Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Everyone should celebrate NAIDOC this week

It's NAIDOC Week this week, a time for celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and communities. The week is also a great opportunity to highlight the strength that culture and community offer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

There's a lot that you can do to join with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in celebrating NAIDOC Week.

This year's NAIDOC theme, 'Honouring Our Elders, Nurturing Our Youth', highlights the importance the community places on its Elders and its young people. It is important to acknowledge Elders and the role they play in supporting, teaching and guiding young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, many of whom are struggling to find their feet and their way forward.

Brian McCoy's excellent reflection on this year's theme captures this point very well. McCoy, an anthropologist specialising in Indigenous health and well-being who has worked with desert Aboriginal communities for a long time, shows how important NAIDOC week is – not only to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples but to all Australians.

Considering last week's report on Indigenous disadvantage, the latest in a long line of official reports that highlight the growing gap in disadvantage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia, this is an important demonstration of community strength and support. It's a way for many communities to show that they can make a difference, and are making a difference, for the better.

And it's an important way for non-Indigenous people to show their solidarity with Indigenous communities on this matter.

There are lots of NAIDOC Week events across the country. You'll find a calendar of events if you pick up a copy of the country's only Indigenous controlled national newspaper, the Koori Mail. You can also get information from local NAIDOC committees and Indigenous groups.

If you’re looking for a NAIDOC event in Melbourne, the NAIDOC March & Rally is on Friday 10 July. The march starts off at the Aboriginal Health Service on Nicholson St, Fitzroy at 10 am and makes its way to Federation Square. More details here.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 5:40 pm   1 comments

Monday, November 17, 2008

Creativity, colour and noise put global warming on Melbourne's agenda

I've had a chance to upload my photos from Saturday's Walk Against Warming to flickr, so I can tell the story of that successful rally through pictures. There are more photos at that link to my flickr site.

The anti-nuclear power message was strong at Walk Against Warming in Melbourne.

Anti-nuclear power was a strong message at Walk Against Warming – Melbourne
But bicycle power was a very strong favourite instead.

Bicycle power was very popular at the march
As was turtle power.

Turtle power at Walk Against Warming – Melbourne
People's creativity was shining through in the many banners, placcars and protest props people brought to make their message clear. As was the cooperation and community involvement evident in some of the larger and more elaborate ones.

Walk Against Warming – MelbourneWalk Against Warming – MelbourneWalk Against Warming – Melbourne
The Walk Against Warming in Melbourne finished up at the steps of Victoria's Parliament on Spring St, to pressure the Brumby government to take strong action on climate change. At issue was its foot-dragging over 'Feed In' tariffs to pay those who feed solar-powered electricity into the grid.

Taking it to the Victorian government
This placard caught my attention at the steps of Parliament where the Walk Against Warming ended.

All I want for Christmas is a future
See also the reverse of that placard.

The samba percussion band and dancer were a huge hit at Melbourne's Walk Against Warming. Their loud, cheery dance rhythms and the colourful dancer really lifted the mood of the march, and got people cheering, clapping and dancing up the street.

Drumming against warming
Wasn't it Rosa Luxembourg who said 'If I can't dance in the your revolution, then I don't want any part of it?'*

Dance against Warming
I do believe that the big crowd, the creativity and the spirit of those marching on Saturday are strong signs that people believe that climate change is still a major issue that requires strong, urgent and concerted action from government – all governments: local, state and national, and international – and from the community.

To an extent, I do think that the upcoming local government elections will be a test of the extent to which the community will hold their government representatives accountable for the pace of action and policy work on this issue.

And it has the potential for being a litmus test for how Victorians perceive the Brumby government is acting on this and other enviromental issues – including logging old growth forests and the threat that extending clearways holds for local neighbourhood strip shopping and communities.

Let's keep an eye on this one, eh?

I have to say, though, this is still one of my favourite placards at the march, and it was a favourite of many others too.

*Yes, yes, it is probably one of those myths of the activist left that this saying is attributed to her, but hey, I love the sentiments…

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Friday, November 14, 2008

Walk against warming tomorrow – Saturday

Better late than never, I guess. In case you didn't already know, there will be another Walk Against Warming tomorrow, Saturday 15 November.

In Melbourne, the meeting place is Federation Square, at 1pm.

The Walk Against Warming website lists the details for other Australian cities.

If you think the struggle for strong action on climate change has passed, or it's time to relax, because Obama has been elected in the US and Rudd is promising an Australian emission reduction scheme, then think again! Now is the time to keep up the pressure on the Rudd government for clean energy, strong climate targets, and a safe future.

Amidst juggling the kids, Milo cricket and the usual Saturday requirements, I really hope to drag the kids out to Walk Against Warming this year. Hopefully, there will be so many people I won't have a chance to see you there! All the same, it promises to be a good family day.

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Thursday, October 09, 2008

Why do you care about climate change?

