These days, the economy is run for the benefit of business, not the rest of us.

Picture below is from here.

More shocks with the reporting of some epic results following on the easing of work rights and obligations - this time connected to the 457 visas under which workers are sponsored to work in Australia by employers.  This time it is the 'enlightened' non-feminist firm Thiess which is a subsidiary/partner of its 'enlightened' non-feminist corporate colleague Leightons.  Please note that Leighton Holdings is now known as the CIMIC Group. Those familiar with the old Leightons Holding board will remember year after year of all male boards - but now they have moved on to the token female.  BTW, please note Miss Eagle does not agree with 'the goal' supported by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) of 30% of boards to be female. 

The Sex Discrimination Act has been in place since 1984.  Introduction of such legislation was part of Australia's obligation when ratifying the United Nations' Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).  More than 30 years has gone by and corporations are only being pressed for 30% female representation!  But then WGEA - and its predecessors with other nomenclature - has always been a featherduster organisation.  And look where its so-called "carrot and stick" approach has got women.

In 2010 the then EOWA awarded Thiess an EOWA Award as an employer of choice for women.  This was at the time when there were all sorts of shenaningans going on at the site of the Wonthaggi desalination plant construction.  As for women lauding Thiess .... who? Professional women? Women further down the food chain?  With such undemanding standards, will Thiess Services and CIMIC Group end up employers of choice for women?  I don't think there is an award for providing sound workplace practices for migrant workers.  Clearly, if there was an award, I would expect Thiess Services to find themselves ineligible.  I think we could rely on the Electrical Trades Union to see to that. 

Complaints have been around for a long, long time.  Please see these listed in 2013. 

If you want too tickle your funny bone with a sardonic laugh or three, please read this from April last year. Note the panel for this review - a review which had its mind made up long before it began.  It had its goal clearly in view.  Now we are seeing the results of it.

Please note the ministerial responsibility in the review - it is that well known wife of fish, Senator Michaelia Cash.  These days she is the Assistant Minister for Border Protection (the portfolio for being cruel to refugees and asylum seekers, particularly women and their children) and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women. Australia does not have a Minister who only handles the portfolio of women's affairs because of its significance. And, of course, a woman cannot be expected to handle such a portfolio responsibly.  It is essential that the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott - who day-by-day has his credibility leaking as badly as a run down people-smuggling boat - gives significance to the portfolio.  Seems to be that gone are the days when significant women handled this portfolio with great success and benefit to those whom the portfolio served.

What we have found aired to us in recent weeks is that large numbers of men and women in the Australian workforce - particularly if they come from overseas on a 417 working holiday visa or a 457 employer sponsored visa - are treated shoddily.  The Liberal-National Parties currently in government in Australia, together with their corporate mates, are trashing Australia's reputation for fairness and equity.  Australia is becoming yet another rip-off station on the international circuit.

Such practices disadvantage ordinary Australians. How?

1. Can we really trust employers, as a group,  if they say they cannot fill their jobs with Australian employees?  Not all employers using 417s and 457s are bad employers.  However, when major corporations act like Thiess they bring everyone into disrepute.

2.  The enthusiasm with which the Abbott Government and their corporate cronies have adopted the concept - or some of the concept - of overseas working visas is part of an overall objective of driving down wages in Australia, particularly for unskilled or semi-skilled work.  And remember we don't yet know what Australia has signed up to in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. 

3. Currently, Australian government agencies are not working for all Australians.  As a peep into the WGEA shows, no pressure is being brought to bear on recalcitrant employers and yet, as we saw in last year's Budget, the Abbott Government is prepared to place enormous financial and family pressures on Australian workers. 

4. Is Australia producing a new breed of refugees as people flee from us because of the evil and gross indecency of many employment practices in this country?

As you can see below, Networkers, I have included a reading list.  It's a bit of a mixed bag - but it will give you an idea of some of the stuff that is around and a lot of this stuff will have been inserted in the minds of politicians by professional lobbyists.  The last on the list is from one of my favourite economic commentators, Ross Gittins. I conclude this article with A Taste of Gittins from his article which I have included below:

To me the main drawback is not so much that employers may not try hard enough to find local workers to fill jobs, or that the availability of this external supply may limit to some extent the rise in skilled wages, but that it reduces employers' incentive go to the bother of training young workers. 

Still, we mustn't forget that, these days, 

the economy is run for the benefit of business, not the rest of us.

Further reading

Visa holders and migrant workers - workplace rights and entitlements

Compete to prosper

The evidence is tacking up that Australians will earn lower wages in the years ahead

Australian oil and gas workers earning less which may give industry competitive edge

Minimum Wage Review 2014 - Australian Retailers Assocation submission

Immigration to Australia

How Australia's supply of labour is changing

More exploitation: Employment and Work practices in the mining industry

Picture at right from here

Once upon a long ago, mining companies were major contributors to the working and social life of remote and regional Australia.  Not any more.  Mining companies are major destroyers of working conditions and social fabric in remote and regional Australia.  

Miss Eagle is now living in her third mining town and her second gold town.  First was the company town of Mount Isa - 1997-86.  A great place to be when it was owned by Mount Isa Mines.  True, there was a colourful past involving the eight month long strike in 1964 and the consequent declaration of a State of Emergency.

