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Life at the virtual university

By Zanny Begg The final report of the West review of higher education is to be released in late March. Interim reports have been filled with catchy slogans about a "fresh vision for higher education" that will take students "into the third

Japan under pressure to ease Asian crisis

By Eva Cheng Six of the most powerful countries — the US, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy — put more pressure on Japan to take concrete steps to ease Asia's economic crisis when they met on February 21 under the auspices of the Group

Students join the fight against the system

Students join the fight against the system By Sarah Peart Last week, more than 350 university students around the country joined the socialist youth organisation Resistance during orientation weeks. Angry about the injustices caused by the

Still no action on landmines treaty

By Francesca Davis "Australia has signed the Ottawa treaty to ban landmines, but has yet to ratify the convention and begin the destruction of our own stockpile of landmines. The time has come for Australia to back its words with action." So said

Racism: what can the law do?

Faces of Hate: Hate Crime in AustraliaEdited by Chris Cunneen, David Fraser & Stephen TomsenHawkins Press, 1997. 272 pp., $25 (pb) Review by Stuart Russell Australia has witnessed an upsurge in the incidence of hate crime and hate speech,

Union threatens stoppage in Illawarra

Union threatens stoppage in Illawarra By Andrew Hall WOLLONGONG — Unionists and their supporters have been picketing outside GrainCorp's Pivot fertiliser plant at Port Kembla after workers were sacked without notice on February 1. The long-term

Unionists to rally for maritime workers

By Nick Everett BRISBANE — Several thousand trade unionists are expected to rally in Brisbane's King George Square on March 4 in support of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). The rally, to commence at noon, has been called by the Queensland

B.J. Habibie: profile of a potential president

By James Balowski Responding to hints by President Suharto that B.J. Habibie was his preferred choice for vice-president, the January 22 Sydney Morning Herald ran a background piece on Habibie titled "As 'Dr Strangelove' rises, the rupiah falls

Jabiluka: 'We can't leave it in the hands of politicians'

Although the Coalition government gave Energy Resources Australia (ERA) permission to go ahead with a uranium mine at Jabiluka in Kakadu last year, the majority of Australians oppose uranium mining, especially in Kakadu. Support for Aboriginal

Anti-war protests continue

Anti-war protests continue A small but lively protest was held in Brisbane on February 27 to demand the withdrawal of all Australian and US troops from the Persian Gulf. The protest also called for all sanctions against the Iraqi people to be

MUA solidarity petition launched

MUA solidarity petition launched By Bruce Marlowe Rank-and-file unionists and concerned community activists have launched a petition demanding that the ACTU and local trades and labour councils seriously boost their solidarity effort with the

Loose cannons

Fighter "If we inherited it, I guess we'd have to live with it." — ALP shadow treasurer Gareth Evans, pledging that Labor will not block or repeal a GST brought in by a future Coalition government. Only the IMF is covered "To reflect the new