A-Infos (en) Anarchist Age Weekly Review No. 439 26th February ­ 4th March, 2001

["Philip McCrory" <philmcc@melbpc.org.au>]

 ________________________________________________
      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
            http://www.ainfos.ca/
 ________________________________________________

NO GLOBALISATION WITHOUT DIRECT DEMOCRACY ­ ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE

TWO COUNTRY BOYS
The death of Donald Bradman, one of Australiaıs greatest cricketers, reminds
me of the death of another great cricketer who in different times may have
received the same public accolades that have been showered on the Don.  I
first saw Eddie Gilbert in 1973 when I was a young medical student at Goodna
Psychiatric Hospital at Wolston Park just outside Brisbane.

Eddie was sitting in the dirt behind a wire fence with other men who had
lost their minds to tertiary syphilis.  Staff eagerly sought him out and in
hushed tones told me that "thatıs Eddie Gilbert, he bowled Don Bradman out
for a duck".  Eddie was born in Durundur near Woodford in Queensland in
1905.  He played 23 first class matches for Queensland between 1930 - 1935.
Gilbert bowled Bradman out for a duck in December 1931 in the fastest
bowling spell Bradman said he ever faced.

Gilbert, an Aboriginal, was subject to Queenslandıs Aboriginal Protection
Laws.  He needed permission from the department of Aboriginal and Islander
Affairs to play cricket and to travel to play Sheffield cricket.  His
promising career was cut short when his delivery was deemed to be unfair.
Interestingly, only one of 20 first class umpires he faced questioned his
delivery.

Eddie was admitted to the Goodna Psychiatric Hospital in 1955 with tertiary
syphilis.  An indictment on a health care system that ignored the health
care needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders under its protection.
Penicillin, a cure for syphilis had been freely available since the end of
World War II.  If treated with penicillin he would not have developed
tertiary syphilis.  He died in 1978 having spent 23 years in Goodna
Psychiatric Hospital.  Donald Bradman attended his funeral at the Cherboury
Aboriginal Settlement in 1978.

Two great cricketers, one man dies at home in his own bed at 93 and receives
accolades from the Prime Minister down.  The other dies from a treatable
disease in relative obscurity, his career shattered, far from home in a
psychiatric institution.  Both Australians, both country boys born at the
turn of the 20th century.  One a bowler, one a batsman.  One indigenous, the
other non-indigenous.

FUN AND GAMES
The great thing about the Coalition government is that they will do whatever
it takes to get back to Canberra.  Forget about their pronouncements about
the public interest.  Forget about their statements about how we should all
be working together for the good of the  country (corporate sector).
Theyıre very good at pedalling that little lie.  Forget about their
statements that they represent the people of the country.

Joe Hocking, the Federal finance minister (after some talkies with his
cabinet colleagues), has decided to tell the whole wide world that if a
Labor government is voted (heaven forbid) back into power, foreign
transnationals will pull their money out of the country.  Really, Joe, you
expect people to fall for that old hoary chestnut?  Foreign capital and Joe
Hocking know that there is no difference between the Labor and Liberal
Party.  Who privatised the Commonwealth Bank and Qantas?  Who deregulated
the financial sector?  The Labor Party did.

Joe Hocking of all people knows that the corporate sector doesnıt care
whether the Coalition or the Labor Party is in power.  They are both good
for the corporate sector.  Anybody whoıs watched the pre-electoral corporate
manoeuvres knows that the Murdoch empire has thrown their support behind the
Labor Party and the Coalition is being supported by the Packer boys.
Franchises and influence is the name of the game.

The Coalition government and the Labor party are little more than corporate
proxies.  They have no interest in the ultimate welfare of Australians.  All
theyıre interested in is gaining power and if it means making alliances with
the corporate sector so be it.  Joe Hocking needs to grow up while the
Liberal/National or Labor Party hold power in Canberra nobody from the
corporate sector is going to lose a wink of sleep.  They know that it
doesnıt matter which group wins parliamentary power, their interests will be
looked after by the parliamentarians.  At the end of the day the major
political parties represent the interests of the corporate sector, not the
electors.

The days of the corporate sector pulling their investments out if the Labor
Party wins power are gone.  The Labor Party has done more for the corporate
sector over the past two decades than any Coalition government could ever
hope to achieve.

GOING, GOING, GONE!!
Natasha Stott Despoja or no Natasha Stott Despoja, the Democrats are gone.
Twenty years after they were first established to "keep the bastards honest"
they have become part of the political furniture that needs to be replaced
not redesigned.  When five of the seven Democratsı Senators voted for the
GST they signed the partyıs death warrant.  Their electoral showing in
Queensland and Western Australia is not an aberration, itıs a natural
consequence of pursuing a line of working "constructively" with the
government of the day.