Then there was Tennant Creek from 1993 to 1997.  TC likes to bill itself as the site of the last gold rush in Australia.   Miss Eagle was there when the last of the major mining corporates closed down.  But there is always hope in the heart of a mining and there are always prospectors and geologists and there are smaller 'shows' around the Tennant these days.  And now Ballarat since 2012 - home to the beginnings of Australian democracy with the events surrounding Eureka and the ensuing lives of its proponents - and now finding itself, through a freeway and a good rail service, almost a western suburb of Melbourne with mining still going on below the cities streets. 

Mining has been a major component in the history of Australia: enriching the nation's economy; building strong social cultures; contributing to a strong union movement - particular through two major unions: the Australian Workers Union, and the CFMEU.

All this rich history has now been superceded by what is, arguably, a sterile social and working culture imported from that place of many poor working conditions, the USA.  It is called, FIFO.  There is no building of community and social fabric. Such tolerance of unions that may have existed and which was embedded in the community life of mining towns as dissipated.  Mining companies return more to their international shareholders than they do to the communities or states surrounding the mine sites from which they are extracting riches and leaving behind dubious environmental legacies. 

In some cases, such as Moura and Moranbah in Queensland there has a risen a sharp contrast between the old mining culture and the new - and, as it works itself out, never the twain shall meet.  This has a huge impact on the commercial hearts of the old mining towns.  The new mining ventures are full of single people, not families. The employees of the new mining ventures shop elsewhere - except perhaps for those who go to local pubs, clubs and bars.  And now the question is - how long will the old mining towns last.

There is nothing new about mining towns being swallowed up by the dust of history as the riches have been exhausted.  An example of this is Mary Kathleen in north-west Queensland which had a life of approximately thirty years.  But running out of resource is one thing. Chewing up, swallowing, and then spitting out human labour, creativity and capital is another - and that is what FIFO is doing.

That is one story.  Now there is another.  Huge environmental destruction - of the Galilee Basin and the Great Barrier Reef and its environs.  It seems that where once a community might have become united as it strove for better wages and safer working conditions, now the community becomes united against the environmental mess and destruction which is being thrust upon them. 

The recently elected Queensland Labor Government is fulfilling its election promise of a FIFO inquiry.  The Inquiry is being led by Jim Pearce a former miner.  The terms of reference for the Inquiry are here.   As well, they are published below.  Submissions MUST be in by 25 May.

As if this is not sufficiently controversial, Pearce spoke in the Queensland Parliament this week of the exploitative work practices of the mining companies - causing even more furore.  

To read what Pearce said in Parliament, please go here. 

