A-Infos (en) Anarchist Age Weekly Review No.536 3rd March ­ 9th March 2003

[Phil McCrory <philmcc@melbpc.org.au>]

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NO GLOBALISATION WITHOUT DIRECT DEMOCRACY ­ ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE
"WE SWEAR BY THE SOUTHERN CROSS TO STAND TRULY BY EACH OTHER AND FIGHT TO
DEFEND OUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES" ­ EUREKA REBELLION OATH 1854

DEFEND AND EXTEND MEDICARE
The Howard government's statement that "Medicare is not a universal health
system" and the AMA's support of the government's statement is the most
serious threat that Australians have faced since the Second World War. One
of the fundamental differences between Australia and the rest of the world
is that all Australians, irrespective of who they are, what they earn and
how sick they are, have access to Medicare, a universal health care system
that gives all of us access to a basic standard of care.

Access to basic health care in Australia is a right, not a charity, or a
luxury, that's restricted to those who have the financial resources to
access the best health care money can buy. The introduction of Medicare in
1974 is, after the introduction of pensions after WWII, the most important
social initiative that has been introduced into this country. Over the past
seven years the Howard government, pursuing its ideological agenda of
introducing user pay policies throughout Australia, has targeted Medicare,
strangling it of funds and forcing an increasing number of general
practitioners to abandon bulk-billing in favour of up-front fees.

If not openly challenged, the Howard government intends to divert more
taxpayer funds into the private health care sector and restrict access to an
under-funded and under-resourced public health care sector to concession
card holders only. The current attacks by the government on Medicare are
calculated to destroy the universal nature of the scheme and restrict access
to public health care to an ever-decreasing number of people. If this threat
is not confronted quickly and firmly, the Howard government will accelerate
its plans to destroy the public health sector and force Australians to spend
more and more of their income to access services that are now provided by
the Medicare scheme. Join the struggle to extend and defend Medicare now;
waiting for tomorrow to do something about it may be too late.

REMEMBER?
Remember two decades ago when the neo-Liberal rampage began that anarchists
were one of the few political movements that opposed the privatisation of
state-owned assets. Twenty years later what should have been blatantly
obvious, that the privatisation of state assets would lead to higher prices,
poorer services and the loss of a steady income for the state is now
accepted by most people. While the Commonwealth Bank remained in public
hands, it acted as a brake on the other banks. Today the largest slice of
profits generated by private banks comes from fees and charges. The private
banking sector became a law unto itself when the competition provided by the
government owned Commonwealth Bank disappeared when it was privatised by the
Hawke Labor government.

Today Australians find themselves on the cusp of another important decision.
The Howard government, as payment for its uncritical support of United
States foreign policy initiatives, has began discussions about a "free
trade" agreement with the United States. This free trade agreement has been
enthusiastically supported by the government, the corporate dominated media
and the government gelded ABC. About the only people who have argued about
this bilateral free trade agreement have been a few anarchists and radicals
who have once again been dismissed as people who have no idea about what's
going on in the real world.

Today the first chinks have appeared in the Howard government's well-oiled
economic propaganda machine. It seems that a report commissioned but now
disowned by the department of primary industries has spelt out the bleeding
obvious: a free trade agreement with the United States would have negative
consequences for both agricultural and manufacturing industries in
Australia.

The United States has no intention of creating an even playing field for
Australian agricultural products and every intention of dumping manufactured
goods on Australian markets. The United States government didn't give their
agricultural sector a trillion-dollar cash injection to open up their
markets to Australian agricultural products. They have no intention of
allowing Chinese and Japanese manufactures to continue to have the current
volume of trade with Australia. The only sour note in the report is that the
people commissioned to give their opinions state quite clearly that gains
can only be made by entering into a multilateral free trade agreement ­ but
thatıs a story for another day.

ITıS DIFFERENT?
Australian's current account deficit for the December quarter came in at a
record 11 billion dollars. In plain English it means that Australians
imported eleven billion dollars more than they exported between October and
December 2002. So what? Although the Federal government and to some extent
the media have down-played this figure, the ramifications for wage-earners
and non wage-earners alike is serious. The last time the current account
deficit topped 6% of the gross national product, interest rates rose to a
staggering 17.5%, employment rose to over 10% and social security benefits
were frozen.