The 2000 Democrat members (yes, they only have 2000 members - over 10% of
the membership resigned when the Democrats sided with the government to pass
the GST), are restless.  They believe that a change in leadership is
required to breathe new life into a moribund party.  What they seem to
forget is that people donıt want cosmetic changes, they want real change.
Change of leadership or no change of leadership, the Democrats need to
review all their policies if they are to remain politically relevant.

The role they played in this countryıs political life has come to an end.
Their position has been taken by the Greens, One Nation and Independents.
They have nothing to offer the political debate.  They have squandered the
chance to use the balance of power they hold in the Senate because over the
past decade they have followed a policy of engaging in "constructive
dialogue" with the government of the day.  Australians now see the Democrats
as part of the old political landscape.  Meg Lees isnıt the real problem,
the real problem is a membership which gave their Senators the OK to follow
a policy of that led to the introduction of the GST.  Without the Democrats,
the Howard government would never have been able to introduce the Goods and
Services Tax.

The best thing the Democrats can do is, like the Democratic Labour Party
(DLP), fade from the political scene.  Those Democrats who believe they will
rise phoenix like from the ashes donıt understand the profound social and
political changes that are occurring in Australia.

LEFT WING BIAS?
Iıve been fascinated by the debate in the lettersı page of the Age that was
inspired by Jonathon Shiersı statement that what the ABC needed was a right
wing Phillip Adams.  Anybody who thinks that the ABC is left wing and
encourages radical debate doesnıt know what they are talking about.

The ABC represents a dreary middle of the road course, for the Prime
Minister John Howard, to suggest that the views expressed at the ABC are
anything else gives us an insight into the conservative ideological
positions he holds.  If what happened to me at the ABC is any indication,
the ABC has no interest in presenting radical opinions.  In April 1999, I
was invited by Penny Johnston, a long time presenter of the national Early
Morning Radio Show to come in the wee hours of Friday morning and give an
anarchist analysis of the news of the week.  A few weeks later Senator
Julian McGauron, a conservative National Party Senator was added to the
panel to give the segment balance.

Imagine our surprise when a few weeks later the segment was dropped because
early morning radio should entertain not inform or provide political
analysis.  A few months later Penny Johnston, after a successful
broadcasting career that spanned over a decade, was moved to an
administrative position because she had the audacity to invite an anarchist
as a regular guest on her show.

Jonathon Shiersı appointment as general manager of the ABC has provided an
ideological framework which gives management absolute power to determine
what is and what isnıt acceptable at the ABC.  Itıs no accident that ABC
programming does not reflect the diversity of opinion that exists in the
Australian community.  Presenters who are generally appointed on short term
contracts, know the name of the game and learn what is acceptable and
unacceptable at the ABC.  Those who buck the system donıt have their
contracts renewed or if they are permanent staff find themselves being
shunted into dead end administrative jobs.

VROOM!!  VROOM!!
Yes, itıs Grand Prix time again.  Albert Park Lake will once again be host
to the worldıs best Grand Prix.  (Well, thatıs what they tell us).  Remember
how concerned the Labor Party was when they were in opposition.  It was
criminal that the Grand Prix was held in a public park.  Although they never
actually spelt it out, people expected that the Australian Grand Prix would
be moved to another venue once the contract with good old Bernie had run
out.

No, not the Baton Charge Bracks team!  The folk who have allowed Transurban
to go their merry way is not going to interfere with a taxpayer funded
event, are they?  Yes, boys and girls, the Grand Prix is a private corporate
event which is subsidised by the people of Victoria.  Not only is it
subsidised by the Victorian taxpayer, but they get the exclusive use of one
of the best public parks in Melbourne.  No wonder Bernieıs singing all the
way to the bank.

The folk who have opposed holding a private corporate event in a public park
have been left out to dry by the Bracks Nirvana team.  Even if (and thatıs a
big if) they couldnıt tear up the contract with Grand Prix Bernie, youıd
think they would have given him his marching orders once the contract ran
out.  No, not the Victorian Labor government.  They wouldnıt say "boo" to a
corporate entity, even one with a reputation as tarnished as Grand Prix
Bernieıs.

Years of struggle have come to nothing, because successive governments have
bowed to the corporate sector.  Although the event is bankrolled by public
money, the government continues to sing the praises of the Grand Prix
corporation.  Fine, you want a car race?  Hire an appropriate site and
vroom, vroom!!  Donıt expect the taxpayer to pick up the tab for your
"moment of living" and donıt expect to use a beautiful tree lined public
park with a lake for your little race.  Public parks are for the people,
theyıre not to be fenced off and used as private property for the corporate
sector.  Itıs time the Grand Prix baby walker was taken away from Bernie and
he was made to stand on his own two feet.  If his little event canıt make a
buck without taxpayer involvement, itıs time Bernie and his three ring
circus was shown the door and Albert Park Lake was given back to the public.

