Editorial

Let the refugees in!

Let the refugees in! Dutch colonial rule left Indonesians of Chinese ancestry owning many of the shops, making them an easy scapegoat for the Indonesian military regime. When there is popular anger against the regime, it seeks to deflect that anger

Big Brother is watching

Editorial: Big Brother is watching How times change. Eleven years ago, John Howard and the Liberal Party were leading big demonstrations against the Hawke Labor government's attempt to introduce an ID card, called the Australia Card. Howard

Dancing on Arab graves

Editorial: Dancing on Arab graves Dancing on Arab graves Television news viewers last week saw hundreds of thousands of Israelis fill the streets to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the state of Israel. As the cameras focused on boisterous,

The uses of racism

Editorial: The uses of racism The uses of racism Just over two years ago, John Howard coasted into office promising to make us all feel "comfortable and relaxed". That was only one of countless broken promises — all of which were intended to

Beware of soft cops

Editorial: Beware of soft cops Beware of soft cops The wharf dispute must be pretty serious: after a couple of decades indoors, be-suited ALP politicians have been appearing on (well, alongside) picket lines. Last week, Kim Beazley did a photo

Racism and the Hindmarsh decision

Editorial: Racism and the Hindmarsh decision In its decision in the Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island) case, announced on April 1, the High Court found a way to evade the central issue. This was the government's claim that it has power, under the

Transport madness

Editorial: Transport madness Transport madness In Sydney last week, haze from bushfires hung over the city, mixing with "normal" pollutants to produce a pollution index reading more than double the "acceptable" limit. Coincidentally, the Sydney

What conflict of interest?

Editorial: What conflict of interest? What conflict of interest? Rejecting Labor claims that his minister for resources and energy, Senator Warwick Parer's, ownership of $2 million worth of shares in a coal mine amounts to a conflict of interest,

Racism and elections

Editorial: Racism and elections Racism and elections For almost six months now, the federal Coalition government and the big business media have been scaremongering about a possible "race-based election". If the Senate doesn't pass his 10-point

Telstra privatisation

Telstra privatisation Following Telstra CEO Frank Blount's announcement, several weeks ago, of a record interim profit of $1.6 billion, PM John Howard and treasurer Peter Costello have been talking up their plan to fully privatise the profitable

The Senate and Wik

The Senate and Wik Parliament resumes sitting this week, so the government's Wik bill, the 10-point plan to undermine and destroy native title rights, will shortly again be before the Senate. The Senate's expected insistence on amending the bill is

Taxation: reform or reaction?

Editorial: Taxation: reform or reaction? The Coalition government has relaunched its bid to introduce a consumption tax after the next election. The government and big business won't give up on their plans for a GST. Having learned that it is best