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Labor reverses onus of proof

BY TILLY ELDERFIELD SYDNEY — Police in New South Wales are to be given wide powers to arrest people seen entering or leaving suspected "drug houses" and those suspected of acting as lookouts. Officers will also be able to seize properties and

Is blockading a democratic right?

COMMENT BY ROBERTO JORQUERA  PERTH — According to countless media commentators and letter writers, the M1 protesters who blockaded stock exchanges around the country were violent, undemocratic and hypocritical because they were denying

Behind the Port Hedland refugee raid

BY SARAH STEPHEN  Public anger is mounting at the federal government's treatment of asylum seekers, following a May 26 raid on the Port Hedland detention centre and the arrest of 22 refugees singled out from a May 11 riot at the

Looking out: Constitution trees

“Don't you realize that I could have killed you ten times by now — your monkey boy bodyguards notwithstanding...” — anonymous. The hate-filled words heading this essay are from a bullying letter sent to an African-American student leader at

SCOTLAND: Glasgow rallies against racism

BY MARK BROWN GLASGOW — In a powerful blow against the anti-refugee bigots, the Campaign to Welcome Refugees here held a 200-strong hustings meeting in the city's Moir Hall on May 24. Representatives of all six parties, including the Scottish

New evidence emerges of overcrowded universities

BY JEREMY SMITH The Australian Vice-ChancellorsÂ’ Committee has released a new survey of post-secondary education demonstrating the effects of funding cuts on teaching. Overall the staff to student ratio for the industry has increased by 3%

BRITAIN: Blair likely to remain

BY MARGARET ALLUM Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair is smug in the knowledge that his government is almost certain of victory in the June 7 British general election. Blair knows that the continuing political impotence of the Tory opposition will

Workers' compensation rights defended

BY LISA MACDONALD SYDNEY — Chanting "Hands off workers' comp!", 2000 construction workers and their supporters brought lunchtime traffic to a halt as they marched through the city on May 29. The rally was smaller than originally expected due to a

Why Nazis still call Australia home

REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON War Criminals Welcome: Australia, A Sanctuary for War Criminals since 1945By Mark AaronsBlack Inc, 2001649 pp, $34.95 (pb) When justice minister Amanda Vanstone said that the alleged Latvian war criminal Konrads Kalejs was

ABC budget increase a dot-com con

BY ADAM MACLEAN With an eye on countering a rural backlash, the federal Liberal-National government has announced significant telecommunication policy backflips in the May 22 budget. As well as committing itself to not sell off the

Big Brother: Ten housemates reinventing reality

Big Brother Channel Ten 7-7.30pm Mondays to Fridays 9.30-10.30pm Thursdays 8.30-9.30pm Saturdays 7.30-8.30pm Sundays REVIEW BY ALISON DELLIT “It's just a game show”, said contestant Johnny to fellow contestant Sharna, in the

Activists to save inner-city bushland

BY GILBERT HOLMES BRISBANE — A determined band of activists are preparing a blockade in an effort to save Brisbane's last piece of inner-city bushland. The two hectares of bushland, known as "The Gully", have received council approval for a