Twenty-five years after the worst industrial disaster in history, the people of Bhopal, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, are still fighting for justice.
Kerryn Williams
On May 10, federal treasurer Wayne Swan announced that Australia will finally join the overwhelming majority of developed countries in implementing a national paid parental leave scheme. But the plan falls way short of what women need.
On April 15, receivers for collapsed childcare company ABC Learning announced they had found new operators for 210 of its 241 childcare centres deemed unprofitable. As well as the 55 centres already shut down at the end of last year, 19 are set to close next month.
On August 18, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib was fined $400 in the Ryde Local Court for offensive language and behaviour towards police. The ruling will be appealed in the Parramatta District Court on September 11.
After a massive campaign launched in February by survivors of the 1984 Bhopal disaster, the Indian government announced on August 8 that it would concede their demands to establish an “empowered commission” for rehabilitation of victims and the environment, and pursue legal action against Dow Chemicals.
Claims by immigration minister Kevin Andrews that African refugees are less capable of resettling in Australia than other migrant groups have been met with widespread condemnation by welfare, community and human rights organisations.
In February this year, a boat carrying 83 Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka was intercepted by the Australian Navy. After being detained on Christmas Island for a month, the Tamils were transferred to Nauru.
About 1400 nurses in Fiji, who began a strike on July 25, were joined on August 2 by thousands of teachers and other public servants, resulting in at least half of FijiÂ’s 20,000 public sector workers being on strike.
The following letter was sent by Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly on May 16 to the editor of the Australia/Israel Review, the journal of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.
In the latest move against the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion in the US, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 on April 18 to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The act was signed into law by US President George Bush in November 2003.
Sekai Holland, a long-time leader of ZimbabweÂ’s liberation struggle and a champion of womenÂ’s rights, was detained by police on March 11 in the latest violent crackdown by President Robert MugabeÂ’s increasingly unpopular regime. Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai was also arrested and later taken to the intensive care unit of a Harare hospital with severe injuries resulting from police beatings.
“I voted yes and will always vote yes”, Reuters quoted Laurinda Duarte as saying. “Abortions will always take place so why not vote to allow women to carry them out under decent conditions? I am a Catholic but that does not mean I am not free to vote.”
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