A big thanks to the Galilee Basin Alliance 

who emailed the Pearce speech and set off this post.

~~~~

Fly in, fly out and other long distance commuting work practices in regional Queensland

• Inquiry Overview 
• Related Publications 
• View Submissions

Terms of Reference

The inquiry was referred to the committee by the Legislative Assembly on 27 March 2015. 

The Legislative Assembly has requested the committee:

1.  Inquire into and report on fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) and other long distance commuting work practices in regional Queensland.

2.  That, in undertaking this inquiry, the committee should consider the following issues:

• The health impacts on workers and their families from long-distance commuting, particularly mental health impacts, and the provision of health services in mining communities;
• The effects on families of rostering practices in mines using FIFO workforces;
• The extent and projected growth in FIFO work practices by region and industry;
• The costs and/or benefits and structural incentives and disincentives, including tax settings, for  companies choosing a FIFO workforce;
• The effect of a 100% non-resident FIFO workforce on established communities; including community wellbeing, the price of housing and availability, and access to services and infrastructure;
• The quality of housing provided in accommodation villages for FIFO workforces;
• Strategies to optimise the FIFO experience for employees and their families, communities and industry;
• The commuting practices for FIFO workforces, including the amount of time spent travelling, the methods of transportation, and adequacy of compensation paid for commuting travel times;
• The effectiveness of current responses to impacts of FIFO workforces of the Commonwealth, State and Local Governments; and
• Any other related matter.

3.   Further, that the committee seek public submissions and consult with key stakeholders including local communities, resource companies, unions and local government.

4.   Further, that the committee report to the Legislative Assembly by 30 September 2015.

Submissions

The Committee invites submissions addressing the terms of reference, from all interested parties.  Guidelines for making a submission to a parliamentary committee are available here: Guide to making a submission.

Closing date for written submissions is Monday 25 May 2015 by 4.00pm.  Submissions should be sent to:

Email:  ipnrc@parliament.qld.gov.au

Post:     Research Director
             Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee
             Parliament House
             George Street            
             Brisbane Qld 4000  

Inquiry timeline

Submissions close:	Monday 25 May 2015
Public departmental briefing:	Wednesday 20 May 2015
Public hearing in Brisbane:	Wednesday 3 June 2015 (tbc)
Regional public hearings	June 2015 (tbc)
Reporting due:	Wednesday 30 September 2015

What are you buying? How did it get to you? Whose hands has it passed through?

Australian Unions The temporary visa program is broken and facilitates the gross exploitation of migrant workers, a view confirmed by the Four Corners program that aired last night. Urgent action must be taken by the Federal Government to clamp down and regulate the entire temporary visa and labour hire system and remove rogue operators. There should be an immediate halt to any expansion of the temporary work visa program until the full outcome of the Senate Inquiry is known. National Union of Workers http://www.actu.org.au/actu-media/media-releases/2015/temporary-visa-program-front-for-slave-labour

Green Left Weekly Activist Calendar - 2015-02-11

Green Left Weekly Activist Calendar February 11, 2015 Public meeting: The Greek elections, Syriza and the fight against austerity in Europe Thursday, February 19, 6:30pm (meal from 6pm). Speakers: Dick Nichols (Green Left Weekly European correspondent, covered Greek elections); Afrodity Giannakis (resident in Greece, active in social movements and Syriza until mid-2014).  Multicultural Hub (Old Drill Hall), 506 Elizabeth St (opposite Victoria Markets). $10/$5. Presented by Socialist Alliance & Green Left Weekly. For more info ph 9639 8622. Facebook event ACTU day of action: Fight for our rights Wednesday, March 4, 10am. Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton South. This is the regular Melbourne activist calendar compiled by Green Left Weekly. Emailed to subscribers each Wednesday fortnight, it is a one-stop listing of the main left and progressive events in Melbourne and Geelong. Since it began in early 1991, Green Left Weekly has offered an indispensable alternative to the lies of the big-business media and has helped build the various movements for social change. To subscribe toGreen Left Weekly, visit our secure online website for rates and payment or call our national hotline on 1800 634 206. You can also contact us at the Resistance Centre, 5th floor, 407 Swanston St, City; ph 9639 8622. In Geelong we are at the Activist Centre, Trades Hall, 127 Myers St (opening hours: Mon 2-4:30pm, Fri 10am-4:30pm); ph 5222 6900. New email address? Not already receiving this calendar regularly? Want to subscribe someone else? Let us know at Greenleft Melbourne. Until Sunday, March 1 Sustainable Living Festival. Raises awareness and provides tools for change by showcasing leading solutions to the ecological and social challenges we face. It will again present a rich program of home and lifestyle solutions including talks, workshops, art, film, performance and markets to educate and inform the audience about their state of sustainability. For agenda visit SLF. Thursday, February 12 Forum: Preventing crimes against nature? How can the legal system be changed to better protect nature and sustain life? Speakers: Nicola Rivers (Environmental Justice Australia); Alessandro Pelizzon (Southern Cross University); Kate Auty (former Victorian Government Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability); Ellen Sandell (State Greens MP). 