Dale Hess's Calendar - 2013-02-04

Friday 8 February, 7.30 pm: Kanyini Film Night & Information Session. This will include film, dinner and a discussion.  Please emailinfo@oases.edu.au to register your interest or call Lisa Moore on 03-9819-3502. Venue: Oases Graduate School, Community Learning and Research Centre, 2 Minona Street, Hawthorn.

Saturday 9 February – Sunday 24 February: Sustainable Living Festival. For details see: http://festival.slf.org.au/

Wednesday 13 February, 8 am – 10 am: Commemorating the 5^th Anniversary of the National Apology. Join members of Aboriginal communities, school students and reconciliation supporters to commemorate the 5th anniversary of this sacred moment in our nation’s history….a moment we must never forget! Free coffee and breakfast! Live music from the Kutcha Edwards Trio. Students displaying Proud Race bollards of inspiring Aboriginal people. Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy. Link-Up Victoria book launch ‘Where were you?’ with guest speakers. Screening of the Apology Speech. Federation Square Main Stage.

"Morning Glory" in the Gulf of Carpentaria

Picture from here

Thursday 14 February, 6 pm – 8 pm: Opening of Flow of Voices: Paintings from the Gulf of Carpentaria by Jackie Green. At the Arena Project Space, 2 Kerr Street Fitzroy. Opened by Jacky Green, Prof. Jon Altman & Dr. Seán Kerins, Centre For Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University. ‘I want the government and mining companies to know that we are still here. We aren’t going anywhere. We aren’t dead yet. We are still here, feeling the country.’  Exhibition runs 14 - 24 February. Wednesday to Sunday – 11 am – 6 pm. Contact APS, projectspace@arena.org.au, Tel: (03) 9416 0232; website: www.arena.org.au.

Wednesday 13 February, 6 pm – 7.15 pm: Public Lecture: Seeking security: Australia's refugee policy in a time of complexity and change. Speakers: Ass Prof Harry Minas, the Director for the Centre for International Mental Health of the Melbourne School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne and Alex Pagliaro, the refugee campaigner for Amnesty International Australia, helping to ensure the rights of refugees and asylum seekers are protected in Australia. Venue: Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. RSVP: castan.centre@monash.edu or telephone 03 9905 3327. Details: http://www.law.monash.edu.au/castancentre/events/2013/refugeepolicy.html

Picture from here

Sunday 17 February, 3 pm: Religious and Legal Attitudes on Refugees. The Council of Christians and Jews (Victoria) presentsguest speakers Julian Burnside, Rabbi Kim Ettlinger, Sr Brigid Arthur and Sheik Abdinur Weli. Edmund Rice Education Australia,9 The Vaucluse, Richmond (off Church Street) ample parking (vehicle entry from St Kevin’s Waterford Campus on the Vaucluse opp. St Ignatius Church). You are cordially invited to attend by please advising the CCJ office. Tel 9817 3848 or email ccjvic@bigpond.net.au.

 Monday 4 March and Thursday 7 March: Community Development Course. Learn practical ways of empowering communities; Understand the basic concepts of Community Development; Examine power and change processes; Discuss community development practices; Hold conversations with experienced Community Development workers; Access to further learning resources; Come to understand the field; Use the modes of head (intellect), heart (feelings), hands (practical work with people) and feet (groundedness). Led by Jim Ife,Jacques Boulet and Rob Nabben. Contact: 9819 3239, 2 Minona St, Hawthorn, icd@borderlands.org.au. Cost: $300 full / $250 con. Bookings essential.

