ADELAIDE — A pro-choice picket at Parliament House on June 10 attracted 50 people. Organised by the pro-choice club from Adelaide University, the protest was part of an ongoing campaign to repeal all anti-abortion laws and for funding to provide adequate access for women who seek abortions. Speakers included Melanie Sjoberg from the Democratic Socialist Party, Gillian Brannigan, the Flinders University women's officer, and a representative of the ALP.
- A lively meeting organised by the Democratic Socialist Party discussed sustainable development on June 9 at the Resistance Centre. DSP organiser Chris Spindler spoke on the impossibility of sustainable development within the present social system. "The merciless drive for profits means that the environment will always lose out. We are now seeing a 'greening of the left' and a 'lefting of the green' which will take on and change this system", Spindler said. Resistance activist Vikki Langton argued that we mustn't see technology or population as the cause of environmental destruction. "Useful technology will play an important role in helping us solve these very problems", she said.
- High school students interested in Secondary Students Against the Cuts met on June 11 at the Resistance Centre to discuss how to organise students in the wake of the state Liberal government's cuts to public education. We will be circulating a petition and a newsletter on the campaign. Anyone interested in becoming involved in Secondary Students against the Cuts should contact Merrie on 231 6982.
SYDNEY — Around 8000 Macedonians rallied in Belmore Park on June 12 to protest against the recent decision of the federal Labor government to change the officially recognised name of the Macedonian community in Australia to the "Slav-Macedonian" community. The decision was taken with minimal consultation with the Macedonian community but in close collaboration with the conservative leadership of the Greek community. Speakers addressing the rally pointed out the hypocrisy of this decision in light of the Keating government's supposed commitment to multiculturalism and labelled the denial of the Macedonian community's right to self-definition a cynical exercise in vote-chasing among the more powerful Greek community.
- A long-term, multifaceted campaign to repeal abortion from the NSW Crimes Act was decided on at a Women's Abortion Action Campaign meeting on June 7. Task groups were set up to focus on areas such as media liaison, endorsement, education and elections. In the short-term, the campaign will focus on making abortion an election issue. In both the Parramatta by-election later this year, and the NSW state election due early 1995, WAAC will be calling on candidates to declare their views on abortion law repeal.