E D I T O R I A L

Modern Labour
Unveiling his 'modern Labor' pitch in the Budget in Reply, Opposition leader Simon Crean seemed very 1950s � when 'modern' was good in itself, like spray-cans, zippers and uncomfortable furniture.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Licking the Wounds
Elder statesman Neville Wran expands on his review into Labor's performance at the last federal election.

Industrial: The Accidental Tourist
Standing on a picket line, just metres from the sleaziest part of Kings Cross, was not what Cheshire chemist David Lui had in mind when he was saving for his trip of a lifetime.

Unions: Stars And Stripes
Fly the flag, beat the war drum and screw the old, the sick and the poor � Peter Costello�s budget aims to emulate the worst aspects of American politics argues Noel Hester.

International: The Un-Promised Land
Andrew Casey lifts the lid on a little-known campaign to establish a Jewish homeland in the Kimberleys.

History: Mate Against Mate
Neale Towart trawls the records to recount some of the more acrimonious ALP State Conference debates.

Politics: Reith's Gong
Peter Reith's medal from the HR Nicholls Society overlooks a number of lamentable aspects about his character as Stuart Mackenzie reports.

Poetry: You've Got a Friend
A friend is someone who protects you, but in an interesting twist the Federal budget has redefined the notion of 'protection' by adding the word 'from'.

Review: War on Terror: Now Showing
Arnold Schwarznegger's latest flick Collateral Damage is spooky for many reasons, writes Tara de Boehmler.

Satire: Burmese Regime Makes Genuine Commitment To Pretence Of Change
The government of Myanmar (Burma) released democratic opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today after a year and a half of house arrest.

N E W S

Solidarity In The Post To East Timor

Joy Wins For All Workers

Workers Call Abbott On Democracy Bluff

Wran Tells MPs: Talk to Unions

Family First on Conference Agenda

Cole Commission Declares Paper War

Yarra Workers Thank Australia

Budget Attacks Retirement Incomes

PSA Challenges Carr�s Secrecy Shield

Election Talk Aint Cheap

Hotel Bosses Back Down On Pay

Welfare Staff Strike Out At Harrassment

Della Ups DIR Inspectorate

Fake Notes Expose Government as Tax Cheat

Labor Faces Acid Test on Asylum Seekers

New Project Encourages Cultural Exchanges

Bush�s Western Saharan War And Oil Deal

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Border Solidarity
The Australian Workers Union's Bill Shorten explains why he drew a line in the cement in support of the CSL Yarra crew

The Locker Room
The Dangerous Life Of A Hot Dog Seller
Phil Doyle ruminates on the virtues of processed meats in the world of elite sports.

Bosswatch
The Bottom Line
Peter Costello wasn't the only one flaunting a budget deficit this week, as Rupert Murdoch announced the largest corporate write-down on record.

Postcard
East Timor Appeals For Help
At midnight on Sunday 19 May, the UN mandate in East Timor comes to an end and East Timor becomes a new independent nation.

Week in Review
The Spin Cycle
Budget week brings that much spin you half expect to see Shane Warne wheeled out as a spokesman on health, economics, or whatever else the combatants are blabbing about. Jim Marr lifts the covers.

L E T T E R S

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East Timor Appeals For Help

By HT Lee

This should be a time for joy and celebrations--the heralding in of the rebirth of a nation that the international committee ignored for 24 years. Howard, Downer and other international dignitaries will be there--patting themselves on the back for a job well done--but there will be no mention or whisper of their 24 years of collective silence.

Leaking behind the scene will be the faceless men and women who have helped draft the Timor Sea Arrangement (TSA), which will be the first act the in-coming East Timor Prime Minister Alkatiri will sign on 20 May and turn it into a treaty. And as that happens, these faceless men and women--just like former Australian and Indonesian foreign ministers--Evans and Ali Alatas, and their entourage in another event back in 1989--will click their champagne glasses--this time not in a plane over the Timor Sea, but on land at ground zero, in Dili itself.

However, the end result is the same--the treaty conducted in secrecy and behind closed doors by only a handful of people--will cost East Timor billions of dollars in lost revenue and thousands of much needed jobs.

East Timorese opposition MPs, local NGOs and organisations including La'o Hamutuk--The East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis, have sent out an urgent appeal to the international solidarity movement to defend East Timor's ongoing struggle for self-determination. In the editorial of its latest bulletin, La'o Hamutuk sums up the situation:

'La'o Hamutuk calls upon the Australian government to demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law and to agree to maritime boundaries through internationally recognised legal channels. At the same time, we call upon the pro-East Timor sectors of Australian civil society and the international solidarity movement to be vigilant and active in defending East Timor's interests. The contest over the resources of the Timor Gap is a crucial battle in East Timor's ongoing struggle for self-determination. Canberra played a significant role in derailing East Timorese political independence from 1975 to 1999. As East Timor's independence is now imminent, Australia cannot be allowed to undermine the new country's future.'

Opposition MP Eusebio Guterres and his colleagues had requested Alkatiri to front up to East Timor's Constitutional Assembly (which will become the new parliament) on two occasions to explain and disclose the contents of Alkatiri's latest negotiation with Australia.

Eusebio and at least 26 out of the 88 members of the assembly want to delay the ratification for at least six months to set up a parliamentary committee to investigate all aspects of the draft agreement before voting on it.

However, Alkatiri has refused to address them and has told them he won't disclose the contents of the treaty to be signed on Monday 20 May, until after the signing. He dismissed them as a bunch of minority opposition members.

Alkatiri told a journalist at a recent press conference in Dili: 'If I sign the treaty, parliament will endorse and ratify it.'

Alkatiri intends to use his numbers in Fretelin to ram through the treaty in parliament. And if this happens East Timor's parliament will just becomes nothing more than a rubber stamp--not a very good start for a fledging democracy.

It is interesting to note that people like Eusebio and his colleagues who were forced to work in secrecy and involved in clandestine activities during the Indonesian occupation now want openness and accountability whereas those who were abroad--such as Alkatiri who had the luxury of working quite openly--now indulge themselves in secrecy and work behind closed doors.

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