Friday 15 March, 6.15 pm for 6.30 pm – 9.15 pm: Film Screening:  Rachel.  It was 10 years ago that Rachel was killed by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to stop it crushing a Palestinian home. This is the story of her tragic death and the people she had come to love. State Library of Victoria, Conference Centre, Entry 2, La Trobe Street, Melbourne. Cost $15 plus booking fee $1.89. Book online: http://www.eventbrite.com.au/event/4361336876?ref=ebtnebtckt#

Saturday 16 March – Sunday 24 March: Cultural Diversity Week. For details, see: http://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au/projects-and-initiatives/cultural-diversity-week

Friday 5 April and Monday 8 April: Advanced Community Development Course. Feel more confident in practicing community development in your workplace; Examine the issues, challenges and dilemmas of Community Development; Connect theory with practice; Hold conversations with decision makers and other Community Development workers; Access to further learning resources; Use the modes of head (intellect), heart (feelings), hands (practical work with people) and feet (groundedness); Think creatively about your organisational context; Interfacing with the wider context. Led by Jim Ife, Jacques Boulet and Rob Nabben. Contact: 9819 3239, 2 Minona St, Hawthorn, icd@borderlands.org.au. Cost: $350 full / $300 con. Both courses: $600. Bookings essential. 

Sunday 12 May – Sunday 19 May: Kanyini Intensive (working with Uncle Bob Randall and his family). 7-day intensive (Sunday to Sunday, plus travel time) retreat located with in the Uluru National Park and surrounds in the Northern Territory. This is a unique opportunity to receive teachings from Bob Randall on the principles of Kanyini and Aboriginal culture. This will be a profound experience towards integrity in cultural counter-flows, a re-alignment of the importance of personal spirituality, and towards acknowledgment of 70,000 years of Aboriginal knowledge and traditions. Uncle Bob will share his wisdom and belief that spirituality is the ultimate answer to reconciliation in Australia. Uncle Bob will share his wisdom on aspects of Kanyini including, connections with the dreaming, place, family relationships and the spirit. Teaching Kanyini and sharing Aboriginal culture, knowledge and spirituality with all Australians and beyond, are an integral part of Bob's vision. Further information: email info@oases.edu.au or call 03 9819 3502.

Right me a river ... rivers as legal entities

Picture from here

My friend Denis over at The Nature of Robertson has just sent me the following.  I find it mind-boggling in the Australian context.  Would Australians ever let this happen here?  I certainly think it needs consideration.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Your Honour, I appear for the Whanganui River” A river gets legal standing …

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2012/09/13/your-honor-i-appear-for-the-whanganui-river-a-river-gets-legal-standing/

I am not a Lawyer - but this might be a ground-breaking precedent. 
Others can judge that, but it is worth considering.

Imagine the Murray Darling River taking Tony Burke to Court?

Denis Wilson

******************************

Bob Gosford | Sep 13, 2012 6:36AM | EMAIL | PRINT

A tribunal in New Zealand has recognised – perhaps for the first time in legal history – that a river has personality sufficient to allow it to be heard in a court of law.

As Kate Shuttleworth reported in the New Zealand Herald recently:

The Whanganui River will become an legal entity and have a legal voice under a preliminary agreement signed between Whanganui River iwi and the Crown tonight. This is the first time a river has been given a legal identity. A spokesman for the Minister of Treaty Negotiations said Whanganui River will be recognised as a person when it comes to the law – “in the same way a company is, which will give it rights and interests” … Under the agreement the river is given legal status under the name Te Awa Tupua – two guardians, one from the Crown and one from a Whanganui River iwi, will be given the role of protecting the river.

Read more on Bob Gosford's Blog

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2012/09/13/your-honor-i-appear-for-the-whanganui-river-a-river-gets-legal-standing/


Denis Wilson
If you're not pissed off with the World, you're just not paying attention.
(Kasey Chambers)

