[indymedia-melb] Melbourne Indymedia Newsletter 25/04/05

Mon Apr 25 06:19:51 PDT 2005

Melbourne Indymedia Newsletter 25/04/05
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/
http://oceania.indymedia.org

: : New Features : :

: : Events/Actions : :

: : Next Meeting : :

: : Suggestions/Feedback/Contact/Donate : :

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: : New Features : :
All features can be viewed in full at:
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/

Uprising in Ecuador
24/04/2005
Lucio Gutierrez, who was elected President of Ecuador with the support 
of the social movements and the indigenous CONAIE (Confederation of 
Indigenous Nations of Ecuador) but subsequently turned his back on 
them, has been forced out by the Ecuadorian people after a week of 
massive protests. Gutiérrez abandoned campaign promises of broad social 
reform in order to kiss up to the IMF, back 'free trade' agreements 
with the US, allow increased US military presence, and generally sell 
out the Ecuadorian people to neoliberalism.

Call for help after Indigenous Embassy evicted
21/04/2005
Yuin elder Roy Kennedy (Uncle Dootch), from the Kuradji Embassy, has 
put out an urgent call for help after the Shell Cove Aboriginal Embassy 
was evicted last week. The Embassy, south of Wollongong, was set up to 
protect sacred Aboriginal sites threatened by a planned 200 berth 
marina.

PR specialist briefs Big Business on how to counter net activism
19/04/2005
The Public Relations Institute of Australia will hold a talk in 
Melbourne this week titled "Activists : How to beat them at their own 
game". For the small fee of $595 for the 3 hour session, including a 
light lunch, you could attend and learn about "How they operate", 
"Understanding their mindset" and the new tactics you can use against 
them.

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: : Events/Actions : :

The Melbourne Indymedia events calendar is up and running at:
http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/calendar/
Go to the calendar for full details or add your own event.

(1) Rally – A fair go for East Timor
Tuesday Apr. 26, 12:00pm – 2:00pm – Melbourne, City
Event Topic: Anti-Racism
Event Type: Protest
At maritime boundary negotiations on April 26, the Australian 
Government will try to short change East Timor out of billions of 
dollars. Despite East Timor being the poorest country in Asia, the 
Australian Government has already taken over two billion dollars worth 
of gas and oil taxation that under International Law belongs to East 
Timor!

(2) ‘Justice for Jack Thomas’ Film Screening
Tuesday Apr. 26, 7:00pm – 8:00pm – Melbourne, City
Event Topic: Civil Liberties
Event Type: Film Screening
Jack Thomas currently face 55 years in jail under the Howard 
governments anti-terror laws. Thomas – regularly referred to as "Jihad 
Jack" by the media – is being prosecuted using evidence obtained in 
Pakistan where he was held and tortured for five months without charge 
in 2003. As concern grows over the ongoing erosion of basic human 
rights in the "war on terror", Jack's case represents an important test 
on the use of evidence obtained under torture without access to legal 
counsel. Come along to this special screening on the closely related 
story of David Hicks and help support basic human rights and civil 
liberties in Australia. All proceeds will go to Jack's defence fund.

(3) Alternatives for Education: Cuba and Venezuela
Wednesday Apr. 27, 12:00pm – 1:00pm – Melbourne, West
Event Topic: Students
Event Type: Discussion
Classroom discipline, truancy and retention rates. Are these really the 
important questions facing education today? What about democracy, 
empowerment, and education for a future which values social justice and 
equality?

(4) Venezuela from Below
Wednesday Apr. 27, 7:00pm – 9:00pm – Melbourne, North
Event Topic: Social Movements
Event Type: Film Screening
A film by Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler. In Venezuela, a profound 
social transformation identified as the Bolivarian process has been 
underway since Hugo Chávez's governmental take over in 1998. It 
concerns a broad process of self organization, from which has developed 
a progressive constitution, a labor law, new educational possibilities, 
and a number of further reforms for the impoverished majority of the 
population of what is potentially a wealthy state.

(5) Commemorate Dead Workers
Thursday Apr. 28, 10:30am – 11:30am – Melbourne, North
Event Topic: Work
Event Type: Other
A memorial service - to be held at the Memorial Rock, in conjunction 
with IDSA (Industrial Death Support & Advocacy), followed by a light 
lunch at Horti Hall.

(6) VUT staff on strike
Thursday Apr. 28, 10:30am – 11:30am – Melbourne, West
Event Topic: Work
Event Type: Protest
Please....
DO NOT CROSS PICKET LINES
do not attend classes on 28 & 29 April
Do not use libraries and other facilities.
National Tertiary Education Industry Union

(7)The Personal is Political: Advocacy, Social Action
Thursday Apr. 28, 10:30am – 11:30am – Melbourne, City
Event Topic: Gender & Sexuality
Event Type: Other
The struggle for gender justice, in both its historical and 
contemporary contexts, is fundamental in the movements towards social 
change. This five-week seminar series will explore the very diverse 
ways in which gender politics have shaped emerging social issues and 
have impacted on how we do advocacy and social action.

(8) Food Not Bombs
Friday Apr. 29, 7:00pm – 11:00pm – Melbourne, North
Event Topic: Social Movements
Event Type: Film Screening
Nothin better to do...?
Than watch TV and have some brews (sic) with the kids at Food not 
Bombs. Films include 'The Last Supper','Futurama','Supersize Me', 
'Squeegie Punks in Traffic'. Come on down to Irene Warehouse 5 Pitt St 
Brunswick East Friday 29 April from 7pm for some food and/or food 
related merriment.

(9) MAY DAY on May 1st
Sunday May. 1, 2:00pm – 3:00pm – Melbourne, City
Event Topic: Work
Event Type: Festival
Yes it is May Day on May First this year because it is SUNDAY so all 
fractions can socialise.
Meet at 2pm at Trades hall, March through City and return to Trades 
hall for stage stalls food and fesitivities. International Day of 
solidarity.

(9) MAY DAY
Sunday May. 1, 6:30pm – 8:30pm – Melbourne, North
Event Topic: Work
Event Type: Discussion
Calling all casual, flexible, temp, contract and part-time workers, 
those bored in the dole queues or resisting monotony in McJobs. ROUND 
TWO - Casualisation, precarious lives and waged labour. An evening of 
screenings and discussions. It has been increasingly noted from 
research centres to newspapers to radical publications that work in the 
globe's wealthy countries is changing. In Australia, currently 30% of 
the work force is casually employed - which is to say, without a 
secure, permanent job. On top of that, housing is less affordable than 
ever, there are more working poor, large levels of 'underemployment', 
more people on medications and greater levels of debt and uncertainty. 
All this leads to a precarious state of affairs.

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: : Next Meeting : :

Get Involved!!!
Our next meeting is on:

***THURSDAY***

May 5, 6.30pm @

*** Glitch Bar, 318 St Georges Rd Nth Fitzroy ***

You can always find out when the next Melbourne Indymedia Meeting is by 
emailing the collective. info at melbourne.indymedia.org

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