Howard's assault into indigenous communities - Land Grab

July 16, 2007: The Howard Government's assault into indigenous communities in the Northern Territory is to access valuable uranium deposits, and not to protect children from abuse, a rally was told in Melbourne last week. More than a hundred community organisations have since criticised the government's plan.

They have described it as a land grab...

Robbie Thorpe, who was also part of the Black GST and Camp Sovereignty protests during the Stolenwealth Games in Melbourne last year, says the Howard is not interested in the welfare of indigenous children.

"It's the only bit of land the commonwealth government hasn't got access to and there are minerals like uranium there," Mr Thorpe told the rally. "That's what it's about. How can you believe Howard? He don't give a f**k about our kids."

He said Indigenous Australians had suffered from 100 years of abuse. "You have taken our people to the brink. "There has been 100 years of human rights' crimes against our people," he said. "Things are not going to change until there is a treaty in this country."

500 people joined the rally. The protest was part of a national day of action being held in capital cities and Alice Springs. In Perth, 120 people rallied. The crowd heard from Ray Jackson from the Indigenous Social Justice Association, Mark Newhouse from the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee and Mark Lawrence from Friends of Australian Rock Art.

About 200 people of all ages and races took part in a demonstration through Canberra to protest against the intervention in Northern Territory communities, likening it to the "Children Overboard" scandal of 2001, or as a land grab or election stunt.

One of the founding members of the Aboriginal tent embassy, Isabell Coe, said the days of Aboriginal people being used as a "political football" had to come to an end. "...what he is doing is disgusting, it is one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen," she said about John Howard's invasion of Aboriginal Lands.

In Sydney, protesters were angry about the compulsory acquisition of remote indigenous communities and the abolition of the permit system, which they consider a land grab. Aboriginal leader Pat Turner said a six-month intervention would be acceptable but had to be done in partnership with local Aborigines.

Mick Dobson says the federal government does not need to seize land from indigenous communities to combat child abuse in the Northern Territory. He said today he feared the government's seizure of 73 communities in the NT was a land grab. "That's what I'm worried about," Prof Dodson said.

"I don't for the life of me understand what the connection between child abuse and land tenure is, why the land tenure has to be given up, albeit for a short period of time according to the prime minister. The two things are not connected," he said to corporate media. "Why steal the land to deal with child sexual abuse?"

Prof Dodson said he, like his brother Pat Dodson, was finding it hard to trust the government on indigenous issues.

SOURCES:
News Ltd
GLW
Canberra Times
Sydney Morning Herald

Julie Bishop's nuclear waste dump in earthquake zone

July 18, 2007 - The Northern Territory site recently nominated for a national nuclear waste facility by the Federal government is near one of the nation's earthquake hotspots. Muckaty Station is about 120km north of Tennant Creek - one of the most seismologically active areas in Australia...

There have been 239 earthquakes in that area in the past decade and 1298 earthquakes since 1988. Tennant Creek had a 6.3 quake in 1988, according to Geoscience Australia, which tore up the town.

Anti-nuclear waste dump campaigners have long condemned the nomination of Muckaty Station as a site.

The Environment Centre NT says it's "political expediency rather than proper scientific evaluation in terms of siting a waste dump," she said. Seismologists say the frequent quakes are due to a fault line running through the area. "The quakes are frequent, due to a weak fault-line running through the area," Geoscience Australia said. Two small quakes have hit the Tennant Creek area in the past three weeks.

The proposed nuclear waste dump site has been opposed by environmentalists, the NT Government and traditional owners. Despite overwhelming community opposition, the Federal Government seems determined to let nothing stand in its way to procure a site in the Northern Territory to dump its radioactive waste.

ASEN* say that despite giving an "absolute categorical assurance" that the NT would not be targeted for a Commonwealth dump, in June 2005 the Howard government announced that three defence sites in the NT would be assessed for suitability. All sites have people living within 10 kilometres. None of the sites were short listed when the Federal Government undertook a scientific study to find a site.

At a media conference in June 2005, then Science Minister Brendan Nelson expressed the reasoning behind targeting the NT, asking "why on earth can't people in the middle of nowhere have low level and intermediate level waste?"

The Northern Land Council has offered overt support for the NT dump proposal. Yet, according to ASEN* many Elders have spoken out to strongly oppose a dump on their own country, and have travelled to NT parliament and interstate to voice their concerns.

The NLC also supported Science Minister Julie Bishop’s recent amendments to the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act, which further restrict opportunities for public input into site selection for the dump. The changes to the legislation mean that a nomination of a site by a Land Council will no longer require:

+ consultation with the traditional owners
+ that the nomination be understood by the traditional owners
+ that the traditional owners have consented as a group
+ that any community that may be affected has been consulted and had adequate opportunity to express its views

The proposed changes also remove the right of any group to appeal site nomination on the grounds of procedural fairness.

The risk of transporting radioactive waste is also major concern for communities living along potential routes.

NUCLEAR PLOY
Recently, Dr Helen Caldicott, an anti-nuclear activist of more than 20 years, said she feared Prime Minister John Howard would turn Australia into the dumping ground for the world's nuclear waste. She said the takeover of Aboriginal land titles, part of the government's assault on Indigenous communities, is a ruse to clear the way for the dumping of waste in remote areas.

"The land grab from the Aborigines is actually about uranium and nuclear waste," Dr Caldicott said. "It is obvious - you don't take land away from people just because their children are being sexually abused." Dr Caldicott said Australia should reject nuclear power, ban uranium mining and concentrate on developing renewable energies such as wind, solar and hot rocks.

She said the health consequences of uranium mining, nuclear power and nuclear power plants were serious and would induce epidemics of disease, malignancy and deformity that would be experienced for generations.

"Australia is in great danger of becoming a major nuclear nation now," she said. "I think it is very, very, very dangerous medically. I am worried that people making decisions do not understand medicine or genetics. They (the government) are being pushed by the economy and wealthy corporations, like Western Mining and BHP Billiton, who seem to have no regard for the health and well-being of this generation and all future generations."

KE07

*Terrorising the Territory with Toxic Trash - ASEN, jan07.

Sources:
Herald Sun
Terrorising the Territory with Toxic Trash - ASEN
NUCLEAR DUMP DANGEROUS FOR TERRITORY - Foe
Geoscience Australia
National Indigenous Times: NT takeover ploy for nuclear waste dump
Wikinews - Opposing_a_nuclear_waste_dump_in_the_Northern_Territory
Australian government paves way for nuclear waste dump in Northern Territory

WA Police "brutal" attack on peaceful protesters over nuke dump

From the newswire: On Friday 13th June 2007, around 40 people from across Australia converged in Subiaco, to deliver a letter to Federal Science minister Julie Bishop over her proposed NT nuclear waste dump. During the peaceful action, witnesses say WA Police used "brutal" and "excessive force" to break up the action. Two anonymous witnesses, both veterans of dozens of local NVDA demonstrations, told Perth Indymedia on Friday afternoon that the police action was "horrific", the "worst behaviour by members of the WA Police they had ever seen at any protest in Perth..."