This time we're told it's different, due to a number of one-off factors: the
one in a hundred year drought; Qantas buying one or two extra planes; the
strength of the Australian economy, yes, the strength of the Australian
economy. We're told the Australian economy is strong; therefore, people are
importing to meet this demand. At the same time, the world economy is weak
so other countries do not have the capital to buy Australian products. It
all sounds cut and dry when you look at it this way ­ or does it? Throw in a
war, escalating petrol prices, an ageing population, the greenhouse effect
and a government that uncritically supports United States foreign policy and
you begin to see that it's not so cut and dry.

Australians should not be lulled into a false sense of security by the
current government explanation about why the current account deficit is so
high. Only one or two things need to go wrong before unemployment and
interest rates will rise to levels that could produce an economic crisis.
Most Australians are geared up to the gills. The downturn in the stock
market and low interest rates have led to investment money been pumped into
the residential property market, and this has resulted in a dramatic
increase in house prices that has not matched wage increases. As a
consequence it has become much more difficult for younger people to enter
the property market. Property owners looking to cash in on the dot.com boom
borrowed on the equity in their homes and invested in the stock market. It
doesn't take much imagination to realise that the whole deck of cards could
collapse if interest rates increase by 2 to 3%.

Thatıs why it's important Australians donıt accept the government's
assurances and ignore the first major economic sign that everything is not
what it's cracked up to be down under.

DEMOCRACY?
Steve Bracks' promise to provide Victorians with a "truly representative and
democratically elected upper house" lies in tatters as people begin to
unravel the content of the Constitution (Parliamentary Reform) Bill. The
proposal that will be taken to the Victorian parliament has the hallmarks of
one of John Howard's core and non-core promises. If Steve Bracks and his
government were interested in establishing an upper house that reflects the
diversity of opinion that exists in the Victorian community, they could
introduce and pass legislation through both houses of parliament that would
alter the constitution so it would reflect that diversity.

The current proposal has more to do with maintaining the major partiesı
control over both houses of parliament than creating a truly representative
and democratically elected upper house. Dividing the State into eight
five-member provinces means that a candidate will need nearly twenty per
cent of formal votes cast to gain a seat. Continuing the practice of
compulsory preferential voting means that voters who vote for minor
candidates will see their vote distributed to one of the major parties.
Dividing the ballot paper into above the line group voting and below the
line individual voting means that the major registered political parties
will continue to dominate the political process.

If Bracks and the Labor Party had any real interest in representative
democracy, they could have approached the problem in a manner that would
create a "truly representative and democratically elected upper house". A
very simple way of guaranteeing the upper house is representative, is by
making Victoria one electorate that, as proposed in the original
legislation, returns forty members. Electors would only be required to place
the number one in one box on the ballot paper. Each registered political
party or group of independents could have up to forty names attached to
their particular box. These names would be displayed in the polling booth;
they would not need to be written on the ballot paper.

The quota for election of a candidate would be reduced from nearly 20% to
2.5%, making the new upper house much more representative of the diversity
of opinions held in the community. The need for preferential voting, bodgie
candidates and behind the scenes preferential deals would be a thing of the
past. By making elections truly representative, the 20% of eligible electors
who fail to register to vote, vote informal or don't vote at all may take a
renewed interest in a political process that has reduced democracy in
Victoria and Australia to a contest between two political parties with
almost identical ideologies and agendas.

HONOURABLE TRADITION
The media hysteria that followed the suggestion by a section of the trade
union movement that they might impose bans on sending material overseas
because they opposed the United States foray into Iraq and the sending of
Australian troops to the Middle East, had to be experienced to be believed.
Un-Australian and traitors were two of the more polite terms that were used
to describe the trade unionsı proposed action.

Concerned about the strength of the reaction, the trade union movement has
hastily abandoned its plans to discuss the introduction of bans. What
everybody seems to have forgotten is that Australian workers and trade
unions have consistently imposed bans on materials that have been sent
overseas to support the war effort. During World War 1 the trade union
movement was heavily involved in the anti-war movement. On many occasions
they stopped the loading of goods that were being sent to Australian troops
fighting overseas. A significant proportion of the trade union movement
believed that World War 1 was being fought by soldiers at either end of a
bayonet.

