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'Big cringe' threatens independent film makers

By Tracy Sorensen Every now and then, a documentary film sparks controversy and action. It happened when ABC TV showed Cop it Sweet recently; it has happened many times over the 30-year history of Four Corners; and John Pilger had the

Building union clerks on strike

Building union clerks on strike By Jenny O'Donnell SYDNEY — Thirty clerical union staff employed by the Building Workers Industrial Union and the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Association have been on strike since March 30 over the

The timber with blood in its grain

By Julian Mellor Situated on the banks of the Salween River, the Thai frontier village called Tha Ta Fang had an air of lawlessness about it. Men sitting in the waterside cafe eyed us suspiciously, a couple of rifles rested against the wall

NSW dithers on homophobia in schools

By Kim Spurway SYDNEY — Three gay men have been forced to leave an inner-city high school because of death threats, verbal abuse and anti-gay messages left on blackboards. The three were followed home by gangs and were physically abused and

Write on

Timor On Saturday, March 21, I and a companion flew to Kupang. We intended to go to East Timor for a holiday. I had spoken to some Indonesians a few weeks before and they had recommended for me to go to East Timor to see what it was really

Derailing the education campaign

Comment by Jorge Jorquera The National Union of Students organised a national day of student action on March 26. Rallies and demonstrations were held in most major cities, with several thousand university and college students participating.

Socialist candidate slams ACTU on immigration

By Peter Boyle The Democratic Socialist candidate for the Wills by-election, Bob Lewis, has condemned the latest ACTU call to cut immigration as a "thinly veiled appeal to racist sentiment" and a "total cop-out on seriously addressing

Stranglehold on the print media

By Peter Boyle Now that the Adelaide News has folded, every capital city in Australia except Sydney and Melbourne has only one local daily newspaper. In Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin, the only daily paper is owned by Rupert Murdoch's

Qld legal aid in danger

Qld legal aid in danger By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Community centres providing free legal advice could be forced to close because of a Queensland government cut in funding, a legal organisation warned on April 2. Karen Fletcher, convener

Symptoms of crisis

Symptoms of crisis There have been some alarming trends in recent European elections, with Jean-Marie Le Pen's neo-fascists winning nearly 14% of the vote in French regional elections, neo-fascists winning large votes in Belgium and

New Romany group battles for national rights

By Peter Annear PRAGUE — The murder of a Romany man late last year — he was thrown from a window by a group of marauding racists — tragically focussed attention on the problems faced by the Romany national minority, commonly referred to

Inkatha threat to Zimbabwean government

Inkatha threat to Zimbabwean government By Norm Dixon Chief Gatsha Buthelezi's Inkatha Freedom Party has promised opponents of the government in neighbouring Zimbabwe that, should it achieve power in South Africa, it will work to remove