READ MORE: Pepper Spray and Batons Used at Bishop’s Office

After an initial discussion with the Minister outside her office, the group walked into the foyer to deliver their letter. As the group were asked to vacate, without warning police used batons and pepper spray to attack the campaigners inside the minister's office. Witnesses say one officer grabbed a woman by the hair before producing his baton and using it on random people.

Described by witnesses as "brutal" and "disgusting", officers targetted people with cameras including an elderly woman who was pushed to the ground. A young woman was pinned to the ground by an officer, her video camera seized and confiscated by police for evidence. It is understood five people were charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing police and assault - despite the excessive force sisplayed by police. Three people were hospitalised as many others were treated on the scene by paramedics.

The group, representing dozens of environmental and student organisations from around Australia, were delivering a letter to Ms Bishop requesting she visit the communities affected by her Nuclear waste dump.
A participant in the national action, Toby Lee, told corporate media that police launched an "unprovoked attack" on the congregation. "As I was leaving," he said, "I was directly sprayed with capsicum spray into my eyes 10 centimeters from my face without warning". Another activist, Natalie Wasley, told corporate media she was negotiating a peaceful exit with police officers as inside they began using their batons. Read More...

"We didn't get a chance to leave peacefully. The police just started pepper spraying people, hitting them with batons and throwing them to the floor. It was absolutely shameful." Ms Walsey denied the group provoked the violence. Protesters left the office with eyes streaming and burnt faces, after being struck with batons and pepper sprayed...

READ MORE/Comment...

BE THE MEDIA: Publish your media/got photos/video/audio...?

Interviews on Perth Indymedia Radio - Weds 7-8PM RTRFM 92.1

Students of Sustainability Conference - Perth July 07

Students of Sustainability Conference 2007 (SoS).
From the newswire: SoS is being held at Murdoch University in Perth 9 – 13 July! If you have an interested in anything from water to climate change, modifications you can make to your house to the nuclear fuel cycle and biodiversity, SoS has something for you. There are also sessions on social justice, militarism, indigenous caring for country, genetic engineering and much much much more.

There will be big name speakers, panel discussions, practical workshops, time to meet people from across Australia and chat about how we are going to create a sustainable world and much more. With a proud history as a conference which launched campaigns such as the Jabiluka Campaign and has inspired thousands of people to become life-long change makers, SoS is now in its 16th year and is the largest environment and social justice conference in the country.

Come along and be part of this amazing experience, at this years SoS – Solutions for Change, because everybody is a Student of Sustainability.

REGISTER NOW and find out more information at studentsofsustainability.org for an amazing week. You can attend for the whole week or even just one day - the draft program is available online.

READ MORE/Comment...

Conservationists protest Kimberley gas plant

18 June 2007: Activists have converged on a drilling rig off the Western Australian coast to protest against plans to build a major gas plant. The protesters say a Japanese project will destroy one of the world's last wilderness areas.

Arriving in boats and seaplanes, the activists hung banners on a drilling rig at the Maret Islands, north-east of Broome...

Japanese company Inpex is using the rig to assess the area for a liquefied natural gas plant to service one of Australia's biggest reserves, the Browse Basin.

The conservationists and tour operators travelled hundreds of kilometres to highlight their concerns. Protester and conservationist Malcolm Douglas told the crowd the plant would destroy one of the world's last great wilderness areas.

"We've come to the Maret Islands to protest because we've got the beginning of industrialisation of the Kimberley," he said. "If they were doing this at Uluru, if they were doing this off the Great Barrier Reef, the whole of the east coast of Australia would know what's going on," he said.

Inpex labelled the protesters' claims as "scaremongering" in a statement. The islands are being assessed by the Japanese company Inpex for a processing plant to service the massive Browse Basin gas fields.

WA State Development Minister Ripper says strict environmental and other requirements would have to be met before the project would be given the go ahead.

The island's native title claimants earlier announced they were willing to negotiate a deal with the company. Kimberley Land Council's Wayne Bergmann says the proposed plant offers opportunities for the islands' native title claimants. "We think that if done properly it can have wide benefits for the region," he said.

The protesters argue that once it comes online, the gas will be used to power a string of other resource projects, destroying the wilderness coastline.

Lyndon Schneiders: 073 844 6499 || 0407 667 076 || cape.york@wilderness.org.au

Photo below from ABC

Sources:
Minister dismisses Kimberley gas protest
Conservationists protest Kimberley gas plant
Kimberley Land Council sees benefits in gas project
Activists protest Ichthys project

APEC black list - Why are you surprised?

Are you on a list of "excludable persons" from APEC07?

Proposed laws around APEC are a draconian, unreasonable curb on the right to protest - a direct attack on every citizen’s right to dissent.

The APEC summit will discuss how to best push their policies of cuts, privatisation, free trade, and IR laws down workers throats. The world’s biggest war criminals, environmental polluters and exploitative bosses will discuss ways of increasing profits while ordinary people with legitimate concerns are locked out.

The unprecedented security operation to protect George W Bush and other political leaders will see the introduction of new APEC security legislation. These new laws will include the "suspension of normal bail provisions, new powers to do random searches, and exclude "prohibited" people from restricted zones. Anyone under suspicion can be arrested and held without bail.

The "APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Bill 2007" allows the Police Commissioner to create a secret list of people who are excluded from APEC "security areas". Police Minister, David Campbell:

"Those who have been involved in violent and disruptive protests in the past will most likely be on this list. They won't need to be informed - they know who they are."

Police will be able to compile a list of people or organisations without any fundamental justification, who can be listed as "excludable persons" - reminiscent of communist East Germany.

These measures are not aimed at possible terrorist attacks but at criminalising dissent and stifling opposition to the neo-liberal polices that APEC represents. The Police say they will "use any number of methods to gather intelligence about individuals and organisations"...

The APEC Bill will, according to the NSW government, prevent protesters from "terrifying the public". The law would:

- create "restricted" and "declared" areas in large parts of central Sydney;

- allow the police to stop and search anyone in or around these areas and confiscate items considered "prohibited", including banner poles;

- allow for six-month jail terms for simply entering a restricted area without justification and two years’ jail for carrying a “prohibited item”;

- and presume against bail for many offences (meaning people arrested could be detained for up to two weeks).

The law would also:

- severely limit police liability, raising the possibility that the police will be allowed to break the law with impunity,

- allow police to create secret lists of "excluded people" including those who fail to comply with a police order during APEC and those who the police consider pose a "threat" to people or property during APEC. These people will be prevented from entering parts of Sydney during APEC.

These extraordinary police powers, aimed at protesters, are designed to deflect the public discussion [around] APEC away from the real and terrible violence and injustice in the world today...

Thanks to:
Protest extraordinary police powers for APEC
Activists set to defy APEC laws
Police accused of intimidation over APEC
For APEC, the long arm of the law takes a stretch
hose on APEC black list "know who they are"
APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Bill 2007
MUTINY: to people thinking about organising protests at APEC
APEC security: treating protesters like terrorists
Accused G20 rioters appear in Vic court - March 20

Support queer rights in Western Australia

[ June 18, 2007: If you support the right of gay/lesbian couples to adopt, PLEASE email/write to The West in support of Michael Bennett, who wrote the excellent story on page 9 of today's West. Recently a West editorial railed against gay adoption and argued that a gay relationship was essentially not equal to a hetero one: email here: letters@wanews.com.au - Or online, Have Your Say... Please write in supporting gay adoption (if you do in fact support it). Thank you ]

JUNE 19, 2007 - Last week Western Australian’s first adoption by a same-sex couple has been approved more than four years after the Gallop Labor Government overturned laws discriminating against homosexual citizens. The male couple was first approved to adopt three years ago and the relinquishing mother has consented to the adoption.

