The 6th Women and Labour Conference (held at Deakin University in Geelong, 28 – 30 November) featured a workshop, “Resist Casualisation and Union Busting in TAFE: Frontline Fighters Speak Out!,” which was jointly sponsored by Radical Women and the NMIT Unionists Campaign Committee. Strong women unionists from the Australian Education Union (AEU) and National Tertiary… Read more »
International
International Anti-Fascist Conference: A Lost Opportunity to Build Solidarity
In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, the shocking resurgence of fascism in Europe was marked by jackbooted racist skinheads, marches of uniformed “seig-heiling” Hitlerites and the torching of Turkish refugee residences. Now the fascists are forming parties like Austria’s Freedom Party, Italy’s National Alliance and Belgium’s Vlaams Blok and are heading for the ballot box…. Read more »
Walter Hillbrick: Homosexual Rights Pioneer – 7 April 1920 – 11 September 1997
Walter was born at the Salvation Army Home for Unmarried Mothers in North Fitzroy. He became a ward of the state and spent his childhood and adolescence in foster homes and eventually at the Central Mission Training Farm, Tally Ho, run by Edgar Derrick, a humanistic Christian who strongly influenced Walter. After undertaking psychoanalysis in… Read more »
Gee, Thanks Guys!
One thing working class activists have learned is that working people can’t rely on the capitalist state to stop injustice. The reason for this is, of course, that capitalism is the source of injustice, inequality and oppression across the globe. If there’s a battle to be fought, then we have to do it ourselves. We… Read more »
International Feminist Brigade to Cuba Defend the Revolution by Imitating its Defiance!
Imagine living in a society where education, healthcare and childcare are free; the law treats women as equals to men; the community enforces law against discrimination and sexual assault; abortion is legal; workers have a say in national economic planning and elections are democratic. Sounds unreal? It’s not. These are the results of the 1959… Read more »
Ted Bull: Lifelong Communist – 29 January 1914 – 11 December 1997
Ted Bull was a working class leader, radicalised by being unemployed during the Depression. After years of working as a wharfie, Ted was elected as Secretary of the Waterside Workers Federation in 1967 and held the post for 12 years. The Freedom Socialist Party first worked closely with Ted against the Cain government’s assault on… Read more »
A Conversation with Ray Jackson from the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee
“Nearly 80% of the Aboriginal people lost their lives to the soldiers’ and squatters’ guns and poison; to starvation and disease; and from the acute anguish arising from the loss of land and kin.” This is how a 1988 poster, Tall Ships, Tall Stories, dispelled the Aussie national hype in the bicentennial celebration of British… Read more »
“My life is mortgaged to the university”
Wendy Harper is a 22-year-old working class student from The Basin, who is studying first year humanities at Latrobe University. “One of the impacts of the education cuts is day students being forced to take classes in the evening, because the University is no longer prepared to fund both a day and evening class. Full-time… Read more »
“When a school closes, it can kill a community”
Susan Garrett is a TAFE student who lives in the small Gippsland town of Meeniyan. Her daughter, Liz, has just completed grade 6 at Meeniyan Primary School. “I’ve lived here for five years. I’ve had four children go through the state school system. I’m a firm believer in consultation and parent involvement. This year, Meeniyan… Read more »
“Job Satisfaction, It’s A Joke!”
Paula Pope is a sole parent who works as a sessional teacher. She teaches in the Associate Diploma of Community Development at Broadmeadows TAFE. “I get paid $23 per hour, but only for the time I spend in front of the class. I don’t get paid for preparation, or for administrative work or assessment. I… Read more »
