ADELAIDE — Seven members of the neo-fascist National Action organisation stormed into the Adelaide Resistance Bookshop on March 14, destroying posters and threatening Resistance activists. National Action threatened that if Resistance did not withdraw its support from a broad anti-fascist action in Melbourne on the following weekend there would be serious repercussions.
Adelaide Resistance has asked a number of anti-racist activists for support if it is required. Those who can help should call the Resistance office on 231 6982.
BRISBANE — The Queensland meat industry is in crisis, with the state's biggest abattoir company beginning a shutdown in advance of a 24-hour strike on March 20. Slaughtermen were stood down at the four Australia Meat Holdings abattoirs at Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Dinmore and Beaudesert.
The six-month dispute over enterprise bargaining has come to a head in a bitter confrontation. Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union federal president Les Day said the company was intent on breaking the award system. "Workers decided to escalate the campaign because they have had enough of starvation wages", he said.
BRISBANE — A referendum will be held to decide the future of a plan to seal a dirt road at Mt Nebo, Pine Rivers Shire Mayor Yvonne Chapman announced on March 17, after protests by residents of the area. Local residents had blockaded the road, known as the Goat Track, in opposition to moves to lay bitumen on the road, which links Mt Nebo with the Mt Glorious-Highvale Road, west of Samford.
The protesters claimed that sealing the road would dramatically increase accidents, endanger the ecology and triple traffic.
MELBOURNE — Charges against 11 protesters arrested for obstructing work on the Eastern Freeway extension were dismissed in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on March 14. The protesters, including Australian Conservation Foundation director Tricia Caswell and members of the Campaign Against Freeway Extensions, were charged at four separate actions in November.
According to magistrate Raffaele Barberio, at the time the charges were laid, works on the Alexandra Parade freeway extensions were illegal. The 1978 Environmental Effects Act was amended in December, removing any requirement for environmental reports unless specifically demanded by the minister, but Barberio ruled that the law could not be applied retrospectively.
MELBOURNE — The Australian Family Association has called on the Kennett government to follow the Queensland government's example and ban swap cards aimed at promoting safe sex. The Victorian Aids Council plans to distribute the cards in gay bars and nightclubs. The cards use cartoons, pictures and messages to encourage safe sex. The Victorian Department of Health has called in the cards so that they can be checked by the chief censor.