The law reforms in 2002 amended the Act to end discrimination on the grounds of the gender of couples seeking to adopt.

The Adoption Act is exempt from the provisions of the Equal Opportunity Act, however, and a relinquishing parent has the right to discriminate against potential adopting parents on grounds including gender and religion.

Meanwhile Pride Western Australia Incorporated today announced that local lesbian activists Kelly and Sam Pilgrim Byrne would become Pride's first co-patrons. Kelly and Sam say, "Gay parenting isn't new - our families have existed for decades," they said. "Our goal as Pride Patrons is to draw attention to this fact and to let people know that good parenting is not defined by sexuality and that our children are growing up with exactly the same outcomes as children of heterosexuals.

"We want LGBT families to be confident of their parenting abilities and proud of their beautiful children. We want our community's children to know that they are not alone in having LGBT mothers and fathers and that they are cherished, loved and very special." After spending three and a half years trying to conceive, Kelly and Sam are expecting their first child, with Sam more than six months pregnant.

The 2007 Pride Festival will commence with the City of Perth Pride Fairday in Northbridge's Russell Square on Sunday 30 September, run throughout October with a number of arts and community events, before concluding with the Pride Parade through the streets of Northbridge.

Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle says the Labor Party's support for same sex couples appears to have taken a further backward step after they decided to vote with the Government to oppose a Greens' motion in the Senate in support of same sex rights to access IVF and adoption.

"After the tragedy of the ALP supporting the Howard Government's ban on same sex marriage, the ALP's credibility in this area is looking even more shaky", Senator Nettle said. The Prime Minister has publicly objected to same-sex relationships.

Same-sex marriage is not recognised under Australian federal law. Under section 51(xxi) [1] of the Australian Constitution, the Parliament of Australia is vested with the powers to make laws with respect to marriage. Until 2004 the Marriage Act 1961 did not define marriage, but the common law definition of marriage as "a union between a man and a woman" was applied by Australian courts and was taken to be "settled law."

On May 27, 2004, Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, introduced the Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill, intending to incorporate the common law definition of marriage into the Marriage Act and the Family Law Act. In June 2004, the bill passed the House of Representatives. On August 13, 2004, the Senate passed the amendment by 38 votes to 6.

"..Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life. Certain unions are not marriages. A union solemnised in a foreign country between: (a) a man and another man; or (b) a woman and another woman; must not be recognised as a marriage in Australia."

In Australia, civil celebrants conduct commitment ceremonies so that same-sex couples can participate in a ceremony to acknowledge their love and partnership. The federal government however has introduced a registration system whereby prospective celebrants must undergo Government-approved, accredited training and meet specific criteria set by the Attorney-General's Department to be declared a "fit and proper person" to hold the office of "marriage celebrant".

Under the new rules a registered celebrant is not permitted to conduct commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples.

SOURCES:
First gay adoption something to be proud of - GAYinWA
Gay WA couple granted adoption - Perth Indymedia
Pride names patrons and theme for 2007 Festival - GAYinWA
Same-sex marriage in Australia - Wikipedia
Inquiry into Discrimination against People in Same-Sex Relationships
Marriage Amendment Bill 2004

Stop offshore asylum processing - tear down the fences

Thursday, June 14, 2007: A petition of 10,000 signatures has been presented to Federal Parliament opposing the offshore processing of asylum seekers. The petition calls for the processing centres on Christmas Island and Nauru to be shut down will be tabled in parliament next week...

Labor backbencher Carmen Lawrence says asylum seekers do not have proper access to the medical and legal help they need when they are processed away from the Australian mainland.

"I'd like to add my voice very strongly to the petitioners who have spoken on behalf of a great many more Australians, who I'm sure would have signed it had they known of its existence," she said. "I've been impressed by just how strong community attitude remains in opposition to these obscenities we call offshore processing."

The signatures, collected over the past three months by refugee advocate groups A Just Australia, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the National Council of Churches, were handed to MPs on Thursday.

The establishment of the high security detention centre on Christmas Island, which is near completion, has so far cost taxpayers $400 million. Petition coordinator Kate Gauthier said the cost demonstrated the economic irrationalism of offshore processing.

"It's an incredible mismanagement of funds when you also allow into the fact that they've spent around $100 million on Nauru and processing ... we've had about slightly under 2,000 people go through that process (so) it equals about $400,000 per person," she said. "Human rights advocates are not asking the government to spend more money on asylum seekers - ironically in this case we are pleading with them to spend less."

Labor MP Dr Carmen Lawrence, who accepted the petition, said the cost was an obscene waste of taxpayers money. "The $400 million that has been spent on Christmas Island in fact remains an obstacle for future governments: what do you do with this facility now that it has been constructed?" she said. "Obscene amounts of taxpayers' money has been spent ... on damaging people, that's the frustrating thing."

Australian Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett compared the cost to the amount of money suggested to be the cost to reduce the life expectancy gap of indigenous Australians that currently remains 17 years below that of other Australians.

"The Australian Medical Association has been campaigning for years saying the amount that's needed for address the gap of indigenous health in Australia is around about $400 million," he said. "That's a good contrast of where this government's priorities lie, $400 million for a centre when we don't have any people to put in it to purely send a message to somebody, or reducing the 17 year life expectancy gap."

A Senate committee report - the Migration Review Tribunal and Refugee Review Tribunal on mandatory detention - will be tabled in parliament soon.

Senator Bartlett, who recently returned from a visit to the asylum seekers’ camp on Nauru warning that there must be a much quicker resolution to all claims to avoid the major harm and costs that have occurred in the past.

Senator Bartlett said the conditions the refugees are being kept in are an improvement on past years, but the key dangers remain the same – the potential for long delays and a lack of legal protections in determining claims, along with difficulties with isolation and adequate access to legal assistance.

“We know beyond doubt that prolonged uncertainty and insecurity about the future, along with the underlying fear of being sent back to unsafe situation, causes immense harm to many asylum seekers,” Senator Bartlett said.

“The group of Burmese refugees have already been on Nauru for seven months and are yet to have an initial assessment interview. This is simply unacceptable.

“Whilst there has been opportunity for asylum seekers to receive some legal assistance, the difficulties with accessibility mean that full and proper help has not been provided. This not only impairs fairness, it almost inevitably means a more drawn out process, risking greater harm for asylum seekers and greater cost to the Australian public,” Senator Bartlett concluded.

There are 90 asylum seekers currently on Nauru – 82 Tamils who have been there for about a month, and 8 Rohingya from Burma who arrived in Australian in August and were transferred to Nauru in September.

Senator Bartlett met with many of the ninety asylum seekers currently being kept on Nauru and inspected the facility where they are staying.

