LL:DDV: comedy debate + lunch @ New International Bookshop
`Affray in the Cafe' Comedy Debate The NIBS Knucklepersons versus the Trade Union Tusslers, in a no-holds barred, full contact Comedy Debate. Thought Tony Blair could spin? Wait until you see these debating desperadoes in action! Graze on the always-tantalising NIBS food, while the Dukes of Disputation clash live on stage. All with music and drinks at bar prices. Bookings essential! (9662 = 3744).Sunday 28 September 1pm $14/$8 New International Bookshop Trades Hall 54 Victoria St Carlton Sth 9662 3744 [EMAIL PROTECTED] . -- -- 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 Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:URL: Stop Bush website
The Stop the War Coalition in Sydney has set up a very impressive website to mobilise against Bush's visit. Please pass this URL on far and wide: www.stopdubya.org . -- -- 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 Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: Vulgar Press book launches
The Vulgar Press announces the following book launches: * Thursday 9 October: Janet Kelly's The Colour of Walls -- a confronting novel about incest and its aftermath -- to be launched by Judith Rodriguez at Readings Carlton * Friday 10 October: Michael Hyde's Hey Joe -- at last a novel about Vietnam from the protestors' point of view -- to be launched by Jenny Pausacker at Readings Carlton * Thursday 16 October: Neil Boyack's Transactions -- short stories by one of Australia's best young practitioners -- to be launche by Greg McCainsh at Readings Port Melbourne for more information visit www.vulgar.com.au -- -- 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 Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:INFO: cttee to stop Bush's war
Dear friends, An ad hoc committee, calling itself Stop Bush's War Committee was formed yesterday for the purpose organising against Bush's visit in October. The meeting decided to support a national convergence (most likely Canberra when Bush will address Parliament) but also build a solidarity action in Melbourne on the same day of the convergence (around October 22-24) - to be announced. The solidarity action will be at State Library, City, 5.30pm (date to be announced) the theme of the protest is: Stop Bush's War with the key demands being: Troops out of Iraq, No FTA (Free Trade Agreement) a working group from the committee will liase with the VPN (Victorian Peace Network) to help organise buses to the national convergence. For information on buses to the national protest contact VPN office on 9659 3582 The next organising meeting is on Monday, Sept 22, 6.30pm Trades Hall Bar - All welcome for more info contact: 9639 8622, Tom 0408 619 152 or Margarita on 0438 869 790 attached is brief statement for circulation Call to Action against George Bush's visit to Australia STOP BUSH'S WAR TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ NO FTA ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE George Bush is coming to Australia to promote his never-ending war and free trade agenda. The 'Stop Bush's War Committee' calls for all organisations and individuals who have stood against the US government's drive to war and to global economic domination to protest Bush's visit. George Bush will be visiting Canberra and Sydney immediately following the APEC summit to be held on 21 October in Bangkok, Thailand. The coalition of the killing--Bush, Blair and Howard--waged an illegal and immoral war on Iraq despite unprecedented global opposition and protests. The lies behind this war are now being exposed. Despite Bush's talk of liberation the invasion of Iraq has become a war of occupation, with US forces bogged down in ongoing battles with the Iraqi people. US corporations have re-entered Iraq to carve up the spoils of war. Bush is not content to stop at Afghanistan and Iraq. He is threatening further nations, such as North Korea, Iran and Syria with military action. In the wake of the war Prime Minister John Howard hopes to secure a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. This will be his trophy for supporting war on Iraq. The FTA will lock in a neo-liberal agenda which gives corporations greater rights. This bilateral deal is modelled on the North American FTA where companies now have the right to sue governments for introducing environmental, labour or other regulations. The FTA threatens the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, quarantine laws, GM labelling and public assets. Bush's visit coincides with a round of trade negotiations planned for 27 October in Canberra. For these reasons and many more we are saying enough! We demand an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq and oppose the proposed FTA. We call for those who mobilised against Howard and Bush in February to do so again. The 'Stop Bush's War committee' invites all concerned organisations and individuals to attend the open organising meetings to coordinate the biggest possible national mobilisation and a local protest against Bush's visit (Mondays 6.30pm Trades Hall Bar) For more information on the National demonstration and the local rally (same day, 5.30pm State Library, Melbourne) -- -- 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 Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDV: CPSU Members First Meeting
