Vickery workers sent a

Loose cannons

Spot the madman "The bulk of licensed sporting shooters would have quality guns worth more than $4000 each. You don't buy those sorts of weapons to kill people. It's the madmen who buy the cheaper variety." — John Wyche of the NSW Sporting

Don't look now, but is that a black hole?

By Allen Myers It's an article of faith in the new federal Coalition government that it inherited a "black hole" budget deficit of $8 billion from its Labor predecessor. This alleged black hole immediately became the justification for sweeping

Letter from the US: Affirmative action threatened

Part and parcel of the capitalist offensive against working people in the United States is the drive by both the Democrats and Republicans to trim back the gains won by blacks and other people of colour, and by women. One aspect of this campaign

Not on the list

Last week, Business Review Weekly published its annual list of the 200 richest Australians. For those who missed it, Kerry Packer is still at the top, though he's $2 billion or so down on his wealth of several years ago. Things are tough in this

When courses meet the market, students lose

By Mark Bahnisch and Sacha Blumen BRISBANE — At least one department has been closed at the University of Queensland; it has completely disappeared, though nary a word has been heard from our student union. The Russian Department has been

Russia faces financial meltdown

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — Partly as a result of President Boris Yeltsin's efforts to buy himself victory in the June 16 elections, Russia in coming months is due to experience its most severe financial shocks since the policies of "reform" began

Worth a second look

Power Without Glory Published in the early 1950s, Frank Hardy's Power Without Glory has as its central theme the corruption inherent in capitalism. John West in the early 1890s sets up an illegal tote in the poor working-class suburb of

Students say: enough is enough!

By Vaarunika Dharmapala PERTH — Chanting "Stop the cuts — enough is enough!", "Education for all, not just the rich" and "Students united will never be defeated!", almost 700 students rallied here on May 15. This lively and militant "student

A story of truth

And Now I Lay Me Down to SleepWritten by Frank OtisFootscray Community Arts Centre, 45 Moreland St.May 24-25, 8pm. $8/5 And Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is a new play that takes a no holds barred look at how rape affects survivors. Directed By Andrea

May Day celebrated internationally

An estimated 1.3 million people gathered in Havana's Revolution Plaza on May 1, the biggest May Day celebration in Cuba's history. In the country's second largest city, Santiago de Cuba, another 300,000 marched. Tens of thousands more celebrated in

The spirit of May Day

By Jen Crothers I'm sure everyone is familiar with our own national anti-hero Shane Paxton. An uproar occurred last month when Shane and his brother and sister wouldn't accept jobs on South Molle Island in Queensland. A lot of media attention was