LL:DDS: Candle Light Walk - Friday 1 June 2001
Subject: Community Announcement - Justice & Peace Candle Light Walk - =
Friday 1 June - in support of a Treaty, Bill of Rights & No Nuclear Dumps
Feel free to publicise the item below re: Justice & Peace Candle Light
Walks against Genocide & Nuclear Dumps in support of a = Treaty & Bill of
Rights.
JUSTICE & PEACE CANDLIGHT WALK: Australians can show their support for a
Treaty with Indigenous people and end genocide. Candles will be lit for
justice and peace advocating an Indigenous Treaty via a Bill of Rights on
each first Friday of the month throughout 2001. Walkers can meet with
candles after gathering from 6.30 PM at their local Government House or
Town Hall for an 7PM start . The walk aims to protect and defend
Ngarrindjeri and other Indigenous culture, spiritual beliefs, lands &
waters, and to stop any nuclear waste dump on traditional lands, and
nuclear from wastes from affecting the community and Indigenous environment.
*
End genocide - come to the sixteenth(16th) Justice & Peace Candlelight Walk
- Demand a Treaty with Indigenous people, 7 PM on FRIDAY 1 June, 2001.
Call for a Bill of Rights to advocate a Treaty with Indigenous people, and
oppose any nuclear dump in South Australia, by walking around Government
House, Adelaide, or around your local government domain in your
State/Territory. This sixteenth ! Justice & Peace Candlelight Walk
follows the first anniversary of the walk commenced by members of the
Ngarrindjeri First Nation on 26/01/00 in Reconciliation with other Australians.
Supporters are asked to gather with candles from 6.30 PM, and to present
(where possible) cultural dancing, didgeridoo playing, or other activities
including discussion of a Treaty and Bill of Rights before walking at
7PM. There is a flyer available from the organisers below. Use it to
commence your own local walk.
There's no reason why we can't achieve a better result than the last
fourteen walks if we make a stand in Reconciliation together across Australia.
SPREAD THIS EMAIL VIA YOUR NETWORKS! If you prefer, don't use the fwd
button - cut & paste, customise - we don't want people mistaking this for a
virus).
For further information contact the organisers and register your fax number
or e-mail address.
Ngarrindjeri Contacts:
Victor Wilson - Kalparrin Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Farm at Murray
Bridge
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
{W} 85 324 940 / FAX 85 325 511 / mob. 040 718 2353;
Pastor Ken Sumner - Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress
{W} 8212 4066 / {H} 8396 3934;
Tom Trevorrow - Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
website: http://www.adelaide.net.au/~nlpa/BIGGERPICTURE.html
{W} 85 751 557|657 / FAX 85 751 448 / mob. 040 996 1933.
PEOPLE WALKING IN UNISON IN SUPPORT OF AN INDIGENOUS TREATY AND FOR A BILL
OF RIGHTS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
TELL EVERYONE WHO'S SYMPATHETIC. ASK THEM TO JOIN IN ... OR DO THE SAME
AROUND YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT HOUSE, OR TOWN HALL.
Even if you have received this previously pass it on, this way everyone is
reminded and less will forget!
PLEASE ADD YOUR ORGANISATION'S ENDORSEMENT TO THE LIST BELOW WHEN YOU CUT
AND PASTE TO RE-SEND THIS E-MAIL:
"Dear all, ...
I think the concept of the Candlelight Walks in the evenings is just
brilliant. So yes, Candlelight Walks on the evening of Invasion/Australia Day."
In solidarity always, Maureen Riches-Brown
Defenders of Native Title - Victorian ANTaR
Ballarat Branch
Disclaimer:
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure facts reported are
accurate, and opinions expressed are well founded. However, we do not
necessarily endorse the statements of contributors who are not employees or
volunteers.
