Socialistworker

SYDNEY UNIVERSITY management have made an interim pay offer of 4 percent. The offer came through the afternoon before an NTEU members meeting which was planning to discuss possible industrial action unless the University started to negotiate seriously. The offer, to be followed by “a substantial additional offer”, was not accepted by the members meeting. It was conditional on the NTEU agreeing to industrial peace until 1 May next year and would allow the University to drag out negotiations on conditions. Many members were concerned that there was no detail of funding for the offer. With work unit budgets are […]

“HE IS a man of the people,” John Howard said as he promoted Major-General Michael Jeffery to the position of Governor-General. The media lauded Jeffery as a “safe” and “modern” choice. In reality Jeffery is a deeply elitist and conservative figure who embodies John Howard’s vision of Australia. MILITARISM “I believe passionately that Vietnam was a just cause in the circumstances of the time.” Jeffery was awarded the Victoria Cross for his role in killing Vietnamese freedom fighters. His citation boasts of “the heavy losses inflicted on the enemy” during his time there. He later commanded the elite SAS for […]

MORE THAN 250 people attended the third annual Brisbane Social Forum in an exciting event that energised participants to continue the fight for social justice and a better world. Every single participant on the Forum received a no deposit bonus offer up to $200 + 250 free spins, and an opportunity to play any online casino game they may like at the best Canadian online casinos. The highlight was the opening address by Julian Burnside, QC, whose principled defence of refugee rights has been inspirational. Julian spoke to a capacity audience, tearing strips off the Howard government and receiving a standing ovation […]

We continue our series on rebel newspapers with a look at Pravda, the paper of the Russian Bolshevik Party By Matthew Cookson PRAVDA, meaning truth, was a key part of the great wave of upheaval that swept Russia before the First World War. It played an important role in the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the paper of the revolutionary wing of the Russian socialist movement. Lenin was the major figure in this movement as a leader of the Bolshevik Party. Heavy repression under the Tsar, the Russian dictator, meant that the Bolsheviks had to produce illegal newspapers and […]

To plunder, butcher, steal, these things they misname empire they make a desolation and they call it peace. THESE WORDS were used by the Roman historian Tacitus to describe the devastation of Britain by the Roman empire in the first century AD. They find an echo in Iraq today. Suha al-Hayatti, a rich woman living in Baghdad, could have been speaking for millions of Iraqis when she said In a month Iraq has gone back centuries. The Americans came and promised everyone paradise, but where is it? This is hell. It is now more than a month since US-led forces […]

TIME MAGAZINE is running an online poll on the biggest threat to world peace. For some reason, they were foolish enough to include the US in the list of dangerous countries. At the time of printing, online polling has the United States way out in front on 82 per cent. More than 240,000 people have voted in the survey-a fairly representative sample of world opinion. But there’s a disclaimer saying this is “an unscientific, informal survey for the interest and enjoyment of TIME.com users and may not be indicative of popular opinion.” Who are they kidding?