Another step I took as part of my recent eddy of activity on climate change was to sign up with the 'Who on Earth Cares' website. An initiative of the Australian Conservation Foundation, the site allows people across Australia to express their concerns about climate change and pledge to take certain steps to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, and record and share their initiatives on a map. It also allows you to see how people in your neighbourhood are taking similar steps. It's quite encouraging.

The site asks you three basic questions, thus providing a frame for what you share online, and asks you to nominate various steps you pledge to take to cut your personal and household greenhouse emissions. I've decided to share what I wrote for Who on Earth Cares here – also because it captures my latest thoughts on action on climate change:

Why do you care about climate change?
I believe that global warming is one of the most pressing crises facing our planet, and our human society, and we need to take the most effective action possible as soon as possible to avert the most dangerous aspects of climate change. I want to be able to say to my children and grandchildren that I did what I could to help slow, stop and even reverse dangerous climate change.

How concerned are you about climate change?
I'm very concerned about climate change, and I'm very concerned that despite its promises, the efforts by the Rudd government will be too little, too late. The Rudd Government must commit to strong targets in any climate change plan – namely a reduction of greenhouse emissions by a minimum 40% by 2020 and no less.

Although I believe that the most effective action on cutting greenhouse gas emissions must come from government and industry, I think that families and households can reinvigorate our action to cut household emissions to show the government and industry that we are serious, and that we can 'do' as we 'say', just as we expect them to act. This is why I am renewing my and my family's commitment to continue reducing our climate impact and to cut our household emissions further.

What do you want Australia to be like in the future?
I want Australia to be carbon neutral – to be weened off the fossil fuel industries and generating our energy needs from sustainable, renewable energy. I want Australia to be nuclear free, and tapping into the vast resources of solar, wind, and geothermal energies. I want to see whole communities working together to make our food, transport, housing, health, well-being, culture, industry, education, government etc ecologically and socially sustainable – to be human and humane.

To reduce my greenhouse pollution, I have personally committed to:
* Switch my household power supply to accredited GreenPower
* Set my washing machine to wash my clothes in cold water
* Turn off computers and screens overnight at work and home
* Eat one less serve of meat a week
* Avoid one domestic air flight this year and purchase carbon offsets
* Drive 20 kilometres less each week
* Reduce my household electricity and gas usage by 20%
______

A lot of the steps I've pledged above are things I already do, like cycling and taking the tram to work instead of driving, but I'm renewing my comitment to do them.

Some steps are new – we're switching to 100% wind powered GreenPower. This has been a useful exercise because I discovered the GreenPower plan we're on at home only includes 20% wind energy, leaving the ballance to come from coal and hydro (which the government no longer accredits as GreenPower, I gather).

The other great thing about the site is that it encourages you to write to your local federal member of parliament to share your concerns and urge them to support stronger action from Australia on climate change. It automatically generates the letter's text based on what you've written for the first two questions above and additional material they provide on greenhouse gas emissions targets. Brilliant! I also used this feature to amend and prepare a second letter to federal Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong. More action that is usefully directed at lobbying your MP and Minister.

I encourage you to sign up with Who on Earth Cares (if you haven't already, of course) and perhaps share what you've written there on your own blog if you have one (drop me a comment here to let me know if you've done this). One reason for this is that most bloggers I know aren't too keen on outing their locations so publically on a google map, which is what Who on Earth Cares does. After all, we are fond of our privacy and security, aren't we? Though perhaps not as much as we are fond of a decent and secure future for our kids.

So do remember to send your letter to your local member.

[Image is a screenshot from Who on Earth Cares]

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Monday, July 21, 2008

Support the campaign to end mandatory immigration detention in Australia

GetUp! is saying that the federal government has unexpectedly announced an inquiry into Australia's immigration detention regime, and is calling an people to support their online petition to end mandatory immigration detention.

It appears to have been just announced, as I have yet to find I have had great difficulty in finding mention of this on the online MSM (mainstream media).

This is something that so many have been waiting for: after the apology to the Stolen Generations, and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, I began to wonder if the Rudd government would avoid moving on the remaining festering sore from the key triumvirate of the Howard government's sins.

So I am pleased to have just signed the petition calling for an end to mandatory immigration detention and for a humane immigration system. I have also added some comments in my online petition, which I trust will get sent to Kevin Rudd and Immigration Minister Chris Evans as part of the Get Up 'submission'.

I would urge you to do something similar, and also consider preparing and sending your own individual submission to the inquiry once all the inquiry's wheels are in motion.

Here are my additional comments I added to my support of the petition:

End Mandatory Immigration Detention!

It is important that a just and honourable immigration system recognise the principle that children should never be in detention.

Australia must develop a fair and humane approach to handling asylum seekers' applications for asylum, and in dealing with those in breech of immigration rules. This can and should involve a community-based system for caring for asylum seekers while processing refugee applications and immigration issues.

