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A report released on February 18 in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found massive deficiencies in Aboriginal housing in Australia, and located this as a key cause of Aboriginal disadvantage and poor health. The study was conducted over seven years and looked at over 4000 residences in 132 Aboriginal communities.
Federal opposition IR spokesperson, Julie Bishop, formally announced that the Coalition had dropped its opposition to the Labor government’s plan to “abolish” Australian Workplace Agreements (individual contracts) on February 19.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) is holding a series of forums across the country to get feedback from delegates about the direction that the union is taking. The first was held in Melbourne on February 19, attracting more than 300 delegates from the metals, print, food and T&S divisions from across Victoria.
Barwon 13 The release of David Hicks after conviction on a pretty minor charge, and the spectacular collapse of the case against Dr Haneef both suggested that the "anti-terror" laws might not be used so enthusiastically by the government in
Nine-hundred-and-thirty manufacturing workers will soon be out of a job, after management announced the pending closure of the Tonsley Park Mitsubishi car plant in Adelaide’s southern suburbs on February 6.
On February 14, in a clever piece of political theatre, Labor PM Kevin Rudd declared that federal MPs would forgo their scheduled pay rise for 2008. MP’s wages would effectively be frozen until mid-2009. Rudd also called on business executives to curb their pay rises, which averaged in excess of 30% in 2007 according to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).
Nine-hundred-and-thirty manufacturing workers will soon be out of a job, after management announced the pending closure of the Tonsley Park Mitsubishi car plant in Adelaide’s southern suburbs on February 6.
@9POINT = Message Stick: Frangipani Land Forever <197> Until their retirement in 1995, the Mills Sisters helped bring the music of the Torres Strait to the world stage. ABC, Friday, February 29, 6pm. @9POINT = Vera Drake <197> Movie about a selfless working class-woman who secretly visited women and helped them induce miscarriages for unwanted pregnancies in the 1950s. Directed by Mike Leigh. SBS, Saturday, March 1, 9.30pm. @9POINT = SOS <193> Shorts on Screen <197> Gay and lesbian-themed special in time for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. SBS, Saturday, March 1, 11.40pm. @9POINT = Finding Place <197> The issue of maintaining strong male role models is explored by five initiated Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men. ABC, Sunday, March 2, 1.30pm. @9POINT = Showdown with Iran <197> Looks at the a battle for power and influence across the Middle East by United States and Iran, including over nuclear arms. SBS, Monday, March 3, 1.30pm. @9POINT = Endangered <197> Indigenous people make up only 2.4% of Australia's population, and the eligible Aboriginal single man is an endangered species, as Aboriginal women lament in this film. SBS, Monday, March 3, 5.30pm. @9POINT = At Five in the Afternoon <197> The first foreign film to be made in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban tells the story of a young woman who believes passionately that her gender should be no bar to her becoming the president of her country. SBS, Tuesday, March 4, 1pm. @9POINT = The Medicated Child <197> Confronts psychiatrists, researchers and government regulators about the risks, benefits and many questions surrounding prescription drugs for troubled children. SBS, Tuesday, March 4, 8.30pm. @9POINT = Shame <197> Tells the story of a Pakistani woman who was publicly gang raped to atone for a crime her brother allegedly committed and the battle for justice that ensued. SBS, Tuesday, March 4, 10pm. @9POINT = Living Black <197> Indigenous news and current affairs program. SBS, Wednesday, March 5, 6pm.
The fight to keep New South Wales electricity in public hands can and must be won. If NSW Premier Morris Iemma and treasurer Michael Costa get away with their plan to sell off the state’s electricity generation capacity and its retail arms, working people and the community will get a dearer, less reliable service and the chances of the state moving to a sustainable energy policy will be reduced to zero.
Four anti-war protesters who broke into the US-Australian Pine Gap spy base near Alice Springs in December 2005, had their convictions quashed by the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal in Darwin on February 22.
The Battle of Vinegar Hill is the name given to the clash between convicts and soldiers on Monday March 5 1804 following on from the Castle Hill uprising the night before. It was the first battle between Europeans on Australian soil.
On the morning of February 19, without fanfare, Cuban media released a statement from President Fidel Castro stating that he would decline to stand for re-election to the presidency.