MANHATTAN (CN) - An Occupy Wall Street activist declared the start of a hunger strike Thursday night outside Lincoln Center after the curtain fell on the Metropolitan Opera's final performance of "Satyagraha," a show inspired, fittingly, by Mohandas Gandhi.

After bowing to a capacity crowd of about 3,800 standing operagoers "Satyagraha" composer Philip Glass joined the demonstrators on the street side of a metal barricade separating them from the city-owned plaza.

Hundreds echoed an English translation of a passage of the Bhagavad Gita spoken into the so-called People's Mic by Glass.

"Whenever the law of righteousness withers away and lawlessness arises, then do I generate myself on earth," Glass said.

"I come into being age after age and take a visible shape and move a man with men for the protection of good, thrusting the evil back and setting virtue on her seat again."

Minutes earlier, tenor Richard Croft sang those words in Sanskrit as Gandhi, while an uncredited actor playing Martin Luther King Jr. mimed a thundering speech on a raised platform, with his back turned from the audience.

Onstage, black-and-white images of police brutalizing civil rights-era protesters shined upon a wall, which parted to reveal a bright blue sky in the production's final image.

Scenes of nonviolent civil disobedience continued outside the Metropolitan Opera House.

Many audience members disobeyed police orders to clear the plaza and stepped up to the Lincoln Center-side of the barricade. Security guards pulled several aside, but eventually resigned themselves to letting people stand on both sides of the divide.

The next morning, a New York Police Department spokesman said that none of the carted-away demonstrators had been arrested.

Officially, guards demanded that protesters respect a metal barricade blocking off a plaza.

Though most of it remained intact, many activists straddled it, shook it loose and passed through it during the three-hour demonstration.

Just as enormous puppets populated the stage of the opera, Occupy Wall Street activists carried a roughly 15-foot Lady Liberty, with one of her hands waving a victory sign.

Glass was not the only iconic artist to step up to the People's Mic that night.

Famed glam rocker Lou Reed humbly introduced himself as a "musician in New York," saying that as a citizen he had "never been more ashamed than to see the barricades tonight."

Mocking Mayor Michael Bloomberg's recent boast that he commanded the "seventh largest army in the world," Reed fired back, "The police are our army."

Reed's wife, Laurie Anderson, also an iconic musician, urged the crowds to treat "the men and women in blue" as our "colleagues and our friends."

The next speaker, John, who wore a priest's collar and a newsboy hat, told a burly Lincoln Center security guard, "I care about you," and patted one of his broad shoulders.

John also jokingly riffed on Martin Luther King's "Mountaintop" speech, describing the journey to his $80 seats.

"I had to go all the way to the top," he preached. "It was a long climb. It felt like a mountain. I went all the way to the top, and I could barely see. But what I did see was Gandhi. What I did see was Martin Luther King. What I did see was 'truth force.'"

"Truth force" is the English translation of satyagraha, a concept that Glass said the demonstrators embodied.

"When the opera ended, I had to come down off that mountain. What I didn't know is that I would descend into a valley of justice."

Many speakers criticized Lincoln Center for making the prices so steep, while knocking down the salaries of their artists.

Daniel, a recently laid-off opera singer, told the crowd that City Opera general manager George Steel is the "1 percent."

After 14-hour negotiations, Steel allegedly shut down talks and axed former $35,000 salaries to $3,200, with no benefits.

"I know my colleagues support you 100 percent," Daniel said.

At the end of these testimonies, activist Joey Molinaro announced that he would start a hunger strike.

The crowd turned to Lincoln Center's security director Susan Bick, who was standing a short distance away, to demand the cultural landmark "guarantees the freedom of speech and assembly on the city-owned plaza."

Bick walked away with a small entourage as demonstrators made the announcement.

In his hunger strike, Molinaro goes up against a U.S. Court of Appeals decision allowing Lincoln Center to treat the plaza as a "limited public forum," and impose its own guidelines that prohibit leafleting and organized demonstrations.

After the general assembly disbanded, Molinaro told Courthouse News that the security department ignored two of his calls before the in-person announcement, but he believes his protest will not be ignored much longer.

"They'll get a thousand phone calls, emails and negative publicity from around the world, and that's what's going to sway them," he said. "If they buckle, it'll only be out of self-interest."

Occupy Wall Street disseminated his announcement on Internet video, and organizers told the crowds and online viewers dial up city agencies.

"The Department of Cultural Affairs' phone number is 212-513-9300," he said for the cameras.

Update 12/2/11: The Senate passed NDAA. President Obama must veto this disastrous bill.

