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Breach the corporate bludgers!

In another predictable round of dole bludger bashing, federal employment minister Mal Brough announced on May 19 that government-commissioned research, largely based on Centrelink surveys, had shown that some 16% of the unemployed were "cruisers" —

Tax workers want pay rise without strings

BY CHRIS SLEE The Australian Taxation Office's insistence that staff must meet "corporate indicators" before receiving a pay rise will likely be a hot issue in negotiations on a new certified agreement for the agency. At a May 16-19 meeting of

Socialist Alliance protests Tasmanian budget

BY DARREN JIGGENS HOBART — Praised by the establishment for handing down a "fiscally responsible" budget, the Labor government was criticised by the Socialist Alliance, which has just announced its candidates for the state election later this

Activists plan Sydney social forum

BY NICK EVERETT SYDNEY — Activists representing the Wilderness Society, the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, the Democratic Socialist Party, the International Socialist Organisation, the NSW Greens and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union

Zinn's powerful voice against war

REVIEW BY ELIZABETH TERZAKI Since September 11, the media has dedicated itself to dishonesty and spinelessness in its support of George Bush's “war on terrorism”. Need some air? Then pick up a copy of Terrorism and War, a collection

Action Updates

Melbourne greets Tampa MELBOURNE — On May 16 the MV Tampa was greeted by a flotilla of boats organised by both the Refugee Action Collective-Victoria and the City of Port Phillip. Messages of support for Captain Arne Rinnan's rescuing of

AMWU leaders charged

BY SUE BULL MELBOURNE - The Victorian branch of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has found itself under major attack from both its national office and the state government, in what many of the union's supporters believe is an

EAST TIMOR: 'Your struggle is our struggle'

[The following is a slightly abridged version of a speech given by Sarah Stephen, a member of the Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific brigade to East Timor, at a protest organised by a number of East Timorese groups in Dili on

Labor Party members discuss refugee policy

BY IGGY KIM SYDNEY — "If it wasn't for the Tampa, we'd have a Labor government today", former NSW premier Neville Wran told a May 23 Labor for Refugees forum which heard calls for an end to the government's present policy towards asylum seekers.

Ruddock continues persecution of Kayanis

BY PAUL OBOOHOV CANBERRA — Relatives of Shahraz Kayani, who died as a result of setting himself alight on the Parliament House forecourt on April 2, 2001, have been prevented from coming to Australia on the anniversary of his death. On May 27,

Nobody's Somebody's

BY SUE CAMPBELL-ROBERTS SYDNEY — How do 17 emerging artists respond to the Australian government's treatment of asylum seekers? With an exhibition of powerful new art works focussing on the individual and collective meaning of journey,

ANGOLA: The crisis you aren't hearing about

BY SEAN HEALY Out of sight of the world, a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions is unfolding in Angola, as perhaps hundreds of thousands of people flee the “grey zones”, the 90% of the country which have until now been closed to