Solidarity with Aotearoa/NZ arrestees – International Day of Action October 29, 2007

Under the slogan “Activism is not Terrorism” about 70 Melburnians joined a protest rally at Federation Square at noon on Saturday 27 October – one of a series of such rallies scheduled across the world to express opposition to the recent and ongoing attacks on activists and dissent in Aotearoa/NZ. MC was long-time Indigenous Rights activist Robbie Thorpe of the Krautungalung people of the Gunnai Nation, the traditional owners of Lake Tyers. Other speakers included Sina Brown, Sina Brown, Polynesian Anti Globalisation Activist;Marisol Salinas Mapuche, Environmental Activist, Lasnet; Rayna Fahey, Treaty, Green Activist; Will Anderson from Civil Rights Defence; Liz Thompson, Ongoing G20 Arrestees Solidarity Network, FairWear; and Anthony Main, Alliance for Civil Disobedience Coordination, Socialist Party. Waiata/song was provided by Ivan Davis (Tainui). Statements were also read out by representatives of the Anarchist Black Cross ( see http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/74026/index.php) and Socialist Alliance ( see http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/729/37796) – and there was an open mic session at the end. As reported elsewhere (http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/74008/index.php) there was also fundraising involving cupcakes …
See also:
http://www.indymedia.org.nz/
and:
http://www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz

There is video of the rally on EngageMedia:
http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/pc/videos/27oct07-nz-small.avi/view

“Protect Your Kid’s Future” – Unions rally against WorkChoices and the Howard Government, 26 September 07 September 28, 2007

Ignoring threats of fines for taking part, thousands of workers, many with their children – it being school holidays – rallied at Trades Hall in Melbourne on Wednesday 26 September, before marching through the CBD to Flinders Street, under the banner “Don’t give Howard another shot! – Protect your Kid’s Future.” Estimates of numbers varied, as always, from the ‘official’ 15,000 to a perhaps rather optimistic 40,000. As an indication of the size – the march down Swanston Street took more than 15 minutes to pass my vantage point.
Not all unions supported the callout, whether from fear of sanctions or anxiety about rocking the ALP boat before the upcoming elections, and once again it was construction and manufacturing workers who demonstrated why they are the Government’s prime target – though they were strongly backed by the health and education sectors, and a contingent on Young Unionists, not to mention Union Solidarity. The ALP itself was invisible, if present, the Greens easily putting them to shame, along with the Socialist Party and the ubiquitous Socialist Alternative and Socialist Alliance. According to the Government, the whole thing was only a stunt, with Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey saying the march had been ‘orchestrated by the Labor Party’…
Speakers at the start included Brian Boyd, Secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, Jeff Lawrence, newly appointed Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Father Peter Norden SJ, Associate Director of Jesuit Social Services and Parish Priest of St Ignatius Church in Richmond, with Ann Taylor, President of the VTHC, acting as MC. Both here and after the march there was also a chance to hear from workers – mostly young – who had been victims of the new climate created by the Howard Government’s anti-worker laws, and the whole event was framed by music – the Trades Hall choir and “Union Maid” at the start, Cathie O’Brien at the end.
Links -
Media reports:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/rally-workers-risk-fines/2007/09/25/1190486310040.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/workplace-rally-draws-15000/2007/09/26/1190486359143.html
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070925/2/14igi.html

Other:
http://www.vthc.org.au/
http://www.vthc.org.au/index.cfm?section=5&category=101 (Young Unionists Network)
http://www.unionsolidarity.org/
http://www.catherineobrien.com/
http://www.unionmaid.com.au

There is some rough-cut video footage of this event on EngageMedia:

http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/pc/videos/26sept-engage.avi/view