Editorial

Talk is cheap, silence is worth less

Talk is cheap, silence is worth less Prime Minister John Howard, in an interview with the Australian first reported on February 28, abandoned the December 31 deadline for the adoption of a document on Aboriginal reconciliation. The deadline was

A humane force?

A humane force? The United Nations Security Council, stung by criticism that it didn't intervene to stop the mass slaughter of Tutsis and anti-Interahamwe regime Hutus in Rwanda in 1994, is pushing for a rapid-response "peacekeeping" force. The

Government villainy

Government villainy Three acts of government villainy within a week show just how far the government's vicious drive against undocumented refugee arrivals has gone — and how much we must do to stop the government in its tracks. First, on

Make the bosses pay

Make the bosses pay The successful fight of the 342 workers sacked by National Textiles when it went bankrupt to secure payment of their full leave and severance entitlements is an important victory for all workers. It opens the door for other

Washing the blood from their hands

Washing the blood from their hands "I think any comment [beyond "understanding and sympathy"] is really intruding a little into the internal affairs of another country", Prime Minister John Howard opined on the outcome of the Indonesian and United

Tough luck

Tough luck The federal Coalition government has moved another step along the path of turning Australia into a low wage, low (official) unemployment and low welfare country with its plan to intensify the harassment of unemployed workers receiving

Put Pinochet on trial

Put Pinochet on trial British home secretary Jack Straw's January 12 statement that he is "minded" to release Chilean General Augusto Pinochet, rather than extradite him to Spain to face charges of torture and crimes against humanity, should be

Australia: haven for Nazis

Australia: haven for Nazis There is outrage at alleged Latvian Nazi mass murderer Konrad Kalejs' most recent safe return to Australia. In recent years, Kalejs — who arrived in Australia in 1950 and became an Australian citizen in 1957 — has

A victory to build on

A victory to build on Twenty-four years ago this week, the Indonesian military launched its brutal invasion of East Timor. Today East Timor is at last free of the Indonesian occupation. Although the East Timorese have paid a huge price, and now

Wrong people, wrong purpose

Wrong people, wrong purpose Just about everyone is supporting John Howard's new "Timor tax" to fund the Australian Defence Force commitment there. Labor leader Kim Beazley immediately supported it, as did the Democrats' Meg Lees. The Australian

Welfare through the looking glass

Welfare through the looking glass If anyone has travelled through time, then Lewis Carroll, best known for writing Alice in Wonderland, has. Conclusive evidence is provided by his modelling of the companion novel, Through the Looking Glass, on the

A matter of life or death

A matter of life or death The national crisis in public health care was dramatised last week when emergency wards in at least five public hospitals in Sydney were closed to all patients except those with life-threatening conditions. "You don't get