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LL:ART: Ruthless Arnotts -- sacks 600
The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, May 9th, 2001. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ** Ruthless Arnotts -- sacks 600 Another 600 Victorian manufacturing jobs are to go, with closure of the Arnott's biscuit factory at Burwood. Unions have reacted angrily to the slap in the face, with threats of industrial action and a consumer boycott against the company. by Jules Andrews American transnational Campbells announced last Wednesday they plan to close the factory in suburban Melbourne, sacking 434 permanent staff and over 180 contracted staff from labour hire companies. They would then expand their facilities in other States, but only employ 160 new staff. The Arnott's factory site in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs is deemed prime housing real estate, and has been valued at $15 million. An outraged Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary, Leigh Hubbard said, "This not only is a slap in the face to these 600 workers and their families, but to all Victorians." "No-one will feel comfortable picking up a scotch finger again. We are sure that consumer reaction will be expensive for the company. "Unions reject the decision and ask the company to reconsider its position. If the company persists with the decision we will investigate all means to make the future use of the land as difficult as possible", said Mr Hubbard. Redundancy packages for the 434 full-time staff have been guaranteed by the company, which is also offering "financial advice". However the fate of the 180 contracted employees remains unclear. Mr Hubbard said it was his understanding that the factory was profitable, and that 40 percent of the produce made in the Burwood factory was consumed in Victoria. He said also that the industrial relations record at the plant had been good. "Today they are moving out of Victoria, tomorrow they could just as easily be moving out of Australia ... because they've discovered they can make an extra cent", said Australian identity, Dick Smith. Critical of what he claims has been the sell-off of "Australian icons" such as Arnott's, Speedos and Vegemite to overseas interests, Dick Smith is now famous for marketing his eponymously named line of "Australian-made, Australian-owned" products. However, the early expectations of the Victorian Government that Mr Smith would fly in on his helicopter and save the plant were unfounded. "I'm not an expert in the manufacturing business", he said. The Bracks Government has also spoken Arnott's competitors, Weston and Lanes, but all agreed that Arnott's would be unlikely to sell its factory to a competitor. Treasurer John Brumby claims it is "a big multinational company making a very bad business decision". True to the doctrine of hardline economic rationalism, Arnott's Managing Director Jon Doumani said the factory closure was part of a two-year overhaul the company was undertaking, and the plan was for fewer and "more flexible" plants to help it retain its competitive edge. He said the overhaul, resulting in the net loss of over 340 Australian jobs, would help make Arnott's one of the "most sophisticated and innovative" food manufacturers in the world. Speaking to the Victorian Parliament about the closure Mr Brumby said the decision had "everything to do with a valuable piece of real estate at Burwood, and nothing to do with the ... fundamental profitability of the Burwood plant". It has since been revealed that the Victorian Government had been informed of the Burwood factory closure nine months ago. At that time the Government wrote to Arnott's with a proposal for the company to expand its operations in the State, but apparently Arnott's did not respond. Arnott's was founded as a family business in 1865. The descendants of the founder sold the Australian company to the US multinational Campbell Soups in 1997. The great-granddaughter of the founder of Arnott's biscuits, Alice Oppen says she is dismayed at the closure of the factory. "I think the closure of the Burwood factory is an example of what can happen when you let multinationals come in and buy things", said Ms Oppen, who originally opposed other family members over the 1997 sale. "Everything is then about profit. It's all about money and not about staff, the knowledge, the quality", she said. The closure of Arnott's Burwood factory has also exposed one of the more offensive traits of Australian capitalism, where State and Federal Governments pour billions of dollars into the coffers of transnational corporations under the guise of "job-creation". In the Arnott's deal, the Queensland Government has admitt
LL:ART: Fight for your ABC