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q.  What do anarchists think about the human genome project and the
biological revolution thatıs breaking out all around us?
A.  Anarchists have no problem with new knowledge.  The more information
available the better.  The human genome project may turn out to be as
important as the theory of natural selection or Copernicusı ideas.  You
wonıt hear anarchists complain about the pace of new knowledge.  What
anarchists are concerned about is who owns this knowledge and how this
knowledge will be used.
Will it be used to fill the pockets of an elite or will the benefits be
shared?  Will public discussion and debate precede the development of new
technology or will this technology be developed in back rooms by people who
have secret agendas?  Is this knowledge available to all or is it the
private property of an individual or a corporation?  How will this knowledge
be used?  Will it be used to benefit the greatest number of people or will
its use be restricted to those who can pay for the privilege of using this
information?  In the 21st century, as in the past, knowledge is power.
Who determines how this knowledge is used?  The same piece of information
can be used to open a number of different gates.  In an anarchist community,
what gates are open will be determined by community debate and discussion.
As knowledge in an anarchist society belongs to everybody, the people in
that community determine what use that knowledge will be put to.  In some
cases, communities may decide not to pursue particular options.
Although we canıt put the genie back in the bottle, we can if we own the
knowledge that is discovered and decide what wishes the genie will grant us.
We are on the threshold of a biological revolution whoıs implications are as
far reaching as the 19th century Industrial Revolution and the 20th century
Information Revolution.  Whether the changes that this new knowledge brings
drowns or helps us as a species depends on who owns, controls and develops
the opportunities that the Biological Revolution brings with it.

ACTION BOX ­ Which One?
There are literally hundreds of worthwhile causes which call for an
activistıs attention.  Which one should anarchists support and which ones
can we leave to other people?  A few things to keep in mind, if youıre going
to become involved, become involved as an anarchist, youıll be surprised
what effect your decision to work with a group as an anarchist will have.
When youıre looking around for issues to become involved with, pick
something youıre interested in.  Thereıs no point wasting your time doing
something you have no interest in.
Choose issues that are broad and which cover a number of questions.  The
broader the issues, the greater scope to introduce anarchist concepts in
your struggles.  Donıt waste your whole life on one issue, itıs important
that you donıt focus on just issue orientated struggles.  The more you
become involved and the more responsibility you take in these struggles, the
greater the chance that you will lose your enthusiasm for the wider
struggle.
Remember if youıre involved in an organisation thatıs pushing for reform,
itıs important that the reform you are pursuing will improve peopleıs lives.
Whatever you do, donıt become involved in struggles that increase the power
of the State or the corporate sector.  Thereıs no point demanding that the
State pass draconian laws to solve a problem.  Try not to be used by
movements or organisations that use issue orientated struggles to recruit
new member to their organisations.  Be careful of becoming involved in
nationalist struggles.  At the end of the day, itıs important we remember
that itıs not our aim to concentrate power in the hands of an elite that
controls the State apparatus.  Donıt stretch yourself too thinly, you can
only do so much.  If you try to do more than youıre mentally and physically
capable of, the chances are that you will become disillusioned and will drop
out altogether.  Pick and choose, you decide what you want to become
involved in, but donıt on any account let other people use you to pursue
limited goals that ultimately increase the power of the State and the
corporate sector.

AUSTRALIAN ANARCHIST HISTORY
The Australian Antifascist League
The Anti-fascist League was established in 1926 in Sydney by Francesco
Carmagnola and Isidoro Bertazzon, two Italian anarchists who fled Italy when
Mussolini seized power.  In 1926 they began publishing an anarchist
newspaper OIl Risveglioı.  It was closed down by the Australian government
on the 23rd of August 1927.  In an effort to escape the New South Wales
authoritiesı attention, Carmagnola and Bertazzon moved to Melbourne when OIl
Resveglioı was banned.  In December 1927 they formed the Club Matteotti at
251 Spring St, Melbourne.
The Matteotti Club was an instant success, within a few short months it
became a hotbed of radical and anarchist activity.  By 1928 it had become
the Australian headquarters for anti Mussolini activity across Australia.
Its influence spread to every corner of Australia that had a significant
Italian presence.  The Matteotti Club fostered unrest among North
Queenslandıs cane cutters, members of the club were involved in actions
against Mussoliniıs consuls across Australia.  Anti-fascist meetings at the
Club were attended by hundreds of people, on some occasions over a thousand
people were packed into its Spring St. headquarters.
The club also had a good relationship with the Victorian Trades Hall.  A
number of libertarian newspapers were launched from Spring St.  Isidoro
Bertazzon, the clubıs curator, launched OIlıCalvarioı, a magazine that was
established to acquaint Australians with the Sacco and Vanzetti case in the
USA.  In January 1929 OLa Riscossaı was launched to act as a radical
newspaper for Australiaıs Italian community.  The paper was published till
1936.  OLıAvanguardia Libertariaı was launched in 1930 to act as a vehicle
for Italian anarchists who were exiled in Australia.
The Matteotti Club closed down on December 1933.  Decreasing numbers of
Italian immigrants and the successful assimilation into the Australian
community of those who fled Mussoliniıs Italy dramatically decreased the
clubıs membership base.
Source of material for article: Emigrazione Anarchia Italiana in Australia.
Moreno Marchi.  Publisher ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE - 1988