Australia must abolish temporary protection visas, and give full residential rights and status to those who have found to be refugees. This must include welfare, medical and other residential rights. If it is unsafe for someone to return to their home country, they should be allowed the decency of finding security and attachment here in Australia, and not the constant fear that their temporary visa will be revoked.

It is time that Australia corrects the great wrong in how we treat asylum seekers and close the immigration concentration camps!

Do no harm. The principles upon which Australia processes applications for asylum must be based on securing the safety of the asylum seeker, not on some misshapen foreign or domestic policy emphasis on quarantining Australia from the world or the movement of people fleeing violence, war, terror and harm.

It is time to raise our heads and take our rightful place in the world in looking after those fleeing persecution and harm.
--

You can find the GetUp Campaign petition here:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/EndMandatoryDetention

Other people working on this issue include the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, A Just Australia, and the Human Rights Law Resource Centre.

[Update: I have found an ABC news item from June this year where Immigration Minister Chris Evans announced that "Federal Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Migration has been asked to investigate the criteria for detention, length of time in detention, and accountability and transparency in immigration detention processes." I am wondering how and why things have been so quiet on this for so long. What did I miss? Unfortunately, the report suggests the ALP are going with a 'business as usual' approach to detention on Christmas Island, but this is no reason to give up on the campaign! Updated Monday 21 July, 4:23 pm]

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 3:51 pm   2 comments

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Bread and Roses – Happy May Day!

If you have a minute to down tools and look up from your work – whether paid or unpaid – for a minute, I urge you to perform at least one subtle act of resistance, or defiance, against that great yoke of human life – work – in celebration of today's international workers' holiday and moment for remembering labour struggles.

Of course, it isn't a holiday here in Victoria, Australia, because this state celebrates 'Labour Day' on another day that commemorates the start of the eight-hour day campaign in the 19th century. All the same, it is still important to pause and reflect on how workers across the world have traditionally celebrated our struggles for justice and our rights as workers. So I'm using this moment to have a cup of tea and quickly write this post – my small act of resistance against the sometimes overwhelming expectation to 'get the job done' before the end of the day.

Of course, May Day is still tied so intrinsically to the celebrations of various socialist, communist, anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist and various other democratic (or otherwise) versions of movements for revolutionary change. However differently they envisaged what they were changing, how they were to achieve the change, and what they wanted instead, they usually fiercely clung to the ideal of people across the world uniting in celebration of their struggles on this one day. Tonight, if things go as they predictably do on this day across the world, you will probably see footage of rallies turning into riots by anarchists in France or Socialists somewhere in South America, but before you go 'tut-tut, bloody commies' and write them off, do spare a thought for the fact that over 100 years since the early socialists started campaigning around food, land, freedom and dignity and liberty in labour, including around the slogans of bread and land, or my old favourite, 'bread and roses', the United Nations is warning us that we are entering one of the worst global food crises – putting the health, security and lives of millions of people at risk.

So no, capitalism hasn't solved world hunger after all.

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Thursday, November 01, 2007

You can't buy social change

Every so often, I'm reminded of why WorldChanging's Alex Steffen is on of the most insightful and influential environmental thinkers (not just writer) in the blogosphere. This time, he has nailed on the head the strong discomfort and concern I've been feeling for a long time about the recent popular tendency to individualise responses to – and responsibility for – global warming:
The privatization of responsibility for the crises we face is entirely understandable. Making planet-saving a consumer choice helps sell products. Making it a lifestyle choice mutes political pressure for change. Making it an individual responsibility helps deflect attention away from the massive impact, ethical bankruptcy and extreme profitability of the unsustainable production, transportation, energy, food and construction systems upon which we depend and over which we currently have essentially no direct control.
In a nutshell, Stefen challenges us to move beyond our tendency to express 'Be the Change' as 'Buy the Change'. You can't shop your way to social change.
In this context, Be the change in fact usually means Buy the change. It means living a standard consumerist lifestyle, but varying the products one consumes to include "green" clothes, cars and furniture... or at best going without a few things you didn't need anyways.
Sure, Steffen is not the first to say it, and this is not the first I've thought this through, as I've tried to blog through some of these ideas for a while. But he surely has the capacity to nail it. He does challenge us to get off the couch – and go further!
We don't need more people living marginally greener lifestyles. We need thousands of people, millions of people, swarming out of their lifestyles and leading worldchanging lives: practicing strategic consumption, sure, but also inventing new answers, changing their companies (or quitting their jobs and starting better companies), running for office, writing books and shooting films, teaching, protesting, investing in change, mobilizing their communities, redesigning their cities, getting up off the couch and going to the meeting, and in every other way making it happen. It is time to live as though the day has come, because it has: tomorrow is too late.
I haven't yet decided what more I'm going to do. Other than keep sharing these ideas on this blog. And telling you about the Walk Against Warming on 11 November and urge you to go along. I went last year, and I'm really hoping to make it this year too, even though my parents will be in town staying with us.