The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, May 9th, 2001. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ** Fight for your ABC On Sunday April 29, 15,000 members of the public -- ABC shareholders -- gathered on the Sydney Opera House steps to protest against cuts to the national broadcaster's funding by the Federal Government. Over the coming weeks "The Guardian" will publish edited versions of the contributions of a number of speakers at the protest. The following is an abridged version of the contribution by ABC current affairs presenter, Quentin Dempster. My fellow shareholders. As you know the ABC is slowly being destroyed by government. Over the last 15 years ABC funding has been cut in real terms by 34 percent. In the last 10 years, 2000 broadcasters and support staff have been made to walk the redundancy plank. ABC Television is now reliant on repeats and the shelf items of other broadcasters -- overwhelmingly British -- to maintain the viability of its programming schedule. We've become UK TV. So much for the ABC Act which obliges the national broadcaster to "enhance a sense of Australian identity". Over the last 15 years our democratically elected Australian Prime Ministers -- Hawke, Keating and Howard -- have besmirched the prestige of their high office by cuddling up to the big media tycoons: the policy and media-market `gatekeepers' -- Murdoch and Packer -- while allowing the national broadcaster to be marginalised ... to wither on the vine. All recent Australian Prime Ministers seem to think that by looking after the interests of the ascendant tycoon first, they would have a better chance of staying in power: Hawke and Keating by allowing Murdoch's take-over of the Herald and Weekly Times in 1987 and Howard through the revenue protective digital spectrum policy favouring Packer in 1998. What a pathetic sight in one of the world's most enduring democracies, our country -- Australia -- to see our Prime Ministers grovelling like this. The Australian people deserve better. And what have ABC boards done in response to funding attrition? They have allowed the ABC's editorial independence and integrity to be put at risk. They have embraced editorially compromising commercial deals, like Pay TV (with Fairfax and the US cable operator Cox Communications) and sponsorship on an ABC satellite channel. ABC boards have allowed what amounts to the privatisation ... contestibility and outsourcing are the modus operandi ... of more and more television. This is dressed up to look like the ABC is giving work to the so-called "independent" television sector. If ever there was a misnomer, this was it. They are not "independent". Don't get me wrong. We want a diverse and viable Australian TV production industry. But when the ABC comes to commission content from the commercial or private production sector the increasing risk is that programs will be selected solely for their bankability ... their commerciality ... their on-sales potential to other networks here and offshore and the pay TV market. The ABC is becoming (through this process) a transmitter for hire. ABC programs which should be commissioned because of their originality, their risk taking, their innovation, will be omitted from the production slate simply because they are not commercially bankable. This is what's called dumbing down. It's already happening. Recent ABC board strategies have inexorably run down the ABC as a production house, destroying the skills base of the broadcaster and abandoning our contribution to the Australian radio, film and television industry which we had provided since our foundation in 1932 through the training of writers, producers, artists, technicians, camera and sound operators and the program makers of drama, comedy, documentary, the arts, education programming and news and current affairs. ABC boards, our current Chairman, and Communications Ministers all say they are committed to the ABC as our most important cultural institution, vital to Australia's democratic processes. But the actions of government and the passivity and compliance of ABC boards -- made up in many instances of party political hacks -- speak for themselves. The ABC is being destroyed with the compliance of stacked boards of party political hacks. The current management, with the apparent endorsement of the current board, has embarked on a reign of terror in which middle and upper ranking executives have been "executed" -- their contracts summarily terminated -- sometimes on a whim. And where is the ABC Board in all this? Silent ... as usual, perhaps taking
LL:AA: URGENT : Defend Free Speech! Oppose NIKE! FRIDAY MAY 11
