LL:INFO: anarchist interviews wanted
Hi, Radio Freedom, Canberra's anarchist radio show, wants people to interview. The interviews will be put on the internet and so could be emailed, copied to your own website, put on CD, broadcast on other radio shows and so on. People should be able to do it once a month or more. You can promote your group or project, or talk about news or history or particular issues, or anything else. Please email [EMAIL PROTECTED], or write to PO Box 3859, Weston Creek ACT 2611. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: abortion in Tasmania
Following is an edited version of an article appearing in this week's Green Left Weekly (issue #460). Tasmania's only free-standing abortion clinic closed in March this year, exacerbating women's difficulties accessing abortion in the state. An estimated 140 women annually fly from Tasmania to Melbourne to obtain abortions they are unable to get in the state. I have written to the health minister on July 22 urging her to consider funding a free-standing abortion service and haven't yet received a response. You can see from the article below the increasing urgency of this issue. Please write letters to Judy Jackson (health minister) calling for government support for a dedicated abortion service, and to Peter Patmore (attorney general) calling for repeal of sections 134 135 of the criminal code which criminalise abortion. c/-Parliament House, Hobart 7000. (Please send a copy to me at PO Box 115 North Hobart 7002.) Resistance will be holding an open meeting 3.30pm Saturday 18th August to discuss the issue and what action is required. Please come along - all pro-choice people welcome. 225 Murray St Hobart. Ph 6234 6397. A petition calling for repeal of the anti-abortion laws has been circulated by Socialist Alliance. To obtain a copy, please email me or phone 6234 6397. How and why abortion access is limited BY KAMALA EMANUEL Tasmanian abortion services may be set to improve, with health minister Judy Jackson offering to investigate the possibility of public funding for the establishment of a new abortion clinic. This is a significant victory for Tasmanian women who, like many women around Australia, face numerous hurdles in accessing abortion services. [At the time of writing this article, I understood this to be the case, however, that has changed. Judy Jackson's official position is unclear, however, unofficial indications are a lot less promising now. It is definitely premature to talk of victory.] Not all the hurdles result directly from the presence of abortion on the criminal code but all have been exacerbated by it. The Tasmanian experience highlights the need both for abortion laws to be abolished and for increased recognition that reproductive choice is a woman's right. In March, Tasmania's only free-standing abortion clinic closed. Since then the public hospital system has struggled to manage the increased demand for abortion services and more Tasmanian women have been forced to travel interstate to access a confidential, timely and non-judgmental service. Launceston General Hospital has continued to perform a fixed number of abortions. However, at the Royal Hobart Hospital, while the number of women seeking access to abortion has increased, the loss of a staff member in late August has been expected to result in a decline in the number of abortions performed. In the 1970s, women couldn't obtain abortions in Tasmania. Feminist activists ran a support network, enabling women to fly to Melbourne on student concession fares and obtain abortions at the Fertility Control Clinic where lower costs for Tasmanian women had been negotiated. In the 1990s the Women's Health Foundation (WHF) abortion clinic was established near Hobart. Isolated from Tasmanian medical personnel the clinic was forced to fly in interstate doctors. The clinic's limited relationship with the specialist community, combined with uncertainty about the legal status of abortion, also meant that it required a much greater degree of experience for all its proceduralists than interstate clinics. This resulted in high fees for the clients in the vicinity of $250-380 and financial uncertainty for the clinic. According to the 1996 National Health and Medical Research Council's draft report on abortion in Australia (since pulped by a hostile federal government) Medicare rebates for abortion are not as high as for comparable procedures. Non-surgical abortion For a brief time medical abortion non-surgical abortion induced by drugs under medical supervision was available in Hobart. This gave women another (cheaper) option. Methotrexate and misoprostol have been successfully tested for use in medical abortion (provided surgical abortion is available for back-up). But they are not licensed for this use. The manufacturer of one has tried to stop it from being used for abortion, and the manufacturer of the other will not seek to extend its licence to include abortion. So, despite being easily prescribed in Australia (unlike the banned but even more reliable mifepristone RU486), they are not in widespread use. Multiple impediments exist for doctors wishing to prescribe medications for abortion. Many anti-choice doctors would refuse to prescribe it, and other doctors are unaware of this use for the drugs. Those who are, and do not have moral objections, then have to face high insurance premiums. At least one medical insurance provider currently refuses to indemnify doctors who prescribe the drugs for abortion, on the
LL:DD: Free the Refugees Solidarity Tour - Woomera, September 2001