What else would you suggest? You may also find more ideas on what you can do at The Big Switch website. And Steffen's article is worth reading in its entirety.

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Thursday, October 04, 2007

Free Burma!


Free Burma!


Also, Avaaz.org's online petition for Burma has passed half a million, but they still want the full million ASAP! Things are getting worse in Burma, and the Burmese democracy movement needs all the help we can give them. You can sign the petition and see the advertisements they will publish in print press internationally here.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 10:05 am   1 comments

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

So, should we now boycott the BBC?

It's one of those freaks of timing: the day I raised the possibility of including Lonely Planet guides in a boycott of companies profiting from the Burmese military dictatorship, the sale of the publishing house to BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) has increased the spotlight on Lonely Planet for their support of tourism in Burma.

The publishers of the world-famous travel guides have defended their support of tourism in Burma by insisting that they make their feelings about the Burmese military junta quite clear to their readers, and encourage them (as potential tourists to Burma) to think through their decision to visit the country.

It is clear, however, that their guide encourages tourism in Burma, in contravention of an international boycott of such tourism and commercial dealings in Burma – called for by democracy and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (amongst others).

While such tourism has been defended as allowing people to discover for their selves what's going on in Burma and help the people, others such as Britain's Burma Campaign have argued strongly that tourism directly benefits the junta, and is intimately tied to their repression of the population:
Burma's military regime has identified tourism as a vital source of income and it is working hard to develop the industry. According to the Ministry of Tourism, its top two objectives in developing tourism are to generate foreign exchange earnings and attract foreign investment. Compared to its neighbours, Burma's tourism industry may be small but it is still earning a cash strapped regime millions of dollars every year.
…
in Burma many human rights abuses are directly connected to the regime's drive to develop the country for tourists. Throughout Burma men, women and children have been forced to labour on roads, railways and tourism projects; more than one million people have been forced out of their homes in order to 'beautify' cities, suppress dissent, and make way for tourism developments, such as hotels, airports and golf courses.
So, I'm wondering now if a boycott of companies profiting from Burmese dictatorship should be extended to the BBC's commercial activities? Does that mean that I should refrain from buying the previous season of Dr Who on DVD? Darn. What would The Doctor do?

Well, if principles and ethical buying didn't make our choices challenging – even difficult – it wouldn't be so interesting, would it?

On another note, thanks to a commenter here this morning, we've learned that bloggers who support democracy in Burma are encouraged to join in the International day of Blogger action to free Burma on 4 October. You can do this by posting a banner from the Free Burma blog campaign on your blog.

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Monday, October 01, 2007

1 million signatures needed to help stop things getting worse in Burma

The Burmese generals have used terrible violence to stop the democracy protesters in Burma, but reports indicate that the democracy movement's resolve is holding – and so must ours in supporting them.

Avaaz.org is calling calling on supporters to tell all their friends about their online campaign so that they can reach their target of 1 million signing their petition!
Burma's generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters -- but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks' color red, and on the internet-- where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.

People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention.

If you're wondering what else – direct and ongoing – you can do besides signing the online petition, there is a range of things. More solidarity protests are coming up across the world, with the international campaign for democracy in Burma (based in the UK) calling for an international day of action for Burma for 6 October. Details of these and Australian protests (4 October in Sydney, Melbourne details TBC) are on Avaaz.org's Burma campaign page (scroll down). If you, like me, missed the protests around Australian capitals last Thursday, please make an effort to go along to the next lot.

The UK based Campaign for Human Rights and Democracy in Burma also has excellent coverage of the issues and events – both of the protests in Burma and actions in the EU and UN to support the protesters.

Should we boycott?
Also, Phil at Veni Vidi Blogi has suggested a boycott of the Beijing Olympics to increase pressure on China – Burma's main supporter, and seen as a sure avenue to pressure the junta to back off from increased violence. While I agree with a boycott that pressures the Chinese, I do wonder if a Beijing Olympics boycott is too far off to garner the necessary attention and immediacy needed now. But perhaps the effectiveness of such a boycott lies in people talking about and threatening it now.

That's why I think any boycott should also target the Burmese regime and other companies that profit from operating in Burma.

For many years in the 90s, tertiary Student Unions in Australia boycotted a certain soft-drink company because it had bottling operations in Burma. Now, we're not just talking about student activists not buying the drinks. This was a highly organised ban of the affected brand's vending machines, sponsorship of events and cross-promotional activities on campuses. Also, the relatively recent widespread boycott and ILO campaign against Triumph bras for their operations in Burma were also very successful – Triumph pulled out of Burma as a result.

Perhaps this will re-open that nasty old wound of Lonely Planet guides publishing their travel guide to Burma in defiance of a long standing boycott of tourism in the country. The UK's Burma campaign has more on that boycott here.