SOURCES:
Senator Bartlett
ABC NEWS
The Age
A Just Australia
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
National Council of Churches in Australia

Pilbara workers attack BHP over AWAs

June 13, 2007 - Hundreds of mine workers at BHP Billiton's Pilbara iron ore operations have protested over "belligerent and overbearing treatment" from management after being put on Australian Workplace Agreements.

A petition at BHP Billiton's iron ore mine at Mt Newman in Western Australia has been signed by over 200 people, complaining about an "atmosphere of intimidation and victimisation" surrounding workers who have signed Australian Workplace Agreements...
The miners say the were feared threats, stress, low morale and risks to safety as miners have been placed in areas had no experience. Up to 10 per cent of the total workforce at BHP's Mount Whaleback mine in Western Australia - believed to be about 2000 - had joined the protest.

Among the 200 miners alleged to have signed the petition, six spoke publicly about their treatment by management under AWAs.

Gary Martin, who has never been a union member is the supervisor of Newman's mobile equipment workshop. "I was considering just leaving. It's common enough that if you're not happy in a work environment you'll leave. This is a little bit different in that if I did leave and I happened to see on the news that someone was seriously injured or killed here, then I'd feel pretty bad about that," Mr Martin told the ABC

Most blamed a company culture under AWAs, the Howard Government's individual employment agreements, which have been spread to 80per cent of BHP's iron ore workforce.

Tony Maher, National President of the CFMEU said: "At Mount Newman, they are dominated by AWAs, people don't have the protection of a union, they're not able to speak up on safety concerns. What's happening is the management are ruin ruling by fear. They're intimidating people, daring them not to raise safety issues."

The petition says employees have been continually "looking over their shoulders" and fear harsh treatment by management. It says those who complain about safety are considered obstructionist and resistant to change, not champions of higher standards.

BHP's Ian Ashby said he was disappointed if employees felt they could not report safety incidents because of feared repercussions. He encouraged employees to report safety concerns directly to him.

Excavator Operator, Aaron Greenhalgh, believes that AWA workers are not reporting incidents. "These are blokes that are coming back to these wind rows and breaching it, tipping the tyres through and tipping loads and carrying on. That's a near miss, that's a potential, that truck could be going over. Apart from that, they're driving off and the next bloke comes along and he could be falling in that same hole..."

Allen Zadow, another AWA employee recently quit as foreman over his treatment in reporting a safety hazard that hadn't been fixed. "A lot of mine incidents aren't reported, full stop. Just ignored," he told the ABC.

After he filed a report on his computer, Mr Zadow was called into the manager's office and asked to explain himself. "It wasn't a very pleasant experience. I mean, I went into a meeting with five other people, me being the outsider and having five different people, all superintendent above, trying to intimidate me..."

The Federal Government says it has referred the matter to its workplace watchdog. Issues of health and safety are looked after at a state level. WA Employment Protection Minister Michelle Roberts says she is concerned by the claims and an investigation is under way to see if they can be substantiated.

ACTU secretary and federal Labor candidate Greg Combet said it was clear AWAs were the cause of the safety worries. "The trouble with the AWAs is that it leaves people one out on their own up against an international mining company and when it comes to a safety issue people one out on their own can't deal with it, feel intimidated," he said. "It underlines the importance of people being able to join together to collectively bargain because that's the only way you can have a say about something as important as safety.

"And it also underlines the importance of the freedom for people to be represented by a union, if that's what they want," he said in The West.

The CFMEU says recent ABS data (6306, Feb 2007) underlines that Australian mining does NOT rely on AWAs – just 31% of workers in metal ore mines, and only 16% of the mining industry’s workforce are on AWAs. Mining relies more on common law contracts (as provided for in ALP policy) rather than on AWAs. About 55% of metal ore miners are on common law contracts.

Sources:
730 Report
AM
ABC News
The Australian
ABC
The West
CFMEU

Massive Anvil Hill coal mine approved by NSW Government

June 7, 2007: Despite ongoing community protests, the NSW Government has approved the controversial Anvil Hill coal mine development in the Hunter Valley.

NSW Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, says he made the decision after 10 months of assessment. He says the total value of the coal reserve at the site is estimated to be about $9 billion. "It was time to resolve the issues and give certainty to land owners and other potentially affected by the mine," said Mr Sartor. But environmentalists say the decision shows that the coal industry is in the climate change policy driving seat...

The Anvil Hill coal mine at Wybong, about 20km west of Muswellbrook, is expected to produce up to 10.5 million tonnes of coal a year over 21 years for the domestic and export markets. It will have a capital investment of about $240 million and will support about 250 construction jobs and about 240 operational jobs.

Minister Sartor says 84 "strict conditions" had been imposed on the mine to deal with dust and noise issues.

Rising Tide Newcastle say the area is home to at least 178 animal species, including 4 threatened bat species, the squirrel glider, the koala, 14 threatened bird species and many more protected under international covenant. It is also home to at least 420 species of native flora, many of which are threatened and 3 of which are endemic to the area, including one newly discovered species of orchid found only at this site.

"This mine would have massive impacts on threatened species in the Hunter Valley, destroying one of the largest tracts of bushland remaining in the region," say RisingTide. "It would destroy a large area of water catchment for the already stressed Hunter River. The 10 million tonnes of coal from Anvil Hill will wreak irreparable damage on the global climate, tipping the planet further towards dangerous, runaway climate change. In the face of such massive impacts, the Iemma government still couldn't find the guts to say no to the coal lobby."

Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says the decision is a disaster and shows the NSW Government is not serious about climate change. "The Anvil Hill coal mine will add enormously to the climate change burden," he said. "Today's decision is a sell-out, not just of proper measures to deal with climate change, but is also of the Hunter community."

Senator Kerry Nettle also condemned the federal and state governments for the decision to approve the giant Anvil Hill coal mine. "The federal government is responsible for this mine as much as the state Labor government. The federal Environment Minister failed to even assess the impact on climate change of this mine," said Senator Nettle.

"The federal government and federal Labor support the expansion of the coal industry. Neither can be taken seriously on climate change if they agree to the expansion of the coal mining industry. The approval highlights the shocking inadequacy of the federal government and federal Labor climate change policies. You can't reduce greenhouse gas emissions by supporting a new coal mine that will produce 27 million tonnes of CO2 each year. The approval of this massive coal mine shows both Labor and Liberal's polices on climate change are worthless."

The approval of the new coal mine is sparking outrage. Greenpeace head of campaigns Stephen Campbell said: "The planning process is a farce. The Department of Planning has ignored advice on the environmental and climate impacts of this mine and ‘rubber stamped’ it... This is an absolute disaster for Hunter communities and for the climate."

About 500 environmentalists protested at the site last weekend, standing in formation to spell out Save Anvil Hill. The protest against the Hunter Valley coal mine has shown people from all walks of life, and not just "environmental jihadists", are worried about climate change.

Greenpeace campaign manager Stephen Campbell said about 500 people made the journey from around the state to show their commitment to dealing with climate change and opposition to new coal mines. "You've got people you'd expect to see at protests, like students and the Greens, but there's other people here who are associated with the mining industry, people who are associated with the horse and wine industry - not the kind of people who normally come to a rally such as this and they came today."