"The Nature of Robertson"
www.peonyden.blogspot.com.au

Coranderrk Mission Station - 150th Anniversary

Thanks to the indefatigible Georgina Gartland for providing this.

~~~~~~~~~

A concert to celebrate 

Indigenous Culture & History 

(26 January 2013)

The day will highlight the 150th anniversary of the Coranderrk Mission Station established in 1863. Information on the establishment of the Coranderrk Mission Healesville  will be presented & the story of how Wurundjeri leader William Barak and other elders fought to gain and farm the land only to have the enterprise destroyed by the Aboriginal Protection Board - a hugely significant but often not well known piece of local history. 

Uncle Bill Nicholson

Picture from here

Bill Nicholson (Wurundjeri elder) and Dot Peters whose grandmother was born on Coranderrk will  speak. 

Aunty Dot Peters

Picture from here

The sixth annual Belgrave Survival Day event will include adults , children & family activities such as storytelling and dancing, Indigenous music, talents & performances. There will be loads of other stalls, information and the Coranderrk plant/Christmas Bush (which the mission was named after) will be available.  

Coranderrk

Christmas Bush

Picture from here

Further information at http://belgravesurvivalday.org/ ph Davey Heller 0488 619 444 

WHEN: 26TH January 2013

TIME: 12 noon – 4.30 PM

WHERE: Borthwick Park (next to Belgrave Pool) Benson St

BELGRAVE Melway reference 75/F11

Coming events - Green Left Activist Calendar - 13-01-16

Thursday, January 17-Sunday, February 24

Exhibition: Blue & Pink Phenomenon. This exhibition examines the queer role played in a post-identity and also, increasingly, post-gender contemporary society. Drew Pettifer's photographic outdoor billboard installation, Still Revolting, examines the ongoing relevance of the queer protester as an agent of political and social change. Gallery opening hours: Thurs-Sun, 11am-5pm. The Substation, 1 Market St, Newport. For more info visit Midsumma.

Friday, January 18

Rally: Stop discrimination & violence against the homeless. Protect, respect, include. Join us and light 1000 candles to commemorate the lives of people who have died under the protection, care and treatment of the federal and Victorian governments, Victorian police and agents of the state (including church organizations and non-government community and the homelessness/housing industry. 7pm. Parliament steps, Spring Street, City.

Sunday, January 20

Rally: Commemorating the First Nations freedom fighters, Tunnerminnerwait & Maulboyheener.Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheener were the first two men executed in Melbourne on January 20, 1842. They were Indigenous freedom fighters who took up arms against the colonisers and paid the ultimate price for taking up arms to defend themselves against the invasion of their lands and the genocide of their people (more background at Treaty Republic). Please bring flowers. 12 noon (march at 1pm). Cnr Franklin & Bowen Sts, City.

Monday, January 21

Public meeting: Pakistan: Building a united left party in the face of war and crisis. Guest Speaker: Hashim bin Rashid, journalist and Lahore branch general secretary of Awami Workers Party. Rashid became a student activist after when former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in 2007. 'As a response, we set up a cross-campus Student Action Committee which organised on-campus and street protests against the dictator and joined the lawyers movement of 2007. Since then I have been part of the organising team of protests against the blasphemy law, calling for cuts in the army budget, calling for an end to the war in Khyber Pakthunkhwa in the name of the "war on terror" and the military operations against Baloch separatists in Balochistan since 2009. I was also part of the organising committee of the Faiz Ahmed Faiz Aman Mela 2012, the Occupy Lahore rally in January 2012 and a Mazdoor Kissan (Workers and Peasants) rally in March 2012.' 6:30pm. Resistance Centre, level 5, 407 Swanston St, City (opposite RMIT). Organised by Socialist Alliance & Green Left Weekly. For more info ph 0413 377 978.

Tuesday, January 22

Concert: Against Me! The group has supported a variety of progressive and radical causes over the years, including the rights of queer and trans people. (See Trans singer confronts bigotry). 8pm. Hi Fi Bar, 125 Swanston St, City.

Friday, January 25-Sunday, February 3

Exhibition: The Gay Agenda. Social and political conservatives are deliberately whipping up a frenzy of hatred toward our community, plotting to undermine our collective strength, unity and place in society and further brainwash their faithful into despising our existence with an invention they call The Gay Agenda. Photographer Kris Darmody and commenter Brenton Geyer interpret this absurd and fictitious notion through a series of photographs and words addressing what conservatives are telling you is The Gay Agenda. Mon-Tues by appointment, Wed-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 10am3pm. OnStone, 285/287 Coventry St, South Melbourne. For more info visit Midsumma.

