Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Protest GSL 14 May 2009 - Justice for Mr Ward


Dear Friends

You are invited to particpate in a Community Picket outside the Western Australian Office of Global Solutions (GSL).

The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee of Western Austalia Inc. and the Justice for Mr Ward Community Campaign strongly urge you to demonstrate your outrage at the death of Mr. Ward , demand that the two GSLOfficers responsible for transporting Mr. Ward be immediately stood down from operational duties and your disgust at GSL's continued disregard for Human Rights in Australia.


WHEN: WHERE: 140 Abernethy Road, Belmont, West Australian Court Security & Custodial Services (GSL Office)

The 14 May 2009 marks the day on which the Coronial Inquest into the death of Mr Ward is scheduled to end. It is the view of the Commuity Campaign that while the resposnibility for the death of Mr. Ward must lay with the State of Western Australia, we want to bring to the public's attention the appauling human rights record of GSL in Australia and send a strong message to the State of Western Australia that they should terminate their 'partnership' with this company.

Please find attached flyers publicising the Community Picket and a summary of the reported circumstances surrounding Mr. Ward's death and GSL's contract with the State of Western Australia. Please circulate to your networks, print copies of the flyer and distribute as widely as as you can.

Make your voices heard on 14 th May!!!

Regards

Marc Newhouse

CHAIR

DEATHS IN CUSTODY WATCH COMMITTEE INC
LINK: A5 flyer (PDF)
LINK: 2xA5 flyer on A4 (PDF)
LINK: The story so far (PDF)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

GLW report on Freo SA Meltdown Forum


Socialists, Greens collaborate in Fremantle by-election

Alex Bainbridge, Perth 25 April 2009 [From Green Left Weekly #792]

Greens candidate Adele Carles and Socialist Alliance candidate Sam Wainwright argued for cooperation among progressive candidates in election campaigns at an April 22 meeting. Both activists are contesting the May 16 Fremantle by-election.

Carles and Wainwright spoke together at a Fremantle Socialist Alliance forum of more than 25 people.

Wainwright spoke about the need to build a working class response to the global capitalist crisis. This response would have to include expanding public ownership of major industries.

He said WA’s mining wealth should be owned by the people so that the government received the full revenue, and not just royalties, from mining projects. For unsustainable mining industries, such as coal and gas, Wainwright said any revenue should be used to fund renewable energy alternatives to help phase out the use of fossil fuels.

Carles has a background as a community campaigner in the Fremantle area. She was a leading activist in the Save South Beach campaign. The campaign opposed a luxury housing development in breach of the then Labor government’s own policy guidelines.

Like Wainwright, she spoke of the need to build a grassroots people’s movement to achieve progressive change.

Volunteers to travel to Kalgoorlie inquest


Alex Bainbridge, Perth 25 April 2009 (Green Left Weekly #792)

The Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee is organising volunteers to travel to Kalgoorlie for the next stage of the Coronial Inquest into the January 2008 death of Warburton elder Mr Ward. The inquest reopens on May 11.

Ward died in January 2008 during a four-hour journey in the back of a non-airconditioned van on a 42°C day. He was in the custody of prison management company Global Solutions Limited (GSL).

As well ass travelling to Kalgoorlie, the committee has called a picket outside GSL headquarters on May 14. GSL provides privatised custodial services to the WA police. The company plans to win more contracts from the state government.

The committee is also organising a “Highways to Human Rights” fundraiser at the Charles Hotel in North Perth on May 1. Performers include the Bartlett Brothers, the Old Flames Band, the Warangka Band, Candice Lorrae and the Gang of Three.

The Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee meets weekly on Wednesday nights at the Unions WA, CSA building, 4th floor, 445 Hay St, Perth.

[For more information call (08) 9444 1930. Donations to the “Ward Campaign” can be made to BSB 086 082 Acct 4549 41411.]

Friday, April 24, 2009

Justice for Mr Ward campaign continues


Highway to Human Rights - fundraiser for the Justice for Ward Campaign

Bartlett Brothers
Old Flames Band
Warangka Band
Candice Lorrae
Gang of Three


Friday 1 May
Charles Hotel, 509 Charles St, North Perth
$20 entry. Doors open 7pm

All proceeds from this event are for the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee WA Inc ¨Ward Campaign¨ for justice and human rights

Enquiries 9444 1930 dicwc@iinet.net.au or info@kulturejam.com



The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee WA Inc would like to extend to you an invitation to -

'KULTUREJAM'

'Highway to Human Rights' Fundraiser

Friday 1st May 2009

The Charles Hotel, Charles St, North Perth

Doors Open 7pm

$20 entry at the door

**LOADS OF FUN AND PRIZES TO BE WON ON THE NIGHT**

Come and enjoy a great night out of live music and support a worthwhile cause at the same time!


