
Issue No 94		04 May 2001

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News

Equity Members Send a Dear John Letter

More than 40 Equity members have written to John Howard urging him to protect Australian content quotas in any trade agreement.

Last month the trade Minister Mark Vaile said local content rules for television would be put on the negotiating table in a proposed free trade agreement between Australia and the US.

The performers, including Rebecca Gibney, Sacha Horler, Colin Friels and Marcus Graham expressed their "grave concern" with any proposal that might undermine Australian content regulation.

"We make television that competes internationally, but what we do best is make television about us-what it means to live and grow in this country" the actors say in their letter.

Sigrid Thornton has gone on to say "This sense of ourselves is not for sale the same way meat is."

The performers have asked the Government to commit to an exclusion clause in all future trade agreements as unanimously recommended by the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee in 1999 and is consistent with the Canadian practice.

"We're not asking for money. This won't cost a cent. Please don't let the Australian disappear from Australian television" was the final impassioned plea to conclude their letter.

For a full copy of the letter and list of the performers who endorsed the letter.

   View the full letter

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  Issue 94 contents

Interview: Global Action
The CFMEU has been a world leader in fighting the war on global corporations. John Maitland has been one of the generals.

Unions: Sisters United
In her May Day address, Bus Union state president Pat Ryan looks at the role women have played in the labour movement.

Politics: M1 and the Trade Unions
Phil Davey was one of the forces behind S11 but chose to sit out M1. He looks at this week's action.

History: Il Duce Roberto?
His modern-day fan club might not like it, but Rowan Cahill argues wartime PM Robert Menzies sailed close to the winds of Fascism.

International: Cuban Call for Global Labour Rights
An international meeting of union representatives in Cuba has vowed to start a campaign to defend workers rights from the effects of globalisation.

Economics: The G-Word
ACTU President Sharan Burrow asks if there's a better way forward for global trade.

Media: Birth Of A Nation
East Timor's young journalists are struggling with language barriers and technical difficulties most Australian media professionals wouldn't be able to comprehend. But they're keen and eager to learn.

Review: The Tremulous Hopes of the Fifties
Behind the the good times mythology of the 1950s was a desperate quest for the ordinary.

Satire: Teen Angst Poems a �Danger�
The Teen Angst Gun Massacre Affair has broadened, with staff at the NSW Department of Education revealing that �gangs of conspirators� have been found operating out of high school poetry competitions.

» Workers Seek Security on Back of Living Wage

» Temple Workers Return to India Victorious

» Unions Get Down to Workers Comp Talks

» Firefighters Hand Hoses To Politicians

» Unions Back Corruption Fight

» 'Workers Bank' Protest Rally Backs Cleaners

» Smoking Decision Sparks Call for Pub Bans

» Boycott Trade, Travel with Burma

» Qantas Takeover No Impulse Buy

» Sick Chicks Win Privacy Rights

» Arnotts Workers Seek More than Crumbs

» Jageth Backs Jakarta Hotel Workers

» Equity Members Send a Dear John Letter

» New Theatre Under Threat

» A Toast to May Day

» Activist Notebook