BOOK REVIEW
THEFT - Leisure Time No.2
February 2001
Itıs not often that Iım excited about a new magazine.  Reviewing the second
issue of Theft, Iım impressed by the vitality and exuberance of this new
Claytons addition to the anarchist genre.  Claytons?  Yes, Claytons.  This
is one magazine thatıs full of anarchist ideas, strategies and concepts but
never uses the (A) word.
Theft has taken off where the situationalists left off.  It brings fresh,
original thinking to the reality most of us are forced to confront every day
of our lives.  Issue No.2 is packed with fascinating articles about the
Theft of what little leisure time we have, let alone enjoy.
"Theft in the service of power, profit and privilege has become universal.
Our aim in this journal is to expose the theft and to unmask the thieves".
Issue No.2 covers four themes; the Production of Misery, Profiting from
Misery, The Experience of Misery and Towards Perpetual Ecstasy.  In 68 pages
the contributors lift the lid on what is one of the greatest scandals facing
the post-modern world.
Theft is well crafted, liberally illustrated and well researched.  Itıs one
of the few radical magazines Iıve come across which has a reference list.
The contributors to Theft have set down a number of minimum requirements for
a Real Life:- 1) Non-hierarchical Organisation Structures, 2) Sharing of
Wealth, 3)Community Control of Assets, 4) Direct Democracy, 5)Harmony with
nature and sustainable agriculture, 6)Demilitarisation, 7)Abolition of
Labour Markets.
Although Theft raises more questions than provides answers, itıs a welcome
addition to an anarchist community that has trouble breaking free from the
historical deadhand of the 19th century.  This little treasure provides a
springboard that can catapult  anarchist activists into the forefront of the
struggles to reclaim the 21st century.
Theft has no copyright and can be reproduced at will.  Itıs available from
most radical book stores in Australia.  It can be obtained for the awesome
cost of two Australian dollars from; "Theft", PO Box 12197, AıBeckett St,
Melbourne 3000, Victoria, Australia.
If youıre cyber savvy visit their web site www.theftmag.com.  Email the
Theft folk at theft@theftmag.com.  The Theft group welcomes comments.  "We
welcome comments, criticism and views on the materiel presented here.  We
also welcome ideas for future themes as well as contributions".
Forthcoming issues will deal with Addictions, Environment and Music and Art.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION
Itıs not unusual to get over half a dozen calls after The Anarchist World
This Week.  Some callers want to clarify a point, others want to outline
their point of view and still others have problems you canıt do anything
about.  This call was different, a man with a Northern Ireland accent
introduced himself and told me he wanted to talk to me about a new
linguistic theory he had developed.  Why me, I thought to myself?  I
organised to see him at the radio station a week later.  He rang the day
before our meeting to confirm the appointment.  He told me he didnıt travel
much.  As I knew I would be in his side of town a few days later, I told him
Iıd call in at a particular time.
He lived in a very ordinary ministry of housing unit in a depressing
streetscape.  His wife, a portly woman, was talking to someone in a car in
their driveway.  A child strapped in the back seat said hello!!  I
introduced myself, she motioned me to the front door.  He answered my knock
and brought me into a traditional little parlour.  I sat down in a
comfortable armchair.  My friend, a man in his seventies, well groomed,
immaculate goatee, red, whitish hair perched on his crown sat in a chair
opposite mine.  I looked at him, he didnıt look back, he stared at a pile of
type written papers on a little sidetable.
Over the next forty minutes he threw bits of intellectual waste at me
intertwined with stories of his life as a boy in Northern Ireland.  His most
poignant tale happened when he was ten.  Heıd gone down with his friends to
the local Orange Lodge, the boys had been given papers to take to their
parents so they could be inducted into the Lodge.  He went home and asked
his mother to sign the papers for him, she said she couldnıt, he should ask
his father.  He insisted, she told him she was a Catholic.  His whole world
disintegrated in front of him.  His mother had turned out to be everything
he had been taught to hate.
He moved back to his primary purpose; he had a new linguistic theory.  He
believed that all grammar is biologically determined.  For over sixty years
he had tried to reduce all human thought and action to this point.  Every
waking moment of his time was spent working on this idea.  I looked at his
papers.  They were a jumble of disconnected facts.  On initial examination
they seemed to have superficial merit, on closer examination it was obvious
they were disconnected ideas that had little if any relationship.
I asked him why he asked me to look at his ideas.  He told me that when he
lived in Belfast he was part of a discussion group and the anarchists he
knew always listened to him.  I felt ashamed.  Who am I to dismiss a
lifelong obsession with a few well placed barbs.  He asked my advice, which
direction should he follow?  Heıd written to Chomsky, Hawkings and a host of
other intellectual notables.  I suggested he put his thoughts in the public
arena.  That he create his own web site and open up a dialogue with other
interested people.  Maybe he was a hundred years before his time, maybe he
was just another obsessive compulsive old man who had made his familyıs life
hell.  He told me that was his only regret.  Nothing I could say or any one
can say will stop him, heıll continue to cobble together bits of
disconnected material to satisfy the hunger of the caged tiger prowling
around his cerebral sulci until the moment his neurones stop synapsing.