All proceeds of the ticket sales go directly to the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee WA Inc campaign for Justice and Human Rights for Wongai Elder Mr Ward.

Have a
FUNtastic night out in supporting the community and human rights.


Live Music from:

The Bartlett Brothers, Gang of Three, Old Flames Band, Candice Lorrae and Warangka Band!


"All the artists and volunteers performing on the night have graciously donated their time to supporting this campaign and fundraising event. Without them this event would not have been possible" - DICWC

See the flyer attached. Please print and display prominently at your work place or e-mail to your networks.

Hope to see you there. Spread the word through your networks and display this information for others to see!

In appreciation,


The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee (WA) Inc
P. O Box 8196
Perth Business Centre
WA 6849
Ph: 9444-1930
E: dicwc@iinet.net.au

Donations to the 'Ward Campaign' can be made via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to National Australia Bank Account BSB: 086082 Account Number: 454941411 OR by cheque made out to 'DICWC Ward Campaign'.
Donors can identify themselves or remain anonymous. Please remember to send a copy of your deposit transaction so we can send you a reciept.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Fremantle: Meltdown - How to save jobs and the environment


Fremantle Socialist Alliance Forum

MELTDOWN
How to save jobs and the environment

The economic crisis sweeping the globe raises the spectre of mass unemployment on a scale we haven’t seen for a long time. Already people are losing their jobs in WA. At the same time we face an environmental emergency that demands urgent action.

This forum will discuss pro-worker and pro-environment solutions.

Speakers:
Sam Wainwright (Socialist Alliance candidate for Fremantle)
Adele Carles (Greens candidate for Fremantle)

6.30pm Wed April 22
Fremantle Education Centre
Cantonment St (next to Clancy's)
Entry by donation.
Ph 0412 751 508 or fremantle@socialist-alliance.org

The Vagina Monologues - Curtin & UWA


The Vagina Monologues

Until The Violence Stops

The Vagina Monologues is an international play that has become a phenomenon! It is a series of monologues performed by local Perth women at both Curtin Universtiy and the University of Western Australia. The play helps to raise money for organisations who raise awareness and work to stop sexual violence against women and girls.

Every monologue somehow relates to the vagina, be it through sex, love, rape, menstruation, mutilation, masturbation, birth, orgasm, the variety of names for the vagina, or simply as a physical aspect of the body. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality

Come along to see an awesome performance and support a worthwhile cause.


Monday 20th of April

Doors open 7.30pm

Elizabeth Jolly Lecture Theatre

Curtin University


Friday 24th of April

Doors open 7.30pm

Social Science Lecture Theatre

University of Western Australia


Tickets are $10 each on sale now, get them quick. To reserve tickets or pick them up please call Rhiahnon on 0404 163 288 or email rhiahnonkennedy@gmail.com


Change The Story Of Women!

Join Us As We Raise Funds And Awareness To End Violence Against Women And Girls

On the 20th and 24th of April 2009, at 7.30pm, VDay Perth will present a two night only benefit reading of Eve Ensler’s award wining play The Vagina Monologues at Curtin and UWA.

Last year over 4000 V-Day benefits took place around the world raising funds and awareness towards ending violence against women. Since 1998, V-Day and these highly successful events have raised over $60 million for local beneficiaries working to end violence against women and girls. Hot on the heels of their success, Perth has joined this global movement as part of the VDay 2009 College Campaign.

For the third year in a row Curtin University (along side with UWA) will present a benefit production of The Vagina Monologues at Elizabeth Jolly Lecture Theatre (Curtin University) and Social Science Lecture Theatre (University of WA) on the 20th and 24th, 2009 at 7.30pm on behalf of the V‑Day 2009 Campaign. This benefit production is sponsored by The Curtin Women’s Department, Curtin Student Guild and the Curtin Centre for Human Rights Education.

What is V‑Day?
V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.