Saturday, January 26

Rally: Invasion Day rally & march. See display listing above. 9am. 186 Gertrude St, Fitzroy.

Festival: Share the Spirit Indigenous music festival. Treasury Gardens. From 1pm.

Festival: Belgrave Survival Day. Celebrate the survival of the worlds oldest continuing culture at the 6th Belgrave Survival Day. Musical acts are: Benny Walker and band with a mix of soul, Blues and reggae; Deadly award nominee Miss Lady Lash with her mix of hip hop and urban blues. Other acts and speakers on the day will be the HICSA children's choir and hip hop, Gnarnayarrahe Waitairie with story telling and digeridoo meditation, traditional dance group Jindi Worobak, Uncle Bill Nicholson and Aunty Dot Peters. 12 noon-4:30pm. Borthwick Park, Benson St, Belgrave (next to the Belgrave Pool). We will also be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the opening of Corranderrk an Aboriginal mission in Healsville with an outdoor museum and speakers with knowledge of Corranderrk.

Sunday, February 3

Rally: Pride March 2013. Pride March recognises and celebrates the people and events that inspire the courage, solidarity, pride, diversity and strong sense of community of Victoria's gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersex and transgender people. We organise cultural activities that bring our community together in a safe and positive environment. The annual Pride March is our signature event and celebrates a bright future while preserving our history. Assemble from 12 noon. March 2pm sharp. Albert Park, cnr Lakeside Drive & Fitzroy St, St Kilda.

Wednesday, February 6

Rally: Forgotten Australians National Day of Action. We, The Forgotten Australians, survivors of institutional, foster care, and out of home care and all victims of abuse request your presence at our gathering of Forgotten Australians. This event will take place at Parliament House in each state. Our aim of this gathering is to peacefully yet firmly protest the lack of resources available to us, given the torture and abuse of many of us while in the care of the state governments across the nation during the 1950-80s that has permanently left the majority of us physically, mentally, emotionally and/or psychologically challenged on a day to day basis. 10:30am. Parliament House.

Saturday, February 9-Sunday, February 24

Festival: Sustainable Living Festival. The Sustainable Living Festival raises awareness and provides tools for change by showcasing leading solutions to the ecological and social challenges we face. The Sustainable Living Festival aims to inspire and empower everyday Australians to accelerate the uptake of sustainable living. The Festival attracts over 150,000 visits and engages with hundreds of organisations and individuals to stage Australia's largest and oldest sustainability festival. 9am-5pm. Federation Square. For more info visit SLF.

Sunday, February 10

Exhibition: Zine fair 2013. Sticky Institute presents their annual zine-based festival. 12–5pm. Melbourne Town Hall. For more info visit Sticky Institute.

Tuesday, February 12

Public meeting: The struggle for freedom in West Papua. For 40 years, Western countries such as Australia have been complicit in Indonesia’s brutal occupation of West Papua. The harsh regime has helped facilitate the exploitation of the area’s riches in natural resources by Western and Indonesian companies. Papuans see little benefit from the pillaging of their land and have the lowest standard of living in Indonesia. This forum will look at the struggle for self-determination and an end to Indonesian occupation of West Papua. 6:30pm (cheap meal from 6pm). Resistance Centre, level 5, 407 Swanston St, City. Organised by Socialist Alliance & Green Left Weekly. For more info ph 9639 8622.

Friday, March 29-Sunday, April 7

Friends of the Earth's Radioactive Exposure Tour to South Australian outback. From Melbourne via Adelaide. For more info ph Gem 0421 955 066, email Radioactive Exposure Tour or visit FoE.

Invasion Day, Melbourne - 26 January 2013

Picture from here

Invasion Day rally & march

Saturday, January 26, 9am. 

Assemble 186 Gertrude St, Fitzroy. 

'It's like expecting the Jewish people to celebrate and embrace what the Nazis did in Germany against the Jewish people.' Aunty Isabel Coe. 

January 26, commonly known as 'Australia day' is sold as a day to celebrate the 'lucky country' the date chosen to commemorate the arrival of the First Fleet, the 'discovery' of the Great Southern Land. This date is more appropriately known to most First Nations people as Survival or Invasion day.