Strikes were held during the war years and a general strike, which brought
the wharves to a stand still, was held in New South Wales in March 1917.
Opposition to the war was spearheaded by militant trade unionists, the
churches and womens group. Tens of thousands marched, and referendums to
introduce conscription were defeated in 1916 and 1917. Despite the efforts
of the Hughes government to characterise the trade unions as nests of
traitors, many Australians supported them and believed without trade union
resistance to Australia's involvement in World War 1, tens of thousands more
Australians would have been sacrificed on the European killing fields.

Refusing to support war is an honourable Australian trade union tradition.
Trade unionists and those opposed to the Iraqi war should not be cowered by
the bleating of the stay at home patriots who throw up their arms in horror
every time trade unionists and their supporters withdraw their labour to
hinder the war effort.

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q.  Freedom?
A.  Freedom is one of those words that means many things to different
people.  The US, the engine of the ?freeı world, has successfully hijacked
the word to promise its ideological agenda since the end of WWII.  Today,
George F. (f stands for fraudulent) Bush has attempted to characterise the
imminent invasion of Iraq as a struggle for freedom, not booty.  Freedom is
an important aspect of the human condition that millions have died for.
Freedom is essentially a question about the ability to exercise options as
an individual and part of a wider community.  Freedom is not just about
doing, itıs about having the power to change the way we do things.  Itıs not
just freedom from but freedom to.  Authoritarian regimes tend to
characterise freedom as freedom from want ­ lack of food, shelter,
education, medical care.  Regimes that think of themselves as more liberal,
tend to characterise it as the ability to think, travel, acquire wealth,
read and exercise, those options that economic wealth gives individuals and
different classes within their communities.
Both authoritarian and more liberal versions of what are essentially
authoritarian communities fail to extend the ability to choose to all
members of their society.  Freedom is an integral component of an anarchist
society.  Anarchists are able to exercise both individual and group options,
both in terms of the decisions they make and what they do.  Anarchists
understand that freedom is both freedom from want and freedom to exercise
options.  Wealth is held in common because that is the best way that the
greatest number of people within a community do not live in fear of not
having enough to eat, of not having adequate shelter and of not having
access to education and health care.
Anarchists want everybody within the community they live in, to have the
power to exercise options.  Freedom to exercise options is not unlimited in
an anarchist society, it is tempered by the freedom of other people to
exercise options.  Anarchists do not believe that one person has the right
to increase the options they are able to exercise, by profiting from
somebody elseıs labour.  They totally reject the idea that freedom has
anything to do with sexually exploitative or anti-social behaviour.  Freedom
to act and even make decisions within an anarchist society is tempered by
other individualıs rights to exercise their rights.  A majority would not be
able to morally impose its will on a minority because that minority has the
right to express its will as long as it does not inhibit other peopleıs
rights.  This interconnection of rights and responsibilities is the cement
that keeps an anarchist society, a society based on the principle of
individual freedom together.