DEFEND FREEDOM OF SPEECH! DEFEND THE RIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE! OPPOSE NIKE'S EXPLOITATION OF WORKERS! Rally & Blockade Friday May 11 5pm Mass Leaflet o 6pm Peaceful blockade of NIKE store corner Swanston & Bourke Sts, City = NIKE, VICTORIA POLICE AND MCC SUPPRESS THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND RIGHT TO PROTEST OF ANTI-NIKE PROTESTORS After 5 weeks of successful protests which forced Nike's store to close down on Friday Night, Victoria Police and the Melbourne City Council have launched a campaign of harassment and intimidation aimed at driving ant-NIKE protestors off the streets of Melbourne. On May 4, police violently broke up a peaceful protest outside the Nike store. On the same night, Council by-laws officers started issuing $500 fines to people conducting street stalls at the protest. The Council is using the same laws that were used against anti-vietnam war protestors in the sixties. These laws were repealed as a result of the mass anti-war movement but were revived in 1999 to apparently stop racist propaganda. This coming Friday, May 11, a mass leaflet and blockade has been called outside the NIKE store. Don't let multinationals like NIKE and their powerful friends trample over our democratic rights. Join us this Friday and EVERY Friday evening after that to highlight NIKE's exploitation, and to defend the right to leaflet and protest on the streets on Melbourne. For more info please call 8344 4808. = JOIN THE NO SWEAT CAMPAIGN! Come to the first meeting on Wednesday May 16 at 5pm Activist Space, Building 8, Level 3, RMIT, Swanston St == -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: AUSTRALIAN COVER-UP OF TNI-PLANNED ATROCITIES IN ET
Campaign for an Independent East Timor (South Australia) Inc. (Affiliated to the International Federation for East Timor, the East Timor Relief Association, the Australian Coalition for a Free East Timor and the Free Timor Campaign) c/o Global Education Centre first floor 220 Victoria Square ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA 5000 MEDIA STATEMENT:THURSDAY 10 MAY 2001 for immediate use ALLEGED AUSTRALIAN COVER-UP OF TNI-PLANNED ATROCITIES IN TIMOR MUST BE INVESTIGATED The CIET (SA) Inc released the statement below through a spokesperson following the release of yesterday's allegations by Australian Army Captain Andrew Plunkett and Australian Federal Police Officer Wayne Sievers that Australian officials had covered up information about an Indonesian planned atrocity in the Maliana police station in September 1999. Information Officer, Andrew Alcock said: "The Campaign for an Independent East Timor congratulates Andrew Plunkett and Wayne Sievers for having the courage to speak out about what they know regarding the Indonesian military (TNI) plans to instigate a massacre in Maliana if the East Timorese voted for independence in the August 1999 referendum. This latest allegation reinforces what human rights, solidarity and aid workers were saying from late 1998 that the TNI had a plan to step up its genocide and destruction through militias if East Timor seceded from Indonesia. Those who called on the Australian Government to cease all military cooperation with Indonesia because of early reports of the arming of militias were scorned and belittled by government leaders. Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, especially attacked such people as alarmists and preferred to blame rogue elements in the Indonesian military. A recent leak of a human rights report prepared for the Indonesian Government strongly suggests that the so-called "rogue elements" included many senior TNI officers ranging up to former defence minister General Wiranto. During a meeting with Mr Downer approximately 6 weeks before INTERFET forces went into East Timor, he told a CIET deputation that they were irresponsible for requesting that the Australian Government call on the UN to send peacekeepers. It appears that when he said this, Mr Downer had been advised of the security situation. The decision to give the TNI responsibility for maintaining the peace during the referendum after its 24 year history of genocide and human rights abuses was grossly irresponsible and led to the loss of at least another 2000 East Timorese lives and the forced removal of more than 200,000 across the border around that time. CIET notes that East Timor's independence is not fully assured and there is much death and destruction in other parts of the region due to the criminal actions of the TNI leadership [eg East Timor/West Timor border, West Papua, Maluku (the Moluccas), West Kalimantan (part of Indonesian Borneo), Aceh etc]. These activities are directed at bringing down the present Indonesian Government which is dedicated to democracy and respect for human rights, but has little or no support from the military. It is therefore impossible for President Wahid to