It is also a day of mourning, we mourn the loss of land, culture, languages, we mourn the loss of freedom and abundance, and we mourn for the people who have, and continue to suffer under this disconnected, insatiable, violent and destructive imposed capitalist system. 

Australia remains without a treaty, consent or compensation, the Stolen Generation, stolen wages, dispossession, racism, assimilation, land theft continue. 

This is a call to all people of this land to step forward and right the wrongs together and build some momentum against the out-of-control machine that threatens our very existence as the oldest living culture in the world.

From Green Left Weekly

Walmart, Woolworths, Pokies, Grog and the Salvation Army - does Roger Corbett have a case to answer

Why is it that one never sees nor hears of an Australian journalist interviewing Roger Corbett about his involvement as a Director on the board of Walmart?  Walmart's poor employee and workplace practices are legion and legendary.  Yet here in Australia we cannot seem to ask questions about this.

Just like how we don't know how the Salvation Army involves itself with Corbett in its Red Shield Appeal while he sits on the Board of ALH Group (the Woolworths grog and pokies conglomerate).  ALH Group is the largest poker machine operator in Australia and on its way to being the world leader in poker machine operations.  So how does the Salvation Army find a synergy of goals with someone like Roger Corbett?  

Encourage the Leadbeater's Fairy Possum. Discourage the purchasing of Reflex copy paper.

• There are 1500 Leadbeater's Fairy Possum left in the wild.  

  A major driver of their extinction is chipping habitat for Reflex copy paper. 

  Save the Fairy Possum - say 'no' to Reflex.

Bush 'n' Boots

Picture from here

Over at The Nature of Robertson, Denis Wilson - a good friend of this blog - 

is having a vent about footwear in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

Denis Wilson of The Nature of Robertson

Picture from here

Now there are a few things you should know:

1. Denis lives in a lovely village called Robertson in the Southern Highlands.
2. Denis is a keen environmentalist/naturalist.  He is this blog's expert in residence and general go-to person in relation to birds and plants and a range of other matters.
3. The Southern Highlands - certainly for more than a century - has been the place where Sydney folks with a bob or two like to establish country estates which they visit at week-ends.

Denis's venting post is interesting on a couple of levels.

• He makes plain what the true country person wears in the way of footwear and why.
• He makes plain the necessity of wearing a particular type of footwear.
• His vent takes on a sociological bent as he contrasts his footwear with the footwear of other men and women present at the hostelry to which he had resorted.
• He contrasts the footwear of the leisured weekenders still dressed in Sydney kit with his own - the footwear of those who tread the land to better understand their environment and the other species with which they live. 

I hope the result of Denis's vent is that the leisured weekenders will have a think about the where and the why of their footwear. 

•  Do they choose to look like locals or like leisured weekenders? 
•  Do they choose to look like people seeking to understand their environment or just transplants demonstrating their class and their origins?

Dirty business on SBS : Part 1 : What a narrowly focussed dud!

First let me qualify what I am about to say about the heavily promoted SBS documentary, Dirty Business - How Mining Made Australia. SBS, as you can see below, is promoting this as a 'landmark documentary'.  Don't believe this for a minute.  I have been waiting for someone, somewhere, somehow, to do a balanced narrative of mining in Australia but I have to say that after watching Part 1 of this three party series, I am still waiting.

I am currently living in my third mining town.   I have lived in Mount Isa (silver, lead, zinc); Tennant Creek (gold, copper, bismuth); and am currently living in Ballarat (gold).  

I lived in Mount Isa at the time when Mary Kathleen (uranium) was still operational.  My husband worked there for a time.  I stood for the ALP in the seat of Kennedy in 1983 and 1984.  After the 1983 election there was a a redistribution of the electorate which then included a number of the coal mines of  Central Queensland in the electorate of Kennedy.  I worked for the Australian Workers Union as their first female organiser in northern Australia from 1986-1993.  The AWU is the major metalliferous mining union in Australia.  

