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Issue No. 281 16 September 2005  
E D I T O R I A L

Marked Territory
If the mountain of pre-publicity is indicative of its content, the Latham Diaries will read a little bit like a sausage cookbook; full of grisley details about the makings of something we would rather take on face value.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Polar Eclipse
Academic David McKnight challenges some sacred cows in his new book "Beyond Left and Right".

Industrial: Wrong Turn
Radical labour reform is on the horizon but some workers, like Sydney bus driver Yvonne Carson, have seen it all before, writes Jim Marr.

Unions: Star Support
It wasn't just families who backed workers' rights at The Last Weekend, but a bunch of musicians who set the tone, writes Chrissy Layton.

Workplace: Checked Out
Glenda Kwek asks you to consider the plight of the retail worker, and shares some of her experiences

Economics: Sold Out
The Future Fund and industrial relations reform are favourite projects of the PM and the Treasurer. Both are speculations on the future and the only guarantee with them is that you will be worse off, writes Neale Towart.

Politics: Green Banned
The impact of new building industry laws won�t be confined to one industry, writes CFMEU national secretary John Sutton.

History: Potted History
Lithgow is a place with a proud history as a union town. The origins of broader community solidarity lie in the early industrial development of the town and the development of unions. The Lithgow Pottery dispute of 1890 was a key event.

International: Curtain Call
The curtains have opened for East Timor�s young theatre performers, thanks to a Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA project.

Review: Little Fish
At last! An Aussie film with substance, suspense and a serious dose of reality, writes Lucy Muirhead

Poetry: Slug A Worker
In a shock development, the Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, gave a ringing endorsement to the poetry pages of Workers Online, writes resident bard David Peetz.

N E W S

 Flexibility - Bush Rates Slashed

 Seamen Marooned on Tassie

 Families Win Refuge in Tamworth

 Catholics Nail Andrews' Heresy

 IR Changes a Beach

 Drama Queen Applies Gloss

 Peace a Security Threat

 OEA Flicks Fraud Case

 Auto Workers Drive Union Win

 Bush Adds Insult to Injuries

 Job Vandals Cash In

 Lib Heads Witch Hunt

 Sydney Water Damned

 Super Blue Warms Up

 Activist's What's On!

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Families First
New Senator Stephen Fielding turned a few heads with his Maiden Speech to Parliament.

The Locker Room
The New World Order
Phil Doyle declares himself unavailable for the fifth and deciding test.

Parliament
The Westie Wing
Our favourite MP, Ian West, reports from the NSW Government's Safety Summit

Postcard
On The Bus
A bright orange bus travelling the state has become the focus of the campaign against federal IR changes. Nathan Brown was on board.

L E T T E R S
 Dinosaurs Bite Back
 Killer Culture
 Who Cares?
 Do the Bus Stop
 A Touch of Honesty
 Boss Made Me Sick
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Peace a Security Threat


Got a beef with big business mates or war profiteers? Think it but don�t say it, is the message Australians received this week when authorities used new anti-terror laws to grab a peace activist off a Melbourne St and deported him.

ASIO, the Department of Immigration (DIMIA) and the Federal Government remain vague about the reasons for revoking Scott Parkin's visa and will only say he posed a national security "risk".

Back in the United States today, Parkin (35) described himself as a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and said he gave talks while in Australia about the war in Iraq and helped organise one protest against US energy company Halliburton.

Parkin said his talks hadn't been openly critical of Australia.

"I was being openly critical of the US occupation of Iraq and I was being openly critical of Halliburton."

Former intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie staunchly defended Parkin, saying that the government's national security agenda was out of control.

"I think what we're seeing with Scott is an accelerating preparedness by the Howard government to deal ruthlessly with anyone who dares to speak out against its policy position," Wilkie said.

It was just after finishing breakfast at a cafe in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick last Saturday when a shocked Parkin saw six police officers.

"I talked to them for a minute and said 'Hey, I'm a peaceful person. I'm passive. I'm not going to give you any trouble'," Parkin recalled.

He said authorities never made it clear why he had been arrested.

"They were very vague," he said. "They said I violated sections of the migration act and they said I was a direct or indirect risk to their national security."

Parkin was also handed a bill for almost $A11,700.

It included $A4,235.03 for his airfare back to LA and $A6,675.39 for the return airfares of his two corrective services escorts as well as their accommodation in Los Angeles.

"They're staying in Anaheim on Disneyland Drive I heard," Parkin quipped.


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