Newswire

By Klaus Schenck (translated by Diet Simon)

The oil giant BP plans to invest the equivalent of 6.8 billion Australian dollars in Brazil to produce ethanol from sugar cane. Its first factory started up last year, the second is in planning. Together they’ll produce 870 million litres a year.

There’s lots of money to be made currently with ethanol, which is mixed in with motor fuels as supposed “biofuel” to pretty up the climate statistics.

While the US flag flew at half-mast in memory of the victims of 11 September 2001, representatives and supporters of the Latin-American communities in Melbourne held a small rally to remember the victims of the US-inspired coup in Chile on the same day in 1973, and to demand an end to US interference in the affairs of Latin America.

The direct action Switch Off Hazelwood held on September 12th-13th was a huge success for the Climate Change Movement in Victoria. Over 500 people attended the non-violent direct action which resulted in 22 people being arrested and wide media coverage. The day as promised was one of empowering and creative civil disobedience demanding governments switch off coal and switch on renewables.

Read more. More photos: here and here. Links to corporate press newspaper coverage. Links to corporate tv coverage. Links to You Tube citizen journalism. Read Merryn Redenbach's speech.

Membership for the scheme will be daily, weekly of yearly, and the first half-hour of all trips will be free. Additional usage fees will apply after the first half hour.

The bicycle stations are expected to be up and running in 2010 in inner-Melbourne with about 50 Stations and 600 bicycles.

Two campaigns coincided in the rally held on Tuesday in Lygon Street outside Trades Hall - opposition to legislative changes threatening to water down work safety laws in Victoria, and demands for pay equity for women.

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

WGAR website: http://wgar.info/

Contents:
Governments' review of Aboriginal housing scheme in the NT
Responses to the backlash against James Anaya's statement
Intervention Walk-Off
Still more media responses to proposed national Indigenous body

GOVERNMENTS' REVIEW OF ABORIGINAL HOUSING SCHEME IN THE NT:

- Background

WGAR News:
Government failure over Northern Territory Aboriginal housing (24 July 09)
http://wgar.info/240709-government-failure-over-northern-territory-abori...

- Review of SIHIP

By Rainforest Rescue

Hundreds of Penan are demonstrating with blowpipes in the Malaysian rain forest. No one gets past the road blockades of the Aborigines in the jungle of Sarawak, not even the police.

Instead of upholding the rule of law, police are doing the bidding of corrupt politicians and unscrupulous business people. They have seized the land of the Penan to turn it into monocultural oil palm plantations after razing the tropical timber.

Police had to turn back to fetch reinforcements. The Penan now fear police excesses.

By Diet Simon

The people fighting the proposed construction of high voltage overhead power lines from Ridgewood to Eerwah Vale in the Sunshine Coast hinterland are appealing for signatures to an electronic petition they are submitting to the Queensland parliament.

The petition on the Queensland Government website is sponsored by Peter Wellington, an independent MP and member of the group Save Eumundi - People Advocating Green Energy. For your vote to count you have to be a Queensland resident, Queensland citizens or Queensland elector in a nominated electorate.

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

WGAR website: http://wgar.info/

Contents:
Statement by UN Rapporteur, James Anaya
Alyawarra people seek UN refugee status
Proposed national Indigenous body
Other Aboriginal articles

STATEMENT BY UN RAPPORTEUR, JAMES ANAYA:

- Statement at Press Conference

[Ed. note: I have chosen the quote below as I think it will be of interest to readers. However, may I encourage you to click on the link below and read all of James Anaya's statement for a more complete understanding of his views.]