The new National Defense Authorization Bill (S1867) presented to the Senate by the Armed Services Committee is such a disaster for civil liberties and human rights it is difficult to know where to begin.

Section 1031 of the Bill extends the Congressional Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed after the September 11th attacks to encompass any individual who has “substantially supported” Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or “associated forces”.

This is extraordinarily vague. The phrase ‘associated forces’ is so flexible that it can be used to encompass almost any militant Islamic group in existence from Indonesia to Nigeria. It might include political parties who share some of the militants’ aims but not their methods – like the Hizb ut Tahrir movement active in Western Europe and Australia.

The Bill does not set any territorial limits on where this conflict is being fought. The presumption is that US forces can engage terror groups with kinetic weapons systems wherever they find them – London, Copenhagen, Istanbul and Kampala are all fair game and to hell with consequences for any citizens of those countries who get caught in the middle.

Also alarmingly imprecise is the term “substantially supported.” In the past the Department of Defense has described both writing an opinion piece for The Guardian, a globally respected British newspaper, and detainee suicide as terrorist acts.

To date, this bar has not been set high. Some of those accused of terrorist affiliations have languished for almost a decade at Guantanamo and are still no nearer having their day in court. Requiring trials by Military Commission will simply relegate more accused individuals to the Twilight Zone of indefinite detention.

Article 9 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) requires trial within “a reasonable time” and so this measure also racks up another human rights abuse for the United States government while contributing nothing to the overall security of the American people.

Also, let us not forget that the Military Commissions currently consist of two temporary courtrooms on the Guantanamo Naval Station that have barely managed to process six cases in almost a decade. How on earth does the Senate expect them to cope with such an expanded mission?

One answer might be building more courtrooms, and of course more prisons to hold the accused. Yet, Guantanamo is already the most expensive prison on earth – it currently costs the US taxpayer $800,000 per prisoner per year to run – even a former deputy commander calls it “expensive” and “inefficient”.

So much for slashing government spending – where’s the deficit reduction super committee when you need it?

Even if an individual is exonerated of any wrongdoing, Section 1033 of the Bill requires that they continue to be held in Gitmo if there is a confirmed case of detainee recidivism in that individual’s country of origin.

Imagine if your personal freedom depended on the lawful behavior of every single one of your fellow 350 million US citizens – we’d all be in jail. Finally, there is the military itself to consider. The armed services have a limited criminal investigative capacity and much of that force is already deployed down range in vital counter-terrorist operations.

Giving the military an expanded investigative mission is going to divert resources from the frontlines. That does not seem very smart. No one wants this. Not the military. Not the intelligence community. Not law enforcement. Not the courts. S1867 proposes an ill-conceived fix for a problem that doesn’t exist.

Federal courts have processed hundreds of terrorism-related cases in the decade since 9/11. The process is established, respected, efficient and well supported. The Senate seems to have forgotten T. Bert Lance’s celebrated dictum ‘if ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and, if this Bill passes, we are all going to have to live with the consequences unless President Obama finally shows an appetite to fight for what he once believed in. On the campaign trial Mr. Obama described Military Commissions as “an enormous failure.”

They were then and they still are today. We are calling on President Obama to stand up for America’s courts and veto this legislation if it clears the Hill.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for governments, civil society and the global community to work alongside persons with disabilities, saying their participation is essential to achieve inclusive and sustainable development worldwide.

In his message marking the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, Mr. Ban said that although there has been significant progress in raising awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities and many countries have committed to protect their rights through international agreements, they still experience unequal conditions.

“Persons with disabilities experience higher rates of poverty and deprivation and are twice as likely to lack health care,” Mr. Ban said.

“Employment rates of persons with disabilities in some countries are as low as one third of that of the overall population.”

This year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities reminds us that development can only be sustainable when it is equitable, inclusive and accessible for all.

An estimated 15 per cent of the world’s population has a disability and over two thirds of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, where the gap in primary school attendance rates between children with disabilities and others ranges from 10 per cent to 60 per cent.

“This multi-dimensional exclusion represents a huge cost, not only to persons with disabilities but to society as a whole. This year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities reminds us that development can only be sustainable when it is equitable, inclusive and accessible for all,” Mr. Ban said.

“Persons with disabilities need therefore be included at all stages of development processes, from inception to monitoring and evaluation,” he added.

Echoing Mr. Ban’s remarks, General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said development cannot be inclusive without implementing policies and programmes to help persons with disabilities.

“As we work towards the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and as the agreed date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches, let us seize all opportunities to ensure the inclusion of disability in the development agenda post-2015,” he said.

