Bosses demand pay cut for low paid
When the Fair Pay Commission holds its annual National Minimum Wage Case hearing in mid-2008, the major employers will propose cuts to real wages. As food, petrol and housing...
Bush’s war drums influence Iranian election
IN ITS campaign for yet another war, members of George W Bush's decaying administration have been making almost daily condemnations of Iran over its uranium enrichment and its support...
Trading our way out of disaster
Massive ice loss in both the Arctic and Antarctic indicate that we are passing important climate tipping points. This mounting evidence of the need for serious solutions to climate...
Bear Stearns- capitalism on the brink
OVER A single weekend last month, the global financial system came close to total collapse. A desperate US Federal Reserve intervened to stop the collapse of investment bank Bear...
NT Aboriginal elder speaks out–intervention punitive and racist
LABOR'S Aboriginal Affairs minister, Jenny Macklin, consistently presents the Northern Territory intervention as a humanitarian effort aimed at supporting remote Aboriginal communities and stamping out child abuse.But Aboriginal people...
Ideas for undoing the Howard legacy
Larissa Behrendt, director of research at The Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology SydneyHow would you characterise the policy shifts that happened during the last 12 years,...
Activists protest against NT intervention
On March 13, Protests against the NT intervention targeted Centrelink offices in 8 cities and towns around Australia, to draw attention to the racist policy of welfare quarantines for...
MUA here to stay—The 1998 waterfront dispute
This year marks 20 years since the 1998 waterfront dispute—John Howard’s first attempt to break union power. Mark Gillespie draws out the lessons.
ALP branch condemns intervention
On March 25, Vince Forrester addressed the Darlington branch of the ALP which passed the following motion:"Darlington Branch welcomes the apology to the stolen generation. However, we demand that...
Capitalism and class conflict in the new China
FOR MANY western commentators, China is the saviour of the ailing world economy. However the hellish pace of China's growth is being achieved at enormous human and environmental cost,...
Welfare policy- blame the victims
The early months of the Rudd government have shown that it is just as committed to the neo-liberal "welfare reform" agenda as John Howard.When Rudd's government floated the idea...
When the US was defeated last time
JANUARY 2008 marked the 40th anniversary of the Vietnamese "Tet Offensive" against US and South Vietnamese armies. On the 31st of January 1968 the National Liberation Front (NLF) entered...
Centrelink- organise now to fight razor gang cuts
CENTRELINK WORKERS are well placed to fight the Rudd government's razor gang cuts to the public sector-but the union needs to organise a much more effective campaign if we...
US defeat offers new hope for Iraq
AS SOLIDARITY grows to print, radical Shia leader Moqtada Al Sadr had postponed plans for a million strong march in Baghdad calling for an end to the presence of...
Queensland privatisation disaster complete
AS PART of its privatisation plan, the NSW government wants to sell off the state's retail electricity arm. But, whatever their claims, the evidence from the recently completed retail...
The horrors of war on record
What was the purpose of the Winter Soldier testimonies?What Iraq Veterans Against the War were trying to do with Winter Soldier was present testimony from soldiers, sailors, airmen and...
Judge admits terror trials unfair
The "Barwon 13", thirteen Melbourne men arrested, charged and on trial under Australia's "anti-terror" laws, have won a change in their previous humiliating jail conditions.In March, judge for the...
Missed chance to map out agenda for change
Dear Mr RuddEdited by Robert ManneBlack Inc, $29.95With Howard finally gone, the time would seem right for a book that lays out how the new government can go about...
McClelland creates toothless inquiry to Haneef fiasco
John Clarke QC, the former NSW Supreme Court judge, is heading the inquiry into the arrest of Mohammed Haneef under the 'anti-terror' laws, which is expected to start in...
Hollywood’s faith shaking tale of war
In the Valley of ElahWritten and directed by Paul HaggisIn cinemas nowSpeaking of the reality of military service, Iraq War veteran Matt Howard last year said: "You will never...
Labor won’t wield the axe on military
ANYONE READING last month's papers would be forgiven for thinking that the Rudd government is about to slash the military budget. Media reports suggested that Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon...
Howard’s view of history a bore
History's Children: History wars in the classroomBy Anna ClarkUNSW Press, $29.95High school students are mostly bored with Australian history.That's the sad conclusion reached by Anna Clark after interviewing 182...
Five years on the demonstrations are all the more important
HUNDREDS RALLIED across the country to mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq on March 16. The demonstrations were smaller than previous anniversary rallies, with 350 in...
Letters
Remembering the first Mardi GrasCongratulations on the publication and on the article about the first Mardi Gras.The 31st parade, on 1st March, was led by 180 people from the...
Fundamental policy change needed to ditch Howard’s refugee legacy
ON 12 March, Labor's immigration minister Chris Evans announced he would personally review the cases of 61 detainees who've been incarcerated for two or more years: "Long-term detainees who...
NSW privatisation plans on the brink
NSW Premier Morris Iemma and Treasurer Michael Costa have displayed an unprecedented level of arrogance in their attempt to push through power privatisation.Privatisation is against NSW Labor party policy...
Election shakes Malaysian political system
A political shockwave hit Malaysia in March's general election, with opposition parties destroying the ruling coalition's two-thirds majority domination of parliament.Opposition parties won 82 out of the 222 seats,...