take action against those generals accused of war crimes in East Timor, West Papua and Indonesia. We consider it disgraceful that western governments like the US, the UK, Canada and Australia have resumed military cooperation which gives tacit support to the destabilising actions of the TNI generals. Western leaders like US President George Bush Jr and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer cause great problems for President Wahid and those Indonesians who work for peace, justice and democracy when they criticise them for the crimes of the TNI. The Campaign calls on the UN and member nations for the following actions to be undertaken to bring justice, peace and stability in the region: To support the call by John Dowd of the International Commission of Jurists to establish an international war crimes tribunal to try alleged TNI war criminals To stop all forms of military cooperation with the TNI To keep their promises of aid, money and equipment to help rebuild East Timor To cooperate with the Wahid Government and the Indonesian democracy movement to explore ways of freeing the East Timorese hostages in West Timor, restoring peace and stability in Indonesia and allowing the West Papuans to have a UN-supervised act of self determination (which avoids the mistakes made in East Timor) Further, it calls on the Australian Government to instigate a full inquiry into the role of its security and diplomatic services throughout the entire period of the illegal Indonesian occupation of East Timor and its involvement in West Papua". For further information, contact: Andrew (Andy) Alcock Information Officer Campaign for an Independent East Timor (SA) Inc Phone: 61 8 83710480 (home) 61 8 82053200 (wo
LL:URL: Petition for an Adequate Standard of Living
The National Coalition Against Poverty (Australia) is distributing a petition for the Right to an Adequate Standard of Living. The petition is available on the NCAP website: http://go.to/ncap Further information about poverty in Australia is "coming soon". *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Ria Strong Melbourne, Australia *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: what's on Earth Matters this week
EARTH MATTERS can be heard on 3CR in Melbourne Sunday 11am, 2XX Canberra Tuesday 10am, 8CCC Alice Springs Sundays between 8-9pm, 2NCR Lismore Friday 10am, 5UV Adelaide Thursday 2pm, 7LTN Launceston Monday 7:30pm, 2VOX Wollongong between 9-10am & much more!! Earth Matters Program 126a Indira Narayan 3CR Community Radio 03 9419 8377 ComRadSat Program 11/5/2001 INTRO : "Hello and welcome=85" OUTRO : "... this time next week." DURATION : last voice 25'40"" frogs fade to music to 28'15" Miners Wasting the Oceans: Submarine Tailings Disposal,=20 Simon Divecha, Mineral Policy Institute, Sydney Ocean dumping is one of the methods used by mining companies to dispose of their tailings. Submarine Tailings Disposal (STD) has been promoted as safe and reliable alternative to land based disposal. Simon Divecha from the Mineral Policy Institute, a non-government organisation advocating and supporting communities across the Asia Pacific region who a re concerned about impacts from mining, talks about how there is little evidence to support mining companies claims, in fact that there has been negative ecological and social impacts which have arisen in areas in PNG and Indonesia where STD has been implemented. In:1'38""Submarine tailings disposal=85." Out: 12'06" "=85that the practice should be allowed to go ahead" Dur: "12'06" "Culling Wild-Ness: The Dingoes of Fraser Island" Linden Schneiders, The Wilderness Society, Brisbane=20 Last week a dingo attack on 2 brothers left a tragic death of one of them, because of inefficient management of the dingo population on the heavily visited Fraser Island. Linden Schneiders talks about the Queensland Government's ad hoc political announcement of a cull of any dingo hanging around areas occupied by humans on the island. He explains why this cull shouldn't happen and what sort of ecological ramifications it will have on dingoes around Australia and on the biodiversity of World Heritage listed Fraser Island. In:16'32" "You know the dingoes on Fraser=85=85." Out: 25'00" "=85on a place like Fraser" Dur: 9'31" MUSIC: Zero 7 - "Give it Away" -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDV: Forum - Sex as Work
Thursday June 5 12 noon to 2 pm Level 4, Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 3000 SEX AS WORK - the industrial and legal aspects Speaker - Kristen Murray $10 and $8 - Lunch supplied RSVPphone/fax 9654 7409 Union of Australian Women Inc A 002121R Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 3000 Phone/fax (03) 9654 7409 Email <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