ACTION BOX
WEDNESDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2003
Wednesday 3rd December 2003 marks the 149th anniversary of the Eureka
rebellion, arguably Australiaıs most important revolt against the State.
Last year the ?Anarchist Media Instituteı held a day long celebration of the
Eureka site beginning at 4.00am.  This year the ?Anarchist Media Instituteı
has joined ?THE RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLIONı group, a
federation that was established at the end of last years celebrations.
Affiliation is open to groups that agree with the sentiments expressed in
the Eureka Stockade oath "We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by
each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties" and who will be
celebrating the Eureka rebellion on the day.
As the 150th anniversary of the Eureka rebellion approaches, itıs important
we donıt allow the Victorian State government and the Ballarat City Council
to hijack the celebrations.  Itıs quite possible that if we donıt resist
their attempts to sanitise the Eureka rebellion, it will become another
tourist extravaganza devoid of any political, let alone radical meaning.
The groups that are currently affiliated to the ?THE RECLAIM THE RADICAL
SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLIONı group want to celebrate not just to
acknowledge the past, but to use the present to create a community that
echoes the sentiments expressed by those men and women involved in the
Eureka rebellion.  The Eureka rebellion was based on principles that are as
relevant today as they were 149 years ago.  The rebellion was based on
direct democracy ­ all major decisions were made at monster mass meetings
held on the gold fields in Ballarat.  The rebellion was based on direct
action, the miners took up arms to defend and extend what they believed were
their rights and liberties.  The rebellion was multicultural and
multiracial.  Over 20 different nationalities took part in the Eureka
rebellion.  Their collective experiences with those in power around the
world, was the social cement that held the movement together.  Of the 13 who
were tried and acquitted of High Treason, 2 were Afro-American and one was
Jewish.  The Eureka rebellion transcended racial, national and religious
differences, it was a revolt that focused the struggle against the State and
those elements in society that wielded power.
?THE RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLIONı gathering in 2002
attracted about 50 people.  This year we hope to attract many more.  A
federation has been formed to increase participation in the celebrations.
If youıre involved in a group, sporting, social, political, cultural then
raise the idea of the Eureka celebrations within your group.  Affiliation to
?THE RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLIONı is open to all
organisations that agree with the sentiments expressed in the Eureka oath
"We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to
defend our rights and liberties".
Join us today, join us on December 3rd 2003 and reclaim the radical spirit
of the Eureka rebellion.  If youıd like to affiliate, write to us at P.O.
BOX 5035, ALPHINGTON 3078 MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA.  If you want to receive our
newsletter, send us 10 50cent postage stamps and we will place you on the
mailing list.
IF WE DONıT RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLION, THE 150TH
ANNIVERASY CELEBRATIONS IN 2004 RUNS THE VERY REAL RISK OF BECOMING A
GOVERNMENT SANCTIONED TOURIST EXTRAVAGANZA DEVOID OF ANY POLITICAL OR
RADICAL CONTENT.
Current Affiliate Groups:: RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA
REBELLION
? Anarchist Media Institute
? Bayside Anarchist Group
? Libertarian Workers for a Self Managed Society
? People Against Repressive Legislation
? Itıs Our ABC

AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY
"Punching bluestone by day and squatters at night"
Charles Jardine DON

Charles Don was born in Fife in 1820.  He trained as a handloom weaver and
joined the Chartist movement in 1842.  At the age of 33 in 1853, he
immigrated to Victoria, lured with stories of work in the new land.  When he
arrived in Melbourne he found that there was no handloom industry in the
colony.  He found work as a stonemasonıs labourer, soon learnt the trade and
began working as a stonemason.  As a committed Chartist, he gravitated
towards the newly established Melbourne Trades Hall group and became
politically active.
In 1857, Trades Hall set up a Trades Halls Operatives Reform Association,
whose principle aim was to elect a workers representative to the Victorian
Legislative Assembly.  Failing in 1857, Melbourne Trades Hall established
the Political and Social League of Victoria in March 1859.  Charles Don was
elected as the member for Collingwood later on that year.  Donıs election to
the Legislative Assembly was the Labor movementıs first successful foray
into electoral politics in Australia.  Within 50 years, Labor governments
had been elected in all Australian states.  In the Legislative Assembly he
opposed assisted migration, advocated protectionism and advocated free
selection.  He used the chamber to promote the idea that government
contracts should only be given to contractors who supported the 8 hour day
campaign.
As the only workers representative in parliament, he found it extremely
difficult to make any headway in the Legislative Assembly.  Don was not
re-elected by his supporters because he threw his support behind the Duffy
Land Bill, a bill that greatly benefited the real powerbrokers in Victoria ­
the squatters.  He found it difficult to attend parliament because
parliamentarians were not paid.  He worked all day as a stonemason and
attended parliamentary meetings at night.  Thatıs where the quip that he
punched bluestone by day and squatters by night comes from.
Charles Don died suddenly in 1867 at the age of 47.  His pioneering
electoral efforts were appreciated by his fellow workers.  Over 600 workers
marched behind the hearse that carried his body.  The horse drawn hearse was
preceded by workers carrying the 8 hour banner.  A bust of Charles Jardine
Don still stands in the foyer of Melbourne Trades Hall.
Donıs election in 1859 galvanised the Labor movement in all the colonies.
They formed workers organisations that challenged the squatterıs monopoly of
an electoral system that had long been dominated by those elements in
colonial Australia that wielded power.

