LL:INFO: women participate in World March of Women Aust email list
Dear Leftlink women, As we enter the last two months of the seven-month campaign for the World March of Women in the Year 2000, I'm writing to invite Leftlink women to participate, if you're not already doing so, in the World March of Women Australian information exchange email list. If you'd like to be added to the WMW2000 oz-information email list, please email me at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] As you know, the WMW2000 campaign calls on the UN and its member States to take concrete measures to: * eliminate poverty worldwide and ensure a fair distribution of the planet's wealth between rich and poor and between women and men; * eliminate violence against women and ensure equality between women and men. As I'll be sending this message out widely, I apologise in advance for any cross posting. The committee wishes to acknowledge the Australian Virtual Centre for Women and the Law for making the WMW2000 email lists available. Can you please distribute this message to women in your networks? Applicants may be asked to send a short statement describing their interest in the WMW2000 campaign. Looking forward to hearing from you. all the best, Cathy Picone on behalf of the national coordinating committee of the WMW2000 - Australia -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: Green Left Weekly: Why Howard hates sole mothers and lesbians
http://www.greenleft.org.au Why Howard hates sole mothers and lesbians BY LISA MACDONALD When Prime Minister John Howard announced on August 2 that the federal government would move to allow states to outlaw single women's and lesbians' access to in vitro fertilisation (IVF), he was at great pains to emphasise that this was neither discrimination nor an attack on women's right to reproductive choice. Rather, he claimed, it was an assertion of "the fundamental right of a child within our society to have a reasonable expectation ... of the care and affection of both a mother and a father". With these carefully chosen words Howard appealed to the widespread idea -- that children are better off with two parents, even if this is not always possible -- in order to undermine another widely supported idea: that women have a right not to be discriminated against. The Howard government's family policy since it was elected in 1996 shows that his trumpeting of the rights of the child is utterly fake. If Howard and his colleagues were genuinely concerned about children's right to a healthy, happy upbringing, they would not have cut welfare and social services funding, or facilitated real wage cuts, or be privatising education and health care or undermining the Family Court. And they would have acknowledged governmental responsibility for the stolen generations of Aboriginal children. Howard's new-found concern for children's rights is cover for his old concern: to roll back as rapidly as possible public acceptance of ideas and rights which undermine the dominance of the "married with children" form of family. _ Public spending_ To strengthen the nuclear family, Howard has a lot of work to do. Since the end of World War II, the marriage rate in Australia has been steadily decreasing. And although fewer people are getting married, there has been a steady increase in the number of divorces, most of them initiated by women. A growing proportion of women are having fewer children, later in life, or are not having children at all, and they're doing this in order to spend less time at home, outside the labour market. These trends, which are occurring in all developed countries, pose a growing problem for the capitalist class, which has always relied on the family to cover the bulk of the costs and labour involved in generating and regenerating the work force. With more women having to spend more time in waged work because they do not live in a nuclear family, there is more pressure on the state to provide many of the services that women have traditionally provided unpaid at home (child-care, aged care, health care and so on). Since more public spending on social services means less on subsidising corporate profits, a major plank in the neo-liberal economic program being implemented around the world today is to drastically reduce spending on public services and push as much as possible of that service provision onto individuals within the "private" domain of the family home. But after decades of an expanding welfare system, moves to erode it meet resistance, even if only at the ballot box. Young people quite rightly object to being forced to live with their parents beyond the age of 16 simply because there are no jobs. Grandparents object to being rendered unpaid carers of yet another generation because their children can't get community care for their children. Women object to having to leave the work force because they can no longer get good quality care for their aged or disabled relatives. Certainly, the government can take initiatives like Howard's "national families strategy", announced in June 1999, which allocates $16.5 million to relationship support services, including a trial of marriage preparation courses for 2000 engaged couples. But such measures are just tinkering around the edges; they're constantly undermined by women's unwillingness to give up the real gains -- legal, economic and social -- that they have made over the last 30 years. Those gains include majority acceptance of the idea that women are entitled