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Rolling over the membership

By Pat Brewer The current factional brawls in NSW and Victoria are an all too familiar scenario in a party which lacks real democracy. Party members of branches and affiliated unions have little real influence over policy formation, and no

Poll 'free and fair'

Poll 'free and fair' By Norm Dixon JOHANNESBURG — International observers have pronounced the elections free and fair. While acknowledging widespread complaints about the Independent Electoral Commission's "incompetence",

Loose cannons

Ringing endorsement "Whatever my personal feeling is, I'm not going to go out and vilify the leader, no matter what I think of him." — NSW right-wing ALP MLA Peter Anderson, after losing his preselection. Anderson was reported to be upset with

Comment on a debate

Comment on a debate The ongoing population debate is an important one, which I'm glad the paper is allowing to happen so fully. Many important ideas are leaping from it — like when Athena (goddess of wisdom) sprang directly from the mind of

Anti-union repression exposed

Anti-union repression exposed Repression of trade unionists is increasing worldwide, with 92 killed last year, says the International Federation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in a report published on April 28. The report says that some 2300 trade

Forums on East Timor banned

By Jon Land The Indonesian government has clamped down on the activities of East Timor solidarity and human rights groups in response to international attention to the plight of the people there. The release of John Pilger's film Death Of A