Wednesday, April 8
Rally: 6 hours for 6 years. Demand freedom and permanent protection for indefinitely detained ASIO refugees. The Department of Immigration has kept these refugees locked up indefinitely on the basis of ASIO's secret assessments. In recent months, many have at last received security clearance, but they are now denied permanent protection and family reunion due to new migration laws. Speakers: David Manne (RILC), Trevor Grant (Tamil Refugee Council), Olivia Ball (Remedy Australia), Elizabeth O'Shea (social justice lawyer), Van Badham (social commentator), Jasmine Pillbrow (Walking for Freedom), Daniella Olea (long term detention centre visitor). 12-6pm. Immigration Department, cnr Spring & Lonsdale Sts, City. Speeches will start at 12.30pm and the day will end with a candlelit vigil from 5pm.
Thursday, April 9 - Saturday, May 2
Exhibition: Ancient cultures, new futures. A photographic exhibition for Sri Lankan reconciliation. Photographs by Stephen Champion, Dominic Sansoni, Sivathas Sivasubramanium & Paul James. Mon-Fri 11am-5pm; Sat 11am-3pm. Opening night: Thursday, April 9, 6:30pm. RSVP Global reconcilliation. Walker St Gallery One, Dandenong. Facebook event
Thursday, April 9
Gathering: Families, Friends, and Feminists Against Detention. This is our first public event, a group discussion about different concerning aspects of detention and then collectively decide on how we will enact solidarity around these on the day.10.30am. Coles Fountain, Parliament Gardens.
Friday, April 10
Rally: Stop the forced closures of Aboriginal communities. A callout to hit the streets and voice your outrage at fascist Colin Barnett and the imposter governments forced closures of First Nations communities in Western Australia. National protests are being run around the country against this ongoing, slow motion genocide of our people. 4pm. Flinders Street Station. [Note change of venue and time.]
Saturday, April 11
Rally: Stop the super trawler. Don't let this super trawler decimate out fishstocks and kill our marine wildlife. Hundreds of protected seals, dolphins and sea birds will be killed
by this factory of death ship along with 16,556 tonnes of fish. 11am. Southern Beach reserve, St Kilda. Organised by the Victoria Marine Animal Defenders Conservation Society & the Trawler Alliance.
Rally: Hands Off Venezuela! On the 13th anniversary of the defeated military coup against Hugo Chavez, join the community gatherings in solidarity with Venezuela to demand No more coups! End foreign intervention! Respect Venezuela’s revolution! Peace in Latin America! 12pm. State Library, cnr Swanston & La Trobe Sts, City. For more info ph Daniela Segovia (02) 6290 2967.
Protest: Rally for kidnapped Hazaras in Afghanistan. Dozens of Hazaras have been kidnapped recently in Afghanistan. The government has been mysteriously silent on this issue and Afghan military has not taken any action. Demand that the Afghan government takes serious action to free all the hostages alive. We also request UN and human rights organisations to take serious actions in this regard. 2pm. Federation Square, Swanston St, City.
Comedy: Political Asylum late night riot. Melbourne International Comedy Festival gets invaded by outrage (and outrageousness) as Political Asylum returns once more! Featuring a fantastic line-up of smart and acerbic stand-up comics, this is the night for Abbott denialism, Labor lamentations and Palmer Party prophesising, all wrapped up in a flaming bundle of hilarity. 11pm. Town Hall, Supper Room, cnr Swanston & Collins Sts, City. $25/$20. To book visit Late night riot.
Monday, April 13
Public meeting: Stopping deportations & the fight for refugee rights. The Abbott government is stepping up efforts to deport refugees to danger. Last year it forcibly deported asylum seekers back to Afghanistan for the first time. In December a deportation from Sydney was successfully prevented when the asylum seeker on board, in conjunction with passengers who stood up, demanded the deportee be removed from the plane This forum will hear about recent protests as well as past anti-deportation action, and will discuss their role in the broader refugee rights campaign. 6:30pm. ANMF Building, 540 Elizabeth St, City. Organised by Refugee Action Collective.
Tuesday, April 14
Forum: Syria: Background to war; working for peace. Speaker: Susan Dirgham (National Coordinator of Australians for Mussalaha (Reconciliation) in Syria). 6:45pm (for 7pm start). $5.To confirm your place on the night please call 9662 3744 or email NIBS. New International Bookshop, Downstairs, Trades Hall, cnr Victoria & Lygon Sts, Carlton South.
Wednesday, April 15 - Saturday, May 2
Theatre: Beautiful One Day. A theatrical documentary about the irrepressible life and times of Palm Island; now touring Victoria. On Palm Island, 2004, an Aboriginal man dies in police custody. Members of the Palm Island community make a direct challenge to police power and the police station is torched. Eleven years later, the people of Palm Island continue to demand real justice, and all the while life continues. For metropolitan and country dates, venues and bookings see IlbijerriTheatre Company.
Friday, April 17
Forum: The Kurdish freedom struggle today. Discussion of the radical changes happening in the Kurds' long struggle against oppression in four countries. Speakers: Rob Pascoe (Professor of History VU), Seval Ulus (VU student, Kurdish Association), Rob Stary (civil liberties lawyer). 12 noon. Room E319, Victoria University, Footscray Park campus. Organised by Australians for Kurdistan.