Calling all CPSU members! Members First is holding a Melbourne meeting on Monday 13 October, 6.30 pm in the Trades Hall Bar. Members First will contest the election for the position of CPSU National President. The ballot will take place in November. This meeting will plan the Victorian end of our campaign. We'll also be discussing plans to defend and extend the right of CPSU members in all work places to organise using workplace e-mail systems. In some work places, such as Centrelink, this is currently severely curtailed. The meeting will also feature a discussion about how to build a democratic and activist culture within the CPSU. The discussion will be introduced by CPSU National Councillor, Terry Costello, who will highlight some of the key ideas in the resolution on building militant democratic unions passed at the second national conference of Socialist Alliance. This resolution is included in a new Trade union pamphlet published by Socialist Alliance which includes articles by CPSU members Judy McVey and Alison Thorne. McVey addresses the importance of the union movement challenging racism and Thorne takes up the importance of resisting sexism and campaigning around working women's demands. Contact any of the names below to get a copy of this invaluable organising tool for just $3. Come along. Have your say and help build an activist union which can tackle the issues of the day. For more information about this meeting or Members First in Victoria contact: Terry Costello: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Alison Thorne: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Judy McVey: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For information about Members First in other states contact: Andrew Hall: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . -- -- 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 Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cancun: Historic win for developing countries
The following articles were published in The Guardian, newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, September 17th, 2003. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Guardian: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au Subscription rates on request. ** Cancún : Historic win for developing countries Prior to the World Trade Organisation's 5th ministerial conference in Cancún, Mexico, Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorin said there was the impression that the fight for social justice had taken place outside the hall. Now, he said, the fight for social justice is also going on inside the WTO. by Anna Pha And, inside the hall at Cancún, an historic battle was waged and won. It is historic not just because it blocked the agenda of the rich industrialised nations, but for the heightened understanding, unity and determination of the developing countries. Amorin was speaking at a press conference organised by the Group of 21 (G21) developing countries. The 21 countries represent more than 50 per cent of the world's population, and more than 60 per cent of the world's rural population. They were led by Brazil, India, China and include Cuba, South Africa, Indonesia, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico, Egypt, Peru, Guatemala, Philippines and Thailand. It is a coalition of the poor who were determined to fight to the end against discriminatory subsidies paid to the farmers of the rich, developed countries. And that is what they did. From the start, the ministerial meeting (September 10-14) was doomed to fail. The draft text pushed the agenda of the industrialised nations and ignored the demands of the developing countries. It was to be business as usual, with the undemocratic, secretive processes of the WTO in full swing - right down to the personal cajoling phone calls from George Bush to heads of governments. The US, the European Union, Canada and Japan, known as the Quad, were the prime operators, trying to enforce their agenda with the help of WTO officials. For the G21 and many other poorer countries, agriculture is a matter of life or death. In the streets outside of the meeting thousands of farmers and Indigenous people demonstrated. A Korean farmer took his own life outside the hall - so intense is the opposition of the people of the developing countries. Thousands of others took part in conferences, street actions and other protests in the lead-up to and during the meeting in Cancún and around the world. Huge subsidies The G21 pointed to the failure of the WTO to act on the more than US$300 billion in subsidies paid every year to the world's wealthiest farmers which undermine the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers around the world. The EU and the US steadfastly refuse to remove these subsidies and open up their markets to imports at the same time as expecting developing countries to make huge reductions in tariffs on their imports. Four of Africa's poorest countries sought a reduction in subsidies paid to US and European cotton farmers that have ruined African farmers. They demanded that they be paid US$300 million in compensation because of this unfair competition. They got nowhere. While developing countries were seeking justice over agriculture and market access for their products in the developed countries, the Quad were pushing a new agenda - for what are known as the Singapore issues or new issues. These issues are competition policy, investment, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation. The aim of these policies is to subject the economies of the developing countries to the complete control of the developed (imperialist) countries. Their implementation of these policies would place developing