If you want to think more about boycotting or writing in protest against companies doing business with the military junta in Burma, there is a list of such companies here, but it's unclear how current the info is.

There a whole range of photos of protesters in Burma at this site, including of those shot and injured (I'm posting a link instead of posting a photo for copyright reasons) – take a look, but I'm cautioning that some of the photos are quite disturbing.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 12:40 pm   0 comments

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Support the democracy movement in Burma

Burmese Buddhist monks and students are once again at the forefront of democracy protests against the military junta in Burma, and they need our help.

What started out as a protest march by monks and nuns calling for controls on rising fuel prices snowballed over the week into an open protest march against the junta, with thousands of protesters reported to be marching through Rangoon.

Avaaz.org is running an international online petition to garner UN support for the Burmese democracy protests. They were concerned that the Burmese military would start cracking down on the monks' protest march, and wanted urgent international support and action:
After decades of military dictatorship, the people of Burma are rising – and they need our help. Marches begun by monks and nuns have snowballed, bringing hundreds of thousands to the streets. Now crackdown threatens.
…
But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, overwhelmingly respected in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread--now they're growing by tens of thousands every day, as ordinary people, even celebrities and comedians join in. They've broken the chains of fear and given hope to 52 million Burmese.

However, this hope is hanging by a thread. While hesitating to attack the respected monks, the regime is reported to be organising violence. Demonstrators have already been beaten, shots have been fired.
Now it appears the crackdown has started, with news breaking that 80 monks and protesters have been arrested as the military used teargas and beat protesters to break up the march.

Now, an online petition may be little succor to protesters being hit on the head with batons and tear-gassed, but I believe that international pressure against the Burmese military junta could stop the beatings from turning into an all-out massacre, but only if we also force our own governments to take a strong stance – rather than one of appeasement – against the junta.

You can sign Avaaz.org's petition and spread the word here.

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Monday, September 03, 2007

The Wall

I've just heard the news that some German tourists were ordered by New South Wales police to delete their tourists photos of the security fence erected in Sydney as part of the security measures around the APEC leaders' summit there.

I can't believe how ridiculous the police are getting over this! Their explanation for this measure – one they plan to enforce more widely – was that they didn't want protesters to be taking photos of the security fence, or 'The Wall' as Sydneysiders are calling it, for 'reconnaissance' purposes. Police claim that protesters are carrying out this 'recco' to find weaknesses in the fence that they can target in order to break through and disrupt the APEC meeting.

While I have no idea whether the protesters would want to carry out such scouting or even want to break through the cordon, I think the police ban on photos of The Wall is ridiculous and futile because, in this time of quick and easy communication via the internet and mobile phone, the photos are already out there and there's no way the police can stop them!

When I first read the news, I immediately wondered how many photos of The Wall and other security measures have already been posted on flickr or other websites, sharing tools and blogs. A quick search shows that there's a flickr group for photos relating to APEC's Sydney meeting, including shots of the fence and security measures around the summit. Although it only had 30 photos as of time of posting, I'm sure it will grow. There are heaps more photos on flickr, as a search of the combination of the tags APEC, Sydney, security and protests will reveal.

But I'm also angry that police should be stopping people from taking photos of what is so clearly visible to the public, and in the public domain. It is such an overreaction by the police, but more importantly a dangerous limitation on our freedoms – to observe, document, report and broadcast on the actions of the state. I think it is important to kick-up a fuss on such things, otherwise the next thing we'll find is police trying to stop – on similarly baseless arguments – legal observers and other witnesses to police actions against protesters from taking photos, documenting police actions and compiling evidence for possible future complaints of police assault or misconduct.

That is why I'm publishing the photo of The Wall here – an act of defiance and protest. Let's see the police trying to ask blogger, flickr, and a host of others to remove this photos from the internet! It's the least I can do all these miles away here in Melbourne.

[Image of the security fence by mpesce (cc) of flickr]

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 6:08 pm   4 comments

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Push comes to shove

I got this email from Avaaz.org's Ricken Patel, reporting on the progress of their campaign to secure global agreement on greenhouse gas emission targets at this week's G8 summit. It makes for exciting news, as it shows that other countries are serious about climate change, even if Australia's government isn't, or Bush's US administration is playing spoiler. They surpassed their target of 250 thousand signatures, and are aiming for 333,000! He reports:
Our campaign against global warming is on fire! World leaders meet at the G8+5 summit this week--and they're listening to us. Friday morning, we banged boxes of 265,000 names down on the top German negotiator's table in Berlin. Taken aback, he promised to bring our voice into the negotiations, and said he'd track how fast our petition grows. On Saturday, with another 10,000 signatures overnight, we marched at the head of the climate march in Rostock, with tens of thousands peacefully demanding urgent action. Now we're in touch with top officials from France, the UK and Brazil, all following our campaign as they decide on a strong stand.