STOP PRESS ­ So What!!
So, Lowitja OıDonoghue was not stolen, her Irish father gave her and her
four siblings away to the church.  What does it change?  Does it change
anything about the stolen generations?  Maybe her Aboriginal mother and her
Irish father could no longer withstand the pressure of a society that
treated them as outcasts.  Maybe they decided that  if their children were
going to be taken away by the State they should place them in a church
orphanage they had some trust in.
I donıt know what happened.  Lowitja doesnıt know and those media gurus that
have pursued this case in the race for a media story will never know.  What
I do know is the alacrity with which this little piece of news was seized.
Every prominent political figure that had attempted to bury the unpalatable
fact that it was State policy to remove part Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children from their parents up to the mid 1960ıs, jumped on the
story.  Irrespective of whether the State and the churchıs intentions were
good or not doesnıt matter.  These policies tore at the very entrails of a
people who had their lands stolen from them, their culture destroyed, their
language ignored and their children taken away from them to breed the
blackness out of them.
The despair that this policy caused still reverberates in Indigenous
communities today.  Many of the social and human problems that are so
apparent in these communities can be traced back to these well intentioned
State and church sponsored barbaric policies.  The feeding frenzy that Lois
OıDonoughueıs comments caused is an indication of how desperate the forces
led by John Howard are to seize on semantics to deny one of the most
shameful periods of Australian history.
John Herron, the previous Indigenous Federal Minister, claimed it wasnıt a
stolen generation because according to his departmentıs calculations only
ten percent of children were taken.  The Murdoch Press believes children
werenıt stolen because one of Australiaıs most prominent Aboriginal leaders
was not stolen.
Listening to John Howard and Pauline Hanson prattle on about why they refuse
to apologise to the stolen generations and reading the garbage that passes
as informed comment in the mass media about this topic, makes me feel for
those Holocaust revisionists in Australia who have been hounded by the State
because they claim the Holocaust didnıt occur.  When you look at the ideas
of both groups, itıs chilling how similar their ideas are.

JOSEPH TOSCANO (Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society).


ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
. THEFT No.2 Feb 2001, LEISURE TIME, P.O. Box 12197, AıBECKETT ST.,
MELBOURNE 3000, AUSTRALIA, e-mail theft@theftmag.com, www.theftmag.com
. DOCUMENTOS DE LA, INTERNACIONAL DE FEDERACIONES, ANARQUISTAS ­ I.F.A.,
January 2001, I.F.A., Casella Postole 17127, 20170 MILANO, ITALY, Tel/Fax
(++39) 022551994, e-mail ifanarch@tin.it
. COMIDAD 104 Feb 2001, Vincenzo Italiano, C.P. 391 ­ 80100, NAPOLI, ITALY
. LIBERTARIA Vol 3 No. 1 Jan/Mar 2001, Cas. Post 17025, 20170 MILANO, ITALY,
e-mail eleuthera@tin.it, http://www.club.it/eleuthera, Tel 02 2614 3950, Fax
02 2846 923
. LE MONDE LIBERTAIRE No. 1231 8-14th Feb 2001, 145 Rue Amelot, 75011,
PARIS, FRANCE, Tel 01 48 05 34 08, Fax 01 49 29 98 59
. SEME ANARCHICO Vol 22 No.1 Jan 2001, C/- Fabio Razzi, C.P. 168, 53034
Colle Val dıElsa (S), ITALY
OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECIEVED THIS WEEK
. WORKERS NEWS Vol 30 Jan 2001, P.O. Box 10652, Mammohon Labour Building,
PUTALI SADAIC, GEFONT-Plaza, KATHMANDU, NEPAL, Tel +977 1 24 8072/24 53 32,
Fax +9771 1 24 80 73, e-mail info@gefont.org, www.gefont.org