6pm. Entry Free. The Deakin Edge, Federation Square, City. Public meeting: A report-back on the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons. Speakers: Robert Tickner(CEO, Red Cross), Phoebe Wynn-Pope (Red Cross), Tilman Ruff, Vanessa Macedo and  Michael Hamel-Green (Victoria University). 6pm. Australian Red Cross, 155 Pelham St, Carlton. Friday, February 13 - Friday, March 6 Transitions Film Festival. Australia’s largest sustainability film festival is dedicated to showcasing inspirational documentaries about the social and technological innovations, revolutionary ideas and trailblazing change-makers that are leading the way to a better world. For more info visit Transitions Film Festival. Friday, February 13  Sustainable Living Festival Great Debate: To collapse or not to collapse? Pushing for economic ruin or building a 'great transition'. As the climate crisis continues to unfold so too does the polarisation of core strategy within the environment movement. At one end of the spectrum, there are those who remain firmly dedicated to building a mass global movement to achieve a full-scale emergency, wartime -like transition of our economy. Counter to this position, some environmentalists are fueled by a strong belief that speeding up an implosion of the global financial system is the only thing that can prevent catastrophic climate change. Speakers: George Monbiot (video link); George Marshall; Jess Moore; David Holmgren & Nicole Foss. 6.30pm. $25. The Deakin Edge, Federation Square, City. Concert: Apology day celebration. In celebration of the anniversary of the apology to Australia's Stolen Generations. Featuring: Christine Anu, Archie Roach, Frank Yamma, Jimblah, Thelma Plum, Kurcha Edwards, Tim Rogers, Clare Bowditch, Horror Show and Blue King Brown. Singer/songwriter Eddie Perfect and actress Miranda Tapsell will take on hosting duties. Entry free. Sidney Myer Music Bowl. More information is available from Healing Foundation. Saturday, February 14 Global Divestment Day rally: Break up with fossil fuels. 11am. Star Lawns, Alexandra Gardens, behind the boat-sheds. Facebook event Forum: UK climate change communications specialist, George Marshall. Given everything we know about climate change why do many still ignore it? Climate communications specialist George Marshall helps us understand the psychological and social mechanisms behind our failure to engage with the urgency and seriousness of the issue. 2pm. RMIT, Building 80, Lecture theatre 80.02.007.445, Swanston St, City. Entry free but register here. Presented by Psychologists for a Safe Climate & Sustainable Living Festival. Sunday, February 15 Anatolian Peace & Friendship Festival. Special guest performer: Ilkay Akkaya. Live bands; dances, food, art & craft stalls. 11am-7pm. Coburg Lake Reserve. Tuesday, February 17 Rally: Commemorate one year since Reza Berati was murdered in Australian detention on Manus Island. One year ago, PNG mobile squad, detention staff and locals launched an attack on the refugees held in the Manus Island detention centre, and killed Reza Barati. The attack left others with slit throats, lost eyes, and countless injuries and trauma. To date, no one has yet been convicted for his murder. Reza Barati was the first victim of Australia's offshore detention hell. Speakers: Reza Yarahmadi (Iranian refugee); Arnold Zable (writer and human rights activist). 5:30pm. State Library, cnr Swanston & La Trobe Sts, City. Organised by Refugee Action Collective. Thursday, February 19 Public meeting: The Greek elections, Syriza and the fight against austerity in Europe. Speakers: Dick Nichols (Green Left Weekly European correspondent, covered Greek elections); Afrodity Giannakis (resident in Greece, active in social movements and Syriza until mid-2014). 6:30pm (meal from 6pm).Multicultural Hub (Old Drill Hall), 506 Elizabeth St (opposite Victoria Markets). $10/$5. Presented by Socialist Alliance & Green Left Weekly. For more info ph 9639 8622. Facebook event Monday, February 23 Public meeting: The plight of Tamil refugees. Come find out more about the plight of Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka, at a special Refugee Action Collective forum. 6:30pm. Australian Nurses Federation, 540 Elizabeth St, City (just north of Victoria St). Tuesday, February 24 Public meeting: Just transitions: Moving Australia beyond fossil fuels. Keynote speaker: Bob Massie (US economist). Entry free; register here. New Council Chambers, Trades Hall, cnr Victoria & Lygon Sts, Carlton South. 6pm. Presented by 350.org. Facebook event Wednesday, February 25 Public meeting: Roundup: miracle weedkiller or cause of disease? Guest speaker: Don Huber (Professor Emeritus in Plant Pathology at Purdue University, Indiana, USA). He is an award-winning, world-renowned scientist. He opposes the use of Roundup weedkiller and genetically manipulated (GM) crops and foods, after seeing the negative impacts of farm chemicals on the control of soil plant pathogens. 7pm. Fitzroy Town Hall, 201 Napier St, Fitzroy. Tickets: book your seat online Roundup or $10 at the door. Presented by MADGE, GM-Free Australia Alliance & Friends of the Earth.  Saturday, February 28 Film premiere: Chile's Student Uprising. Director Pablo Navarrete will talk after the screening. 6:30pm. $8/$5. RMIT, Building 80, Level 9, Room 12, 445 Swanston St, City. Presented by LASNET. Facebook event Wednesday, March 4 ACTU day of action: Fight for our rights. 10am, Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton South. Sunday, March 8 Rally & march: International Women's Day. 1pm. State Library, Swanston St, City. Saturday, March 14 Feminism & socialism discussion afternoon. 1:30pm (lunch from 1pm). Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, City (opposite RMIT). Presented by Socialist Alliance. For more info ph 9639 8622. Wednesday, March 25 Protest: Student national day of action. We proved last year that protesting works when the Senate rejected Pyne's 'reforms'. But Pyne hasn't gotten the message yet. Let's redeliver it on March 25. 2pm.State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston St, City. Saturday, March 28 Rally: Stop terrorism in Australia by bringing Aussie troops home from Syria, Iraq & Afghanistan. 