 BOOK REVIEW
"IN YA FACE" - NO. 5,
February 2003,
Journal of BARRICADE BOOKS ­ Melbourne
Itıs refreshing to come across an anarchist magazine that attempts to
analyse everyday reality and everyday issues.  Barricade Books and Infoshop,
an anarchist collective based in Brunswick in Melbourne, has produced five
?In Ya Faceı magazines over the past 8 years.  This is their most impressive
production.  In this 52 page extravaganza, a number of authors tackle some
mainstream and not so mainstream issues.  The most irritating aspect of ?In
Ya Faceı, an important addition to the anarchist publications currently
available to readers, is the in-house sniping thatıs directed at some
anarchist groups that the Barricade group may have had differences with, in
the past.
Articles range from a 3 part debate that occurred in late 2002 on the
Melbourne indymedia.org website, ?Renegotiating the Terrain, Renegotiating
the Terrain Postscript and Renegotiating the Terrain: An Anarchist
Perspectiveı.  A debate that examines the differences and similarities
between the anarchist and the autonomist movement to articles about prisons
­ ?Prisons are the Real Crimeı to strategies that can be used against the
World Trade Organisation (WTO).  Bren outlines his proposal for the
formation of a Regional Anarchist Federation thatıs based either on the idea
of an Association of Anarchists in Melbourne or the formation of a
Federation of existing groups similar to the 1975 stillborn Federation of
Australian Anarchists.
Arguably the most interesting and important article in this edition of ?In
Ya Faceı is the ?What is an Affinity Groupı article thatıs been republished
from the Quebec stop the FTAA website
http://www.stopftaa.org/activist/act_ags.html.  Owen Gager tackles the
question of Aboriginality sovereignty and the relationship between
anarchists living in Australia and this countryıs indigenous people in
?Aboriginal Sovereignty: An Anarchist Critiqueı.  Gager has in this article
fired a few salvos that will propel this important but unfinished discussion
forward.  Other articles tackle the question of war, building an anti-war
movement and immigration and refugees from Melbourne to Woomera.
Fiona Taylor amag174@yahoo.com presents the background and ideas that have
sustained a libertarian school in South-West Spain ­ ?Paideia 24 Years of
Anarchist Education in South-West Spainı.  ?Workers Control After 1917ı
represents ideas about the Russian Revolution that have been current for
decades but which receive little if any publicity.  The magazine ends with
an article on the anarchist author B. Traven by Tall Paul and an article
about two female pirates by eloven.  This is followed by 2 book reviews and
a contact and resource page that lists a selection of non-authoritarian and
anarchist groups active in Australia.
?In Ya Faceı is available for AUD$3.00 from BARRICADE BOOKS AND INFOSHOP,
Ireneıs Warehouse, 5 Pitt St, Brunswick 3056, Melbourne, Australia.  Ireneıs
Warehouse is Barricadeıs new home.  Barricade Books is open on Wednesday to
Friday 11am - 6pm and Saturday 11am ­ 3pm.  Ring beforehand (03)3879699 or
(03)3436695 to make sure the shop will be open.  Melways Ref:29 J8,
email:infoshop@bedlam.anarki.net

PERSONAL OBSERVATION
Airports are strange places, plastic overpriced food, televisions blaring in
the background, people sitting waiting to take them somewhere else.  Baggage
tagged neatly stacked on the concrete runway, men in fluorescent tops
whizzing across the tarmac in little people movers.  Empty baggage carts
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 and 21 wait in four rows.
The aircraft hugs the covered way waiting for its human cargo.  A fire truck
stands in the distance.  Men and women identify badges hugging their chests,
wander around the tarmac doing what theyıre paid to do.
Waiting with 100 or so bored passengers, reading newspapers, magazines or
just staring into the ether, we watch an aircraft taxi towards another
covered way.  Blue sky wispy clouds, shipping cranes on the horizon, killing
time waiting for something, anything to happen.  Five ten on Sunday
afternoon, a bus appears on the tarmac, a bored driver does one, two loops
trying to impress somebody, anybody.  Two planes, 2 covered ways, men in
fluorescent jackets whiz round the tarmac.  Baggage carts are driven towards
one of the aircraft, 2 men throw bags on an automatic loader.  Security
guards roam across the tarmac in what appear to be white Holdens, maybe
theyıre Falcons.  I canıt tell and donıt really care.  Another baggage cart
arrives, bags are now being loaded into the front of the plane.  Routine,
nothing out of the ordinary, a female flight attendant, night bag in hand,
skirts the edge of the tarmac.
Suddenly out of nowhere, a stretch limousine, windows darkened flashes by.
The first vehicle is followed by two more stretch limousines.  Three
security vans (1 black 2 white) make up the rear of the convoy.  As suddenly
as they appeared, they vanished, 1,2,3,4,5,6, gone in a flash.  No police
escort, no security men beside the convoy, no honour guard, just 3 stretch
limousines with darkened windows, 3 vehicles full of self-conscious security
men and nothing else.  Itıs obvious there arenıt any honoured government
guests or tin pot dictators in this convoy.
If I or any one of the 100 strong crowd waiting for a flight strolled onto
the tarmac, weıd be surrounded by security guards and bundled away as
possible terrorists.  It must be somebody important thatıs arrived, somebody
whoıs well known and doesnıt want to be seen.  Who could it possibly be?
Eureka!! It just came to me, it must be the Rolling Stones and their
families jetting into another Australia city to entertain those of us who
are willing to open their purses and keep them in the lifestyle they have
become accustomed to.