Mr. Al-Nasser stressed that States already have the tools to make progress on this issue and urged countries which have not done so to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

“Worldwide, the link between disability, poverty and social exclusion is clear and direct. Yet we have at our finger tips international human rights instruments that protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities,” Mr. Al-Nasser said in his message for the day, celebrated tomorrow.

“It is only if the convention is implemented at the national level that it can have any positive impact on the lives of persons with disabilities,” he added.

The convention, which came into force in 2008, aims to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities. It has been signed by 153 States and ratified by 107.

“The vast majority of UN Member States have recognized the importance of respecting the rights of men, women and children with disabilities to the same quality of life as others,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

“They must now urgently set about making the promise of the convention a reality, including by ensuring that individuals with disabilities are not disenfranchised.”

Ms. Pillay also stressed that countries need to remove obstacles that prevent persons with disabilities from exercising their political rights, saying that they are “often prevented from exercising this right because of discriminatory laws, the lack of accessible voting booths or because electoral material and information is not available in accessible formats such as sign language and Braille.

“Such obstacles prevent the exercise of one of the most fundamental human rights – to have a say in one’s own government,” she said.

As part of the celebrations for the Day, a series of events have been organized at UN Headquarters in New York today, including panel discussions on strengthening the data and statistics on disability for informed policy-making and integrating disability issues into global development reports.

In the afternoon, the Enable Film Festival (EFF) will showcase films and documentaries on persons with disabilities from around the world. The annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December was established in 1981 during the International Year for Disabled Persons.

The Day aims to promote a better understanding of disability issues with a focus on the rights of people with disabilities and the gains that could be derived from integrating them better in every aspect of the political, social, economic and cultural life of their communities.

On December 1st, Occupy Tally pulled off its greatest direct action yet when it crashed Mr. Beck's appearance at the Barnes & Noble bookstore before getting shoved out by security. Edited from multiple cameras. www.occupytally.org

In the face of ongoing police attacks on Occupy encampments, many occupations persist with the continued legal support of National Lawyers Guild members nationwide.

In Boston Thursday, a Superior Court judge extended the two-week-old temporary restraining order (TRO) obtained by the NLG, barring the city from evicting Occupy Boston.

Urszula Masny-Latos, Executive Director of the NLG’s Massachusetts Chapter, said of the decision:

“If the main issue that the City of Boston has regarding Occupy Boston is ’safety,’ then the City should work with Occupy and create an acceptable and workable plan for addressing all health and safety-related issues, rather than seeking the ultimate closure of the Dewey Square encampment.”

Boston members of the Guild’s Mass Defense Committee saw the need for legal action when the occupation, having survived a massive raid and two months of increasing cold, faced a wave of brutal evictions and revelations of national coordination by city officials and possibly federal law enforcement.

Elsewhere, occupations continue outside of the national media spotlight having successfully avoided or challenged police confrontations, often with the help of the NLG.

In addition to affirmative constitutional rights challenges, the NLG is coordinating legal activists to provide Occupy protests with Legal Observers®, criminal defense, legal briefing, legal research, and often, around-the-clock legal advice.

In Florida, NLG attorneys will argue for a TRO on behalf of Occupy Pensacola in a federal court hearing this afternoon.

In Augusta, Maine a judge has upheld an TRO filed by NLG members on November 28. The TRO gives Occupy Augusta an additional week of legal protection from eviction.

Another hearing is scheduled for Monday, December 5. In Nashville, Tennessee Guild members were victorious in convincing a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction after filing a TRO. Further, the judge found that no probable cause existed in 55 protest arrests and ordered that all the charges be dropped and all records relating to the arrests expunged.

In Albany, New York, arrested occupiers came to court with NLG representation and the chief district attorney dropped all charges.

The following is a partial list of other locations where NLG members are providing legal support to ongoing Occupy protests:

Phoenix, Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Sacramento, California; Hartford, Connecticut; New Haven, Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Orlando, Florida; West Palm Beach, Florida; Bosie, Idaho; Pocatello, Idaho; Des Moines, Iowa; Bloomington, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Bangor, Maine; Portland, Maine; Lansing, Michigan; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Buffalo, New York; Raleigh, North Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; Houston, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Olympia, Washington.

The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 and is the oldest and largest public interest bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has members in every state.

The eight “Robin Hoods” who were arrested at yesterday’s World AIDS Day civil disobedience action near City Hall, say that that NYPD officers at Manhattan’s 7th Precinct did not give them dinner, as they are required to do. Instead, the cops at the precinct punished them by eating two large pizzas that had been sent by the activists’ supporters.