to equality at home and at work, so Howard and Co. cannot insist that women return to economic dependence, physical isolation and reproductive slavery without paying a big political price. First they have to build support for traditional gender roles and relations. The government is approaching this task from a number of angles. It is using the "men's rights" movement as a battering ram against feminist ideas: last September, it approved two $50,000 grants over two years to the Lone Fathers Association to develop a peak body to advocate for "fathers' rights". At the same time, it is targeting more vulnerable women for legislative and economic attack: migrants, sole mothers, lesbians, women on welfare, etc. _Sole mothers_ At the top of Howard's target list are sole mothers. The government's punitive approach to women with
LL:DDV: Save Grasslands Dinner Party 2/9/'00
SAVE GRASSLANDS DINNER PARTY Saturday 2nd September 2000 St Augustines Parish Hall, 61 Somerville Road, Yarraville (under bridge beside railway) $25 per person (kids free) 7pm start, food served until 8.30pm. Organic vegan/vegetarian buffet Live music by Scooter (popular covers), Neon Leons, Seagull Frenzy (blues/reggae/jazz) others. Comedian Mathew Dean. Bar with drinks at pub prices. Kid friendly and smoke free venue. Tables of 10 available, book your table today by calling Grasslands Grocery Information cafe 9362 0830, situated at 205 Nicholson Street, Footscray 3011. WHAT IS GRASSLANDS GROCERY INFORMATION CAFE ? We are a not for profit enterprise funding innovative social projects through the sale of organic foods, low allergenic cleaning/personal products and books on social justice. We are collectivley managed by a group of friends and most of the work is done on a volunteer basis. We have been able to donate over $30,000 since our inception to a range of communmity groups including: HUman Rights Centre for Mental health, Red Cross Asylum Seeker Support Service, Iramoo Youth Refuge, East Gippsland Otways Forest Blockades, Women's Circus, Food Not Bombs, Trade Union Community Picket lines, and others. Unfortunately we need to clear some of the debts we incurred in setting up the shopfront so that we can continue to be able to assist these and other groups in the future. LL.VH -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:QUERY: working class research
I've just been commissioned by Melbourne Workers Theatre in conjunction with Victorian Trades Hall Council to begin researching and writing stories of working class/trade union activists as background material for the development of a play which will celebrate the contribution to Australia of trade unions. I am therefore wanting to talk widely to a diverse range of unionists about the events which shaped their lives and the trade union movement. Would anybody who is interested in being involved in this process please contact me - [EMAIL PROTECTED] or phone 9481 1785 or 0413381026 Lynn Beaton -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:URL: US Bombs Iraq for Second Night
US Bombs Iraq for Second Night Baghdad: (South News): August 13 - U.S. warplanes bombed Iraq on Saturday in a second straight night of raids by Western aircraft. .. http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/000812-iraq.htm -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: Jabiluka Protesters Cleared Over Hokey Pokey Charges
1. Jabiluka Protesters Cleared Over Hokey Pokey (10/8/00) 2. Jabiluka Protesters Vindicated: 'Police Confused' (10/8/00) 3. Jabiluka Protesters Fight Police Harassment (7/8/00) *MEDIA RELEASE* 10/08/00 JABILUKA PROTESTERS CLEARED OVER HOKEY POKEY Two Earth First! protesters, David Heller and Marcus Brumer have had trespass and resist charges dismissed in the Magistrates' Court today. The charges had stemmed from an Earth First! anti-Jabiluka uranium mine "Week of Action" at North Limited in January this year. North Ltd owns ERA, the builder of the mine in Kakadu National Park. Police allege that on January 17th, 2000, the defendants ignored warnings not to re-enter the front garden of North House at 476 St Kilda Rd. About a dozen protesters had three-times jumped barricades erected on the footpath outside North House. The first two times -- after performing the song and dance, the "Hokey Pokey" -- they jumped the barricade on the line, "you put your whole body in" and were quickly ejected. After the third rendition of the Hokey Pokey, they pulled down North Ltd's barricades and entered the front lawn. The two defendants were then handcuffed and arrested. The defendants vehemently denied receiving individually given warnings during the second barricade jump. They also denied resisting police in the course of their duties by making it difficult for the police to apply handcuffs. Magistrate Heather Spooner found that due to the "volatile" circumstances of the protest (backed by Ch 7 footage), she accepted the defendants did not receive a warning. She also stated that due to the difficultly of complying with police requests (ie. being handcuffed lying face down with two or three police sitting on your back), the charges of resisting could not be proved either. Explosive revelations were aired during the trial when North Ltd's ex-executive director of External Relations, Rick Willis, admitted that North Ltd had interfered in the internal politics of the Jabiluka Action Group (JAG). He stated that North had spoken with people from various "factions" of JAG in an effort to ensure that "common sense