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BURMA: 'Illegal' workers fight the 'Three Ds'

BY SEAN HEALY MAE SOT, Thai-Burma border — Heavily pregnant, Ma Thi Da brings out the plates that she, and 500 other Burmese women, made and then hand-painted in a factory in this border town. They'll fetch a pretty penny in the export markets

Indonesia's first socialist magazine

BY MAX LANE Since August, a new left-wing theoretical magazine, Jurnal Kiri (Left Journal), has been published in Indonesia. Three editions of the 160-page magazine have appeared. Its general editor is Marlin, who is also member of the editorial

Opposition grows to inner city 'dry zone'

BY BRONWEN BEECHEY ADELAIDE — The Adelaide City Council's proposal to ban the public consumption of alcohol within the city and North Adelaide came under fire at a meeting of around 100 people in the Adelaide Town Hall on November 20. The

Looking out: Acknowledge your kindness

Acknowledge your kindness "Those who would administer wisely must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of [the human] race is indiscriminate charity." — Andrew Carnegie 1835-1919 The words of warning above by

The politics of genocide denial

BY PETER BOYLE In the midst of the concerted public relations exercise, focused around the Sydney Olympics, to present Australia as a multicultural and non-racist society, the federal minister for Aboriginal affairs John Herron denied the existence

Sydney M1 Alliance gets under way

BY ZANNY BEGG SYDNEY — In one of the biggest campaign organising meetings to be held in Sydney for a long time, 60 people crammed into the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre on November 23 to discuss plans for May 1 in Sydney. The meeting was called

'Unions must come behind May 1'

Gold Coast cableway plan rejected

BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — The controversial Naturelink cableway on the Gold Coast will not go ahead. The Queensland state government on November 8 rejected the proposal in line with its ban on commercial activity in national parks. The Gold

Support a treaty with indigenous Australians

Recent polls have indicated that a majority of non-indigenous Australians support a treaty between the indigenous Australian population and the federal government. This growing support for a treaty is an indication of a strengthening of opposition to

Sack for workers, mansions for bosses

BY STEPHEN O'BRIEN NEWCASTLE — Metal workers, fleeced of their entitlements by the Steel Tube Pipe (STP) group of companies, have extended their picket lines from the Carrington plant of the Newcastle-based group to the luxurious mansion being

EAST TIMOR: Women fight an uphill battle

BY VANJA TANAJA DILI - Five women considered to be "indecently" dressed were chased by a mob of mainly young men near the Mercado Lama (Central Market) here on November 10. Four managed to hide in an NGO-run clinic which was then stoned by the mob.

Aboriginal activists speak out: it's time for a treaty

The final official reconciliation marches this week in Perth and Melbourne will give more impetus to the call by Aboriginal activists for a treaty recognising the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the original inhabitants of Australia.