Political censorship
With media diversity under attack and the right to dissent under threat by the Howard government, dissenting alternatives such as GLW become even more important 鈥 or so you would think.
Not so for a majority at the
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The second Workers Charter conference, held at the Auckland Trades Hall on October 7, drew a broad cross-section of the New Zealand union movement and its supporters. The Workers Charter, launched 15 months ago, is a draft list of 10 demands aimed at guaranteeing workers聮 rights. Its demands cover rights such as a living wage, affordable housing and the right to strike.
One of the first things I usually do on a Saturday morning is read the 聯Number Crunch聰 column in the Sydney Morning Herald聮蝉 Good Weekend magazine. I find the assorted collection of interesting statistics irresistible.
A hunger strike will be held on October 20-21 in the Parramatta Activist Centre in solidarity with the 鈥渄eath fast resistance鈥 that has been carried out by Turkish political prisoners since October 20, 2000.
Gary Meyerhoff, long-time activist and founder of the Network Against Prohibition (NAP), died from an AIDS-related illness on October 7. A tireless campaigner for the rights all those who slipped through society聮蝉 cracks, Meyerhoff was an optimist and not afraid to push the limits. He organised around issues and with 麻豆传媒 of society that other activists usually put in the too-hard basket.
Australia has the most concentrated media ownership in the Western world. Nonetheless, the new media bill passed by the Senate on October 12 will further relax ownership regulation and allow the media barons to operate in two out of three media sectors 聴 print, radio and television.
On October 2, the Sydney-based Edmund Rice Centre (ERC) released its Deported to Danger II report, examining the fate of people whose claims for asylum in Australia were rejected. The report found that 39 of the 41 were deported to danger. Two have been welcomed in New Zealand.
Forums about the occupation of Palestine, film screenings, mock Israeli checkpoints and protest actions were held on university campuses in NSW as part of a week of solidarity with Palestine on October 9-13.
The federal government last week pushed through its new cross-media ownership laws, ensuring greater concentration of media ownership and a loss of diversity in Australia聮蝉 media. The following article by Christian Downie, published on Online Opinion () provides some background to the debate over the media laws.
The trial of four activists who inspected the top secret US-Australia spy base at Pine Gap for terrorist activity began on October 4. Jim Dowling, Adele Goldie, Bryan Law (Cairns) and Donna Mulhearn, members of Christians Against ALL Terrorism (CAAT), face charges under the Commonwealth Crimes Act and the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act (DSU) 1952. If found guilty they face seven years聮 prison.
The annual Queerspace student conference held at the Australian National University on October 6-8 was attended by 40 students from Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Wollongong, Newcastle and Perth. The conference launched the national Queer Activist Network (QAN) for youth and students.
In April 2000, the people of Cochabamba captured the imagination of anti-corporate campaigners the world over. Only months after the US transnational Bechtel took control of the regions water supply 聴 forcing citizens to pay for rainwater they collected 聴 the people of Cochabamba, organised through the Coalition in Defence of Water and Life, rose up and booted out the corporation.
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