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  Issue No 72 Official Organ of LaborNet 06 October 2000  

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News

Australian History To Be Buried Alive


A major Australian business and labour archives is to be mothballed by the Australian National University. The Noel Butlin Archives Centre will be sealed off in its repository in the tunnel at Acton Underhill on the ANU campus.

The public and researchers will lose access to these unique records of Australian society.

Historian Dr John Merritt, speaking for the Friends of the Noel Butlin Archives Centre, has urged the ANU to reconsider its plan. He said that "the proposed relocation and job cuts will put the University in breach of its legal and moral obligations to the owners of the records and to researchers."

Dr Merritt explained that "the Archives was established by Professor Noel Butlin in 1953 and now holds 13,000 shelf metres of records documenting the working lives of Australians, including records of many great Australian companies, such as Elders, Dalgety, AML&F, Goldsbrough Mort, CSR, Adelaide Steamship Co, Burns Philp and Tooths, plus the archives of the ACTU, most of the national trade unions, and employer bodies such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Farmers' Federation. The Archives hold vital materials for academic research, and also provides crucial resources for genealogists, land claims and local historians. The National AIDS Archives is also part of the NBAC."

Last week the ANU informed the National Tertiary Education Union of its intentions to further slash resources to the Archives. ANU Branch Secretary Barry Howarth commented that "an attempt by the ANU in 1997 to close the Archives and disperse the holdings failed due to public protest. Transitional funding arrangements which already cut the Archives to bare bones expire at the end of this year. In proposing the new plan for mothballing the Archives, Mr Colin Steele, the ANU Librarian, has ignored public calls to properly fund the Archives, or at least maintain it at its current minimal level."

There has been wide-ranging outrage at the ANU's continued down-grading of the Archives. The recent ALP Federal Conference, recognising the NBAC "as a world class archive of unique union and business records", unanimously called on the ANU "to maintain funding for the NBAC at a level that will enable it to continue its work of collecting and preserving the union and business records". The Australian Society of Archivists unanimously demanded at its national conference last month "that the ANU develop a stable long term funding arrangement for the Archives as appropriate for a national institution holding a large proportion of the archives documenting Australia's rural and industrial heritage". At the same conference Mr George Nichols, Director-General of the National Archives of Australia, attacked the "on-going side stepping of responsibility by the ANU for the Noel Butlin Archives Centre", describing the NBAC as "one of the jewels in the crown" of collecting archives.

For More Information Contact:

Ewan Maidment, FNBAC Hon. Secretary (Ph 02 6249 2521; email: [email protected])

Dr John Merritt, FNBAC Representative on the NBAC Advisory Committee. (Ph 02 6236 9317; email: [email protected])

Ms Rosemary Webb, President, FNBAC. (Ph.02 6291 9656; email: [email protected])

Mr Barry Howarth, NTEU ANU Branch Secretary. (Ph.62492043/62494066; email [email protected])


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*   Issue 72 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Taking It To The Union Busters
ACTU Assistant Secretary Richard Marles talks to Workers Online about turning back the anti-union sentiment growing in the business community, responsible unionism and the sense of fun to be found at the ACTU.
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*  International: The White Knights
The International Labour Organisation has become the great hope for those fighting to give globalisation a human face. Australian Bob Kyloh is one of those working with trade unions within the ILO to make it happen.
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*  Politics: Industrial Democracy for Australia
Glenn Patmore argues we need new forms of employee representation in the workplace to broaden employee participation.
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*  Unions: Behind The Scenes
In a small office at Homebush Bay, as the world focused on all that was positive about our games, Unions 2000 and SOCOG officials worked tirelessly to ensure that no worker was ripped off. Chris Christoudoulou reports.
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*  Satire: Parade of Icons �Could Have Included Even More Ex-Aussies� Say Critics
The selection of Greg Norman, Paul Hogan and Elle Macpherson to represent Australia in the �Parade of Icons� during the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Games last night has prompted a storm of complaints from other famous former Australians.
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*  Review: Elliott Smiths Figure 8
Smith is basically the secret love child of the fab four and it�s so blatantly obvious. That�s not a bad thing because one thing Lennon and McCartney were reknown for was there ability to pen catchy tunes.
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News
»  Interstate Rail Workers Rebel Against AWAs
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»  Australia Post Exposes Staff to Bomb Danger
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»  Alliance Builds Against Commonwealth Bank
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»  Carr Lauds Union Movement For Golden Olympics
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»  Big Brother Unwelcome In Child Care Centres
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»  Council Workers Win Community Language Allowance
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»  Fiji Facing Dictatorship
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»  Home Care Win Recognises Community Contribution
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»  Pressures Mount on Truckies
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»  Industrial Action Looms At IBM Global
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»  In Your Face Provocateurs
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»  Putting A Stop To Workplace Intimidation
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»  Australian History To Be Buried Alive
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Columns
»  Away For The Games
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»  Sport
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Tool Shed
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Letters to the editor
»  Brits Look To Cuba For Health Solutions
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»  Looking For Donnelly
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»  Union Official Nominates For Telstra Board
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»  End the Olympics?
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