By Tom Kelly
The 49th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima was commemorated in a number of Australian cities on August 6. The occasion served to highlight the threat to humanity and the environment posed
Issue 154
News
ADELAIDE — The South Australian Institute of Teachers is planning a rally for September 3 and has proposed a series of strikes and school stoppages to protest the state Liberal government's cuts to public education.
SAIT president, Claire
Independent challenges Labor in Williamstown
By Bayardo Rodriguez
MELBOURNE — "Our central aim is to highlight the need to reverse the effects of the last decade of federal and state Labor policies on the west. The ALP's policies of
South east tollway opposed
By Dave Riley
BRISBANE — More than 7000 people rallied in the Daisy Hill State Forest on July 31 to protest the state Labor government's plan to forge a new road link between Brisbane and the Gold Coast through
PNG environmentalists reject logging plans
By Freya Pinney
On August 12, the PNG government will consider a Timber Supply Agreement (TSA) proposal. Ursula Rakova, spokesperson for a 14-strong delegation from the Papua New Guinea National
Keating's hypocritical environmentalism
By Dave Wright
MELBOURNE — On August 4, Friends of the Earth condemned Paul Keating's hypocrisy for denouncing resource piracy by Japanese and Malaysian companies, while supporting Australian
Kurnell workers win partial victory
By Dave Mizon
On July 15 the Australian Industrial Relations Commission handed down a decision that places the dispute between Caltex and workers at the Kurnell refinery out of the NSW state industrial
'Time to go'
By Catherine Brown
Time for Peace — Time to Go is an international broad-based campaign formed to mark the 25th anniversary of British troops in the north of Ireland. The campaign says that British withdrawal is central to
Thousands of dollars raised for Cuba
By Eliseo Balcazar and Scott Lewington
MELBOURNE — Four hundred and fifty people attended a July 30 celebration commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. The event, organised by the
By Maurice Sibelle
BRISBANE — Two thousand five hundred people rallied in Brisbane's King George Square to protest the privatisation of public enterprises on August 4. Ian McLean, former state president of the Queensland ALP and secretary of
Action to save Moe hospital
By Ray Fulcher
MELBOURNE — A cavalcade of 1500 cars drove down the Princes Highway in Moe, Gippsland on July 31 to protest the government's plans to close the town's public hospital and replace it with a
Analysis
June 1994 marked the 25th anniversary of the riots sparked by police raids on New York's Stonewall Inn. These demonstrations signalled the rise of a radical movement for lesbian and gay liberation. RODNEY CROOME of the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian
World
US President Donald Trump made the unprecedented threat to “totally destroy” North Korea, not in a tweet or off the cuff remark, but in a written speech before the United Nations General Assembly on September 20. No other leader of a country has ever stood before the UN and openly stated its intention to destroy another country.
Coupled with Trump’s earlier threat to rain down “fire and fury” on North Korea, this threat must be seen as one that at least includes the possibility of a nuclear attack.
South Africans demand US ends Cuba blockade
By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — Pickets were held in several South African cities on July 26 to demand that the United States government end its blockade of Cuba. Over a hundred people braved a
By Jon Land
Military cooperation between Australia and Indonesia has been boosted with Defence Minister Robert Ray and defence force chief Admiral Allan Beaumont's five-day visit to Indonesia. The high-level discussions, which began on August 1,
By Renfrey Clarke
MOSCOW — "There is a general feeling — at least among those inclined to be bullish on the subject — that a post-reform Russian economy has dawned, and we are now moving out across the gently rising pastures on the further
By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — Twenty five thousand workers employed in South Africa's car assembly industry have begun a national strike in support a 12% wage increase and the elimination of apartheid wage differentials.
Speaking on August
By Stephen Marks
MANAGUA — The size of the turnout at the rally to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution surprised everybody this year.
