E D I T O R I A L

When the Truth Hurts
Some rare moments of candour this week have vindicated all we’ve been saying about WorkChoices and more.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Rock Solid
Bill Shorten gives the inside story on the Australian Workers Union's involvement in the Beaconsfield rescue.

Industrial: Eight Simple Rules for Employing My Teenage Daughter
Phil Oswald bought up his kids to believe in their rights; so when his 16-year old daughter was told to cop a pay cut she was never going to take it quietly.

Politics: The Johnnie Code
WorkChoices is encrypted deep in the PM's political DNA, writes Evan Jones

Energy: Fission Fantasies
Adam Ma’anit looks at the big business push behind the 'clean nuclear' debate that is sweeping the globe.

History: All The Way With Clarrie O'Shea
The WorkChoices Penal Powers are the latest in a long line of penal sanctions against trade unions, writes Neale Towart

International: Closer to Home
If Australia can forgive its debt to Iraq, why not to Indonesia and the Philippines, write Luke Fletcher and Karen Iles

Economics: Taking the Fizz
While the Treasurer has been popping the post-Budget champers, Frank Stilwell gives a more sober assessment.

Unions: Stronger Together
Amanada Tattersall looks at the possibilities of strengthening alliances between unions, environmental and community organisations

Review: Montezuma's Revenge
Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in a film about racism and retribution, writes James Gallaway.

Poetry: Fair Go Gone
Employers in the land rejoice, for we are girt by greed.

N E W S

Howard's Advocate Fesses Up

Cowra - Work Slaughter Legal

You're Killing Us - BHP Charged Again

Revealed: Beaconsfield Led AWA Charge

Warehouse Pushes the Envelope

Independent Schools Push Class Warfare

Spotlight on Howard’s Porkies

PM Backs Visa Buster

Sutton Wants Middle Men Probed

ATO Recruiting for WorkChoices

Taxpayers to Fund Ad Orgy

New Deal on Canberra Menu

Appeal for East Timor

Activist's What's On!

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Beaconsfield Declaration
As the Prime Minister feted Brant Webb and Todd Russell, their colleagues were outside with a message to the rest of Australia.

The Locker Room
Run Like You Stole Something
Phil Doyle observes that there are some tough bastards out there.

Parliament
The Westie Wing
That fun-loving friend of the workers, Ian West, reports from the red leather of the Bear Pit.

Education
Class Action
Phil Bradley draws the lines between education funding and the current skills crisis.

L E T T E R S

WHAT YOU CAN DO

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Appeal for East Timor

The civil conflict in East Timor has caused people from many areas of the capital, Dili, to flee their homes. People remember the trauma of the occupation and also the terrible destruction wrought by the pro-Indonesian militia in the wake of the independence referendum in 1999.

Although troops from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Portugal have answered the invitation of the elected government to assist in restoring order, many homes have been burned, and 50,000 people have taken shelter in churches and schools and central infrastructure buildings in Dili, and 50,000 have moved to districts outside the capital. Thousands of people therefore need clean water, temporary shelter, food and health care. The government and international NGOs have been meeting to coordinate support to these camps.

Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA has had an office in Dili since 1999, and though our Australian volunteers have been temporarily withdrawn, our local staff are assisting in the relief efforts in Dili, for example, in one of the nearby shelters where hundreds of women and children have taken shelter in a convent

Over the coming weeks we will consult with our local partner organisations in community radio, in the trade unions, in the skills-training community groups, in the university library, in print media, in the Nurses' Association, on restoring any physical infrastructures that have sustained damage, and assist them in peace-building strategies.

This conflict has been very traumatic for East Timorese people, and rebuilding confidence for people to participate in democratic civil society will be a long-term process. Central to this is building strong democratic and representative organisations, such as trade unions, and the continued development of an independent mass media, that can keep people informed of decision-making by elected representatives.

Situations of civil conflict, such as East Timor or Solomon Islands, arise not just because of governance concerns, but because of the terrible suffering and alienation caused by mass unemployment. Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA has prioritized skills training so young women and men can get jobs or establish production cooperatives.

We ask that organisations and individuals that may wish to assist, to donate funds we can use so our staff in Dili can provide relief to displaced people in the coming weeks, and to assist local organisations in rebuilding a peaceful, free and productive society in East Timor over the coming months.

If you wish to make a contribution, you can donate to Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA by:

Telephone: 1800 888 674 (in Australia, 8.00 to 18.00 Eastern Standard Time M-F) can donate to Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA by:

Online: Please go to our secure donation form and select Once off donation - East Timor from the drop down menu in section C. ONE OFF DONATIONS and APPEALS

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URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/309/news93_timor.html
Last Modified: 02 Jun 2006