Through V-Day campaigns, local volunteers and college students produce annual benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer, and screenings of V-Day’s documentary Until The Violence Stops to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups within their own communities. 2009 V-Day events have the option to introduce a new V-Day theatrical event, Any One Of Us: Words From Prison, which reveals the connection between women in prison and the violence that often brings them there. This new event will bring forth raw voices of fierceness and honesty written by women from prisons across the nation and performed by local women. In 2008, over 4000 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls.

Performance is just the beginning. V-Day stages large-scale benefits and produces innovative gatherings, films and campaigns to educate and change social attitudes towards violence against women including the documentary Until the Violence Stops; community briefings on the missing and murdered women of Juárez, Mexico; the December 2003 V-Day delegation trip to Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan; the Afghan Women's Summit; the March 2004 delegation to India; the Stop Rape Contest, the Indian Country Project, Love Your Tree, the June 2006 two-week festival of theater, spoken word, performance and community events called UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS: NYC which welcomed 2,000 runners in Prospect Park running to demand an end to violence, witnessed 50 actresses and over 100 writers contributing their genius, time and talent to sold out events, and reached millions through media and a citywide subway and bus campaign. In 2008, V-Day celebrated its 10-year anniversary at V TO THE TENTH at the New Orleans Arena and Louisiana Superdome. V TO THE TENTH featured two days of speakers, art, performance for all and makeovers, massage, medical testing and healing circles, and yoga for the women of the Gulf South Region. The event was attended by over 30,000 women and men and reached millions of people all over the word, raising over $700,000 for local efforts in New Orleans to end violence against women and girls.

In Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, V-Day commits ongoing support to build movements and anti-violence networks. Working with local organizations, V-Day provided hard-won funding that helped open the first shelters for women in Egypt and Iraq, sponsored annual workshops and three national campaigns in Afghanistan, convened the "Confronting Violence" conference of South Asian women leaders, and donated satellite-phones to Afghan women to keep lines of communication open and action plans moving forward. Through the Karama program based out of Cairo, V-Day works in-depth to build networks ending violence against women and girls in Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

The V-Day movement is growing at a rapid pace throughout the world, in 120 countries from Europe to Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and all of North America. V-Day, a non-profit corporation, distributes funds to grassroots, national and international organizations and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls. In 2001, V-Day was named one of Worth Magazine's "100 Best Charities" and in 2006 one of Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities. In ten years, the V-Day movement has raised over $60 million.

To learn more about VDay Perth call 0404 163 288 or e-mail the organiser Rhiahnon Kennedy at rhiahnonkennedy@gmail.com To learn more about VDay and its campaigns visit www.vday.org.

What is a V-Day Campaign?

A V-Day Campaign is a catalyst for mobilizing women and men to heighten awareness about violence against women and girls. By creating this global community, V-Day strives to empower women to find their collective voices and demand an end to the violence that affects one in three women in the U.S and around the world.

VDay Perth is a local effort within the worldwide context of the 2009 V-Day Campaign.

What are The Vagina Monologues

Hailed by The New York Times as "funny" and "poignant" and by the Daily News as "intelligent" and "courageous," The Vagina Monologues, which was first performed off-Broadway by Ms. Ensler, dives into the mystery, humor, pain, power, wisdom, outrage and excitement buried in women’s experiences. Ms. Ensler has performed the play to great acclaim throughout the world - from Zagreb to Santa Barbara, from London to Seattle, from Jerusalem to Oklahoma City. Villard Books/Random House first published The Vagina Monologues, which includes a foreword by Gloria Steinem, in February 1998. A special VDay edition of the play was released in February 2001 and V-Day’s ten year anniversary edition of The Vagina Monologues was released n hard over and paperback in February of 2008.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

ANZAC day peace commemoration


ANZAC Peace commemoration 25-4-09 Ph 9299 6453 Please enable images

HILLS NO WAR ALLIANCE

Capt. Hugo Throssell VC

Sunset Memorial

ANZAC Day Peace Commemoration

Hugo Throssell was awarded the VC for bravery at Hill 60, Gallipoli, where he was severely wounded.

He returned to active service and was again wounded in the 1917 Battle of Gaza, in which his brother was killed.

Hugo Throssell did not support ANZAC Day. He became a peace campaigner and refused to glorify war.

Join us to remember all those killed in war, all those disabled in war, all those orphaned in war, all women raped in war, the Earth damaged by war and the war against Aboriginal Australians.