The pizzas were two large cheese pies from the revered pizzeria Mini Munchies, which earned four and half stars on menupages.com

The NYPD malfeasance did not stop there—the Robin Hoods also say that the cops drank the 1 liter bottles of Sprite and Coke that were sent to accompany the pizzas. Moreover, the NYPD did not offer the thirsty Robins water and went so far as to tell them that the vending machines were completely sold out of water and soda.

“We could see the empty pizza boxes in the trash, and the empty plastic bottles,” said Charles “Robin Hood” King, President and CEO of Housing Works, in a near-perfect British accent. “We confronted the officers at the precinct about stealing the pizzas and they just smiled and laughed at us and didn’t deny it.”

Housing Works, which fronted $30 for the soda and pies, is demanding restitution from the NYPD, an apology, and a pledge to deliver food hot in a timely manner to all people they arrest.

The hungry Hoods were made up of people from Housing Works, VOCAL-NY and Occupy Wall St., including Felix Rivera-Pitre, who was assaulted by an NYPD officer in November. The flamboyant Felix quoted Joan Crawford to the officers on duty (“Don’t f*** with me fellas”). “I will never trust the cops again,” he said.

In the tradition of the working-class hero of Sherwood Forest, the activists were demanding the implementation of a Financial Transaction Tax on Wall Street and a New York State millionaires tax in order to fund the fight against AIDS here in New York and worldwide. New York City and the federal government have backed away from their commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in dramatic ways during the past year. Read the full protest story and see videos and photos.

Well past dinner time, as the protestors were being marched chain gang style from the precinct to a paddy wagon waiting to take them to Central Booking aka The Tombs, they chanted “Stealing is bad. Cops stealing? That’s just sad.”

The flustered cops belatedly offered to provide another set of pizzas but the Robins refused.

“We weren’t touching their dirty pizza,” said King. “We knew it was cheesy hush money. But some day I will have a bite of Mini Munchies, God as my witness.”

As of this posting, three of the Robin Hoods had been released, while the others awaited freedom.

 

Hallelujah Corporations! [VIDEO]

A musical tribute to corporate excess in the style of the Capitol Steps

 

The Free University Of Occupied Brisbane Presents:

HOUSING: ISSUES AND ALTERNATIVES

1pm THIS SUNDAY, 4TH DEC 2011
Cathedral Square, cnr Ann and Wharf Streets, Spring Hill

Speakers:
Jim DeCouto: Micah Project’s Street to Home Program.
Ron: ANZ’s illegal attempt to take possession of house in Clayfield.
Mortgage Financing and its contribution to corporate greed in Australia.
Asger Strodl: Private Property and the exploitation of housing and housing alternatives.
Lillian Geddes: Post Feudal housing and alternatives to paying rent.

Plus information on EcoDigs and Organised Squatting.

PLEASE BRING A PLATE TO SHARE FOR AFTERNOON TEA

Victorian lawyer Debbie Mortimer SC won the annual Law Council of Australia President’s Medal last Friday night at a dinner reception held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Law Council President Alexander Ward said Ms Mortimer was the standout choice in a competitive field of some of Australia’s most decorated and best lawyers.

“Ms Mortimer has over 23 year experience in the legal profession—including eight years as a silk—and has practised across a diverse range of disciplines.

“She is particularly renowned in the public law sphere and this was on display recently during her role as lead counsel in the applications to the High Court on behalf of Afghani asylum seekers under threat of removal to Malaysia.

“She has also represented clients in environmental law, Indigenous land rights and has clients across the government, non-government and pro bono sectors,” Mr Ward said.

Ms Mortimer said she felt honoured and privileged to receive the award.

“When I look at the past winners, I do find it a little hard to conceive of myself in that category —it’s thrilling, but difficult to come to terms with,” Ms Mortimer said.

Ms Mortimer SC joins an esteemed list of some of Australia’s eminent lawyers to win the award including Lex Lasry QC, the Hon. Ted Mullighan QC, Bret Walker SC, and Colin McDonald QC.

“Ms Mortimer embodies the very best traits of Australia’s legal profession and it was a privilege to present her with the Law Council of Australia Presidents Medal,” Mr Ward added.

The Presidents Medal is an annual award — first started by the Law Council of Australia in 2007 — and recognises an Australian lawyer’s outstanding contribution to the legal profession.

... What’s a song of yours that’s really touched people?

“Anchorage.”

Why do you think it has been so touching?

Well, the song is not about Anchorage. It’s about friendship, and the reason it touches people is because it speaks to a theme that has not been well traveled, which I think is probably best expressed by Robert Frost’s poem, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference.” So, my friend, at a young age, had a baby, settled down, and then she’s writing to me, asking me what my adventurous life is like. It resonates with not just women, but people who have made choices that either have them anchored down, or kept on rockin’.