STOP PRESS
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SANCTIONED THUGS
The Minister for Workplace Warfares latest foray into the workplace is
reminiscent of the type of behaviour youıd expect from the born to rule
boys.  Abbottıs attempt to stoke up the workplace fires, revolves around the
idea of the Federal government employing flying squads of scabs to provide
labour on sites that are involved in strikes during enterprise bargaining
disputes.
The Federal governmentıs building industry taskforce is poised to use
government paid scabs to act as strike breakers at the new football stadium
that is being built at Lang Park in Brisbane.  The Queensland Premiere
Beattie has warned that there would be ?anarchy and chaosı on building sites
across Queensland, if Federal government scabs were used to break the
strike.  The Howard governmentıs plans to break the power of the building
unions, is not welcomed in union, business or state government circles.
Faced with ongoing hostility from all quarters, it is examining methods it
can use to introduce and protect scabs on building sites.  Historically, the
Federal government has had little power over a stateıs internal affairs and
has had to rely on sympathetic state governments to intervene.
It seems Abbott now believes the Federal government has the constitutional
power to intervene on building sites.  What he seems to have forgotten is
that he cannot rely on hostile state governmentsı police forces to provide
the protection the scabs need.  This can be done by using the armed forces,
a move that would have minimal public support, Federal police intervention,
private security firms subcontracted by the Federal government or the
Federal governments building industry taskforce could create a special
Federal Police force that deals with workplace disputes.
Abbott is treading on thin constitutional ice if he believes the Federal
government has the constitutional powers to create a Federal Workplace
police force.  Although over the past 100 years, the focus of power has
shifted from the states to Canberra.  Even a High Court as conservative as
the current Howard government appointed one, would be hard pressed giving
the Howard government the constitutional power to create a police force that
deals exclusively with workplace issues.
Whether Abbott is able to get away with his latest plan to a large degree
depends on the resistance that the radical and trade union movement is able
to muster.  Allowing Abbott and the Howard government to get away with their
current plans to create a workplace police force would eventually lead to
the death of collective bargaining, the union movement and the right workers
have to organise on work sites.
Joseph TOSCANO/LibertarianWorkers
for a Self-Managed Society.

ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
IN YA FACE No.5 Feb ı03, Journal of Barricade Books, Barricade Books &
Infoshop 5 Pitt St, Brunswick 3056, Melbourne, Australia, P.O. BOX 199 EAST
BRUNSWICK 3057 MELB, AUSTRALIA, Tel:(03)93876646, infoshop@bedlam.anarki.net
REBEL WORKER Vol.22 No.1 (180) Jan-March 2003, Paper of the
Anarcho-Syndicalist Network. P.O. Box 92, BROADWAY 2007, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA,
EMAIL:rworker@chaos.apana.org.au
LIBERTAIRE Vol.5, No.1 Jan/March 2003,, Il piacere dellıutopia, Editrice A,
Cas.Post.17025, 20170 Milano, ITALY, Email:eleuthera@tin.it
www.club.it/eleuthera
LE LIBERTAIRE  No.232 Feb2003, Revue de synthese anarchiste, Boite Postale
745, 76060  Leitavre Cedex FRANCE Tel:(0148414594), www.le-libertaire.org,
libertaire@normandnet.fr
LIBRE PENSAMIENTO Vol.6 No.41 Octı02, Confederacion General del Trabajo
(CNT), Calle Sagainto, 15. 28010, MADRID SPAIN, TEL:915931628,
FAX:914453132, EMAIL:spcc.cgt@cgt.es
SOLIDARIDAD OBRERA No312 Sept/Oct ı02, Portavoz de la Confederacion Nacional
del Trabago(CNT) C/-Jocquin Costa, 34 entresueto, 08001 Barcelona SPAIN,
Tel/Fax:933188834, soliobrera@hotmail.com
UMANITA NOVA Vol 83 No.5 EL 9th Feb.ı03, Settimanale Anarchico, C.50 Palermo
46, 10152, Torino ITALY. tel/fax (011) 857850 Mobile 338-6594361
email:fat@inrete.it

