While uni students have held protests across the nation over the last few days, angered at plans by Education Minister Brendon Nelson to get rid of compulsory student unionism, those in Victoria and Western Australia may well remember the days of voluntary membership. The governments in those states abolished compulsory unionism over a decade ago, before reinstating the practice because the experiment wasn't working. The current President of the Western Australian branch of the NUS Suzie Byers says voluntary student unionism had a crippling effect on student life at the time. International students make up 25 per cent of the uni population, but National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia spokesman Aditya Tater says a loss of services will also mean a loss of students. Flinders University senior politics lecturer Dr Haydon Manning says Brendon Nelson's move was a long time coming.

Back in 1999, there was a vote for independence in East Timor. Indonesian militia forces opposed to the elections, carried out raids on East Timor—resulting in the deaths of fifteen hundred people, but nearly all of those responsible have never been brought to justice. In the last week, Indonesia and East Timor have announced an agreement to form a Commission of Truth and Friendship. But this has angered many East Timorese, who say the Commission will not carry the legal weight to bring justice to those responsible. But John Miller from the East Timor Action Network in New York says the commission still has an important purpose. He says the commission will bring closure to the events of 1999, and is an important step forward for relations between the two countries.

Flags of convenience are often used by merchant ships to flout international law. Often it's the workers aboard such ships that suffer, with poor living conditions and shockingly low wages. But in Wallaroo this week, the workers fought back. The Filipino crew of the Greek owned, Maltese flagged ship The Flecca went on strike, and pleaded for help from the International Transport Workers Federation. The ship's captain used a security alert to raise the gangway and prevent the ITWF from boarding the ship. Local workers then refused to work on the ship until the situation was resolved. Jake Field from the Maritime Union of Australia says the local wharfies were just standing up for their Filipino colleagues, and Dean Sommers from the ITWF says the conditions the workers were facing was horrendous.

The stereotype of older drivers being the worst on the roads may not be entirely true, according to a new study. Dr Matthew Baldock studied older drivers for his PhD at the University of Adelaide, and found that by avoiding difficult driving conditions, elderly drivers have far less crashes than their younger counterparts. Now the results of his study are being used by senior citizen groups in New South Wales to add weight to their claim that aged-based mandatory licence testing violates anti-discrimination laws. Matthew Baldock explains how he went about his research and says all of the statistics point to older drivers being among the safest on our roads.

Following recent outbreaks of the deadly bird flu in Asia, the CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Lab in Geelong has sent crucial diagnostic material and protocols to countries throughout the region. The reported outbreaks from South Korea to Vietnam have devastated chicken flocks and now pose a threat to humans as well—with more than 50 people killed in the past year. The CSIRO’S DR Laurie Gleeson explained the extent of the problem.