Mr Campbell said such diverse community representation demonstrated how deep and widespread concern about the expansion of the coal industry was. "The coal industry, the Labor party and others try to portray anyone who is opposed to the coal industry as some sort of mad man or environmental jihadist, and what we're showing is that is simply not the case," he said. "People from all over NSW are very concerned about the expansion of the coal industry, they're concerned about the local, social and environmental impacts.

Greenpeace spokesman Ben Pearson said: "People have had enough of new coal mines," Mr Pearson said. "They're ripping up the Hunter Valley. They're contributing to climate change. We know how great the threat of climate change is, but frankly if we're serious about climate change how can we justify opening massive new coal mines?"

SOURCES:
ABC
NQ Register
Daily Telegraph
Sydney Morning Herald
SMH
Rising Tide
Peace Bus
Rising Tide: Media Release

Street Action - Blocking the G8 - Germany

JUNE 6, 2007: Tens of thousands of people have marched through the north-east German port of Rostock, 25 kilometres from the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, where invited leaders of the world's richest nations will begin their three-day G8 meeting. More blockades have been planned to disrupt the conference of global leaders.

Why block the G8 meeting? "Neoliberal capitalist globalisation – for which the G8 stands – increases the gap between the poor and the rich every day. The G8 claim they are combating global destitution, whereas they and those whose interests they represent are responsible for hunger, wars and environmental destruction.

That is why we will deny the G8 any legitimacy. We are not addressing the G8 with any demands, but say "No!". In order to express our clear "No!", we will not simply demonstrate. Instead we will actively thwart the G8 and block the access roads to the meeting place, which is used by numerous diplomats, translators and supply vehicles in order to get to Heiligendamm where the G8 summit will take place..."

On Monday, June 4th, anti-G8 actions and protest focussed on the demands for freedom of movement and equal rights for all.

Several decentralised actions took place: a demonstration with several thousand participants at the Immigration Centre in Rostock and another at the Sonnenblumen House in Lichtenhagen, where the Nazis attacked refugees in 1992. These were followed by a big march and rally in Rostock, which police restrictions and delays, but finally made it to the final rally at the city harbour. Decentralised actions also took place in other cities throughout the world.

On Sunday 3rd June, organisers said 80,000 people had taken part in a big demonstration, while Police put the figure at 30,000. Police sent in two anti-riot squads which led to clashes. "There is no justification for such violence against people and we formally distance ourselves from it," one protestor said.

The Rostock march was the biggest event of a week of demonstrations against the meeting of the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. Sunday's march began in a peaceful atmosphere. Protesters carried banners reading "Make Capitalism History". Others called for the world's most industrialised nations to fulfil their pledges to increase aid to Africa.

Protesters intend to block roads around Rostock airport from Wednesday to prevent the leaders and their delegations from reaching the summit venue. Organisers said they were expecting up to 100,000 people from anti-poverty and anti-corporate globalisation groups to demonstrate near where the leaders will gather. At a meeting of European and Asian foreign ministers in the northern city of Hamburg police used tear gas and batons to disperse a crowd of demonstrators.

All around the G8 venue tented camps have sprung up as affinity groups organise an alternative summit to highlight poverty and inequality. Dirk Mirow, a 37-year-old German taking part in the demonstration, said he was hoping the summit would achieve a major breakthrough on capping greenhouse gases. "I am here to protest for the climate because I have a two-year-old daughter and I'm wondering what sort of world we are creating for her," he said.

Tthe luxury beachfront hotel on the Baltic coast where the meeting will be held is surrounded by a heavily guarded fence topped with barbed wire. An underwater barrier has been erected to prevent ships approaching the hotel. German authorities have mounted an extensive security operation, with up to 16,000 police on duty.

Authorities can become brutal at G8 summits, most notoriously in the Italian city of Genoa in 2001 when a demonstrator was shot dead by police.

Check the Indymedia Timeline for immediate updates

SOURCES:
Resistance Against the G8
Why do you want to blockade?
G8 Protests Timeline
ABC News
ABC News
de.indymedia.org
Call for Action: June 5th, 2007
Germany: Pics from G8 protests - INFOSHOP

Stolen Wages taskforce a win for WA Aboriginals

Stolen Wages taskforce a win for WA Aboriginals

May 31, 2007 - The WA Government has announced that it will establish a taskforce to investigate wages and Commonwealth benefits stolen from Aboriginal people. In some cases, up to 75 per cent of their income was held in Government managed trust funds but never repaid. Brian Wyatt from the Goldfields Land and Sea Council says the compensation owed to Indigenous workers in the Goldfields alone could be up to $150 million...

The announcement coincided with the 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum that changed the Commonwealth Constitution to allow the Commonwealth Parliament to make special laws regarding indigenous people and enable indigenous people to be included in the national census.

The term 'stolen wages' refers to entitlements and other moneys that should have been paid to indigenous workers but were not. Regulations allowed the Government of the day to hold in trust up to 75 per cent of an indigenous person's wages. There is evidence that some of the workers did not receive their full entitlements.

Greens Senator Rachel Siewert welcomed the announcement having pushed hard for the state to act on the findings of a Senate inquiry: "The West Australian economy was built on the back of the unpaid and under-paid labour of our Aboriginal people," Senator Siewert said. "They were systematically excluded from the benefits of the wealth they created."

"The Senate inquiry found ample evidence of monies being withheld, monies diverted in WA to missions and station coffers, and widespread rorting of trust funds by trustees," said Senator Siewert.

But there is concerned by the announced timeframe as many of the people affected are now elderly and another year of delay will see more of them passing away before justice is achieved.

Brian Wyatt from the Goldfields Land and Sea Council says justice must be done for the people who suffered. "Indications are that the annual indigenous payroll for Goldfields pastoral properties in the 1960s was in the order of $9 million, said Mr Wyatt.

"There were curfews in towns, you know. You had to be out of town by six o'clock, you had to live on designated areas outside of towns and, on top of that, you worked for next to nothing, particularly in the pastoral industry. So it was very, very demeaning I would have thought," he said. "At one mission, in return for a ten shilling a week government accommodation subsidy, Aboriginal people were provided bush shelters and tents with no toilet facilities, and were expected to hunt their own food."

Indigenous Affairs Minister Michelle Roberts said the task force would investigate and make recommendations to try and correct some of the injustices of the past. Mrs Roberts said many of the people affected were likely to have died and a broad repayment scheme, potentially encompassing the families of deceased workers.

The NSW Government set up a trust fund scheme in 2005 to repay wages which were lost between 1900 and 1968 to living claimants and their descendants. In Queensland, Aboriginal people lodged a multi-milliondollar claim for lost wages and entitlements in 2002 and the Government set up a $55.5 million fund which capped claims at $4000 a person.

Mrs Roberts said stolen wages remained an issue for indigenous people. “This is not a report we would be setting up unless we were prepared to take some action and prepared to extend some money at the end of the process,” she said.

Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Dennis Eggington said the inquiry was overdue and the Government needed to provide meaningful relief by acting on its findings.