Gather: in the grounds of:

Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre

11 Old York Road, Greenmount

(corner Old York Road & Great Eastern Highway)

5:00 pm ANZAC Day, April 25

Hills No War Alliance 9299 6453

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Socialist Alliance helps break the blockade of Cuba


The following letter was presented to Cuban Ambassador to Australia, Abelardo Curbelo-Padron along with an external hard drive to assist the work of the Cuban Trade Union movement. The presentation took place at the Australia-Cuba Friendship Societies National Consultation 4 April 2009.


Dear comrades of the Cuban trade union movement,

On March 14 the East/Hills branch of the Socialist alliance held a public meeting at which two of our members, Annolies Truman and Barry Healy, talked about their experiences in Venezuela and Cuba.

They spoke of your struggle to help Cuban workers lead society out of the Special Period and of the enormous challenges that Cuba faces. They explained the some of the admirable achievements of socialist Cuba in the areas of health, education and agriculture.

We learned about the restrictions placed on the CTC's work by the illegal blockade that the United Sates of America imposes on Cuba.

At our public meeting we invited people to join us in breaking the blockade by making a donation to buy a piece of computer equipment for the CTC. Our members and supporters were pleased to be able to strike against the unjust blockade.

We ask that you accept this hard drive as a token for our regard for your courage and determination. We admire your work from afar and draw inspiration from it for our own struggles.

Venceremos!

Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

Members of the East/Hills branch of the Socialist Alliance

Friday, April 3, 2009

Socialist Alliance contests Fremantle by-election


Union activist, waterside worker, community campaigner and former Young Labor leader named as Socialist candidate for Fremantle by-election

3 April 2009
The Socialist Alliance is pleased to announce that its candidate in the May 16 Fremantle by-election will be Sam Wainwright. Wainwright, aged 38 is a wharfie, member of the Maritime Union of Australia and activist in the Fremantle Community Solidarity group.

Wainwright is a former member of the ALP and was Secretary of Young Labor in Tasmania where he grew up. He commented, “Both the Liberals and Labor are loyal servants of big business. Liberal plays tough cop while Labor plays soft cop. It’s long overdue that we have a discussion in this country about creating a 100% pro-worker, pro-environment and pro-community political force. That’s what we want to do in this election.”

As a waterside worker Wainwright is particularly passionate about the environmental, planning and social challenges relating to Fremantle Port. He said, “Because the Fremantle Port Authority like Western Power was corporatised, it functions like any other profit hungry business at the expense of its workers and the community it is supposed to serve. Witness its ludicrous ING property development which has nothing to do with running a port.”

He continued, “The corporatisation of state government owned instrumentalities must be reversed. The CEOs should be removed and replaced with boards elected by the community and people that work there, and state government representatives. Let the community decide what hazardous cargoes they are prepared to have loaded there, how the port should be developed and so on.”

He went further, “Stevedoring operations should also be taken out of the hands of private operators and assumed by the state as well. It’s long overdue that we reverse all the privatisation that has taken place and expand the state sector.”

Wainwright explained, “In order to confront the challenges of the recession and halt global warming, vital sectors of the economy such as transport, telecommunications, power and mining need to be nationalised and community controlled. Without this we will simply not be able to protect peoples’ living standards or save the planet. Look at the Pacific Brands debacle and Kevin Rudd’s worse than useless emissions trading scheme. Yet to my knowledge Socialist Alliance will be the only party advocating this course.”

On global warming he said, “We are committed to the campaign to convert Australia’s power generation to 100% renewables by 2020. This means no expansion of coal fired power at Collie. Instead this must be rapidly phased out and the region developed as a centre for the production of renewable energy technologies.”

For more comment contact Sam Wainwright 0412 751 508 or fremantle@socialist-alliance.org

Canadian Eco-Socialist speaking in Perth 3 April 09


Photos from the presentation:




Climate Change: Is capitalism destroying the planet?

Guest speaker:
Ian Angus (Canada)
Editor of Climate and Capitalism (an online eco-socialist journal published in Canada). He is also associate editor of Socialist Voice and a founding member of the Ecosocialist International Network.

6.30pm, Fri 3 April
Resistance Centre
15 / 5 Aberdeen St, East Perth (just near McIver Station)
Ph 9218 9608, 0413 976 638

$10/$5 (solidarity price: $20)



Ian Angus is in Australia to attend the
World At A Crossroads - Fighting For Socialism in the 21st Century
conference

Sydney, Easter 2009
www.WorldAtaCrossroads.org