1pm. Federation Square. City. Facebook event  Sunday, March 29 Palm Sunday rally: Walk for justice for refugees. 1:30pm (speeches start 2pm). State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston St, City. We will then proceed down to Queen Victoria Gardens (opposite the NGV on St Kilda Road). Thursday, February 19 Love makes a way Bendigo court case.   On October 21 nine Christian leaders were arrested at the Bendigo office of Senator Bridget McKenzie after a peaceful prayer vigil. They were speaking out against the detention of refugee children. They will be facing court on February 19. If you would like to stand in solidarity with the group, please join us for prayer at 8:30am on the lawn of the Military Museum. From there we will head to Bendigo Magistrates Court at 9:30am. You are also welcome to join us in court to witness the hearing. After the group's case is heard we'll head back to the Military Museum for speeches. 8:30am. Bendigo Military Museum, 37–39 Pall Mall, Bendigo. Friday, February 20 Red Cinema: Ningla A-Na (Hungry for Our Land). The establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. Proudly screening on Wathaurong country. 7pm (meal 6:30pm). Entry by donation. Downstairs, Trades Hall, 127 Myers St, Geelong. For more info ph 5222 6900. Presented by Socialist Alliance. Australia Kurdistan Solidarity. Meets regularly to build solidarity with the Kurdish freedom struggle in Rojava (liberated zone in northern Syria), Turkey and elsewhere. For information ph Gulay 0412 926 706 or Aran 0410 197 814. Australian West Papua Association (AWPA). Struggles against the Indonesian occupation of West Papua and against environmental destruction and resource theft. For info 9510 2193 or email AWPA. Climate Action Moreland. Meets regularly to develop action on climate change in the Moreland area. For information ph Andrea on 0424 508 535 or email CAM. Friends of the Earth's Anti-Nuclear & Clean Energy (ACE) collective. Meets every second Tuesday. FoE office, 312 Smith St, Collingwood. For meeting times & more info email Zin. Indigenous Social Justice Association. The Indigenous Social Justice Association was established in January 2005 campaigns to permanently stop Aboriginal deaths in custody. During 2013, ISJA will meet the first Thursday of every month. For more info visit ISJA. Quit Coal: No New Coal Power for Victoria. A Melbourne-based collective which campaigns against expansion of the coal industry in Victoria. We believe this is important because building new coal infrastructure locks in decades of dirty, old technology, when we should be moving towards clean, renewable energy. Quit Coal meets each Wednesday at 6pm, at FOE, 312 Smith St, Collingwood. For more info visit Quit Coal or email us. Refugee Action Collective. Established in 2000, RAC is a democratic, grassroots activist collective, representing a broad cross section of the community. It aims to mobilise opposition to Australia's inhuman refugee policies. For more info ph 0413 377 978 or visit RAC. Timor Sea Justice Campaign. For info visit TSJC, email Tom Clarke or ph 0422 545 763. Recent articles from Green Left Weekly New boost for people's struggles as Liberals feel the pressure Tony Abbott’s boat claim stopped by facts ACTU calls rally against Coalition government Syria: Why Rojava is different Check out Green Left TV: See Beyond Kobani: War, terrorism & revolution in the middle east To subscribe to Green Left Weekly visit our secure online website for rates and payment or call our national hotline on 1800 634 206. Join us on Facebook. You can also contact us at the Resistance Centre, 5th floor, 407 Swanston St, City; ph 9639 8622. In Geelong: Activist Centre, Trades Hall, 127 Myers St (opening hours: Mon 2-4.30pm, Fri 10am-4.30pm); ph 5222 6900. Links: 'Socialism for the 21st century' Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal is a journal for the post-Cold War left; a journal that rejects the Stalinist distortion of the socialist project; a journal that takes into account ecological questions; a journal that is taking steps to bring together the forces for socialism in the world today; a journal that aspires to unite Marxists from different political traditions because it discusses openly and constructively. Links seeks to promote the international exchange of information, experiences of struggle, theoretical analysis and views on strategies and tactics within the international left. Greece: European elites declare war on SYRIZA government Greece: Why SYRIZA made the deal with the Independent Greeks (ANEL) Kurdistan: Why Kobanî did not fall Eleanor Marx and the dawn of socialist feminism Socialist Alliance: Broad, non-sectarian, activist Socialist Alliance is a proud supporter of the Green Left Weekly project and contributes a regular column. Socialist Alliance is a broad, non-sectarian socialist party, dedicated to bringing together all those who want to resist the capitalist assault on our planet and its people and fight for a socialist society that puts people's needs before business profits. Anyone who agrees with the general approach of our policies is welcome to join and organisations are invited to affiliate. For more information visit Socialist Alliance or join us on Facebook. See our recent statements: Paris massacre: Abbott's response 'no solution to cycle of violence Socialist Alliance warns against racial incitement in wake of Sydney hostage incident No to Abbott's back-door GP tax scam: Socialist candidate Contact Socialist Alliance. Join with other socialists in the struggle. Melbourne: Visit us at the Resistance Centre, 5th floor, 407 Swanston St, City; ph 9639 8622. In Melbourne, Socialist Alliance meets on the first Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm, at the Resistance Centre. Geelong: Activist Centre, Trades Hall, 127 Myers St (opening hours: Mon 2-4:30pm, Fri 10am-4:30pm); ph 5222 6900. Moreland Socialists Moreland Socialists is open to anyone (even if you live outside the area) who wants to work constructively to support Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton and use her position to build up a stronger activist left presence in Moreland. In general, we meet monthly and alternate between Coburg and Fawkner. If you want to get involved in the group, email us at Socialist Alliance or phone Sue on 9639 8622 or 0413 377 978. For news and opinion visit Sue's Moreland Report or Facebook. Resistance Bookshop Just out! 184 pp, $20. Available from Resistance Bookshop, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, City & New International Bookshop, Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton South.

