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Issue No. 137 24 May 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

An Aussie Icon
The public deification of the Last Anzac, Alec Campbell, proves the adage that when you scratch the surface of an icon you'll invariably find a far more interesting reality.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Just Done It?
Nikewatch's Tim Connor gives his verdict on the global giant's latest innovation: ethics.

Tribute: Lest We Forget
Rowan Cahill goes looking for the real Alec Campbell and finds a story the Telegraph will not be publishing.

History: Solidarity Forever
Neale Towart looks at the enduring relationship between the union movement and the defence forces and finds it all comers down to solidarity.

Technology: Unblocking the Superhighway
Michael Gadiel argues the case for Open Standards as a way of breaking the grip of big business on the IT industry.

International: Gloves Off
Workers and their unions are facing a battering throughout South America as a wave of economic turmoil sweeps across the continent.

Unions: Out Of Work
Jim Marr travels to the frontline to witness the impact of the Howard Government's decision to close Employment National.

Review: Strange Business
Tara de Boehmler looks at a new flick that exposes the dark side of the Material World.

Poetry: The Lawyer's Lament
One of the big issues of recent weeks has been the explosion of insurance costs for public and community events, many of which have had to be cancelled as a result.

Satire: Government Mourns Loss Of Last Anzac
Treasurer Peter Costello has lamented the death of Alec Campbell, the last surviving ANZAC, bemoaning the lost revenue the government could have gained at his expense following the Budget.

N E W S

 Workers Honour Radical Digger

 Retailers in Outworker Spotlight

 Nurses, Teachers Snare Agenda

 Syd in Vicious Backpacker Stand-off

 Microsoft Monopoly Under Challenge

 Kiddies Not Exactly Having a Ball

 NSW ALP Faces Asylum Seeker Test

 Canberra Acts on Industrial Manslaughter

 Carr Delivers on Dismissals

 Santa Claus Strikers on Christmas Island

 Abbott Believes Management Should Dictate

 Low Paid Not To Blame For Beer Price Rise

 Casino Award Covers Eastern States

 Security Workers Want Bosses Sacked

 Sydneysiders Rally For Western Sahara

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Cold Hard Truth
The Rail,Tram and Bus Union's Nick Lewocki argues our hard-hearted treatment of refugees is a betrayal of our proud immigrant history.

The Locker Room
The South Melbourne Football Club Pty Ltd
A spectre is haunting football; it is the spectre of revolution; a free market revolution, writes Phil Doyle.

Bosswatch
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Jobs are under threat in the textile and trye markets; but there's better news in the Newcastle mills and the Nike factories.

Postcard
Gas Treaty - The Raw Deal
East Timor is getting less then 40%�not 90% royalties from the oil and gas revenue in the Timor Sea, reports HT Lee.

Week in Review
Origin of the Species
Phil Gould, Andrew Johns and Danny Buderus may have buried the laughable notion that Rugby Union is the sport they play in heaven, but outside Stadium Australia life goes on, as Jim Marr discovers.

L E T T E R S
 Dancing With Trotsky? Not Bloody Likely.
 Your Tools Page is Down
 Big Dave Foster
 Give Us a Click!
 Will the Real Mark Latham Please Stand Up?
 Unified Labour
 The Last Survivor
 Not Hate Mail
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Unified Labour


In reply to Peter Lewis' excellent editorial, in which he points out that the Union Movement is already a decade along the road towards modernisation, while Simon Crean has only just picked up on the term "modern," I would suggest it is a plus that at least the Parliamentary Leader of the ALP has actually updated his vocabularly.

We all know that, in order to win the next Federal election, Labor has to present to the people of Australia a clearly defined policy, that is readily identifiable as a positive alternative to the Coalition.

A great many people say to me that there is no longer any significant difference between Labor and the Coalition. This was brought home to me when I was handing out "How To Vote Labor" leaflets on November 10 last, at the strongest Liberal polling place in the whole of Australia: St Martin's Anglican Church, Killara, Sydney.

While the Greens were not able to spare anyone to hand out leaflets, they had left a box there for anyone who wanted this choice. A number of elderly voters, especially women, asked for a Green's leaflet, which I was happy to give to them.

What many people probably don't know is that it was the Greens preferences that helped our excellent Labor candidate for the seat of Bradfield, Kathie Blunt, to defy the Nation-wide swing of 1.5 - 2 % towards the Coalition, and turn Bradfield from the second safest to the third safest Liberal seat in Australia. In fact there was a minute positive swing, an a two party preferred basis, towards Labor in the seat held by Brendan Nelson.

The fact that the Coalition is running shit scared of failing to make a fourth term, was clearly evidenced when the Minister for Finance, Nick Minchin, toted the idea of an amalgamation of the Liberal and National Parties.

The future for any kind of democracy in Australia is utterly dependent on Labor ousting the Coalition at the next Federal Election. A unified front representing ALL factions of Labor MUST be established within the next 2 1/2 years.

Julian Hancock


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