Saturday, April 18
Public meeting: Lex Wotton. A panel featuring veteran Palm Island leader Lex Wotton will discuss Indigenous liberation, leadership and what it will take to put an end to deaths in custody. The panel discussion will be followed by a social and reception for Lex. Start time TBA. Town Hall, 233 Sydney Rd, Brunswick. Organised by Indigenous Social Justice Association.
Ayotzinapa Resiste: Lunch in solidarity with missing Mexican students. Six months ago, 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, were kidnapped by state forces and six more were killed. Six months later, the state insists in closing the case. Six months later we must keep demanding justice. Come along and support this event in solidarity with the missing Ayotzinapa students, their classmates and courageous families. Entry $10/$5; lunch $15 ($10 for children). Plus aguas frescas, beer, tea & coffee. MUA hall, 46 Ireland St, West Melbourne (near North Melbourne train station). For info ph Lulu on 0421 957 341 or Francisco 0432 565 470.
Sunday, April 19
Rally: Legalise medical cannabis. Come and join us at our next event, as we celebrate 4:20 with speeches, music, comedy, prize drawers and freebies, and help weak and ill children and people everywhere access medical cannabis. 3pm. Treasury Gardens, 2-18 Spring St, East Melbourne.
Monday, April 20
Public meeting: What is the future of Anzac Day? A century on from WW1, Anzac Day marches and pilgrimages to Gallipoli are attracting record crowds. But it hasn't always been that way. Will today's patriotic fervour continue to grow? Panellists: Michael Brissenden (ABC journalist ); James Brown (defence analyst); Carolyn Holbrook (historian); Celeste Liddle (trade unionist & Indigenous activist). 6pm (doors open 5.30pm). Deakin Edge, Federation Square, City. Free event but bookings essential. To book email Conversations or call 9658 9965 during business hours.
Tuesday, April 21
Book launch: A Short History of Social Democracy. This new title from Resistance Books examines the social democratic attempt to civilise capitalism: from its origins in the socialist movement, to its high point in the post World War II boom, to its surrender to neoliberalism in the 1980s and beyond. Speakers: John Rainford (former union official & director of Radical Wollongong); Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance councillor for Moreland). 6:30pm. Multicultural Hub, 506 Elizabeth St, City (opposite Victoria Markets). For more info ph 9639 8622. Presented by Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance.
Wednesday, April 22
National day of action: It's time to divest! Join us as we deliver a massive petition signed by students, staff and members of the community and a second petition from alumni calling on the University of Melbourne to divest from fossil fuels. 12pm. South Lawn, Melbourne University.
Thursday, April 23
Public meeting: War and peace in Moreland. Along with other parts of Australia, Moreland sent men to fight in the Great War. Some 700 would not return. The argument over the war was particularly strong in Moreland, with Frank Anstey, Frank Hyett and John Curtin leading the opposition to conscription. Stuart Macintyre, a professor of history at the University of Melbourne, will relate the wartime experience and its affects. 7:45pm. Brunswick Library, cnr Dawson St & Sydney Rd, Brunswick (enter via Dawson St).
Friday, April 24
Vigil: Rana Plaza anniversary. Mourn the dead, fight for the living. Vigil for the workers who were killed in the name of greed in Bangladesh's Rana Plaza disaster. 4:30pm. 8 Hour Monument, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton South. Organised by Australia Bangladesh Solidarity Network.
Sunday, April 26
These Machines Cut Razor Wire 2015. Fifth annual music fundraiser for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Performers: Jeff Lang, Kavisha Mazzella, Les Thomas Band, Little Foot duo and more. 6pm. Ding Dong Lounge, 18 Market Lane, City.
Tuesday, April 28
May Day film night. 7pm. Democritus Workers League, 583 High St, Northcote.
Wednesday, April 29
Film screening: Frackman. 6:30pm. $20. Bookings here. Jam Factory, 500 Chapel St, South Yarra. Promoted by Coal and Gas Free Communities.
Thursday, April 30
May day wreath laying. 5pm. 8 hour monument, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton South.
May day Multicultural event. 5pm. Trades Hall Old Ballroom, cnr Lygon & Victoria sts, Carlton South.
Book launch: Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet. The notion of ever-expanding economic growth has been promoted so relentlessly that the public is now convinced that 'growth' is the natural solution to virtually all social problems — poverty, debt, unemployment, and even the environmental degradation caused by growth in the first place. Warnings from scientists that we live on a finite planet have been ignored or even scorned as bogus predictions of doom and systematically resisted by economists and the corporate sector. Author Kerryn Higgs will discuss these and other themes and their importance for left politics in the 21st century. 6:45pm. New International Bookshop, 54 Victoria St, Carlton South.
Friday, May 1
Book launch: Robbed of Every Blessing. John Tully's new novel is a dark tale set in Ireland and Van Diemen’s Land in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars; The title is taken from a traditional song about transportation to the Tasmanian penal colony. Speaker: Bronwyn Cran (Dean of the College of Arts, Victoria University). 6pm for 6:30pm start. Readings Bookshop, Lygon St, Carlton.
Concert: I’ll Be There! Songs and stories of solidarity. The Victorian Trade Union Choir’s hit show, I’ll Be There!, brings to life inspiring moments of the trade union, labour and social justice movements. 7:30pm. Footscray Community Arts Centre, 45 Moreland St, Footscray. Booking I'll be there.
Sunday, May 3
Join with Socialist Alliance at a May Day toast. Breakfast from 10am; speeches 11am. Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, City (opposite RMIT). For more info ph 9639 8622.
Rally: May Day march. 1pm. Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton South.
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