----

Recommendation 4 of the Senate Unfinished business inquiry

The committee recommends that:
(a) the Western Australian Government:
(i) urgently consult with Indigenous people in relation to the stolen wages issue; and
(ii) establish a compensation scheme in relation to withholding, underpayment and non-payment of Indigenous wages and welfare entitlements using the New South Wales scheme as a model, and
(b) the Commonwealth Government conduct preliminary research of its archival material in relation to the stolen wages issues in Western Australia.

---

Sources:
Greens Media
GLSC Media
Inquiry into Stolen Wages - Senate
Sunday Times
The West
ABC
PERTH INDYMEDIA

Tenth Sorry Day and the 40th Anniversary of 1967 Referendum

10th Anniversary of Sorry Day and the 40th Anniversary of 1967 Referendum. 27 May 1967 is the date of the most successful referendum in Australian history. Forty years ago the overwhelming majority of Australians voted for changes in the Australian Constitution that the voters believed would give Indigenous Australians a ‘fairer go’ in their own country.

On 27 May 1967 over 90 per cent of the Australian electorate did vote YES on the Aboriginal question.

The 1967 Referendum: On 27 May 1967 a Federal referendum was held. The first question, referred to as the ‘nexus question' was an attempt to alter the balance of numbers in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The second question was to determine whether two references in the Australian Constitution, which discriminated against Aboriginal people, should be removed. This fact sheet addresses the second question.

The sections of the Constitution under scrutiny were:

51. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:-

(xxvi) The people of any race, other than the aboriginal people in any State, for whom it is necessary to make special laws.

127. In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives should not be counted.

The removal of the words ‘… other than the aboriginal people in any State…' in section 51(xxvi) and the whole of section 127 were considered by many to be representative of the prevailing movement for political change within Indigenous affairs. As a result of the political climate, this referendum saw the highest YES vote ever recorded in a Federal referendum, with 90.77 per cent voting for change.

The right to vote: The 1967 referendum did not give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples the right to vote. This right had been legislated for Commonwealth elections in 1962, with the last State to provide Indigenous enfranchisement being Queensland in 1965.

MORE:
Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals) - WIKIPEDIA
Collaborating for Indigenous Rights: the 1967 Referendum
The 1967 Referendum - National Archives of Australia

Students of Sustainabilty Conference 2007 - Murdoch Uni - Get some!

Students of Sustainabilty Conference 2007 - Respect Nyoongar Country

SoS_07 - July 9-15, 2007 - Students of Sustainability (SoS) is the largest student-run environment based conference in Australia. The next SoS convergence will happen July 2007 in Perth, Western Australia at Murdoch University...
Check out the website:
http://studentsofsustainability.org

So, what is SoS? Each year SoS offers an amazing opportunity for students, activists, academics, environment and Indigenous groups, and members of the wider community from around Australia to come together to share and gain knowledge, skills and information on environmental and social justice issues.

Please feel free to get involved with the organisation of SoS 2007.

We are all students of sustainability!

FIND OUT MORE:
http://studentsofsustainability.org

Rising Tide Perth condem BP/Rio Tinto giant coal plant for Kwinana

MAY 23, 2007 - Rising Tide Perth - Action against Climate Change

Perth Rising Tide crew, are gearing up to take action against the recently announced massive BHP/RioTinto Coal plant for Kwinana...

Rio, BP considering $2b coal-fired power project in WA: 21st May 2007 - Rio Tinto Ltd’s new joint venture with oil giant BP has unveiled plans for a $2 billion clean-coal power generation project at Kwinana.

Hydrogen Energy’s project, which will the subject of a feasibility study, would be fully integrated with carbon capture and storage to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. The power station could generate 500MW of electricity.

This would be the first new project for Hydrogen Energy, which was formed to develop decarbonised fossil fuel projects around the world, with the contribution of two existing projects in Scotland and in the US.

The industrial-scale coal-fired power and carbon capture and storage plant in Kwinana would generate enough electricity to meet 15 per cent of the demand of South-West WA.

It would capture and permanently store about four million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The plant would draw on locally-produced coal from the Collie region to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. A decision to invest in the project is likely by 2011, and it could begin operating in 2014.

Energy Minister Fran Logan welcomed the announcement, saying the project had the potential to provide substantial benefits to WA and the nation.

Perth Rising Tide is a West Australian-based grassroots independent climate action collective. Perth Rising Tide say there are serious climate issues occurring within WA right now that require immediate grassroots action to aid their defence. Lets amalgamate, converge and take positive direct action against rapid-onset human-induced Climate Change at a local level...

Rising Tide Principles:
http://perthrisingtide.wordpress.com/principles/

We invite anyone with an interest in climate change issues to get involved. Join this WA autonomous movement against climate change. Please email us here: perthclimatealliance@yahoo.com.au

WEBSITE:
http://perthrisingtide.wordpress.com/

CLIMATE JUSTICE! - International Day of Direct Action against Climate Change and the G8 Friday 8th June 2007: The 8th of June International Day of Action Against Climate Change and the G8 has been called by the International Rising Tide Network.

This is a call for autonomous, decentralised actions appropriate for your town, city, or local area. Use this international day of action to support local struggles against oil refineries, gas pipelines, strip mines and coal-fired power plants. Disrupt the financial backers of the fossil fuel industry. Organise workshops to spread sustainable post-petroleum living skills. Find a weak point in the infrastructure of resource exploitation and throw a literal or symbolic wrench in the works. It’s time to visit your local polluters and give ‘em hell!

By 8th June actions will be planned around the world. Pass this call out on to all environmental justice, climate action, radical sustainability and related movements in all the G8 countries and the Global South.

Rising Tide will create a collection of outreach and agit-prop materials (including this call out in five different languages) that can be used by groups around the world to organise locally.

These materials will be downloadable from
http://risingtide.org.uk
and http://risingtidenorthamerica.org

Direct action and civil disobedience are the rational response in this time of crisis. Support the 8th of June International Day of Direct Action against Climate Change and the G8! Tell us about planned actions for climate justice being planned in your community.

Contact us - info@risingtide.org.uk and contact@risingtidenorthamerica.org In June 2007 the G8 will understand the meaning of rebellion, revolt and revolution. Their recipe for catastrophe will be met with our global resistance!

READ MORE
http://perthrisingtide.wordpress.com

Transparency needed on UMC's bauxite plans for Kimberley

Wednesday, 16 May 2007 - Transparency needed on Mitchell Plateau mining plans

Australian Greens Senator for WA Rachel Siewert has reacted strongly to the announcement by United Minerals Corporation (UMC) that a massive bauxite mine is again on the cards for Mitchell Plateau. United Minerals say that for the last 12 months, UMC's 100% subsidiary Bauxite Australia Pty Limited, has been exploring in areas adjacent to the Mitchell Plateau bauxite deposits. A year 1 drilling program commencing in 2006 made a successful start in identifying extensive bauxite mineralisation on the Company's leases...
Perth exploration company United Minerals, which has discovered deposits of bauxite at its North Kimberley leases, has announced a joint venture with Norwegian company Norsk Hydro. UMC says it has reached a memorandum of understanding with aluminium producer Norsk Hydro to form a joint venture to assess a $4-5 billion bauxite mine and alumina refinery in the Kimberley region.