Do you have any advice to aspiring songwriters? It’s curmudgeonly. The world doesn’t need your songs, the world has plenty of songs. If you want to change the world, pitch a tent in the middle of a city square and convince a few hundred other people that things have got to change. Then, write songs about your experiences. Just encourage each other, but don’t ever make them into an album.

Why do you say don’t make them into an album?

Because if you think all music is good for is making money, you’ve vastly underestimated the power of music.

Do you have any comment on the Occupy Wall Street movement?

Yeah, power to the people. I have not heard anyone articulate this. This is my attempt to distill the movement with as much foresight, based on my experience and that of others. It has the potential of being a monumental change, which some people refer to as revolution. I’m one of them. The reason is because we have seen version one and version two succeed wildly. The ripple of those successful, non-violent revolutions still continues to unfold. Mahatma Gandhi led the salt marches with the untouchables in India, and Martin Luther King, Jr. followed his example and led the marches on Selma in Washington, D.C. and eventually brought the notion of equality and justice to the shores of America. And this is nothing less of a global revolution where 90% of the world lives on 10% of its resources is potentially going to have a say finally on how those resources are validated. So, just to summarize, 10% of the world controls 90% of its wealth, and Occupy Wall Street is just one small drop in a very large worldwide bucket that is churning as we speak to make sure that the dispossessed and the underclass and people with no voice, who have been organizing and sacrificing and building this momentum for years, are finally seeing the light of day.

What’s an example of the perfect song to you?

Any song that just happens to be played on the radio when you fall in love is a perfect song because that song will speak more eloquently to the feelings that you’re having at that moment more than any other song in the world.

Coast Guard and marine rescue enjoying the sunset

Dolphins ...

Magpie family

Listen Media! If You're Going To Cover The Big Issues (And Obviously You Aren't) At Least Give Us Light Material As Uplifting And Heartwarming As This Piece From The 'Tweed Border Mail' [1/12/11]

Everyone has an idea of what Long John Silver looks like.

There's a good chance that image involves a parrot sitting on his shoulder.

Steve Clark, of Koala Beach, has gone one step further.

He doesn't have a wooden leg, but he has two parrots that sit on his shoulder as he rides to the beach each morning for a regular swim.

And the parrots swim, too.

Indy, a male Indian ringneck, and Beau, a bedraggled and tailless peach face, perch themselves on Steve's shoulder for the daily trip to the beach.

"Beau is the boss," Steve said.

"He may be small, but he definitely calls the shots."

Beau is often relocated to the shoulder of Steve's partner Jean because he can get very bossy with his fellow parrot.

"Indy just puts up with him," Steve said.

The parrots get into the surf and then swim back to shore.

"Indy does the butterfly-stroke," Steve said.

Beau came into the couple's care when a breeder contacted them.

The little parrot was born deformed and had no tail.

"He has a bad habit of plucking the feathers off himself," Steve said.

"I have to say it's not an attractive look.

"He's a bit of a runt, but he holds his own."

PHOTO: MAIRI MANLEY

Philip Glass To Occupy Lincoln Center During His Own Opera

Jocelyn Bonadio, WQXR Blog [1/12/11]:

Philip Glass says he will join Occupy Wall Street members on Thursday at 10:30 pm at Lincoln Center for what is described as a debate about “the effects of increased privatization and corporatization of all aspects of society."

The minimalist composer's Satyagraha will be in progress at the Metropolitan Opera as the protesters converge on the plaza.

Last month, about two dozen Occupy Wall Street protesters staged a demonstration at Lincoln Center after a Juilliard Opera Theater performance of Kommilitonen! by Peter Maxwell Davies.

Also in November, a group of anti-war demonstrators called the Granny Peace Brigade also held a vigil on Lincoln Center Plaza, which ended peacefully.

Tonight's planned event continues the movement's claim to the space, drawing an explicit connection to Glass's opera, which depicts Gandhi’s experiences in South Africa and takes its title from the Sanskrit word meaning "truth force."

Lincoln Center Plaza is owned by the City of New York, which it leases to Lincoln Center. The arts center confirmed that all performances will take place as scheduled Thursday, including the opera, which is to end approximately 45 minutes after the OWS meeting begins.

Glass has not responded to a request for comment as of press time. A statement by Occupy Wall Street noted "a striking irony that Bloomberg L.P. is one of the Lincoln Center’s leading corporate sponsors."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered the clearing of the OWS encampment at Zuccotti Park on November 15, and his corporation donated between $250,000 and $499,999 to Lincoln Center toward their 2010-2011 season, according to the Lincoln Center Web site. In addition, the David H. Koch Theater is named after the head of Koch Industries, which funds several conservative causes.

