Strange, that
"The image has not been a good or helpful one. It's all about spooks and reds under the bed and that kind of thing." — ASIO head David Sadleir on public perceptions of his organisation.
Rushed
"Frankly speaking, we just don't
Issue 126
News
Power brokers stunned
John Wilson, former president of the ACT Trades and Labor Council, individually black banned in his workplace by the PSU leadership and the TLC in an act of ALP factional hooliganism: "The election result has tipped the
By John Nebauer
and Kerry Vernon
BRISBANE — The Criminal Justice Commission's public inquiry into the death in police custody of Aboriginal dancer Daniel Yock, 18, began here on November 24.
The original police account was that they
Alliance to campaign for democracy
By Dave Wright
HOBART — The Tasmanian Community Alliance was formed at a meeting on December 2 to oppose undemocratic legislation introduced by the Groom Liberal government.
In addition to giving
By Karen Fredericks
Douglas Bruce Scott died in Berrimah jail in Darwin early in the morning of July 5, 1985. A police inquest and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody both ruled it was suicide. But Doug's widow, Lettie Scott,
Queen Street Mall threat
By Nikki Ulasowski
BRISBANE — City mall management renewed attacks on democratic rights in the Queen Street Mall on November 30 by trying to force removal of a display board which was part of a stall supporting
As long as the economic rationalist ethos prevails in the major parties, the needs of the majority will continue to be sidelined for the interests of big business. Here is a brief guide to the alternative candidates standing in the SA state
By James Basle and Alison Dellit
Canberra — Liberal and independent members of the House of Assembly on November 25 amended the ACT budget to block the cutting of 80 teacher positions. This victory was a response to the public campaign run by
By Bernie Brian
WOLLONGONG — The trial of two South Coast trade union officials on criminal charges, arising from a picket line at a Kiama construction site, has been adjourned to February.
South Coast Labour Council (SCLC) secretary Paul
By Steve Rogers
CANBERRA — Defeat of the incumbents in the ACT branch Public Sector Union elections has sent a shiver down the spine of the local ALP officialdom. With around 21,000 members, the PSU is the largest union in the ACT. It is not
A (very) low-impact trip
By Tracy Sorensen
SYDNEY — Like to visit Asia but can't afford it? One fascinating trip available to Sydneysiders for the cost of a metropolitan train ride is to Cabramatta in the city's south-west.
While the
By Jana D.K.
JAKARTA — Worker activists and representatives of non-government organisations have met ACTU president Martin Ferguson and told him of their opposition to the ACTU's decision to provide $2 million to, and strengthen cooperation
World
Indonesian student activist arrested
By Edi Budianto
JAKARTA — A leading student activist, Nuku Suleiman, was arrested in the early hours of Friday, November 26 in the office of Yayasan Pijar, a Jakarta student organisation. He has been
By Catherine Brown
Usually municipal elections don't capture much international attention. However, after the three-year Italian corruption scandal in which more than 2000 politicians and industrialists are under investigation, there was some
By Max Lane
Some 110,000 people rallied in Manila on November 30, sending a clear message to the Ramos government that the progressive moment is ready and able to launch a new campaign for political and economic reforms. The unity statement of
By Stephen Robson
HANOI — The introduction of private enterprises has adversely affected women here. Of some 700,000 people who have lost their jobs in the state sector, two-thirds are women.
Creches and kindergartens have deteriorated
DENNIS HOWLETT is a founding member and Steering Committee member of the Action Canada Network and co-chair of the Network's Education and Communication Committee. During a recent visit to Sydney, he was interviewed by LISA MACDONALD for Green Left.
By Stephen Robson
HANOI — The village of Co Nhue is north of the city. Some four kilometres long, it stretches along the highway to the airport.
I visited Co Nhue to meet with representatives from the Peasants Association in the village.
Culture
Challenging Faith
By John A. McKenzie
Fremantle Arts Centre Press. 166 pp. $16.95
Reviewed by Catherine Brown
Challenging Faith is a personal account from one of the thousands of people who joined the Communist Party of Australia in the
Dragons in Distress: Asia's miracle economies in crisis
By Walden Bello and Stephanie Rosenfeld
Penguin, 1992. 346 pp.
Reviewed by Sean Healy
Few modern myths have been so pervasive, and yet so oppressive, as that of the "Asian tigers",
SYDNEY — Greg Friend (King O'Malley) and Brett Ahern (Billy Hughes) argue about conscription in The Legend of King O'Malley at the New Theatre in Newtown. Written by Michael Boddy and Bob Ellis, directed by Matthew Samuel, The Legend is a
A short story by Craig Cormick
There is a child from Somalia, with an old man's face, sitting in the corner of the lounge room. He must have come out of the television set at some time this evening. It's New Year's Eve, and all the stations have
By Ignatius Kim
Hurtling to international success with the hit single "Treaty", Yothu Yindi have become the cultural ambassadors for traditional Australian music. After representing Australia at the UN launch of the International Year for the
Fire with fire: The new female power and how it will change the 21st century
By Naomi Wolf
Random House. 378 pp. $19.95
Reviewed by Karen Fredericks
Naomi Wolf says "power feminism" is the ultimate answer to women's problems and, to
All Hearts on Deck: A Personal Account of the 1981-82 Campaigns of the Sea Shepherd
By Frankie Seymour
Canberra: Boris Books, 1993. 180 pp., $19.95 (pb)
Reviewed by Phil Shannon
"Stop ship and prepare for boarding", ordered the captain of
Out of the ShadowsBy Jo Fisher
Latin America Bureau, 1993. $23.95. Reviewed by Mara Ochoa.
Out of the Shadows looks at the important role women have played in struggles against military dictatorships in four countries: Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay
By Vivienne Porzsolt
As in previous festivals, the latest Jewish film festival in Sydney covered the usual preoccupations of Jewish film with identity, the Holocaust, Israel and the pains of adolescence. With a couple of exceptions, it lacked
Salvadoran band tours
Lara Pullin
Erupo Nacascol was born out of the ruins of Colonia Dolores, a community in San Salvador hard hit by the earthquake of October 1986.
Members of the group discovered their common love of music while
Natural Relations: Ecology, Animal Rights & Social Justice
By Ted Benton
Verso, 1993. 246 pp., $34.95
Reviewed by Dave Riley
Dare I say it: I'm a speciesist and proud of it. I like to look upon myself as into humans in a big way. Other
Oh Africa
Oh Africa
By John Queripel
Reviewed by Simone Fraser
John Queripel has been active for human rights for many years. His recent recording continues to explore this concern.
Many of the songs narrate the lives of activists,
Chiselled in Stone
Papalote
Larrikin Entertainment
Reviewed by Jorge Jorquera
This is a fantastic mix of Latin tunes and rhythms, in songs both original and traditional.
Papalote takes its name from a song about a kite-maker by the
Editorial
Did they run or were they driven?
Last week US State Department officials announced — with glee — that Cuba's future is "a prolonged, slow decline waiting for a catastrophe". They remained coy about their commitment to ensuring this becomes