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Maralinga: Australia聮s Nuclear Waste Cover-up
By Alan Parkinson
ABC Books, 2007
233 pages, $32.95 (pb)
For the 16th consecutive year, the United Nations has overwhelmingly voted for a resolution urging the US to lift its 47-year long economic embargo against Cuba.
On October 31, Victorian planning minister Justin Madden released a report that gave the environmental green light for the dredging of Port Phillip Bay. Channel deepening, which is tied to port expansion, is essential according to the Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) because of the bay鈥檚 shallowness. Opponents argue that the risks are too great and that alternatives exist, but the Labor state government has made it clear that it wants the project to proceed.
In 1975, when Indonesia invaded East Timor, beginning a 24-year occupation that cost over 200,000 Timorese lives (over a third of the population), Australia聮s support for this genocidal occupation was predicated on a policy outlined in the infamous 聯Woolcott telegram聰: that Australia聮s interest in East Timor was derived from the oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea.
There is an idea promoted by the ALP, aimed at obfuscating the party聮s true nature, which is often used by ALP left-wingers to justify their continued allegiance. It聮s what may be called the 聯generational myth聰, and it goes like this: previous generations of ALP leaders and membership have always been more progressive, have more clearly seen 聯the light on the hill聰, and it聮s only the party聮s current leadership that has sold out.
Almost 90 Western Australian construction workers are due to suffer fines of up to $22,000 each on November 5, after admitting at an October 24 court hearing to taking 聯unlawful聰 industrial action in February last year. The workers聮 聯crime聰 was to take part in a 400-person strong strike in February 2006 on the city tunnel section of the Perth-Mandurah rail line to demand the reinstatement of their elected health and safety union representative Peter Ballard, who had been sacked by building company Leighton-Kumagai for insisting on maintaining safe working conditions.
Twenty-four aircraft of the Sri Lankan air force were damaged or destroyed during an attack on the Anuradhapura air base, in Sri Lanka聮s North Central Province, carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on October 22. The LTTE has for several decades been fighting for self-determination for Sri Lanka聮s Tamil minority, in response to the discrimination and violent repression carried out against the Tamil people by a series of racist Sri Lankan governments that have drawn their support from the island聮s Sinhalese majority.
PM John Howard is running low on stocks for a fear campaign to propel him back into office for a fifth time. In 1998, Howard gave just enough support to Pauline Hanson鈥檚 racist fear campaign against Asian migrants and Aboriginal people to to get him over the line in spite of promising to bring in the unpopular GST. In 2001, the fear campaign was generated by the Tampa refugees, with Howard defiantly claiming, 鈥淲e will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come鈥. In 2004, it was the threat of rising interest rates under Labor 鈥 oops, can鈥檛 use that one again Johnnie!
Thousands of people will read 91自拍论坛 Weekly for the first time this week. You may be one of these first-time readers. If so, chances are you will have picked up a copy at one of the large Walk Against Warming marches being held all around Australia on the weekend of November 10-11.
The scientists are horrified. But not being media-savvy publicists, they generally leave their shocking findings in scientific journals. The politicians quote cautious statements issued by scientific committees early in the decade, and worry about scaring off corporate funding. The business executives look for the chance of new profits, and hire public relations experts to advise them on cultivating a green image.
Know your candidate: Dr Tim Kirchler (Moncrieff, Queensland) In a candid chat with 91自拍论坛 Weekly, Kirchler, who works as a general practitioner on the Gold Coast, spoke about his reasons for running. "I believe it's time that we in
The connections between water scarcity, power generation and the federal government聮s promotion of nuclear power are worth reflecting on with National Water Week held from October 21-27.