DEBT ELIMINATION APPEAL
DEBT 28.2.2001                                              $1154.60
Our debt continues to climb.  If every subscriber could send us a pack of 20
45 cent stamps, our debt would be dramatically reduced.  If you are in a
position to help us eliminate our debt and want to send more than twenty
dollars, make out Cheques or Money-Orders to; LIBERTARIAN WORKERS and send
to P.O. Box 20 PARKVILLE 3052 Melbourne AUSTRALIA.  Unfortunately, at the
end of the day, we are only able to publish and broadcast as long as we
receive financial support from our subscribers and supporters.  If you read
the weekly or listen to the radio programme on the net, e-mail us at
anarchistage@yahoo.com if you are able to help us financially.

ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK
NOW ON THE INTERNET - FOR ANYBODY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD TO LISTEN IN TO.
LIKE THE PROGRAM - TELL YOUR FRIENDS AROUND THE PLANET ABOUT OUR INTERNET
ADDRESS -http://www.freespeech.org/anarchistAge
ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK POSTER AVAILABLE
FOR THE COST OF A FEW STAMPS
Want to help us find new listeners for the Anarchist World This Week, then
send us a few stamps to AWTW, PO Box 20, Parkville 3052, Australia & we'll
send you out a colour poster (A3) for your use & a black & white poster you
can photocopy & put up to help us increase the number of people who listen
to the Anarchist World This Week.

STAMP APPEAL
We normally spend over $400.00 per month on postage stamps.  If you have any
spare stamps floating about or are about to write to us, stuff a few stamps
in the envelope.  Every little bit helps.

Politically manipulated and scorned?  Sick of being a peripheral player
every time a Federal election comes around, then join:- VOTE INFORMAL TODAY,
DIRECT DEMOCRACY TOMORROW, a "political party" that is putting the boot into
the Australian Parliamentary Process.  Send a stamp self-addressed envelope
to
VOTE INFORMAL TODAY
DIRECT DEMOCRACY TOMORROW
PO Box 20, Parkville. 3052. Melbourne. Australia Telephone (03) 9828 2856
(24 hour answering service).  We will send information about how to join
this unique 21st century Australian phenomena.  DON'T PUT IT OFF  JOIN THE
PUSH FOR CHANGE NOW.
Written and authorised by Joseph Toscano (National Convenor 205 Nicholson St
Footscray 3012  Melbourne Aust.)

RESIGN NOW!! ­
FRIENDS OF OUR ABC WILL BE MARCHING FROM THE MELBOURNE G.P.O. AT MIDDAY ON
WEDNESDAY THE 7TH OF MARCH TO ABC RADIO REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS AT 120 ­130
SOUTHBANK BLVD. SOUTH MELBOURNE TO DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION OF
JONATHAN SHIER - THE ABC MANAGING DIRECTOR.
SHIER TODAY, THE ABC BOARD TOMORROW!!

BARRICADE BOOKS / ASF ANARCHIST CONFERENCE
To be held in Melbourne on the 27th 28th 29th and 30th of April.  All
welcome.  Come to Melbourne and join in the festivities on May Day ­ MI ­
Ring Barricade Books On (03) 9387 6646 for further information.

ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK:
Has been awarded to the Australian Corporate Media
for their attempts to keep debate within boundaries
that are acceptable to the corporate sector.

All the News That Fits
***Qantas will sack 1250 workers in the next 6 months.
***65 employees of the Speedo company were taken into the carpark as they
arrived for work and told they were sacked.  Management then served them
party pies and croissants.
***Centrelink services outside cities could be threatened by a plan to
charge fees.  A leaked memo says that Workplace Relations Minister Tony
Abbott and the Department of Finance and Administration favour introducing
the fees.
***John Howard has confirmed that the government won't cut petrol excise.
***The government has denied that a consultant was paid $45,000 to help
Treasurer Peter Costello get rid of his smirk.  The government says Geoffrey
Cousins was hired for "the formulation of communication strategies".
***$6000 has been spent on a fridge for Kirribilli House.  $166,000 has been
spent on air conditioning for the Lodge, and $7000 on a wine consultant, to
advise the Prime Minister on purchases of wine.
***Australia's petrol companies are currently making $131,000 profit per
hour.
James H/ Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society.

If You Like What You Have Read, Photocopy This Publication and Leave It In
Doctors, Dentists, Vets Waiting Rooms and In Railway Stations, Bus Stops,
Libraries and Restaurants Etc.

