by Gerry Georgatos An Aboriginal youth, Rex Bellotti Jnr, aged 15 was run over by a police four-wheel-drive Holden Rodeo and more than two years have passed without any compensation, without any closure. When it comes to Aboriginal victims this is nothing new.
The last fortnight has seen protests by asylum seekers erupt at a number of detention centres, including Christmas Island, Darwin in the NT, Scherger in Queensland and Broadmeadows in Melbourne. Australia has 23 such centres which would be more aptly described as concentration camps. Asylum seekers took to the roof in Darwin for days before being forcibly removed. A solidarity rooftop protest occurred at Monash University. A hunger strike continued for six days at Scherger. A protest at Christmas Island was again violently suppressed by the AFP with tear gas and synthetic bullets. Detainees at Christmas Island dug buried themselves in shallow graves to symbolize their despair. Unfortunately threats to self-harm are not just threats with five detainees taking their own lives in the last ten months in detention. In Broadmeadows a number of boys sewed their lips together. All of this occurred at the same time the Gillard ALP government hardened its policies towards asylum seekers even further by signing off on the Malaysian solution.
The mainstream press is prosecuting a farce of a carbon tax “debate”. In the one corner opposing the tax you have climate denialists, middle class welfare recipients complaining about their lack of “compensation” and billionaires such as Twiggy Forest and Gerry Harvery masquerading as “ordinary” Australians. In the other corner are the ALP and the Green’s arguing that the carbon tax is a bold step towards solving climate change and anyone who opposes them is a selfish climate denialist.
Julian Assange is appealing is extradition to Sweden to face questioning in the politically motivated rape investigation. He was in court on the 12-13th of July. A judgement is due three weeks from this date. Assange has been the victim of character assassination and there have been many calls for him to be killed by high profile U.S. figures. There is plenty of evidence Assange's extradition is part of an attempt to ultimately have him extradited to the US where he is likely to feel the full wrath of the Empire, an Empire comprehensively exposed by WikiLeaks revelations. In the UK a small group of activists including Australian peace activist Ciaron O'Reilly have gathered in solidarity at the court and are having a public meeting. Disapointingly it appears no-one has organised a solidarity event in Australia to coincide with the court. Like other war resisters like Bradley Manning, Julian deserves solidarity as both a peace activist and champion of the free press.
Solidarity actions in the UK:UK Indymedia feature on extradition -- Turkish TV clip of solidarity action at court -- Ciaron's O'Reilly's account of the first day in court -- Supporters speak outside the court -- Ciaron O'Reilly's report on day 2 in court
by Gerry Georgatos An impoverished Indonesian mother, in front of an Australian journalist, lies on a cement floor clutching a photograph of her 16 year old son who is now in an Australian adult prison and whom she hasn't seen since he was fourteen. Abject and acute poverty ravages Indonesia, a country where only 10% of the population has a refrigerator, where most people do not have electricity let alone a television, where many people live half lives working in sulphur mines and where most folk will never rise out of the shanty towns and villages they are born to die in.
The Victoria police have viciously attacked a peaceful pro-Palestine demonstration in Melbourne's CBD on Friday July 1st. In the largest political arrest in a decade, nineteen protesters were arrested during the action against Israeli-owned Max Brenner store.
Related: Australian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign Blog| Australians for Palestine: Boycott Max Brenner chocolates| Defend the Max Brenner 19 meeting July 5th
Australian peace activists are taking direct action against military expenditure, war games, the U.S. alliance, the Afghanistan War and the trial of Julian Assange over the next few weeks. On June 28th in Adelaide, activists are picketing a Defence Industry Expo. From July 4th-8th a a blockade of the Swan Island military base is occurring to protest the Afghanistan War.
Mandatory detention is claiming more victims than most Australians realise, it is not just the six and half thousand folk seeking Asylum, having fled war and devastation and the direst of circumstances and are now incarcerated in Australia's mandatory detention network - 24 concentration-like facilities on our soil - we are also incarcerating the poorest of folk and youth from Indonesia in our gaols.
An estimated 10,000 people packed the lawns of the State Library on Swanston street Melbourne on World Environment Day to Say yes to a safe climate and support the introduction of a carbon price by the Gillard Federal Labor Government. About 8000 people also gathered in Sydney, 5000 people rallied in Adelaide's Victoria Square, 5000 in Brisbane, 3000 in Perth, 3000 in Hobart, and 2000 in Canberra. Organisors estimate up to 45000 may have attended rallies across Australia today to support climate action and pricing carbon.
Inspired by the Arab Spring movements in the Arab world and movements in other places such as Portugal, hundreds of thousands of Spanish citizens have mobilized to demand real democracy or “Democracy Real Ya” in Spain under the banner of the “May 15th” or “15th de Mayo” which was the day the movement began. On that day 100,000 Spanish people marched in Madrid and tens of thousands in other cities around Spain, but what made this movement different to the phoney resistance to the austerity measures in Ireland, Greece and the UK was that the protestors have stayed on, setting up a protest camp in the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid as well as in many other city squares around Spain. They are uniting under many demands including opposing cuts to public spending and services and demanding more employment. They state that the bankers should pay for their own crisis. The movement is an independent one free of all institutional control, that opposes both major parties, the mainstream press and the Union movement for all supporting the attacks on ordinary people currently being carried out by the state in Spain. The movement is happening in the week preceeding a national election but many of the protestors reject the idea that the Parliament will bring the changes they demand. .This is exactly the kind of movement we need in Australia where all Parliamentary parties and the Union movement share the consensus that it is ordinary people not the banks and big business that should bear the costs of the financial crisis. Solidarity actions in Australia have now occured in Sydney and Melbourne.
Related: Madrid Indymedia --Democracyrealya website -- May 21st Solidarity actions in Australia -- tens of thousands protest in Spain (WSWS) -- Protestors occupy city squares(WSWS) -- Democract Real Ya video on Youtube -- BBC news coverage -- Spain takes to the streets youtube clip
