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CANADA: Campaign against deportations revives

BY JEFF SHANTZ TORONTO — On January 25, several hundred people took to the streets of Montreal, Quebec, to defend the nearly 1000 non-status Algerians facing imminent deportation from Canada. The protest action was the most recent in a broad

Meeting hears about human cost of Iraq war

BY VANNESSA HEARMAN MELBOURNE — At a public meeting, entitled "Counting the Cost of War", held by the Victorian Peace Network on January 29 at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's Storey Hall, a number of speakers highlighted what war

Loose Cannons

Or had one too many? "[Author David] Frum describes a meeting in the Oval Office last September with five clergymen... 'You know', Bush told them, 'I had a drinking problem. Right now I should be in a bar in Texas, not the Oval Office. There is

Qld govt attempts to suppress protest camp

BY BILL MASON &TIM STEWART BRISBANE — In an extraordinary move against food-irradiation protesters, the Queensland Labor government, through its Department of State Development, has taken out charges in the Supreme Court against an individual

Indigenous leaders offer sanctuary to Timorese

BY RALF SCHARMANN DARWIN — Traditional owners in several Top End communities have offered sanctuary to 84 Darwin-based East Timorese asylum seekers who are facing deportation. Marie Munkara, traditional owner of Cape Fourcroy on Bathurst Island

Anti-war activity increases in northern NSW

BY NICK FREDMAN & MATT EGAN KYOGLE — In one of several recent anti-war actions in the area, around 3000 people marched down the main street of Coffs Harbour on February 2. Exceeding organisers expectations, the crowd took over the town's main

Johnston: 'I'd like to see a united socialist party'

MELBOURNE — A trade union militant, Craig Johnston was the Victorian secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union between 1998 and August last year. Respected for his integrity and militancy, Johnston is a leader of the Workers First

Action updates

Nettle to speak against war CANBERRA — Federal Greens senator Kerry Nettle will speak at a Socialist Alliance public forum on February 19. The topic is "How can we stop the war?". Phil Griffiths, who will speak on behalf of Socialist Alliance

Hobart organises against war

BY JULES GREEN HOBART — Even before the year's first meeting of the Hobart Peace Coalition was held on February 2, the city's umbrella anti-war organisation, organised and spontaneous expressions of anti-war sentiment have mushroomed. Despite

Environmental refugees: Burying our head in the sand & blaming the victims

BY STEVEN THEUNISSEN Whilst Australians panicked about the attempt by about 400 refugees to find refuge from various forms of misery during the "Tampa crisis", climate change is expected to create a new refugee crisis, as millions of people lose

Labor MP defects to Greens

BY RENFREY CLARKE ADELAIDE — Throughout five years as a Labor member of South Australia's state parliament, these were the rules Kris Hanna was expected to abide by: stay quiet as party leaders steered the ALP in behind Howard government

SCOTLAND: Peace warriors get organised

BY ROZ PATERSON& ANDREW MCPAKE GLASGOW — On January 26, 300 anti-war activists gathered for a conference organised by the Scottish Coalition for Justice not War. The question that most activists wanted to resolve was how to mobilise against the