Green Left Weekly Activist Calendar 2013-10-23

	Green Left Weekly Activist Calendar
	October 23, 2013

Conference: Stand up! Fight back! Ideas to challenge Abbott's agenda

Saturday, November 2. Plenary & workshop topics: Workers, refugees, the environment: In the firing line but fighting back * What kind of feminism are we fighting for? * Beyond market solutions: Fighting for environmental justice * Towards a socialist Australia * No justice, No peace: Uniting to fight racism.Click for detailed agenda.  10am-5pm. Maritime Union of Australia Hall, 46-54 Ireland Street, North Melbourne (5 minute walk from North Melbourne Station). Full day: $15/$8 (Includes morning & afternoon tea); half day: $7/$4 (includes morning or afternoon tea) . Lunch available. Organised by Socialist Alliance. For more info ph 9639 8622.

This is the regular Melbourne activist calendar compiled by Green Left Weekly. Emailed to subscribers each Wednesday fortnight, it is a one-stop listing of the main left and progressive events in Melbourne and Geelong. Since it began in early 1991, Green Left Weekly has offered an indispensable alternative to the lies of the big-business media and has helped build the various movements for social change. To subscribe toGreen Left Weekly, visit our secure online website for rates and payment or call our national hotline on 1800 634 206. You can also contact us at the Resistance Centre, 5th floor, 407 Swanston St, City; ph 9639 8622. In Geelong we are at the Activist Centre, Trades Hall, 127 Myers St (opening hours: Mon 2-4:30pm, Fri 10am-4:30pm); ph 5222 6900. New email address? Not already receiving this calendar regularly? Want to subscribe someone else? Let us know at Greenleft Melbourne.

Wednesday, October 23 Public meeting: Action on air pollution in the Inner West. 21,000 trucks travel inner West streets every day, through Yarraville, Seddon, Footscray, and Kingsville. Diesel trains are also prevalent & set to increase. Find out what diesel pollution means for your health and what we can do to clean up our air. Speakers: 1. Merryn Redenbach (Doctors for the Environment); Richard Di Natale (Greens senator & public health specialist); Samantha McArthur (Maribyrnong Truck Action Group); Colleen Hartland (Greens MP). 6:30pm. Acqua E Vino bar-restaurant, upstairs, 18a Ballarat St, Yarraville. Friday, October 25 Memorial meeting for Doug Lorimer. Commemorating the life of a longtime socialist who died earlier this year. 6:30pm (for 7pm start). Upstairs, Bar Centrale, 162 Lygon St, Carlton. Fundraiser: Rock for Refugees. This will be a very special night of music, dancing, sharing stories and most of all information about how you can get involved with grassroots refugee struggles. Featuring: New dub city; Flybz; Birdz. 7:30pm. Bar 303, 303 High St, Northcote. $8/$10 (solidarity). This is a fundraiser for RISE (Refugees, Survivors and Ex-Detainees). Saturday, October 26 Rally: Defend the Fertility Control Clinic. The anti-abortionists '40 Days for Life' continues until November 3, and the Fertility Control Clinic is its chief Melbourne target. October 26 is also the anti-abortion zealots' monthly 'Rosary Parade'. In September, the prospect of a large defence scared them away. 9:30 am. 118 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne. Sunday, October 27 Planning meeting: Stop the theft of public housing. Planning meeting and workshop for the November 9 'Stop the theft of public housing' street meeting at the State Library.1-4pm. Jika Jika Community Centre, cnr Plant & Union Sts, Northcote. Monday, October 28 Planning meeting: Stop the East-West Tunnel: Recruiting other groups to the campaign.6pm. Elderly Citizenship Centre, Eddy Court, Collingwood. (Melway ref: 2C, 10H) Adjacent to Collingwood Station. Sponsored by VITAL (Victorian Integrated Transport Alliance). Please RSVP to Freda Watkin, Secretary, Yarra Campaign for Action on Transport (YCAT) on 0422 650 936 or emailFreda. Tuesday, October 29 Conscience on Collins:  'I have a dream . . .' In honour of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous speech, Collins Street Baptist Church and Urban Seed have invited the speakers to share their dream for this city and society: Adam Bandt (Greens federal MP); Jessie Taylor (barrister & refugee advocate); Bob Maguire (‘Larrikin priest’ & social activist).  $5/$10 (in support of Urban Seed).6pm. Baptist Church, 174 Collins St , City. Public meeting: Australia & the nuclear umbrella: absurd, immoral & reckless. Speaker: Richard Tanter (Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability). Dyason House, 124 Jolimont Rd, East Melbourne. 6pm. For more information visit AIIN. Wednesday, October 30 Rally: Abbott get your hands off our education and student unions. Student action against Abbott and Pyne’s ‘inquiry’ into higher education. We will assemble at Parliament House and then march to the Liberal Party HQ on Exhibition St. Stand up and fight back for your right to a fair and equal tertiary education. 12:30pm. Parliament, Spring St, City. Friday, November 1 Film screening: Fallout. Documentary that explores the iconic filming of Nevil Shute's novel On The Beach in Melbourne in the late 1950s. Shute’s novel depicts the last huddle of humanity preparing to die as a cloud of nuclear fallout drifts towards Australia. 6:30pm. Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton. Presented by ICAN (International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons). For more info visit ICAN. Saturday, November 2 Conference: Stand up! Fight back! Ideas to challenge Abbott's agenda. Plenary & workshop topics on: Workers, refugees, the environment: In the firing line but fighting back * What kind of feminism are we fighting for? * Beyond market solutions: Fighting for environmental justice * Towards a socialist Australia * No justice, No peace: Uniting to fight racism. Click for detailed agenda. 10am-5pm. Maritime Union of Australia Hall, 46-54 Ireland St, North Melbourne (5-minute walk from North Melbourne Station). Full day: $15/$8 (includes morning & afternoon tea); half day: $7/$4 (includes morning or afternoon tea) . Lunch available. Organised by Socialist Alliance. For more info ph 9639 8622. Sunday, November 3 Film screening: Mary Meets Mohammad. Tasmania’s first detention centre opens and local knitting club member Mary, a staunchly Christian pensioner, is not welcoming of the 400 male asylum seekers mostly from Afghanistan. Mohammad is a 26 year old Muslim asylum seeker detained inside the centre and an unlikely friendship develops between Mary and Mohammad after her knitting club donates woollen beanies to the asylum seekers. Mary finds many of her prior beliefs are challenged as her relationship with Mohammad deepens. 6:30pm. Premiere + filmmaker Q & A. (Then sessions twice day from November 7-13.) Kino Cinema, 45 Collins St, City. To book ph 9650 2100 or visit Mary meets Mohammad. Wednesday, November 6 Public meeting: Workers power and international action. AAWL co-ordinator Pier Moro reports on his recent visit to India and the struggles of car workers at Maruti Suzuki. 6pm. Evatt Room, Trades Hall. Organised by Australia Asia Worker Links. Thursday, November 7 Rally: Defend women's birthing rights. In defence of  women's right to choose where and how to give birth — a core reproductive right. In Australia and around the world, women are denied this choice: women who assert this right and midwives who support them are threatened and punished with severe legal penalties.  10am. Women's Hospital, cnr Grattan St & Flemington Rd, Parkville. Organised by Campaign for Women's Reproductive Rights. Saturday, November 9 Street meeting: Stop the theft of public housing. Both major parties want to privatise public housing, that is part of the National Affordable Housing Agreement of 2009 to which all states have signed up. But Australia has a housing crisis and public housing is a large part of the solution to that. The privatisation madness must stop. 1pm. Gather underneath statue of St Joan in front of the State Library, Swanston St. Protest: No coal port for Victoria, no port expansion for Hastings. Brown coal export ports have been proposed for Hastings, the Ninety Mile Beach and Corner Inlet. Gippsland communities concerned with the same threat will attend this action.  It is supported by Quit Coal. 2pm. Fred Smith Reserve, Hastings foreshore. For more info visit WPPC Public meeting: Trade unionist refugee activist strategy meeting. The aim of this meeting is to discuss how to build more effective networks between unionists and refugee activists in order to build greater support for the refugee campaign. Speakers: Kevin Bracken (MUA Victorian branch secretary); Jeannie Rea (NTEU national president). 1pm. ANF house, 540 Elizabeth St, City. Organised by Refugee Action Collective. Tuesday, November 12 Public meeting: 17,300 nuclear weapons. Screening Maralinga Pieces, Genie in a bottle: Unleashedand The War Game. Speakers: Dimity Hawkins, Tim Wright (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) and Gisela Gardener. 7pm. Longplay Bar and Cinema, 318 St Georges Rd, North Fitzroy. Hosted by the ACE Collective. Sunday, November 17 Rally: National day of climate action. 11am. Treasury Place, City. Organised by GetUp. For more info visit GetUp. Monday, November 18 Rally: Canberra convergence to demand a fair go for refugees & asylum seekers. It's time to tell our parliamentarians to stop violating human rights and adopt compassionate policies that protect asylum seekers. Parliament House, Canberra. To join the bus from Melbourne, emailtrconcepts@netspace.net.au or ph 0409 252 673. Organised by Refugee Action Network. Friday, November 22 Rod Quantock: Forty-five and counting. A walk down Memory Tollway (Rod remembers when it was a Lane) as Australia’s most seriously funny comedian reveals the things that have made him laugh for the last 45 years and sets a course for the next 45. Doors open 7pm (for 7:30pm start). To book visitTicketek. Saturday, November 23 Rally: Equal marriage rights now. 1pm. State Library, 328 Swanston St, City. Tuesday, November 26 Public meeting: Muckaty & radioactive waste. Screening Muckaty Voices and Into Eternity.Speaker: Dave Sweeney (Australian Conservation Foundation). 7pm. Longplay Bar and Cinema, 318 St Georges Rd, North Fitzroy. Hosted by the ACE Collective. Friday, December 13-Sunday, December 15 Conference: How to make a revolution. Ideas for socialist youth. For young people across Australia and the world, these are difficult times. The newly elected Coalition led by the bigot Tony Abbott is rolling out a wave of cuts and attacks against young people, students, the LGBTIQ community, women, indigenous people, workers and refugees, while around the world governments and the ruling elite attempt to hold onto power against a rising tide of furious and marginalised young people.This is a conference to help young people who are ready and willing to challenge the system to develop a political understanding of the oppressive system we live under and a clear analysis of how to change it. Brisbane Activist Centre, 74b Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley. Organ ised by Resistance & Socialist Alliance. For more info ph 9639 8622.

Thursday, October 31 Warragul Public meeting: CSG information night. Speakers include: Mark Ogge (Australia Institute). 7pm. Warragul Community House, 138 Normanby St, Warragul. For more info ph Cathy or Judy on 5623 6032. Saturday, November 9 Benalla Public meeting: Stop the boats, burn the boats or welcome the boats? Speakers: Julian Burnside & Pamela Curr (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre). This public forum will discuss the current political and social implications of seeking asylum in Australia and ways in which we might respond to the need for safe refuge in Australia. 6pm. FCJ College, Wedge St, Benalla.