The articles in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review express the opinion of
individuals within the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed
Society/Anarchist Media Institute. They do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of The Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist
Media Institute.

P U B L I C A T I O N S
Anarchist Age Weekly Review -  4 pages of Anarchist commentary on Local,
National and International events.
$50.00 for 50 issues                $10.00 for 10 issues
Make out cheques or money orders to: Libertarian Workers, PO Box 20,
Parkville, 3052 Victoria Aust.

All material in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review can be used by anarchists,
anarchist collectives and non-profit organisations as long as the source of
the material is mentioned in the article.  The Anarchist Age Weekly Review
reserves all rights as far as commercial publications are concerned.

ANARCHISM ­ ADVANCING IN DIVERSITY STRIKING IN UNISON ­ YAMAGUCHI KENJI
WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY ­ THE ANARCHIST CENTURY

All the News That Fits ­ Part 1
JAMES HUTCHINGS
***WA Premier Richard Court has promised to extend mandatory sentencing
laws.  Mandatory sentencing is blamed for the death of a 15 year old boy in
custody in the Northern Territory.  The WA Coalition and Labor Party both
support mandatory sentencing.  John Howard and Kim Beazley have both refused
to comment.
***Stuart Littlemore, whose 'Media Watch' program was cancelled by the ABC
after frequently criticising management, will get a new show.  But the new
progam won't be allowed to have "any gratuitous criticism of ABC management,
or asking hypothetical questions of senior managers".
***Aboriginal males live to an average of only 46 years.  Infant mortality
is over three times as high among Aboriginal people than among other
Australians.  Suicide rates among Aboriginal men are over twice as high as
other Australian males.
***ALP senator Stephen Conroy has been accused of helping to raise money to
fund electoral fraud.  ALP figure Lee Bermingham says a tax-deductable
seminar was held to raise money for a 'slush fund' for false enrolements.
He said the scheme was organised by Mr Conroy's right-wing Labor Unity
faction.  Liberal member Mal Brough has also been accused of involvement in
electoral fraud.  Andrea Chitakis, who was his personal assistant and office
manager for two years, falsely enrolled in his electorate.  Another staff
member's spouse was also false enrolled in Mr Brough's electorate.  Ms
Chitakis says she told Mr Brough about her false enrolment.
***The Brotherhood of St Lawrence has calculated that over the last year
there were 33,000 letters to the Office of the Prime Minster and Cabinet
which were not answered within 21 days.  The Department of Family and
Community Services failed to answer 4,000 letters within that time.  This
means that, if the Prime Minister and Family and Community Services Minister
Jocelyn Newman were under the same 'mutual obligation' rules as people on
welfare payments, they would owe $12 million and $1.8 million respectively.
***At least four members of the board which decides what medicines will get
government funding have refused to serve on the board, saying that the
government has allowed it to be taken over by the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr David Henry has been dumped from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory
Committee.  He has been replaced by Pat Clear, former head of the Australian
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association, and a former executive with drugs
giant Wellcome Australia.  Government funding makes a medicine much cheaper
and so has a huge effect on its sales.
***Motorists will face another price rise in petrol tax in August.  The
price rise is automatic and based on inflation, and inflation has risen due
to the GST.  The increase is therefore seen as 'a tax on a tax'.  The price
of petrol is more than six times what it was in 1983.
***Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock has defended the policy of detaining
all refugees, on the grounds that they could spread disease.  "Australians
would not want [such] people released among them" he said, after some
refugees were found to have a disease.
***Finance and Administration Minister John Fahey says he's still committed
to 'outsourcing' government functions, in spite of two reports saying the
idea was flawed and dangerous.  Outsourcing, having work done by seperate
private companies, is supposed to be cheaper and more efficient.  Private
companies can often pay lower wages than government departments, and
'discourage' people from joining unions.  In 1997 the government declared
that all departments of the public service had to outsource their entire
information technology sections within two years.  The departments
themselves weren't allowed to put in a bid, even though may have been
cheaper than a private company.  Mr Fahey claimed this would save $1
billion.  He didn't produce any evidence of this, but the government cut
spending on the public service in advance of the supposed savings.  Science
agency CSIRO for example lost $15 million.  Mr Fahey also told the 'Business
Review Weekly' that he was "happy to say that this wasn't something that
there was any cheering about in the public sector.  We will have replaced or
displaced 2500 public servants when this program is finished".  A report by
the Auditor-General has found that savings were in fact less than seven
percent of the amounts Mr Fahey had claimed.  The report also found that Mr
Fahey's department had overstated the savings by using a special form of
accounting (which it stopped all other government departments from using).
The cost of changing over to outsourcing was three times what the government
said it would be, and private companies were paid a total of $25.7 million
for giving advice.  22 of the 24 agencies affected had serious doubts about
the process.  A report by Richard Humphry found that there were serious
risks in outsourcing the work of many departments.  For example Centrelink
payments could have been at risk.  Individual departments will now have the
choice of whether to go ahead with outsourcing.  However departments who had
their budgets cut won't get the money back.  Centrelink has decided not to
go ahead with outsourcing, but it still lose $25 million from its budget for
the amount it supposedly would have saved.  Mr Fahey says that "nothing's
changed" in the policy and that he's saved "hundreds of millions of
dollars".