would prevail" in relation to JAG's protests at North. Willis said defendant, Mr Brumer had lead one faction of JAG. He also revealed that North Ltd had instructed police to target Mr Brumer and Mr Heller on the day of their arrest. EF! spokesperson Mr Brumer says EF! (Melb.) will keep alive their campaign of non-violent direct action to rid Australia (and the world) of the nuclear industry. "The struggle continues to stop Jabiluka. The mine is against the wishes of the Mirrar people and the majority of Australians. Rio Tinto will face a barrage of protest when it takes over North Ltd. We must also focus on the rest of Howard's massive expansion of the nuclear industry, with Beverley uranium mine to start production in September: the first new, working Australian uranium mine in 20 years. This insanity must end." For more information call Marcus Brumer: (03) 9754 1968 -- JABILUKA PROTESTORS VINDICATED: 'POLICE CONFUSED' By Joanne Knight Marcus Brumer and Davey Heller had charges against them dismissed in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday 10 August 2000. Brumer and Heller faced charges of trespass and resisting police in the execution of their duty. Both carry a maximum fine of $500 or 6 months imprisonment. During the course of the case police gave evidence that they targeted Brumer and Heller as they perceived them to be the leaders of the protest and of the activist group, Earthfirst! Melbourne. They thought that if they could remove Brumer and Heller that the protesting would cease. They also gave evidence that North Ltd, the parent company of ERA, owner of the Jabiluka uranium mine, had directed them to remove Brumer and Heller. Obviously North Ltd wants to get rid of protestors so that they can continue with their destructive and dangerous mining of uranium in Kakadu National Park without the public having the audacity to question the wisdom of this. It is outrageous that the resources of the State are wasted in the obstruction of a democratic right to protest. Earthfirst was conducting a peaceful protest on 17 January 2000 outside the premises of North Ltd, 476 St Kilda Rd. On the previous Friday, several protestors had locked onto 44- gallon drums outside of the entrance to 476 St Kilda Rd. The response of building security was to lock the front doors so that the general public could not access the building. The police then arrived and also blocked the entrance to the building. Earthfirst protestors closed down the building and disrupted North's 'business as usual' for 4 hours that day. Thus the heavy police presence at the building on the 17 January when Marcus and Davey were arrested. Marcus's and Davey's defence to the charges
LL:AA: ACTION NEEDED, removal of marital status from SDA
URGENT - GOVT PROPOSES REMOVING 'MARITAL STATUS' CLAUSE FROM SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT Over the past few days it has come to my attention that there has been discussion by the Federal Government about removing the 'marital status' clause from the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984. Like all other areas of discrimination covered by the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the ground of marital status discrimination is taken directly from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The purpose and spirit of CEDAW is to eliminate discrimination against women in all its forms, which includes discrimination on the basis of marital status. Several specific references to marital status discrimination exist in CEDAW, including articles 1, 3 and 11(2). The right to be free from discrimination on the basis of marital status has been enshrined in Australian law since 1984. To alter this right is to legislate in a manner that is in conflict with CEDAW. It should also be pointed out that removal of marital status to achieve one aim could cause unexpected ramifications, and conflicts, in the operations of the Act. Act now. Write to the Prime Minister and register your objection to ANY changes to the Sex Discrimination Act. Any erosion in the human rights of Australian women is totally unacceptable. Copy your letters, emails etc to Daryl Williams (Attorney General), and Senator Jocelyn Newman (Minister for Status of Women). It has been reported back that 90% of the letters received by the Govt in relation to the IVF debate, are "in favour" of John Howard's position on the issue. It appears that the PM is claiming this as 'overwhelming community support' for his proposal to amend the Sex Discrimination Act. So, if you haven't already done so, please email, fax, ring or write to: John Howard and state your OBJECTIONS to his interference in women's human rights. Send a copy of whatever you write to the Attorney General Daryl Williams. ACT NOW. All Ministers will be in Canberra for the parliamentary sitting this coming week. They can be written to at Parliament House, Canberra, 2600. John Howard Phone: 02 6277 7700 Fax: 02 6273 4100 Daryl Williams Phone: 02 6277 7300 Fax: 02 6273 4102 Jocelyn Newman Phone: 6277 7560 Fax: 6273 4122 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Christina Ryan ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDS: Resistance Campus Forum: Fighting Global Capitalism
Fighting Global Capitalism Wednesday August 16 @ 6.30pm Canon Poole Room Level 5 Union Building Adelaide University Organised by Resistance 34a Hindley St Adelaide Ph: 8231 6982 www.greenleft.org.au/resistance LL.SH -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
