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Loose cannons

Not quite "Many — not all — people with apparently high wealth pay little tax." — Tax commissioner Michael Carmody. Don't worry, I'm in charge "I am the captain of the ship. We must batten down the hatches, instead of panicking

Birth-control riots

Birth-control riots Authorities in China's southern province of Guangdong have ordered birth-control officials to stop abusing power following several outbreaks of rioting over stiff fines, Chinese newspapers have reported. They also warned

CSDA workers campaign for new agreement

CSDA workers campaign for new agreement By Bill Mason Workers in the Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency, now renamed Centrelink, are meeting on September 22-23 to discuss the next move in their campaign for a new agency agreement. They

Students fight to hold elections

Students fight to hold elections By Nick Middleton CANBERRA — A general student meeting (GSM) has been called to sack the current University of Canberra Student Association executive and replace it with an executive that would hold office

Thousands oppose forest agreement

Thousands oppose forest agreement By Tony Iltis HOBART — Between one and two thousand people rallied outside parliament on September 18 to oppose the imminent, and long-delayed, signing of Tasmania's regional forest agreement (RFA). The

Welcome to Australia — and destitution

Welcome to Australia — and destitution By Lisa Macdonald The hardship caused by the two-year waiting period for social security payments has been especially severe because of the government's tighter guidelines for special benefits.

Arguments for socialism: Charity or justice

Charity or justice By Dave Holmes At Princess Diana's funeral, representatives of some 100 charities she had worked with walked in the cortege. Charities are such an all-pervasive feature of modern society that we tend to take them for

SA government expands uranium mining

SA government expands uranium mining By Rob Graham ADELAIDE — Plans are afoot for a major increase in uranium mining in South Australia, involving new mines at Beverley and Honeymoon, and the expansion of Roxby Downs to over twice its

Toxic waste: a burning problem

By Simon Divecha SYDNEY — Last week the New South Wales government quietly gave the go-ahead to a major new hazardous waste disposal facility. The government is pushing ahead with a $15 million expansion of the Lidcombe Waste Treatment Plant

Individual contracts for CES

Individual contracts for CES By Paul Oboohov CANBERRA — The Public Employment Placement Enterprise (the corporatised successor to the Commonwealth Employment Service) is planning individual contracts for all former public servants as they

On the box

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Thursday, 10pm and Saturday, 7pm. Access News — Melbourne

and ain't i a woman?: Change the law on RU486

Change the law on RU486 Results from Australian trials of the abortion drug RU486 expose federal parliament's decision last May to restrict access to the pill as punitive moralism, and add weight to arguments for lifting the