All the News That Fits ­ Part 2
***Victorian Premier Steve Bracks has denied that a $100,000 donation from
Kerry Packer had anything to do with him removing a critic of Crown Casino
(owned by the Packers) from his gaming portfolio. Mr Bracks met James Packer
and his advisor, ex-ALP figure Graham Richardson.  Details of the meeting
have not been made public.  Two weeks later he removed Rob Hulls from gaming
to manufacturing.  Days later the ALP received a $100,000 donation from
Packer-owned company PBL.
***The military expects more than 100 complaints of brutality after
launching an investigation into "bastardisation".  Eleven members of the
elite 3RAR regiment have been charged with brutality after claims that
soldiers were tortured and beaten.  A corporal told an enquiry that a 3RAR
officer ordered the severe bashing of three soldiers.  Because of this the
corporal received death threats and his belongings were vandalised.  Threats
against him were written on a wall at Duntroon.  Duntroon did not remove
these threats.  Consumer groups said the booklet would be funny rather than
insensitive if banks lowered their fees and reopened branches.
***The government will spend $60 million on a campaign to counter anger at
big business.  This will include a campaign to convince schoolchildren that
free trade and globalisation are necessary for Australia's economy.
***Of students at Wesley College, a wealthy grammar school, 96% went on to
tertiary education.  Nearly half of these were given scores of 90 or more.
***The government used SAS soldiers under cover at the Sydney Olympics
without seeking any approval.  Although this is illegal, Opposition defence
spokesman Stephen Martin said there was no doubt the government acted for
the best.
***Government claims that unemployment in the LaTrobe Valley had fallen from
14.6% in September 1999 to 11.3% a year later were "totally and utterly
bastardised" according to LaTrobe Mayor Tony Hanning.  Mr Hanning believes
that most of the new jobs are only casual or part-time.  Anyone who works,
even for one hour a week, is not counted as unemployed.  Almost half of
women in regional Victoria who work have only casual or part-time jobs.  The
Australian Statistician declared that he believed the official definition of
employment is too narrow, and that the real unemployment rate is almost half
as much again as the official figures.
***Doctors say they can't perform surgery on people whose conditions are
caused by their smoking, even if they need the treatment to save their life.
This is because there's so little money given to public hospitals that some
people who need life-saving surgery can't have it.
***A survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has found a growing
number of 'working poor' - people who have full time jobs but still live in
poverty.  Of Australia's 800,000 low-paid working households, 30,000 went
without meals, 31,000 couldn't afford heating, 41,000 had to sell or pawn
their posessions to have enough money to live, 284,000 couldn't afford a
holiday, 115,000 had to buy second-hand clothes, and 22,000 had to to look
for help from charities.  The 'Australian' newspaper interviewed a women who
worked a 55 hour week (on two jobs) for just $679.03.  Jocelyn Taylor hadn't
taken a holiday for 16 years.  She says her two children barely see her.
"Plenty of times I don't like to go to work, especially after the part-time
job, but I need to, even how hard it is, even though my body won't go, I
have to push myself" she said.  The Australian Council of Trade Unions is
seeking a $28 per week 'living wage' claim for low-income workers.  The
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has described this claim as
'excessive', despite executive salaries having risen by up to 26 percent,
and the salaries of executives earning over $1 million having risen by an
average of over 60 percent last year.
***The ANZ has sent a booklet to its customers suggesting that they make
phone calls from other people's houses and reuse paper to save money.
Intended to be funny, '101 Ways to Save' also advised shopping for clothes
at charity stores and squashing old pieces of soap together.  Consumer
groups said the booklet was insensitive.

James H/ Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society.


                       ********
               The A-Infos News Service
      News about and of interest to anarchists
                       ********
               COMMANDS: lists@ainfos.ca
               REPLIES: a-infos-d@ainfos.ca
               HELP: a-infos-org@ainfos.ca
               WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca
               INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org

 To receive a-infos in one language only mail lists@ainfos.ca the message
                unsubscribe a-infos
                subscribe a-infos-X
 where X = en, ca, de, fr, etc. (i.e. the language code)