Possibly inspired by Gandhi, members of Occupy Wall Street have threatened to begin a hunger strike should they not be allowed to protest on Lincoln Center Plaza.

by Janet Redman for The Durban Daily

With the Occupy movement spreading faster than wildfire, it's hard not to ask how every issue relates to it. Climate change is no exception. The question is particularly compelling right now because representatives of 194 countries are gathered in Durban, South Africa, to negotiate next steps for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The connection is easy to make, actually. Like the economic crisis that sparked the Occupy movement, climate change is about inequality.

A few countries are responsible for releasing the vast majority of the global warming pollution that’s in the atmosphere. And they got rich pumping the subsidized oil and burning the cheap coal that produced those emissions. Their wealth did come at a cost — but to poor communities, especially in the global South. And, ironically, the countries and communities that are least responsible for today’s climate crisis are some of the most vulnerable to its impacts and have the fewest resources to respond.

A cacophony of global voices comes together at the annual UN climate summit. Policymakers, indigenous nations, labor unions, youth activists, environmentalists — you name it, they’re probably here, trying to stop global warming.

But powerful corporations whose bottom line depends on access to cheap energy, land, water, and other natural resources are here as well. Not surprisingly, their mission is to defend the status quo, and they wield the political weight of some of the richest nations and the most influential financial institutions (like the World Bank).

Frustrated with the seemingly boundless clout of corporate interests and those heralding the benefits of market-based solutions, like carbon trading, critics have taken to referring to this 17th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the climate convention as the Conference of Polluters. They're calling to #OccupyCOP17. @ (Twitter

José María Figueres, a former Costa Rican president, echoed the sentiment. Calling on all vulnerable countries to occupy the meetingand refuse to leave until progress is made, he said, “ We need an expression of solidarity by the delegations of those countries that are most affected by climate change, who go from one meeting to the next without getting responses on the issues that need to be dealt with."

Figueres was referring to two key goals. First, developed countries must renew their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol — the only internationally binding treaty on climate pollution. Second, they must commit to providing developing countries with the money they need to support their adaptation to a warmer world and the transition to low-carbon economies. The United States and other rich countries are sidelining both of these broadly shared objectives.

We are the 99 Percent

Before condemning the UN climate convention, which is still the most democratic space to hold negotiations about our planet's future, it’s helpful to borrow a tool from the Occupy movement: an analysis of the 1 percent and the 99 percent.

Mic check!

The 1 percent in this struggle can be checked off in order of culpability:

1. Elite individuals and ideologues who’ve used their wealth to build the media empires that shape public opinion and to buy political influence. This includes billionaire climate denying spin-doctors like the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and David and Charles Koch, the oil tycoon brothers who finance the ultra-conservative and astroturf tea party “movement.”

2. The polluting corporations like BP, Cargill, and Monsanto, and obstructionist trade associations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is challenging the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases.

3. The politicians and officials these people, corporations, and lobbyists buy. There are too many to name, but here are a few recently purchased by the coal industry: Representatives Eric Cantor (R-VA), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and Jim Matheson (D-UT).

4. The governments and institutions that represent their interests. At the top of the list in the climate negotiations are the United States and the World Bank.

The 99 percent are the millions starving in the Horn of Africa, drowning in Bangkok, and forced from their homes in the lower 9th ward of New Orleans. They (we) are the people suffering around the world from a problem they (we) didn’t cause and can’t solve alone.

The heroes in this struggle include anyone who chooses to stand together in solidarity to oppose these injustices — the people on the street, the movements, the voices, such as Pablo Salon from Bolivia, who are willing to speak the truth in the halls of power.

The fight for climate justice is a fight for economic justice in a climate-constrained world. It's a call for a new economic model of broad-based wealth, local democratic control and new measures of well-being like climate resiliency.

The climate negotiations are one battleground among others where this struggle is playing out — not the only one or even the main one, but one we ignore at our peril.

Janet Redman, co-director of the Sustainable Energy & Economy Network at the Institute for Policy Studies, is observing the United Nations climate talks in Durban, South Africa.

Greetings from Anonymous

On December 17th, we invite every Occupy protester, Anon, and Citizen to march in a day of solidarity and remembrance.