Let's turn the heat up even higher. Can you help us get to 333,333 voices for change--the biggest global climate petition ever--before the summit decision? One last push, together, to avert a planetary catastrophe. …

 The energy here in Germany is electric. Every few hours, new reports come in as governments manoeuvre. Amidst the politics, our campaign draws a clear line: a swift global agreement with binding emissions targets.

When we met with Chancellor Angela Merkel's top representative who chairs the talks, he promised us Germany wouldn't compromise-- then on Sunday Merkel came through for us, the Brits followed suit, and now Brazil and China have joined the call for a global UN-led process. Bush has started to move but his proposals would be a step back, the US people and Congress are already way ahead of him.

The summit leaders can tell a global movement is brewing. Our petition, this simple list of names from every corner of the globe, is a sign politicians can see and touch. These talks always come down to the wire-- so it's crucial for world leaders to know how much the global public wants them to stop the climate crisis.

The summit opens Wednesday, ends Friday. This is crunch time. So just for a moment, put aside whatever you're doing and help us get to a third of a million signatures-- urge your friends and family to sign the petition here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/climate_summit

We know leaders are watching. Let's make their jaws drop.

If you haven't already signed the petition, please do. And tell your friends, family – and readers – to do so.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 10:15 am   1 comments

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Help push the G8 on global warming emissions cuts

Global online campaign group Avaaz.org (whom I've mentioned before) are running an online petition campaign to push the upcoming G8+5 summit in Germany to adopt seriously effective cuts to greeehouse gas emission:
From 6-8 June, the leaders of the biggest polluting countries in the world are meeting in Germany at the G8+5 summit. Between them, their countries produce over 70% of global warming emissions. But while climate change is the top issue on their agenda, the Bush administration is trying to prevent any serious commitment to action.
The Germans are pushing for the stronger cuts (inspired in part, I believe, by the success of earlier G8 targeted global warming campaigns), but Avaaz.org is saying that the Bush administration is "attempting to derail any serious progress".

They've received 240,645 signatures. Help them to reach their 250 thousand goal and sign their petition here.

A massive march on global warming in Rostock, Germany, is also expected, timed with the G8+5 summit. Let's see if the 'world' leaders listen.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 3:44 pm   1 comments

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Happy May Day – I hope

If you come from a unionist, left-wing tradition or personal history as I do, May Day holds much in the way of a celebration of successes, sentimentality at things past and lost, and hopefully a promise of more to gain. It is a day for workers around the world to observe a day of rest, struggle or celebration to note what has been won, lost or fought for in workers rights. And to wave about their red flags. Tonight's news will quite likely feature footage of a fair number of worker and activist rallies across Europe and South America.

In Australia under Howard's WorkChoices, workers and trade unions may think that the industrial relations environment couldn't get much worse, and thus supporting the ALP to form government at the next election may be the best thing – for working families, as they say. Considering how bad things have been under Howard, it is hard to not share that attitude.

This May Day, however, it is difficult to digest the extent of this desperation – that not two days ago the ALP National Conference supported Kevin Rudd's changes to ALP IR policy, including attacks on workers' right to strike. Under Rudd's policy, workers will be forced to hold a secret ballot before any strike action can be called. This effectively stymies workers' capacity to take advantage of timing or the momentum in a struggle or 'dispute', and hamstrings their ability to take urgent action. It gives management the upper hand.

Rudd's policy overturns significant ALP policy:
The right to strike did not exist in Australian law until 1993, when the Keating government introduced enterprise bargaining. But unionists have long claimed such a right as crucial, and Australia is a signatory to the International Labour Organisation convention that recognises a universal right to strike.
As a centrist, or a conservative by any other name, Rudd has taken great pains to court the business end of town and reassure them that an ALP government would be pro-industry. To secure any chance of governing, the ALP believes it must appease business. The threat of a business backlash is the last thing Rudd wants or needs. By attacking workers' right to strike, The Age suggests that Rudd is aiming "for the middle ground on the crucial election issue of industrial relations."

As Michelle Grattan wrote in The Age a couple of weeks ago,
Kevin Rudd's industrial relations policy tries to juggle Labor's union backers, voters alienated by the harsher aspects of WorkChoices, and a business community that doesn't want a backward step. He's promising workers this will be a fairer, gentler system, while telling business and economic pundits that union clout won't be wrecking the economy.

Inevitably, neither unions nor business will be satisfied.
I wonder if the union movement feels whether they have much to celebrate today.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 3:07 pm   0 comments

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Global warming online action in Australia

The local twist on Avaaz.org's campaign for government action on global warming is from Australian online campaigning group GetUp! Australia. They've also been running an online campaign to get global warming action on the Australian government's agenda.