Beyond Zero Emissions Melbourne branch. We meet on the third Monday of every month at Level 2, Kindness House, 288 Brunswick St, Fitzroy. For more info email Chitra Perez or ph 0401 087 085. Friends of the Earth's Anti-Nuclear & Clean Energy (ACE) collective. Meets every second Tuesday. FoE office, 312 Smith St, Collingwood. For meeting times & more info email Zin. Indigenous Social Justice Association. The Indigenous Social Justice Association was established in January 2005 campaigns to permanently stop Aboriginal deaths in custody. During 2013, ISJA will meet the first Thursday of every month. For more info visit ISJA. Melbourne Feminist Action Group. It's time to put women's rights back on the public agenda. We've started an open organising group and everyone's invited, from already existing women's rights groups and activist organisations, to women and men who may never have been involved in feminist action in their lives but just want to do something. For more info ph 0438 869 790 or email us. Quit Coal: No New Coal Power for Victoria. A Melbourne-based collective which campaigns against expansion of the coal industry in Victoria. We believe this is important because building new coal infrastructure locks in decades of dirty, old technology, when we should be moving towards clean, renewable energy. Quit Coal meets each Wednesday at 6pm, at FOE, 312 Smith St, Collingwood. For more info visit Quit Coal or email us. Refugee Action Collective. Established in 2000, RAC is a democratic, grassroots activist collective, representing a broad cross section of the community. It aims to mobilise opposition to Australia's inhuman refugee policies. For more info ph 0413 377 978 or visit RAC. Victorian Climate Action Calendar. For a comprehensive list of climate action events in our state. To subscribe to the calendar email Monique Decortis. Weekly updates are e-mailed out and online updates are available at VCAC. To add an event to the calendar, please download the Event Template from the website. Feel free to forward the VCAC to other interested people. Workers Solidarity Network. WSN believes that we, as workers, have the power to improve our working conditions and bring about positive social change. WSN believes that the only way to bring about a fairer share of resources in our society in by forming active unions and community organisations to fight for it. For more info visit WSN. Yarra Campaign for Action on Transport: Stop the East-West Link – Support Doncaster Rail. For all information on the campaign against the East-West Tunnel (pickets, meetings, info) visit YCAT.

Recent articles from Green Left Weekly

Climate change is a political problem Socialist councillor re-elected in Fremantle No winners in Labor leadership poll Government refugee secrecy fails Check out Green Left TV: See Rape Culture, Misogyny and the Fight Against Women's Oppression To subscribe to Green Left Weekly visit our secure online website for rates and payment or call our national hotline on 1800 634 206. Join us on Facebook. You can also contact us at the Resistance Centre, 5th floor, 407 Swanston St, City; ph 9639 8622. In Geelong: Activist Centre, Trades Hall, 127 Myers St (opening hours: Mon 2-4.30pm, Fri 10am-4.30pm); ph 5222 6900.

Links: 'Socialism for the 21st century'

Links is an online journal which seeks to provide a forum for open and constructive dialogue between active socialists from different political traditions. It seeks to bring together those in the international left who are opposed to neoliberal economic and social policies, and reject the bureaucratic model of 'socialism' that arose in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Inspired by the unfolding socialist revolution in Venezuela, Links is a journal for 'Socialism of the 21st Century' and the discussions and debates flowing from that powerful example of socialist renewal. John Bellamy Foster: The epochal crisis -- the combined capitalist economic and planetary ecological crises Malaysia: Kampong Hakka -– when 100 years of community residence does not matter Thailand: The bloody civil war in Patani and the way to achieve peace Bolivia: Workers to take over closed or abandoned firms; The working class and the political process

Socialist Alliance: Broad, non-sectarian, activist

Socialist Alliance is a proud supporter of the Green Left Weekly project and contributes a regular column. Socialist Alliance is a broad, non-sectarian socialist party, dedicated to bringing together all those who want to resist the capitalist assault on our planet and its people and fight for a socialist society that puts people's needs before business profits. Anyone who agrees with the general approach of our policies is welcome to join and organisations are invited to affiliate. For more information visit Socialist Alliance or join us on Facebook. See our recent statements: Women’s rights, not prisons and police Reject government secrecy on refugee arrivals Four reasons to stop the East-West Tunnel Contact Socialist Alliance. Join with other socialists in the struggle. Melbourne: Visit us at the Resistance Centre, 5th floor, 407 Swanston St, City; ph 9639 8622. In Melbourne, Socialist Alliance meets on the first Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm, at the Resistance Centre. Geelong: Activist Centre, Trades Hall, 127 Myers St (opening hours: Mon 2-4:30pm, Fri 10am-4:30pm); ph 5222 6900.

Moreland Socialists

Moreland Socialists is open to anyone (even if you live outside the area) who wants to work constructively to support Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton and use her position to build up a stronger activist left presence in Moreland. In general, we meet monthly and alternate between Coburg and Fawkner. If you want to get involved in the group, email us at Socialist Alliance or phone Sue on 9639 8622 or 0413 377 978. For news and opinion visit Sue's Moreland Report or Facebook.