December 17 will mark the anniversary of many historic events: three months since the beginning of the Occupy movement; the one-year anniversary of the death of Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian man whose self-immolation initiated the first of protests which became the Tunisian Revolution, and eventually cascaded into the Arab Spring; and 24 years since the birth of Bradley Manning, the army private accused of leaking classified information to Wikileaks. Manning’s first hearing is scheduled for Dec 16, 586 days after his arrest, where he will face a military panel who decide if will go to trial.

Bradley Manning’s alleged transfer of sensitive information to Wikileaks allowed the organization to release diplomatic cables confirming suspected corruption at high levels of the Tunisian government. The outrage over the circumstances surrounding Mohamed Bouazizi’s death was intensified after these revelations, and small protests quickly turned into an uprising which toppled a long-standing regime. Tunisia is now recognized as the inspiration for the Arab Spring; uprisings such as those which shook Egypt’s Mubarak from power, and ended both Gaddafi’s regime and life.

The passion expressed by those in the Arab world inspired many activists in the west to stand together. The American Autumn began on September 17 with Occupy Wall Street, and similar protests soon erupted across the United States, as well as internationally. Occupy protesters peacefully marched, sang, danced, and drummed their way into the soul of their respective cities, but have often been met with hostility and aggression from law enforcement. In response, Occupiers have remained peaceful and continued protesting.

Operation Horizon will remind the world that we are united and that together, we will not fail. Learn about this year of change, march on the City Hall of your city and end the night with a vigil for those who have sacrificed so much.

Stand for the truth and solidarity. Know how we got here, and remember those who have fallen.

We are Anonymous

We are Bradley Manning

We are Arab Spring,

European Summer, American Autumn

We are the 99%

We do not forgive

We do not forget

Expect us.

Jackson Browne and Dawes played a brief, spirited acoustic set at the Occupy Wall Street protest at Manhattan's Zuccotti Park this afternoon, which included this new tune by Browne that expresses solidarity with the Occupy movement.

"It's really hard to write a song about issues," Browne tells Rolling Stone.

"On the other hand, a movement like this doesn't need every song to be a movement song. Somebody asked me the name of that song, and I thought, well, I'm actually not sure what the title is. Maybe 'Which Side Are You On?' That's, of course, the title of an old Civil Rights marching song that I grew up singing when I was 16, 17 years old."

"For me, being 26 years old, growing up, there's always been a negative connotation with the term 'protest,'" says Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith, who performed a few of his band's originals alongside Browne at the rally.

"Now, for the first time, there's a pride that goes along with it."

Videos by Matthew Murphy ...

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told smartphone and email users "You're all screwed", as he unveiled his latest publications.

The whistle-blowing website has released details of companies it says are selling information obtained by monitoring people's mobile phones and computers.

According to Mr Assange, more than 150 organisations around the world have the ability to use phones as tracking devices as well as intercept messages and listen to calls. Those companies then sell the wholesale information, often the telecommunications data of "entire populations".

He told a press conference at City University in London that the publication of the "Spy Files" is a "mass attack on this mass surveillance industry".

The 40-year-old asked the audience of students and press: "Who here has an iPhone? Who here has a BlackBerry? Who here uses Gmail? Well, you're all screwed.

"The reality is, intelligence contractors are selling right now to countries across the world mass surveillance systems for all those products."

Mr Assange said this interception, although lawful, is leading towards a "totalitarian surveillance state".
WikiLeaks is releasing 287 documents in conjunction with website spyfiles.org.

Mr Assange said the US, UK, Australia, South Africa and Canada are all developing the "spying systems", and the information is being sold to "dictators and democracies alike".

He said: "We are releasing over 287 files documenting the reality of the international mass surveillance industry - an industry which now sells equipment to dictators and democracies alike in order to intercept entire populations."

Gladstone Harbour, Fish Health

Mrs CUNNINGHAM (Gladstone—Ind) (3.59 pm): For many months now, fishermen in my electorate have been expressing concern about the impact of dredging on their fishing livelihoods. They claimed that in around March they started to see the impacts on their fish stocks and blamed dredging.

The port authority repeatedly has stated that dredging in relation to the LNG site did not start until May 2011. I table a letter dated 15 October 2010 to Dan Mayer at Planning and Assessment Fisheries
Queensland, PO Box 76, Deception Bay.

Tabled paper: Letter, dated 15 October 2010, from Mark Greenaway, Project General Manager, Gladstone Ports Corporation, to Dan Mayer, Planning and Assessment Fisheries Queensland regarding early works dredging—revised notification of intention to commence dredging of Curtis Island Construction Dock.

The letter states—

Re: ... Early Works Dredging—Revised Notification of Intention to Commence Dredging of Curtis Island Construction Dock

Dear Mr Mayer

We are writing to provide you formal revised notification of the intent to commence dredging the initial site access of the Curtis Island Construction Dock on Friday 22nd October 2010 with an estimated time for completion on 25th January 2011. We will ensure to notify your department of any further significant changes from the dates mentioned.