countries at a greater disadvantage, setting back their trade and development by decades. They would restrict the ability of governments to regulate foreign investment or to take measures to develop local enterprises. They would open up the economies of the developing countries to the advantage of the big corporations from the US, EU, Japan, Canada, Australia in particular. The developing countries reluctantly agreed to discuss the scope (modalities) of these issues at a Singapore ministerial in 1996 in exchange for promises on other issues of concern to them. It was agreed that there would be no negotiations on these issues before consensus had been reached at the discussion phase. Consensus is far from being achieved, but that did not stop the Quad trying to force the pace of negotiations against the will of over 70 developing countries. The European Union insisted that any concessions on agriculture be conditional on the acceptance of new rules on foreign investment. This form of blackmail is not new. Previous promises
LL:ART: Editorial: Silencing dissent
The following Editorial was published in The Guardian, newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, September 17th, 2003. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Guardian: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au Subscription rates on request. ** Editorial : Silencing dissent The severe attack on those opposed to the policies of the Federal Government and their determination to silence dissent has been demonstrated by the attack on Andrew Wilkie and on the ABC by leading federal Ministers and by PM John Howard himself. The daily newspapers and the commentaries by some extreme right-wing columnists such as Gerard Henderson have added to the attacks on Wilkie and the ABC. Wilkie's crime is that he blew the whistle on the lies being told by Howard and his Government in their attempts to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the US, Britain and Australia. Apart from all other considerations, the fact is that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq and even the investigators appointed directly by the US Government did not find any weapons. The publication of the report that this team was to have made has been postponed indefinitely, yet again confirming that the huge propaganda campaign was based on monstrous lies. Andrew Wilkie declared as early as March that the claims of the Howard Government were exaggerated, skewed, used selectively and fabricated. Personal abuse and denunciations have been heaped on him ever since in an attempt to discredit him and his exposure. He is being attacked, not because his claims were false but because he was telling the truth. In the most recent attempt, a Liberal Party member who was part of the Senate inquiry into the sexed up propaganda claims of the Government, was provided with and used secret intelligence information. The publication of security information is a crime under federal law. Defence Minister Robert Hill admitted that the Liberal Senator concerned had been briefed by the Defence Department before Andrew Wilkie was to give evidence to the inquiry. Alexander Downer, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has refused to deny that his office had seen a top-secret report in the days before it was leaked at the inquiry. As part of a smear campaign a WA Senator, David Johnston said Mr Wilkie was very unstable, is unreliable and is flaky and irrational. Not to be out-done the neo-fascist and arch anti-communist Gerard Henderson wrote of Wilkie's media-choreographed resignation from the Office of National Assessments. But Wilkie is absolutely right and his claims are fully confirmed by the total failure of the investigators to find a single weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. If the character assassins are so sure of their assertions, why doesn't the Australian Government have an open inquiry in the same terms as the Hutton inquiry in Britain? On another front, it was Liberal Senator Alston who alleged that the ABC had displayed an anti-American bias in its coverage of the Iraq conflict only to have all but two of his 68 complaints rejected by an ABC inquiry. The treatment of Wilkie and attack on the ABC are two examples of how the Government is determined to push its line and silence any attempts to question it. In the first example, it attempted to silence an insider who is in a position to know the truth about the Howard Government's assertions and in the case of the ABC, to intimidate and silence the independent voice of our public broadcaster. The Howard Government represents the interests of the big corporations who are the real, but minority, ruling class in Australia. They will take any measure to retain their economic and political power and are in the process of taking away the democratic rights that have been won and established in Australia over the last 100 years or more. They have already provided themselves with the legal means by which to persecute all opposition by given sweeping powers to the police and so-called security organisations to arrest and jail those they consider to be a threat to their power and control. Not only are the people of the world being threatened with endless war but also with fascist-type laws which have the aim of silencing dissent so that no voice and no opinion other than that of the ruling class is heard in Australia. -- -- 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 Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
