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Abortion rights campaign launched

BY ROBYN MARSHALL BRISBANE — The International Women's Day collective here has launched a petition campaign to demand that Peter Beattie's Labor state government repeal sections of the criminal code which make abortion illegal. The

'Our education is not for sale'

BY NIKKI ULASOWSKI Thousands of students took to the streets on April 5 in a national day of action called by the National Union of Students. Students and supporters demanded an end to corporate control of universities, a liveable income for all,

Activists discuss what happens after M1

BY SARAH PEART MELBOURNE — Activists here have begun to consider what should happen after the M1 blockade of stock exchanges, with many participants in a "Global Action" conference here on March 31 welcoming a proposal for a September 11, 2001,

Inhumanity to refugees a disgrace

Immigration minister Philip Ruddock's proposed law to allow strip searches of refugees, increase prison terms for those that flee detention and further restrict visitor access to detention centres are a disgrace. Their introduction into

Five from the East

East Timorese band Five from the East performing at Darwin's March 31 Rage Against Racism band night, organised by the socialist youth organisation Resistance. Despite persistent rain, 350 people attended the event and raised $1500 for Green Left

Action updates

Building workers walk off over safety BRISBANE — Building workers walked off 100 major construction sites in south-east Queensland on April 4 in response to the death of a worker. Unions demanded a safety audit of all building projects

ALP, big business and the banks

BY SUE BOLAND Shock! Horror! Media magnate Rupert Murdoch's hired mouthpieces at the Australian have accused the Coalition government and the Labor Party of turning on big business, in particular the banks. While the Murdoch family doesn't own

KOREA: What's behind the talk of 'reunification'?

BY IGGY KIM SEOUL — As political relations between the leaderships of South Korea and North Korea thaw, the generals and bureaucrats around North Korea's "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il are not yet united on a clear, single objective. They are sure of

QUT creatively cuts arts faculty

BY RA GREEN & SIMON BUTLER BRISBANE — In a bid to access an extra $15 million of state government funding, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has decided to abolish its arts faculty and replace it with a new faculty called "creative

Write on: Letters to the editor

Green tinted glasses Friends of the Earth's Peter Barker (Write on, GLW #442) says that I "neglect to understand the depth and diversity of people that make up FoE's huge international network" in my review of FoE International's document Towards

Networker: Virtual taxes

Virtual taxes The issue of taxation on the internet has worried governments ever since electronic business became a household phrase in the late 1990s. A shopper in Melbourne buys a book or CD from the US. The shopper has just managed

FIJI: Indian Fijians to sue Australia

BY NORM DIXON An Indian Fijian rights group in Suva is seeking compensation from the Indian, Australian and British governments, reported the Times of India on April 3. The Peoples' Organisation for Indo-Fijian Rights and Land Resolution said these