[Imc-auckland] Public Forum on Globalisation and Global Justice

[Omar Hamed]

*****Please forward through your networks*****

Kia ora everyone,

As you may know, the finance ministers and reserve bank governors of 19 of the world's largest economies, and the President of the World Bank, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and representatives from the European Union and the European Central Bank will meet in Melbourne late this November under the guise of the "G20".

Member nations are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. Together they comprise two-thirds of the world's population, 90% of global GDP and 80% of world trade.

Demonstrations and alternative 'global justice' conferences have been planned in Melbourne to disrupt the conference and build the global justice movement down under. The conference is a self-proclaimed coordination event for further neo-liberal reforms. Their global plan to take over the world calls for, "policies of deregulation, privatisation, and liberalisation of international transactions are important means of strengthening competition." We must resist and refuse their unjust trade agreements, debt repayment schemes that come with neo-liberal reforms as a prerequisite and militarism.

The G20's arrival in Melbourne is, we thought, as good a time as ever to talk about the effects that corporate globalisation is having on Aotearoa, the Pacific and across the world. The militant and diverse "movement of movements" that exist in Tamaki Makaurau to challenge this agenda are coming together to talk about contemporary struggles, the urgent challenges and the potentials for new possibilities to refuse, reform and resist the neo-liberal agenda.

All said, we invite you and whoever it may interest, to a public forum;

"A Shadow Across the World"



A public forum on globalisation in Aotearoa, across the Pacific and the world

When: Thursday, 9th of November 6pm-8pm

What: 10 short presentations of five to eight minutes, followed by two short films and followed by drinks and stew at Fordes Front Bench.

Where: Room Arts 716, on the 7th Floor of the Arts Building
University of Auckland, Corner Symonds St & Grafton Rd

[For links and background material to what the speakers will be discussing see: www.indymedia.org.nz ]



Presenters are:



Ingrid Beckers an organiser for the National Distribution Union and previously with the Unite! union will talk about community unionism in a time of globalisation. Ingrid will, using her experience from SuperSizeMyPay.com and the recent lock out of 500 supermarket distribution workers, give reasons why unions must build a community base to challenge and resist the increasingly powerful and flexible multinational corporations.

 

Dr. David Bedggood from the university's Sociology Department will talk about the recent struggle of Bolivian miners to take back their mines from multi-national corporations. Bolivian miners have been engaged in vicious class warfare with the mine owners and scabing workers for control of the mines. 



Penny Bright, spokesperson for the Water Pressure Group, will talk about using direct action against the privatisation of water in Auckland city. The Water Pressure Group has for many years been using direct action, including boycott of paying and water reconnections, to disrupt the council's privatisation of water.



Joe Carolan, from the Workers Charter Movement and a veteran of the Battle of Genoa (in 2001, 300 000 people marched in Genoa against the G8 and came head to head with violent state repression) will talk about contesting neo-liberalism at world leaders summits and the lessons of past mobilisations.



Fala Haulangi, campaign organiser of the Clean Start campaign for the Service and Food Workers Union. She will be talking about the effects of globalisation on cleaners and the global campaign that has been started to get wage justice for cleaners. Fala's home of Tuvalu will be the first casualty of the warm world that corporate globalisation is creating.

 

Jo McVeagh from Greenpeace and Josephine Newman from ClimAction will be discussing our countries climate change policy, the effects climate change will have on Aotearoa and the Pacific, what people can do to stop climate change, what is being done in Aotearoa to stop climate change.




Mike Sousa, from the Dry River Collective in Tucson, Arizona will outline the mobilisations against the US-Mexican border and the work of activists and organisers in the United Stated to challenge the border and 'Fortress America'.



Mike Treen, secretary of the Unite! union, and spokesperson for Global Peace and Justice Auckland, will discuss his experiences in a solidarity delegation to Chavez's Venezuela this year, and the growing mobilisations against capitalism and imperialism that is happening in Venezuela.

 

Cameron Walker from the Indonesian Human Rights Committee who will talk about the ongoing colonisation of West Papua and the links between Freeport mine in Papua and the New Zealand government.

 

Omar Hamed from Aotearoa Indymedia, Aotearoa Radical Youth and a participant of the 'Pacific Youth Festival' 2006 in Tahiti will talk about the emerging framework of regional dominance in the Pacific through neo-liberal trade agreements. Omar will discuss the motives behind Australasia's agenda in the Pacific and offer solutions of how we can 'reel' in our rogue state from continued plunder of the Pacific.

 

Followed by the 13 min film - Tasi Timor - the film documents the popular protests in Dili, East Timor, in 2004 against Australia's ongoing occupation of the Timor sea and exploitation of the vast oil reserves contained therein.

and the 9 minute film - A Tide is Turning - a film that documents the 2004 Hikoi against the Foreshore and Seabed Bill.



This forum was organised by Omar Hamed. He can be contacted on omarhamed123 at gmail.com or 021 150 3597

Omar is leaving for the G20 on the 14th of November, he will be placing daily reports from his experiences at the G20 on the Aotearoa Indymedia Centre, accompanied by photos, audio and video. 

More info: www.indymedia.org.nz & www.stopg20.org 
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