The proposed project would be based on bauxite deposits in the remote Mitchell Plateau, locted north west of Wyndham. UMC said the potential for an integrated bauxite mine and aluminium refinery was heavily driven by the expected development of gas projects in the Browse Basin, off the Kimberley coast. These projects include Woodside's Browse project and Japanese company Inpex's Ichthys project.

"The joint venture will endeavour to take advantage of this historic availability of major energy sources in the Kimberley for the first time," the company said.

A lobby group set to challenge gas development on the Kimberley coast says it is disturbed by new plans for a bauxite mine and alumina refinery.

Peter Tucker of the lobby group Cultural, Heritage and Environmental Advocacy for the Kimberley (CHEAK) says the announcement confirms what he has been fearing. "In their statement they have made it clear that the industrialisation of the Mitchell Plateau is going to be relying heavily on the availability of gas and this is of grave concern to us," he said.

Senator Siewert said the Greens suspected all along that WA Government support for the construction of large gas plants along the Kimberley coast had everything to do with opening the area up to mining interests. "This announcement confirms that the Kimberley is now firmly in the crosshairs of heavy industry," she said.

"My question is the degree to which the Carpenter Government is pushing these developments behind the scenes while leaving Kimberley people in the dark," Senator Siewert said.

"Will there be even the pretence of consultation, or is open slather mining in Australia's last frontier going to be presented as a fait accompli? The tragedy of the Burrup Peninsula illustrates what happens when the interests of heavy industry are driven over the cultural, social and environmental values of people living in the region."

"The Greens stand behind the Kimberley community in demanding an open and transparent say in the future of their region, within the framework of a regional planning policy, so that the mess on the Burrup is not replicated on a larger scale across the north of our state," said Senator Siewert.

SOURCES:
unitedminerals.com.au
ABC NEWS
WA Business News
Media Release

Second desal plan a win for the Yarragadee

Tuesday, 16 May 2007 - The West Australian government has ditched controversial plans to pump 45 billion litres of water a year from the southwest Yarragadee aquifer. WA Premier Alan Carpenter announced a second water desalination plant will be built by 2011. Mr Carpenter said the plant will be built near Binningup, between Bunbury and Mandurah, at a cost of $955 million. He said it will provide 45 gigalitres of water a year, with the potential to increase to 100 gigalitres...

The new plant is expected to produce nearly 20 per cent of Perth's water needs. Similar to the Kwinana plant, it will be powered by renewable energy - possibly geothermal energy. The first major sea water desalination plant to be built in the Southern Hemisphere was commissioned at Kwinana earlier this year. The two desalination plants are expected to increase household water prices by $30 a year.

Mr Carpenter said there were too many environmental problems with tapping the Yarragadee and that the success of the wind-powered Kwinana plant, showed a second plant was the best choice. He said the plant would provide water to Perth, the Wheatbelt and the Goldfields.

The contentious plans to tap the Yarragadee, were protested by the state Liberal/National Opposition as well as countless community and environmental groups. Mr Carpenter said the new plant will be powered by renewable energy and established at Binningup, 130km south of Perth. More than 30 per cent of Perth's water will then come from desalination, cutting dependence on dams and the strained Gnangara mound - Perth's major water source.

Opposition Leader Paul Omodei said using water from the Wellington Dam would have been better than another desalination plant. The Opposition also suggested damming the Ord River, in WA's north-west, and piping water down 3000kms to Perth.

The Water Corporation's Jim Gill, who has been pushing the Yarragadee proposal has left the Yarragadee option open. "We're still very confident that for the future of the southwest of WA it's a magnificent water source. It's not something that will not be tapped in the future," he said.

The head of the Water Research Centre at the University of WA, Jorg Imberger, is disappointed the government has put aside the Yarragadee plan. "I just feel sad for this state because they're obviously no longer governing or taking any notice of the public service whatsoever," he said.

Paul Llewellyn, Greens member for the South West, said he was delighted that the government has seen the wisdom. "To secure our future, we must now become very energy and water efficient. This decision will give us just 10 years relief from our rapidly growing water demand before we need to find yet another 45GL," he said. Mr Llewellyn called on the Government to support the Water Conservation Target Bill to implement a water efficiency, conservation and recycling plan, that will reduce demand on the system by at least 45GL per year by 2020.

"Desalination uses an enormous amount of energy. The plant must be powered by new sources of renewable energy that are legally certified. The Government must pass the Greens' Western Australian Renewable Energy Target Bill in order to be guaranteed a clean energy supply for the plant," said Mr Llewellyn.

WA Conservation Council's Chris Tallentire also welcomed the Premier's decision. "That's great news for the farmers, the conservationists, the scientists, the local government people who have all been involved in campaigning to stop the Government taking water from the south west Yarragadee that's so important to south west ecosystems," he said. He said conservationists across the state had worked hard to stop the Yarragadee project which posed very real risks to the environment. Mr Tallentine warned that the desalination plant would be closely scrutinised.

The proposed site for the plant is at a Water Corporation wastewater treatment facility on Taranto Road north of Binningup - adjacent to a disused limestone quarry. It is expected to have minimal environmental and visual impact on the area, but will be subject to the usual approval processes.

The Premier said that while the SW Yarragadee aquifer had effectively received environmental approval, it remained a source that was still reliant on climate and rainfall. "We can no longer rely on traditional, seasonal climate patterns and rainfall," the Premier said. "Seawater desalination is clearly the best long term feasible and practical option for our State, along with more water recycling initiatives.

"When you compare the seawater desalination process to transporting water from the Kimberley, there is no comparison. Put another way, for the cost of building a pipeline from the Kimberley, we could build at least 12 desalination plants and get three times more water at one third of the price per kilolitre."

He said the Government was also researching a major aquifer recharge recycling project north of Perth, which had the potential to yield an extra 25 gigalitres.

Currently WA's water supply includes 13 per cent recycled water and 17 per cent desalinated water. Opposition leader Paul Omodei said more attention must also be paid to recycling and said the Kimberley water pipeline to bring water from the north of the state also remained an option in the longer term.

Mr Omodei said the shelving of the Yarragadee plan had prevented the Carpenter Government from "taking the greatest environmental gamble the State has ever seen." Shadow Environment Minister Steve Thomas said the South West community would be pleased with the Government’s decision, and would closely watch the development of the new desalination plant to ensure environmental concerns were covered.

The estimated cost of building the plant will be $640million, plus an additional $315million to integrate into the water supply system. Western Australia is recognised as the nation’s leader in water resource management. Perth is the only major capital city in Australia where people can use sprinklers through summer – despite our driest year on record last year.

SOURCES:
AAP
ABC
ABC
The Australian
Perth Indymedia
The West
Yarragadee Community Action
Paul Llewellyn - Media Release

Police Violence Report: G20 Protestors attacked "unnecessary" and "unprovoked" by cops

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - Police used unnecessary force during G20: legal study

A report into the G20 actions in Melbourne in November 2006, has found police used an "excessive amount of force." Victoria's Federation of Community Legal Centres released the study, finding only a small proportion of protesters were acting provocatively over the three-day event. The study found a police baton charge on protesters outside the Melbourne Museum was "unnecessary" and "unprovoked"...

Victoria’s Federation of Community Legal Centres (FCLC) today called for improved police responses to future protests, following the release of the Federation’s Human Rights Observer Team’s Final Report on the protests surrounding the G20 Meeting.

