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Qld government faces mounting industrial pressure

BY REBECCA MECKELBURG BRISBANE — The current dispute between the Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) and Premier Peter Beattie's Labor government (see article on page 2) is the latest in a series of industrial challenges facing the government since its

UNITED STATES: Enron, WorldCom there's worse to come

UNITED STATES Enron, WorldCom — there's worse to come BY PETER BOYLE The timing was spectacular. On June 24, US President George Bush delivered a lecture to the Palestinian people about the corrupt and autocratic nature of the elected

INDONESIA: The IMF: A globalising debate

INDONESIA The IMF: A globalising debate BY MAX LANE JAKARTA — The debate between minister Kwik Kian Gie, who is in charge of the National Economic Planning Board, and the other ministers in President Megawati Sukarnoputri's cabinet

'End this evil system of detention'

[The following remarks by Booker Prize winning author THOMAS KENEALLY were read out to the June 23 World Refugee Week rally in Sydney.] I am disappointed I cannot be there today to add my voice to yours. Like you, I consider the compulsory

Protests indicate refugees' support high

BY LISA MACDONALD  More than 13,000 people joined refugees' rights protests around Australia on the June 22-23 weekend. In many cities, these were the largest protests for refugees yet. According to refugees' rights supporters, this is

Nurses reject pay offer

Nurses reject pay offer BY MARIA VOUKELATOS BRISBANE — The Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) has been in a month-long battle over wages and conditions in the Queensland Health Service. Nurses are demanding a 12% pay rise over the next two

Fo, Rame and theatre of intervention

Won't Pay!, 25 Monologues for a Woman"> Fo, Rame and theatre of intervention Dario Fo and Franca Rame: Harlequins of the RevolutionBy Joseph FarrellMethuen, 2001308 pp, $49.95 (hb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON Dario Fo and Franca Rame hit certain

WA Socialist Alliance seeks registration

WA Socialist Alliance seeks registration BY JANE ARMANASCO PERTH — After successful state registration campaigns in NSW and Tasmania, the Western Australia Socialist Alliance has begun the task of acquiring state electoral

Nauru despair documented

Nauru despair documented BY SARAH STEPHEN In early June, BBC reporter Sarah Macdonald and Australian refugee supporter Kate Durham secretly filmed the conditions under which of asylum seekers are being held on Nauru. The footage will be

A conversation with Gough

BY PAUL BENEDEK SYDNEY — The last person you would expect to launch a book on East Timor would be Gough Whitlam, who was, in 1975, the Australian prime minister who allowed Indonesia's occupation of that country. So I was surprised to find

Unwarranted praise

Unwarranted Praise Greens Senator Bob Brown, in a June 14 press release, congratulated federal Labor leader Simon Crean for having “taken a large step in moving Labor from the 'me-tooism' on asylum seekers it proffered during the [2001

Definitely not bubblegum pop

Definitely not bubblegum pop BY NICOLE HOYE  BRISBANE — With the empty lyrics of bubblegum pop music artists like Britney Spears and NSync hogging the mainstream music charts and airwaves, selling millions of albums worldwide,