With the background outlined above, you can see, Networkers, that I have a little more than a passing interest in mining.  The three mining towns in which I have lived have been wonderful places for me.  I have enjoyed them very, very much and continue to do so.  While Ballarat is no longer economically mining dependent, Tennant Creek and Mount Isa still are.  I remain interested in what goes on in and around these mining centres from an historic, economic, social and environmental point of view.  I was expecting something promoted as a 'landmark documentary' to provide a detailed and balanced view of these four aspects of mining in Australia.

Instead what we got was a rushed viewpoint with some nods to the social history of mining; little of any consequence about the social life of mining towns; nothing from the environmental point of view; and any comment on the economics of mining seemed to rest more on the "stock exchange" point of view.

The emphasis was heavily on gold - yet managed to ignore Tennant Creek, the site of what could be called the last gold rush in Australia.  This was where the famous Australian R.M. Williams made his fortune.  The program did mention Broken Hill and BHP without mentioning that silver was the main focus of mining there. The gold at Mount Morgan on which the multi-national corporation, British Petroleum (BP), was built didn't rate a mention.  Perhaps coal will be dealt with more thoroughly later because the Hunter region of NSW was by-passed but coal developments in Queensland got a mention. Kambalda and its nickle were mentioned while Greenvale in North Queensland with its processing plant, Queensland Nickle, at Yabulu just north of Townsville, didn't rate a mention at all. Thought it might have got a mention simply because its current owner, Clive Palmer, makes the news as did its once upon a long ago owner, Alan Bond. One could go on - where was zinc in Tasmania, for instance?

However, considering the program made it through to the second half of the 20th century, I find it amazing that World Wars 1 and 2 didn't rate a mention.  Perhaps programs two and three might enlighten us.  Geoffrey Bolton kept popping up but we could have seen and heard more of him.  We didn't have sight nor sound of historian Geoffrey Blainey who has quite a number of published mining histories under his belt:

Mines in the Spinifex

The Peaks of Lyell

The Rush that Never Ended

The Rise of Broken Hill

The Steel Master

to name a few.

And as I said - no mention of environmental issues whatsoever.

So much more could be said - and may yet be included in Parts 2 and 3.  However, Part 1 does not whet one's appetite. It merely frustrates it.

I am not anti-mining.  Mining has made its contributions to human history for  millennia across civilizations, across time, across the planet.  My personal experience of mining in Australia has been an enjoyable and significant part of my life.  

I am concerned about aspects of corporate governance among many of the major players in mining in Australia and I am concerned about governance and legislation of the industry within the parliaments of Australia.  I am concerned about environmental management.  I am concerned about FIFO (fly-in, fly-out) practices which do not build viable and unique communities as once mining companies did.  I believe that mining as an industry and the corporations and political representatives operating in Australia have to be held accountable by community scrutiny and transparent governance.  

Party 1 of a Dirty Business does not provide any enlightenment.  It provides, in the main, financial comment.  It does not inform modern generations in an intelligent manner of the history of mining in Australia.  It does not give balanced information on which Australians can form a view of the benefits and deficits of the mining industry and its contribution to Australian life and the Australian economy.

If perchance you missed Part 1 of Dirty Business there will another opportunity for you to watch it at 8.30pm on Thursday 10 January 2013.

Community gardening in Ballarat : getting going for 2013 and the celebration of the begonia

Begonia Festival Project Update for Ballarat Community Garden

January 4, 2013

This beautiful photograph comes from 

Flower Garden  by Annie who lives here in Ballarat

A message from Jane Nield

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a fantastic festive season and a brilliant New Year. Thanks to everyone who came to our first working bee last week – we made a lot of progress with cleaning up the spud boxes, hammering in all of those nails and good headway into oiling the boxes to help them last for years and years.

As we ran out of tung oil – there is still a bit of oiling / painting to do before our main working bee. If by any chance you are free on Monday night (Jan 7th) – some extra help would be much appreciated, but totally understand it’s short notice and it will also be hot. So I plan to do a couple of hours from around 6.30pm (after work). Please give me a call on 0419 816 187 if you would like to help so we can arrange to open the gate etc.

PLANTING PLANNING MEETING.