Much of the violence was directed at protesters who posed little or no perceptible threat to officers' safety, the report says.

BACKGROUND - PERTH INDYMEDIA NOVEMBER 19, 2006:
http://perth.indymedia.org/index.php?action=default&featureview=432

"At the barricades, a police officer took his baton all the way behind his back... and with a full swing hit a protester on the right of his temple," wrote one observer of an incident on Saturday afternoon at the corner of Collins Street and Alfred Place. "The protester was bleeding significantly... he fell back onto a woman and as a result she suffered a sprained ankle."

In the lead up to the G20 Meeting held in Melbourne from 17-19 November 2006, the FCLC established a Human Rights Observer (HRO) Team to critically monitor the response of Victoria Police to the protests. The HRO Team was an independent and non-partisan project with trained volunteer observers present over the 3 day meeting to monitor the police response to the protests and promote rights to peaceful protest and democracy.

The observer team wrote that "police authorities cannot justify or rationalise abuses by pointing to the poor conduct of some protesters". The Report found that there were numerous observed incidents of inappropriate use of force and potentially unlawful police behaviour towards some protesters.

These included dangerous overhead baton strikes, arbitrary arrests and the reported failure by police to issue warnings prior to a baton charge on a peaceful group of protesters.

Another observer reported seeing a man standing alone in Exhibition Street after protesters had vandalised a police truck. "This man was not threatening to the police in any way," the observer wrote. "The man was struck on the legs with a baton by a police officer. He was knocked to the ground. The police officer hit him about once more … members of the public who were clearly not demonstrators began screaming in distress and asking the officers to stop."

The Report notes several key improvements in Victoria Police’s response to the protests and commends Victoria Police on its willingness to review and improve its practices. It also makes recommendations as to how police responses to future protests may be improved.

Federation of Community Legal Centres’ Executive Officer Hugh de Kretser said the project was an important tool in protecting basic human rights: "This report contains analysis and recommendations about improving policing practices. We look forward to working constructively with Victoria Police to promote greater safety for police, protesters and the community and to better protect our rights to peaceful protest and democracy."

Police should also provide assistance to injured persons as soon as possible during protest events, even if the person has been injured as a result of police action, the team says. "Rights to democracy and peaceful protest are fundamental to our society. The police response to protests can either undermine or strengthen our democracy," said Hugh de Kretser.

In March, it was revealed that people allegedly injured by police in the November violence had received confidential sums. Recipients included bystanders, tourists and elderly protesters.

Download the Full Report as a PDF here:
http://www.communitylaw.org.au/community/files/news/fD00768_01.pdf

---

Further information:
Anthony Kelly - Author of report and co-ordinator of HRO team - 0407 815 333
Hugh de Kretser - Executive Officer - 0403 965 340

SOURCES:
Media Release - PDF
Federation of Community Legal Centres (Vic.) Inc
ABC
Final Report: G20 Protests - PDF
The Age
Coverage of the G20 actions in Melbourne - Engage Media
G20 Activist Forum
Solidarity with g20 arrestees - Melbourne Indymedia
A Space Outside - interactions with radical thinkers
Police attack G20 protesters at Melbourne Museum - November 19, 2006

Refugee rights: Villawood detainees on hunger strike - Kiribilli convergence

Sunday, April 8, 2007 - 100 Villawood detainees on hunger strike

The Refugee Action Coalition says more than 100 people at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre are now on a hunger strike. Some of the hunger-strikers have entered their 10th straight day without food as authorities reinforced fences and put on extra officers in anticipation of a torrid Easter weekend at Sydney's Villawood detention centre...
Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition says the inmates are staging the protest over the recent deportation of a Chinese woman. He says they are very worried about what will happen to the Chinese detainees when they are sent back to their country.

"Most of the people who have been deported are among the group of Chinese that were interviewed by Chinese Government officials in 2005, so they are particularly vulnerable," he said.

"The Chinese Government has got all the details they have, and they have got them courtesy of the Australian Government inviting them into the detention centre."

Mr Rintoul says the inmates are desperate to be heard. "I think it's a measure of the desperation - what the people say to us is that they face a much worse fate if they are returned to China," he said.

"They even say they would rather die here, fighting against being deported, than to be sent back to face what will happen to them at the hands of the Chinese authorities."

Meanwhile, protesters rallied outside the Prime Minister's Sydney residence to speak against the Howard Government's policies on war, climate change, immigration and industrial relations. The speakers included Greens senator Kerry Nettle and refugee activists highlighting an on-going hunger strike at Sydney's Villawood Immigration Detention Centre.

The group say they will converge outside the Villawood Detention Centre to show solidarity for the hunger strikers. The hunger strikers have asked for an end to forced deportations, an end to mandatory detention, and for the immigration department to provide information about the fate of those deported.

Devotees of the Falun Gong sect and supporters are protesting against the harsh tactics of the Department of Immigration and detention centre guards during three deportations of Chinese citizens in the past fortnight.

Yuan Huimil, the sole woman among them, was taken to hospital on Wednesday night for rehydration and is now under medical supervision.

The protesters are demanding an end to forced deportations and long-term detention- demanding that the department contact lawyers and refugee groups before any deportations.

"The minister cannot pretend he doesn't know either about the mistreatment of the Chinese detainees in Villawood or the human rights abuses of the Chinese Government," said Ian Rintoul.

"We are urging him to urgently intervene before the hunger strikers suffer long-term damage to their health or worse."

An Immigration Department spokeswoman said eight people are refusing food but are still taking fluids. Extra guards, NSW police officers and an ambulance have been stationed at Villawood.

SOURCES:
ABC News
News Ltd
Fairfax

Easter 2007 protest at Kirribilli

From the newswire: REFUGEE RIGHTS ACTION - The Refugee Action Coalition has called a protest for Easter Sunday at Kirribilli House. Easter has become synonymous with protests for refugees’ rights. Woomera, Baxter and Villawood detention centres have each been the target of Easter convergences that have shone the national and international spotlight on the Howard government’s blatant disregard of human rights.

End mandatory detention | Close the detention centres | Abolish temporary protection visas | Stop all deportations | Let the boats land | Fight racist scapegoating

PM John Howard’s attempt to excise the Australian mainland from the migration zone has been defeated. The numbers in mainland detention centres have fallen, as some people previously demonised as "failed asylum seekers" finally got visas.

Yet the construction of the $300 million, 800-bed detention centre on Christmas Island is nearing completion, with the backing of the Labor opposition. The recent attempt to turn back 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers shows that the government’s “fortress Australia” mind-set persists.

The Refugee Action Coalition has called a protest for Easter Sunday at Kirribilli House. The Howard government is in trouble on a number of fronts: the worsening debacle in Iraq; the five-year incarceration of David Hicks; the unpopularity of Work Choices; the push for uranium mining and nuclear power; and the incessant attacks on public education.

Uniting around these issues, we can push Howard back and send a message to any alternative government that we need a fundamental break with the priorities of the Howard years. The protest has been endorsed by the Stop the War Coalition and the NSW Social Justice Network. The protest will take place from noon on April 8 in Bradfield Park, under the Harbour Bridge.

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