The FSLN had announced they did not have the resources to bus and truck people
There are many Guatemalan refugees living in Mexico, most illegally. Many are activists who live in fear of the Guatemalan army and secret police and the Mexican authorities. "Manuel" spoke to Green Left Weekly's ROBYN MARSHALL in March, and
By Phil Clarke
China's economy, which as recorded more than 13% growth in 1992 and 1993, is the fastest growing in the world. Despite that, it is a dramatic example of the dictum that, without a profound change in the social relations of
On July 13, the United Nations Committee on Decolonisation met in New York and received submissions from a range of human rights, solidarity and Timorese groups on East Timor. The following is an abridged version of the submission from Maureen
Israel bans PLO from East Jerusalem
The Israeli government has introduced a new law to prevent the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian National Authority from conducting any political activities, or creating any political or
ANC Environment Desk chief Tami Sokutu has slammed his party for going back on its environmental promises, saying that those in power appear to want a weak, limited and ineffective ministry and department of the environment.
"Before the
By Jenny Long
The confrontation between Palestinian workers and Israeli soldiers at the Erez checkpoint on July 17, described by the Jerusalem Times as the "revolution of the hungry" has highlighted the desperate need for real change in the
By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — The militant three-week strike by workers at the Pick 'n Pay supermarket chain has been settled. The outcome reflects that neither the workers, their union, the SACCAWU, nor Pick 'n Pay management were able to get
Culture
Ecocalendar
SYDNEY — The Ecocalendar is a quarterly listing of environmental and social ecology organisations and events. In addition to three months of events listed in a planner format, there is a listing of progressive organisations with
Fundamental Feminism
By Judith Grant
Routledge 1994
Distributed by the Law Book Company Limited 226 pp., $32.95 (pbk)
Reviewed by Carla Gorton
Judith Grant has embarked on a worthwhile endeavour. She offers a critical exploration of the
Black humour from Eastern Europe
Three Colours White
A film by Krysztof Kieslowski
Showing at Sydney's Academy Twin
Reviewed by Peter Boyle
If you like your comedy Eastern European black, this is a film for you. The second of
A proletarian novel
The Heart On It
By Barry Hines
Michael Joseph 1994, 280 pp., $29.95 (hb)
Reviewed by Phil Shannon
The proletarian novel lives on. Barry Hines, the novelist from a Yorkshire mining village, takes us to the coal pit
Distant Voices
By John Pilger
Vintage, 1994, 625 pp., $14.95 (pb)
Reviewed by Phil Shannon
In Distant Voices, John Pilger is once again on a mission to "rescue from media oblivion uncomfortable facts" about our human and political world.
Edward Scissorhands does Bladerunner — badly!
The Crow
Directed by Alex Proyas
Reviewed by Graham Matthews
The Crow could have been a darkly disturbing film, chronicling the decay of the slightly futuristic inner city, in the style of
Tunnel Vision
By Sara Paretsky
Hamish Hamilton 483 pp., $19.95
Pronto
By Elmore Leonard
Penguin 265 pp., $14.95
Reviewed by Dave Riley
Norman Mailer said recently that women cannot write good fiction because they "don't have
Interesting exploration of relationships
Traps
Directed by Pauline Chan
Starring Saskia Reeves and Robert Reynolds
Ronin Films
Reviewed by Karl Miller
Traps is an interesting exploration of the dynamics of a relationship between two
Manhood: a book about setting men free
By Steve Biddulph
Finch Publishing 1994
Reviewed by Chris Slee
"We are told it's a man's world, but the statistics on men's health, happiness and survival show this is a lie. It is arguable that our
Sanctuary
By David Williamson
A Playbox production
Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf 2 Theatre
Reviewed by Helen Jarvis
"David Williamson's latest play is a remarkable work because, in one sitting, it helps us to read between the lines. It
Absurdism and hidden information
The Two Executioners
Directed by Douglas Horton
Adapted from a play by Fernando Arrabal
Performed by Chamber Made Opera
Starring Bernadette Robinson
Napier Street Theatre, South Melbourne
Until August
Editorial
No to US/UN invasion of Haiti
The UN Security Council resolution authorising "all necessary means to facilitate the departure from Haiti of the military leadership" sets the political framework for a US-led invasion of Haiti under UN cover.