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Life of Riley: Self-evident truths

Politicians have talked about democracy for 300 years and now people have come to expect it. Ask any American and they'll tell you that democracy is a self-evident truth. It's even written down somewhere. The authority of the state is so tarnished

Greens sound alarm on secondary boycotts

By Jennifer Thompson Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown has raised the alarm over the so-called exemptions for environmental and consumer actions from being defined as "illegal" under the Coalition-Democrat amendments to the Workplace Relations

Action updates

Telstra sell-off condemned BRISBANE — Members of the Community and Public Sector Union gathered outside Telstra House on November 6 for a lunchtime picket to oppose government plans to privatise the country's telecommunications giant.

Living wage case: Too little, too late

By James Vassilopoulos Is the ACTU's living wage case a salvation for the growing number of working poor, or is it merely a public relations stunt to make the ACTU appear relevant to workers? The ACTU has lodged a claim before the Australian

Woodchipping — another gift to business

By Marina Cameron Less than two years ago, thousands of people took to the streets around Australia to protest against the Labor government's expansion of the woodchipping export quotas and the granting of licences to woodchip areas of high

Leunig's characters come to life

State of BewildermentBased on the work of Michael LeunigPerformed by Trestle Theatre CompanyDrama Theatre, Sydney Opera HouseFrom November 7Reviewed by Brendan Doyle An angel flits above the noisy, dusty city. Vasco Pyjama rows across the stage in an

Marketing science

intro = For the Common Good: CSIRO and Public Sector Research and DevelopmentEdited by Peter EwerPluto Press, 1996. 102 pp., $19.95 (pb)Reviewed by Dot Tumney The CSIRO division of the Community and Public Sector Union sponsored this monograph on

Migrants don't cost jobs

By Peter Boyle If recent polls are to be believed, a majority of Australians are in favour stopping immigration at least in the short term. According to a November 2-3 AGB-McNair poll, 62% are in favour of a "short term freeze", and a Bulletin

Union organiser run down on picket line

Union organiser run down on picket line By Tim Gooden CANBERRA — On November 7, at a picket line established outside the government workshops in Fyshwick, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union organiser Geoff McGowan-Lay was run down

The 1980s' free education campaign

In the second in a three-part series on the history of the student movement in Australia, MARINA CAMERON spoke to JORGE JORQUERA about the lessons from the free education campaign in the 1980s. Jorquera was an activist in that campaign, secretary of

Cancer cure in private hands

By Jennifer Thompson At the beginning of October, the former publicly owned Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, now CSL Limited, announced a breakthrough discovery — a therapeutic vaccine against a bacterium which causes peptic ulcers and sometimes

Melbourne anti-racist meeting plans action

A lively anti-racism public meeting in Melbourne on November 6 echoed the calls from other cities for a national day of action against racism. Sue Bolton reports that more than 60 people turned up to hear Lam Nguyen, a Vietnamese secondary student;