If you would like input into what we will actually be planting into the boxes – it would be great to see you at the Planting Planning Meeting next Wednesday.

Time: 6pm
Venue: Ballarat Community Garden – cnr Dyte Pde and Queen St
Date: Wednesday January 9th

Please bring along ideas and suggestions about what you would like to see in the themed boxes which include Companion Planting, budget gardening (from cuttings and seed), herbs, medicinal, espalier etc, general veggies etc. If you have any suggestions for other themes – great.

If you can’t make this meeting and have some ideas – please email them through by Tuesday to me. <jane@breaze.org.au>

MAJOR WORKING BEE

Our major working bee is still scheduled for Sunday January 13th at the Uni of Ballarat site. We’ll be kicking off at 9.30am with a short safety induction and then getting stuck into installing the wicking beds. As we will be able to use a dingo to load scoria and soil – we aim to be able to plant in the afternoon as well. Please

Time: 9.30am
Venue: Uni of Ballarat Horticultural Campus – cnr of Gillies St and Gregory St Ballarat. Please note – due to security reasons we can’t leave the gates open, so please phone Jane on 0419 816 187 to notify the gate keeper of your arrival.
Date: Sunday January 13th
Bring: Hats and sun protection, gloves, dusk masks if you have them as well be around potting soil. Hand tools, drinking water and drinks.
RSVP your attendance to jane@breaze.org.au or on 0419 816 187.

We will be providing a basic lunch – but PLEASE RSVP if you will be eating lunch with us so we have some idea of numbers for catering. Please also let me know if you have any specific dietry requirements when you RSVP. It would be much appreciated if you would like to bring along some nibbles or cakes, biscuits to share as well.

Please drop me an email or give me a buzz if you have any questions or suggestions. Look forward to seeing you soon.

Regards,

Jane Nield
BREAZE Local Food Group Co-ordinator
0419 816 187

Eureka commemorations in Ballarat - the spirit of Eureka is not forgotten

For more information on Eureka celebrations in Ballarat in 2012

please go here

Find out more about Australia's historic rebellion at the links below:

Eureka Rebellion

Eureka Stockade

Timeline of Eureka Events

From the Ballarat Genealogical Society

The impact of the Eureka Stockade

The Eureka Flag

Eureka Flag

AusFlag: Eureka Flag

Some characters at the Eureka Stockade in 1854

The AWU: Australia's First Union

The 1891 Shearer's Strike and Eureka

The Eureka Flag raised at Barcaldine Shearer's Camp

Time for accounting and accountability. Should the Catholic Church share the cost?

Cardinal George Pell 

in the pulpit of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

from here

In the wake of the announcement that a Royal Commission will be held into the abuse of children in Australia, one has to ask:

How deep are the nation's pockets?

Some years ago I was invited to a small gathering at a small private hotel just down the road from St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney.  This multi-story building was home to some of the priests attached to the Cathedral. However, it was explained to me that the main purpose of the building was so that wealthy business people could be schmoozed for donations.  At the time, much restoration work was being undertaken at St Mary's which was quite expensive.  The hotel, I was led to understand, was known in the Catholic community as Clancy's folly. 

Wouldn't it be a good idea to sell this property and donate the proceeds to the Australian Government to alleviate the costs of the Royal Commission into abuse - a great deal of which took place within the responsibility of the Catholic Church.  Alternatively, the Catholic Church could be billed for its share of the Royal Commission costs and it could go about schmoozing the wealthy businessmen once again in the private hotel for the money to pay the bill.

Still saving Ballarat TAFE - with the leadership and encouragement of Athan McCaw

For the last few months, I have been privileged to be part of a valiant group of people from diverse backgrounds and politics who have worked with one purpose - to save Ballarat's TAFE from the dire effects of the cuts (read vicious wounds) inflicted on our TAFE by Ted Baillieu and his cronies.  We have not, as far as we are aware, yet  been successful in our campaign.  We have not yet even considered giving up.  However, the year is drawing to a close. Our staunch President of the Ballarat Save TAFE Campaign has written to us to-day.  I love this letter from Athan and believe it needs a wider audience.  He has graciously given his permission for the letter to be published. Thank you Athan and Brett and everyone, particularly our Princess Sam, who have worked in such a positive and unified way to keep, for the citizens of Ballarat, a diverse and vibrant TAFE.  

