502

News Briefs

GLW celebrates BRISBANE — More than 100 people attended the Green Left Weekly 500th issue celebration dinner at the Ukranian Hall on July 20, which raised $1500 to help GLW keep producing. Congratulations to GLW were given by: Sam Watson,

Reporting the World: John Pilger's great eyewitness photographers

Regan (USA); Peter Stone (Africa); Penny Tweedie (Australia, East Timor, Bangladesh); Anastasia Vrachnos (Indonesia); and Paul Weinberg (Africa), 21 Publishing Ltd "> Reporting the World: John Pilger's great eyewitness photographers Capturing

Refugee supporters get together

BY KERRYN WILLIAMS CANBERRA — One-hundred-and-twenty refugees' rights activists and supporters gathered on July 23 for a public forum organised by Amnesty International, which indicated the breadth of the refugees' rights movement. The meeting

Cameron strips AMWU state branches of power

BY SUE BOLTON SYDNEY — The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national conference, held July 21-25 at Sydney's plush Parkroyal Hotel, adopted a series of rule changes which strip decision-making power from state branches and shift it to the

AFGHANISTAN:'Unsafe for refugees to return'

BY ROHAN PEARCE The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should reverse its newly announced policy of promoting the voluntary repatriation of refugees to Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on July 23. The

Police attack peaceful protest

BY FEDERICO FUENTES PERTH — On July 25, police launched an extremely brutal attack on a peaceful student protest. Thirty-five students were assaulted with batons and squirted with pepper spray. The students had gathered at Curtin University to

Dayson workers picket

SYDNEY — The strike at Dayson air conditioning remanufacturing plant in Sydney is now in its 10th week. Seven workers, including two union delegates, were sacked after demanding union representation in negotiations with management. For

Nurses head to arbitration

BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — Queensland nurses were threatened with disciplinary action only hours after industrial bans were lifted, according to the Queensland Nurses Union (QNU). The bans were lifted following a July 24 arbitration commission

Loose cannons

100-0 rule? "We don't have a 60-40 rule operating at any of the state conferences of the Liberal Party. We don't have 10, 20, 30, 40 or any percentage of votes allocated to business interests. But we do, very importantly, we have a broad sympathy

Ruddock's dirty tricks exposed

BY SARAH STEPHEN On July 19, immigration minister Philip Ruddock announced that in April his department had informed Ali Baktiyari, father of two boys who sought asylum on July 18 from a British consulate, that it intended to cancel his visa.

Building workers rally against royal commission

BY CHRIS LATHAM PERTH — Despite driving rain, 1200 construction workers protested on July 24 against the return to Western Australia of the royal commission into the construction industry. Communication, Electrical and Plumbing Union organiser

Socialist Alliance seeks Victorian registration

BY GRAHAM MATTHEWS Following successful campaigns to gain electoral registration at the federal level, and in NSW and Tasmania, the Socialist Alliance is now campaigning for electoral registration in Victoria. “To register in