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to the A.A.W.R. If sending less than $20.00 save on banking costs and send
us 50 cent stamps. Otherwise make out cheques and money orders to
LIBERTARIAN WORKERS and send to P.O. BOX 20, PARKVILLE 3052, MELBOURNE,
AUSTRALIA.
Debt 05-03-2003            $1624.50
 ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS
One of the people accused of helping refugees escape from Woomera is asking
for letters of support.  Please write to: timothy daniel collins, port
augusta prison,
po box 6, port augusta, SA 5700, (Tim can't receive any books or papers).

THIS WEEK'S STORIES: Alcohol Industry Relies on Binge Drinkers &
Children...Public Housing List Grows...Govt Plays Favourites Overworked &
Not Paid...Poor People Are Funny...Public Hospital Crisis...By 3000, No
Child Will Live In Poverty...Quotes of the Week.

A report from US has concluded that the alcohol industry relies on underage
drinkers & alcohol abusers for about half its sales. (MX, Feb 26).
The public housing waiting list grew by 13 percent in the last financial
year. (The Age, Feb 28).
The Vict govt gave unfair preferential treatment to one of the bidders for
the $110 million Docklands Film Studio, according to a report by the Vict
Auditor-General Wayne Cameron. The report said Central City Studios were
allowed to negotiate with the govt for 9 months over design changes &
finance arrangements, unlike their 2 competitors. The company was also
allowed to add $5.9 million to the cost of the studio. The project cost a
total of $6.9 million more than the govt's initial $40 million commitment.
The govt has refused to release a report by the auditor assigned to the
project, despite promising to do so. (The Age, Feb 28).
44 % of workers in Aust say they work unpaid overtime most weeks. Of these
workers, the average amount of unpaid overtime worked is 8.4 hours a week.
(The Age Good Weekend supplement, Mar 1).
US television network CBS has ignored protests & says it intends to continue
with its idea for a reality TV show, in which a poor rural family will be
given a home in Beverley Hills.  The show is designed to "capitalise on the
fish-out-of-water dynamics between the family & their affluent new
neighbours" according to the MX newspaper.  Critics say itıs an exercise in
ridiculing poor people. Bigotry against poor whites is far more acceptable
than other kinds of bigotry, in USA & Aust.  Shows such as 'the Simpsons'
feature stereotypes of poor whites which originated at the same time as
racial stereotypes & were based on the same pseudo-scientific ideas.  Slurs
such as 'white trash' are treated far more lightly than racial slurs. (MX,
Febr 26).
The financial position of Vict public hospitals has deteriorated in the last
year, with 9 judged to be in financial difficulties & 15 others reporting
'poor results'. (The Age, Feb 28).
26% of children born worldwide wont be immunised against any disease. 30%
will suffer from malnutrition in the first 5 years of their life. (The Age
Good Weekend supplement, Mar 1).
Quote of the Week: "I wrote the Republican Party's foreign policy platform".
Bruce Jackson, Vice President of weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
"Space is going to be important. It has a great feature in the military."
Stephen Hadley, military advisor to George Bush Senior, and lawyer for
Lockheed Martin. The board of Lockheed Martin includes Lynn Cheney, wife of
US Vice President Dick Cheney. (Quotes and information from SchNews news
report, Feb 7).
anarchist news service write to James, PO Box 503, Newtown NSW 2042 or email
james.hutchings@ato.gov.au contact us to get ATNTF emailed directly to you.
If you like All the News That Fits, forward it on. www.angry.at/politicians
- new anarchist website with fliers for download, contacts
www.angry.at/racists - Anarchist/anti-racist music site with free mp3s, Real
Audio, Real Video, internet radio, band interviews etc.   Also includes the
text of 'Escape', an anarchist novel -
www.geocities.com/skipnewborn/novel.doc, www.dolearmy.org - information for
unemployed people, .www.activate.8m.com - anarchist magazine aimed at
teenagers. All the News That Fits appears in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review
(www.vicnet.net.au/~anarchist - PO Box 20 Parkville VIC 3052) & The Ham
(www.theham.cat.org.au), as well as Melbourne Indymedia
(www.melbourne.indymedia.org).
Media outlets mentioned in All the News That Fits are sources - items are
not direct quotes from news media.  Background information may have been
gathered from sources in addition to media outlets cited.  Where no source
is cited, the information has been gathered from direct sources.

ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK
Has been awarded to core and non core man, a man who wouldnıt recognise the
truth if he fell over it, our beloved Prime Minister John Winston Howard. (I
understand he has trouble lying straight in bed at night)

STAMP APPEAL  - We spend over $500.00 on postage stamps per month.  If you
are writing to us or have any spare stamps floating about stuff them into
the envelope and send them to us.  JOIN our $5.00 a month group and send us
a book of 10 50 cent stamps every month.
Every little bit helps.

RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLION
Celebrate on the 3rd December 2003
The 3rd December 2003 marks the 149th Anniversary of the Eureka rebellion.
This year a federation of groups will be celebrating the anniversary at
Ballarat and around Australia.  If you wish to keep up with whatıs happening
or belong to a group that wants to affiliate with the organisation write to
us at P.O. Box 20, PARKVILLE 3052, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA for details about
affiliation.
Current affiliate groups:  **  ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE
**  LIBERTARIAN WORKERS FOR A SELF MANAGED SOCIETY
**  BAYSIDE ANARCHIST GROUP
**  ITıS OUR ABC  **  PEOPLE AGAINST REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION
If you want to join the mailing list in 2003 and keep up to date with whatıs
happening, send us 10 ­ 50cent stamps

A DOLLAR A DAY
Increasing financial problems have forced us to review how The Anarchist
Media Instituteıs finances are raised.  Currently subscriptions and
donations only account for about 40% of the income necessary to cover our
costs.  To overcome this problem weıve launched a:-
SAVE THE ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE ~ "A DOLLAR A DAY" CAMPAIGN
We are looking for THIRTY People, interested in our activities, to pledge to
donate
?A Dollar A Dayı for twelve months.  You can donate monthly or yearly.  Make
out cheques and money orders to:- Libertarian Workers and send to PO Box 20,
Parkville. 3052. Melbourne. Australia.  Those who pledge will receive a "I
Saved The Anarchist Media Institute" A3 poster which you can frame and put
up at work or home - A great talking point if nothing else.  Weıve got the
ideas and energy but we need your financial assistance to keep going.  Go
on, become one of the Magnificent Thirty that saved the Anarchist Media
Institute.
SIX READERS HAVE JOINED THE "DOLLAR A DAY" CLUB ­ 25 TO GO JOIN TODAY!!
EMPTY YOUR POCKETS OF LOOSE CHANGE & SAVE THE ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE

PEOPLE AGAINST REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION DEMONSTRATE EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 11.30AM
Outside ESSOıs Australian Headquarters, Southbank, Melbourne.
To highlight the link between oil and the imminent invasion of Iraq. Bring
along your own banners, leaflets and placards ­ the more the merrier.   All
Welcome.

EMAIL MADNESS - Have access to cyberspace?  Want to help us save on printing
and postage costs?  Then why donıt you receive the Anarchist Age Weekly
Review by email?  INTERESTED??  Then email us at anarchistage@yahoo.com and
arrange to have the weekly emailed to you.

183 MEMBERS ­ 367 TO GO
BEFORE WE CAN APPLY TO REGISTER AS A FEDERAL POLITICAL PARTY
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.)
Current membership 179.  We need 550 members to apply for registration as a
political party, so that members can stand at the Federal election in 2004
and show Australianıs that Parliamentary Democracy is nothing more than two
minutes of illusory power.

 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 reflect the personal
opinions of the authors, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the
publishers, the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist
Media Institute.
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

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