~~~~

Dear Committee Member,

This year has seen a massive attack on TAFE not only here in Victoria but now across the country with Qld and NSW making similar cuts to that which faces us in Victoria. So far we have been proud and strong with our efforts to raise the concerns that will face the residents of the Ballarat community, we have banded together in our concerns for the community.

Our efforts have not fallen on deaf ears just upon deaf actions, our concerns at the start were well founded. This government has no real plans for a sector that props up our community other than to cut funding. As time moves forward we are seeing the on-going fallout from a government decision based not on what the community needs but on fiscal constraints. 300 million out of the public TAFE system because the previous government left it as a mess is what they tell us -  but in the same token they are spending record amounts on government advertising 500 million over 3 years, budget blow outs but they can find funding to search for "big cats".

Quite simply we must go on. We are yet to see a statement on funding from the opposition and we are yet to see the full impact on students and skills. 2013 will not be a year of opportunity for tens of thousands of Victorians. It will be a year of unemployment growth. As those in training or were looking to training will have to move to unemployment lines while they attempt to save the 10,000+ required to skill up to gain employment, the system will be dismantled to a stage where it may never recover.

The new year brings on more issues for the Ballarat community as around 1000 TAFE students make the transition to studying at Mt Helen, more pressure on Buninyong Rd,  more pressure on public transport and more pressure on the students themselves.  Our fight is far from over.

As Chair I would like to thank each member of the community that has stood with us in the fight and each member of this committee for all of their efforts to date in taking the message to the greater community about the impacts of these cuts. As committee members I ask you to put the 19th November at 5:30pm in your diary and make an effort to attend the last meeting of the year.  We will have some drinks and nibbles to celebrate our end of year.

Next year in 2013 our Committee and our work will be crucial as the cuts become evident - please remember our first meeting back will be Monday 11th February 5:30pm at Trades Hall - to arrange a strong resolution for Ballarat Councillors to table in late February, early March to coincide with the bulk of the job losses, course closures and campus sales and leases.

In closing the fight is just we just have to keep fighting -  see you on the 19th.

In Solidarity and Friendship,

Athan McCaw

Chair - Ballarat SAVE TAFE Committee

Yours in Solidarity

Athan McCaw
UB & ACU Branch Industrial Organiser

For more on the Save TAFE campaign,

please go here. 

Ballarat : Sustainability & Urban Wellbeing Community Forum

Sustainability & Urban Wellbeing Project  

Cherie Draper, Ballarat Environment Network 

Issues relating to biodiversity, health, water and growth. 

Challenges and creating a shared vision for the future.  

Making Sustainability Affordable  

Associate Professor Jerry Courvisanos, University of Ballarat  

There are tensions between economic, social and environmental interests. 

What are the limits of our current economic system and are there alternatives?  

Nature and Health Connections  

Matthew Ebden, Deakin University 

Matthew’s interest in the relationships between nature and human health 

has lead to research in regional Victoria and abroad. 

Matt will share his knowledge of the benefits of contact with nature 

for mental health and social wellbeing. 

Population, Growth & Sustainability

Kelvin Thomson, MHR 

Does Australia still need to ‘populate or perish’? What does population growth mean for Australia and regional communities such as Ballarat? 

More importantly, will population growth lead to an increase in prosperity?

Sustainability Indicators  

Dr Michelle Graymore, University of Ballarat

Measuring and monitoring society’s economic wellbeing, community health, 

and sustainability is increasingly important.  

The Great South West Community Report Card provides information 

on 27 indicators relating to 10 key issues. 

Click to enlarge