Their latest tack is to get people to write to their federal Australian Labor Party MPs and Senators to pressure the ALP to take adopt policies that seriously tackle global warming. This is timely, as Kevin Rudd is convening a National Climate Change Summit in Canberra this Saturday. GetUp says:
The next government of Australia can and must take immediate, practical steps to reverse global warming. That's why GetUp's Five Point Action Agenda calls on the next Federal Parliament of Australia to:

1) Ratify Kyoto and commit to 30 % reduction of greenhouse gases emissions by 2020
2) Introduce an emissions trading scheme with significant caps on carbon emissions
3) Lead a green energy revolution to slash our vast amounts of energy waste
4) Make renewable energy law, with a 12% legislated electricity target from renewable energy by 2012
5) Invest in a public transport system fit for the 21st century
The ALP is also gearing up for its National Conference – its main internal policy forum – in the lead up to the federal election this year.

Also good timing because Nicholas Sterne, is in Australia, and will meet Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and PM John Howard. Sterne, author of the report, The Sterne Review, on the impact of global warming on the world economy, warned there would be a massive bill unless urgent action is taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions. According to ABC News Online,
He will be urging the Federal Government and the Opposition to take the lead in setting targets to cut emissions and put a price on carbon.

His report … also recommends countries like Australia convert to solar and wind energy now and push ahead with new technologies to tackle global warming.
You can write your ALP representative via the GetUp campaign website.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 5:07 pm   1 comments

Global (online) action on global warming

It looks like online campaigning can work to channel the groundswell of public concern over global warming into effective action to influence governments. According to Ben Wikler from Avaaz.org, at the G8 environment ministers' meeting in Germany a couple of weeks ago,
… Avaaz campaigners hand-delivered our 100,000-signature climate change petition to the environment ministers of the world's most polluting countries. It worked. The chair of the meeting waved the petition in the air, calling on his fellow ministers to act--and they agreed that climate change would be the #1 issue at the G8 summit in June.
Apparently, Avaaz.org campaigner Iain Keith presented the petition to German environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, who held up the petition in his closing speech, saying:
"Thanks to increased pressure from people around the world," he said, "the tide is turning. When an international NGO can gather this many signatures" (here he holds up the petition), "we cannot ignore this problem anymore... As Environmental ministers, we have a responsibility both to the environment and our voters to make sure our heads of state act!"
German Chancellor and G8 President Angela Merkel has promised to put climate change at the top of the agenda for the G8 Leaders Summit. Remember, this is Germany's new conservative government – taking active steps to push governments to act on global warming.

With momentum on their side, Avaaz.org wants to "keep the focus on the climate issue by showing that the call for action is growing," and keep-up the pressure to ensure climate change gets on the agenda for the next G8 summit. They wanted to reach 150,000 signatures by Tuesday (yesterday) – which is today European time – so if you're in Australia or anywhere east of Europe, you may still have time to sign the Avaaz.org petition here.

There is more on the Avaaz.org campaigning at the G8 environment summit from their blog.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 3:26 pm   3 comments

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Flag burners unite

I wasn't able to come up with anything clever, insightful or helpful to contribute to the storm in a teacup that is the Australian polity's new-found passion for defending the honour of the Australian flag – against rock festival organisers.

Instead, I urge you to go read Tim's great tongue-in-cheek post on the matter over at Sarsaparilla. He just captures it so well.
If popular music is about anything, it’s about conformity, obedience, and respect for the values of the broader community. Waving an Aussie flag while moshing is a time-honoured tradition.
Do you recall any commentators or politicians condemning the Aussie rioters at Cronulla beach in 2005 for demeaning the flag with their racist violence?

Now, in case you think I'm exposing a double standard here – defending the right to free speech over t-shirts while suggesting that the Big Day Out organisers had some grounds to ban festival goers from waving around the Australian, or any other, flag – I'd like to draw a distinction between the freedom of political expression and jingoistic, flag-waving ultra-nationalism – of the type so inextricably linked to white racism that we saw in Cronulla, or the Croatian and Serbian ultra-nationalism seen recently at Melbourne's Tennis Open.

For more context, I suggest you check out antipopper's 'Let it burn'.

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 12:26 pm   0 comments

Monday, January 22, 2007

t-shirt politics, satire and free speech

There is no sublime in this ridiculousness. ABC Radio 774 AM talk-back this morning ran hot over the story of a man who was prevented from boarding his Qantas flight from Melbourne to London because he refused to remove his t-shirt (and put on a Qantas one instead). His t-shirt bore an image of George Bush with the caption "World's Greatest Terrorist" (or something like that). The passenger, Alan Jasson, 55, refused to remove his shirt and insisted on his right to wear what he wished. He says:
"I have a right to my political views and no one can take them away from me".
Qantas refused to allow him to board because they insisted the t-shirt's message would upset and insult other passengers and posed a security risk. When asked to explain its actions, Qantas claimed they had the right to prevent from its flights anything that threatened the security of the company!!! Since when was a t-shirt a threat to security? Because it criticises Bush? Can our culture stoop any lower in its obsequiousness to our American overloads? This is certainly an attack against free speech, and, importantly, political speech!