Free the Refugees Solidarity Tour Woomera 2001 Friday September 21 - Sunday September 23 GET ON THE BUS Join the Refugee Action Collective trip to Woomera Detention Centre in South Australia to protest at the imprisonment of refugees and asylum seekers, as we go into an election where neither of the major parties offers a decent alternative to the current system of gross human rights violations. In the tradition of the Freedom Rides, defy the government tactic of using fear and remoteness to divide those of us living in Australia from those seeking peace and freedom, who would join us. Buses will be leaving from Melbourne and Sydney at this stage, and hopefully from Adelaide, Canberra, and other places as plans progress. The itinerary is as follows: Friday 21 September: Leave in the afternoon from Melbourne's own Maribyrnong Detention Centre, for a bus ride to Woomera in South Australia. Saturday 22 September: Arrive in Woomera for breakfast. Protest, activities, etc at Woomera Detention Centre for the morning, into the afternoon. Bus to Adelaide in the afternoon. Tentative plans for a public meeting in Adelaide to help build a refugee activist group there, and to discuss the day. Spend the night in accommodation, which we will be planning in either billets, backpackers etc, or perhaps a church or school hall. Sunday September 23: morning rally and speakout in Adelaide, and bus back to Melbourne arriving in the evening. In the days following the trip we will organise a public meeting or rally to highlight the experience. Register via email [EMAIL PROTECTED], or phone Giada 0408 538 916 The cost will be about $100 waged, $80 unwaged(including accommodation), but we will be fundraising to subsidise. Sponsorship forms are available, and with the endorsement of the ACTU and Trades Hall Council of Victoria, unions are open to sponsor members. Volunteers who would like to help organise things, please contact us (see details below), or come to our regular meetings Tuesday 6pm at Trades Hall, cnr Lygon and Victoria Sts. Please forward this email to any contacts you have. Thanks all Simon O'Neill Refugee Action Collective www.vicnet.net.au/~rac-vic [EMAIL PROTECTED] 0418 347 374 Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:AA: student arrested on campus for putting up posters at UQ
URGENT - URGENT - URGENT STUDENT ARRESTED ON CAMPUS FOR PUTTING UP POSTERS Yesterday, Wednesday 15th of August, at around 11am a student was arrested by the police for postering on campus at the University of Qld (UQ). On arrest a female officer stated informally that they only came after her because she was putting up CHOGM posters. The student was taken to the Indooroopilly cop shop where she was detained for four hours, six hours is the maxiumn detention rate in Qld. Before release the student was asked to give name address birth date, finger prints and DNA! In Qld, DNA tests are not part of the compularsary practices of arrest, but when the student questioned that, she was told that orders had been given by a sergent for the DNA test to go ahead. Following this the police took a swab test and finger prints. When student submitted her address they threatned to search the premises for proof that she lived there. The UQ student was charged with willful damage of property then driven back to university. This action is part of a national crack down against anyone who wants to protest against the Comonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Brisbane this October. It is clear that the police actions yesterday were an act of intimidation, a violation of civil liberties and deliberate victimisation. It is clear that this is meant to warn people off from organising the protest and also shows the extent to which police and the state fear the impact protestors can make. UQ students in the SCAM collective are pursuing the issue, by holding a speakout and rally outside the main refectory from where students will be going on a mass poster run around campus for CHOGM. If you are in Brisbane come to the speakout on wednesday 22nd at 12 o'clock outside the main refec. This attack has only hardened the resolve of students and community activists to continue the fight and the community is rallying behind the student and preparing to defend her. This information should be spread as widely as possible and go into SCAM bulletins, community newsletters etc if possible, and solidarity actions organised if possible. This victimisation will only be stopped by a campaign of solidarity and by showing the strength of the movement of which the student is part. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDQ: Invitation to indigenous rights forum: please pass on
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS EMAIL WIDELY THROUGH YOUR NETWORKS Invitation to attend indigenous forum at the QUT Theatre, Saturday 25th August. Oxfam Community Aid Abroad (OCAA) and Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) would like to invite you to attend a public forum at the QUT Theatre (QUT Gardens Pt Campus). The forum is titled: IMAGINING THE FUTURE Australia's agenda for advancing indigenous rights The forum will focus on the following issues: * What should the audience be looking at from major parties in terms of policy commitments for advancing indigenous rights * What should the agenda be for the next Australian government in this area Speaking at the forum will be: * Geoff Clark (National Chairman, ATSIC) * Michael Mansell (Legal Manager, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre) * Margaret Reynolds (President, United Nations Association) * Neva Collings (Coordinator, Indigenous Law Centre University of New South Wales) * James Ensor, Master of Ceremonies (National Advocacy Manager, Oxfam Community Aid Abroad) The entertainment on the program is: * Native Ryme Syndicate (Brisbane based indigenous band Australia's number 1 hip-hop/rap act) The event will be held at the QUT GARDENS PT CAMPUS on Saturday 25th August from 3pm in the QUT THEATRE. The QUT theatre is located on the Main Drive of the QUT Gardens point campus opposite Old Government house. We are expecting attendance of 400. Entry is by donation ($5 suggested).Light refreshments will be provided. We would be very pleased to have you attend what should prove to be an afternoon of lively and informative discussion around a very important national issue. The sponsors for this event are: * The QUT Theatre * Central Brunswick Apartment Hotel - Located close to Chinatown and the Brunswick St Mall - right in the heart of Brisbane's exciting and diverse arts precinct. Contact: Tom Widdup Oxfam Community Aid Abroad Community Campaigner QLD Albion Peace Centre 102 McDonald Rd Windsor 4030 Ph: (07) 3857 6888 Fax: (07) 3857 2173 0409 262 858 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