So, I'm sharing my little token of resistance (see above, published under my Creative Commons license) – particularly as many responses on ABC radio this morning were "where can I get that t-shirt?". If you're serious to get your mitts on a Bush-is-an-idiot type t-shirt, check out this listing of anti-Bush t-shirts on CafePress.

But, the anti-free speech wowserism doesn't stop there. We now have comedy and satire in the dock in New South Wales. While the story first broke when he was arrested and charged when performing his TV stunt, Chasers' War on Everything (ABC TV) comedian Chas Licciardello is back in the news "facing a Sydney court today, charged over a comedy skit filmed outside a rugby league game last year."

Licciardello pleaded not guilty to charges of offensive behaviour in a public place. "The comedian was arrested by police after they found him selling fake Bulldogs paraphernalia including knives, knuckledusters and flares," states ABC News online. He was basically running a gag on the violence in the rivalry between Rugby League teams – in the aftermath of "the incident which happened outside a game between the St George-Illawarra Dragons and the Canterbury Bulldogs at Kogarah."

It was a gag! He was poking fun at thugishness and violence in Rugby League, especially the supporters of a team with a reputation for violence against opposing teams' supporters – as demonstrated in the incident mentioned above. He now faces charges for offensive behaviour! How ridiculous can things get? I do think that one of the signs of intensifying conservatism in any society – and the stresses this creates – is increasing restrictions on free speech and scrutiny of artists, comedians writers, and the public generally. And especially when it stomps on its clowns.

I dread the time when we have to print 'Free Chas' t-shirts…

[Image by me, shared under the terms of my Creative Commons license. Feel free to download it and put it on your blog/website (print quality would be crap for anything large, sorry) or turn it into badges, but please do credit me and don't make money off it!]

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 5:27 pm   2 comments

Monday, December 11, 2006

They are dancing in the street

And I wish I were in Santiago to dance with them. And that’s because Augusto Pinochet, Chile’s former brutal dictator, has died – a week after a heart attack. He was 91. Despite his dictatorship finally crumbling over a decade ago, the old man can still make the headlines – but mainly for cheating justice.

He still has his supporters, the most noteworthy amongst his international ones being Margaret Thatcher, who was saddened by the news of his death (to me, one of the most unfortunate things about Thatcher’s reign was her support for Pinochet and other anti-communist heavies and her wishy-washiness over opposing South Africa’s arpatheid regime).

Not so saddened was human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, who told ABC radio this morning:
“If there is a Hell, he’s certainly burning in it as we speak.”
Robertson is annoyed that Pinochet escaped justice –first by being declared too ill to stand trial and thus not be extradited to Spain to face charges, and now going and dieing. Not wanting death to let other dictators, war criminals and torturers wriggling off the hook, Robertson reckons we should "Get them now”.

As an undergrad, I befriended a number of the Chileans who fled Pinochet, his military junta and secret police and had made Australia their home. Many of them were actively involved in left-wing solidarity campaigns against the dictatorship and then to bring justice to the thousands of victims and survivors of the torture, prison camps, and murder and ‘disappearance’ that had characterised Pinochet’s brutal reign. Axis of Evel Knievel has an excellent post on Pinochet, marking Pinochet’s 25 November birthday.

Even after Pinochet lost a plebiscite on his rule and loosened his grip over power, I remember joining in a campus protest against a visiting post-Pinochet Chilean government leader who visited our university to receive an honorary degree (whose name I forget). He had been identified as a collaborator with Pinochet’s army at the time of the coup against the Socialist Allende government in 1973.

I was also horrified to learn from them that the ship – ostensibly a leisure ship – the Chilean delegation used to visit our shores and host a state function on – had been a Chilean navy prison ship where left-wing activists had been imprisoned and tortured. It had just tarted up. What got my Chilean friends so upset was the efforts underway in post-Pinochet Chile to forget, renovate, and erase the memories of the dictartorship – as if it were just a bad dream that had to be shaken off, before Chile could then go on with being a ‘civilised’ modern nation with a great neo-liberal economy.

I understand their horror that the terrible things that Pinochet and the military did were being swept under the carpet, and their burning desire for justice. It was inspiring to hear them talk of their struggle for true democracy and freedom.

I am sure they are celebrating in Australia now too. If there is a party, I’d like to join in. Hey guys, this one's for you!

Update: There is a party! of sorts: it is a protest too. Chilean and other Latin American activists in Melbourne have organised a celebration of Pinochet's death, and a protest against the Chilean government's plans to honour the dictator with 'a "funeral service with “honours” and “tributes”…'. It will be Tuesday 12 December in Federation Square at 12 noon. We are all invited. [Updated at 5.25 pm]

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posted by Mark Lawrence @ 12:02 pm   1 comments