If you have any questions regarding the above—

And it continued. That is on GPC letterhead. So there was dredging in the new area of theharbour prior to the May date, contrary to what has been cited repeatedly by the Gladstone Ports Corporation. It started last year and it was dredging in a new area. The channels have been dredged regularly. The material that is brought up and disposed of is drift material and other silt that comes into the main channel. This is a new area. It is untested, and fishermen have been saying since the beginning of the year that dredging is having an impact on fish stocks. That letter proves that dredging commenced in late 2010.

Mr McLINDON [KAP, Beaudesert]: My question without notice is to the Minister for Employment, Skills and Mining.

A report brought down yesterday by the Senate Standing Committee on Rural Affairs and Transport on the coal seam gas industry highlighted the uncertainty about the long-term impact of CSG extraction on the water resources on the Great Artesian Basin and recommended that the Commonwealth withhold further mining approvals in parts of the Murray-Darling overlaying the aquifer. Will the minister now reconsider a moratorium on this dangerously flawed industry which is damaging Queensland?

Mr HINCHLIFFE: I thank the member for Beaudesert for his question because it is clear that he is at least consistent on this issue. I have had a chance to look at the Senate committee report. I was very interested in some of its recommendations. I think a significant number of its recommendations are overblown and unnecessary, but we will review this report very seriously. We will of course work with the Commonwealth government on the way these issues are looked at and managed into the future. It is important for everyone to note that the Commonwealth government has played a significant role in the assessment and approval of the coal seam gas to liquefied natural gas projects that we are seeing developed here in this state. While I am talking about the coal seam gas industry, I want to make it very clear in answering the member’s question that this government will not be going down the track of a moratorium on this terrific sunrise industry, delivering a bright future for the state of Queensland. This is an industry that is delivering, frankly, a trifecta of great big winners—three terrific outcomes for Queensland: $45 billion in private sector investment in LNG projects, 18,000 jobs for Queenslanders, real and tangible benefits flowing to businesses, particularly in rural and regional Queensland—

Mr Hobbs: All you are talking about is money.

Mr HINCHLIFFE: Businesses on the western downs, member for Warrego, and businesses on the Darling Downs—businesses like Easternwell in Toowoomba, which was awarded a $102 million contract to build new rigs. That means jobs for 100 workers in Toowoomba. That company’s top 10 suppliers in food, fuel, transportation, equipment and services are all based on the Downs. There are also examples like Iplex Pipelines, which won a $120 million contract to manufacture and supply pipes for QGC.

Mr Lucas: A future for kids in regional towns.

Mr HINCHLIFFE: That is right. This is about a future for people in towns like Dalby, Bell and Roma. These are all great opportunities for Queensland and we need to work together to make sure we continue to get the balance right—a balance that protects our environment and the social elements of our communities but delivers terrific economic benefits now and for many decades into the future.

Just found this article and thought it was worth sharing!

In what is a small victory for the Occupy protestors in South Carolina and a major victory (at least for now) for free speech, a Richland County judge has issued a temporary restraining order against Governor Nikki Haley in attempt to remove the Occupy demonstrators from the State Capitol grounds.

The temporary restraining order prevents the protesters from being arrested for “occupying” the State house lawn until the permanent injunction hearing is settled next week.

The confrontation between the Governor and the protesters came to a head on November 16 when the S.C. Bureau of Protective Services, the law enforcement agency tasked with provided security for State institutions in South Carolina, were ordered by Governor Nikki Haley to arrest any and all protesters on the State House Lawn after 6 pm, a curfew she herself unilaterally declared.

Haley apparently believes that the Governor has the right to determine who can protest, how, and when they can do so. All of this, obviously, is outside of the rule of law and is a direct violation of the Constitution.

Read full Article - http://theintelhub.com/2011/11/29/occupy-south-carolina-wins-round-one-in-free-speech-battle-with-governor/

World AIDS Day This Year Is About "Getting to Zero"

Zero New HIV Infections, Zero Discrimination, And Zero AIDS-Related Deaths

Backed by the United Nations, the "Getting to Zero" campaign runs until 2015 and builds on last year’s successful World AIDS Day "Light for Rights" initiative encompassing a range of vital issues identified by key affected populations.

The global HIV response is at a pivotal moment, where huge strides forward are at serious risk and current approaches are reaching their limits. Only one third of the 15 million people living with HIV and in need of life-long treatment are receiving it. New infections continue to outpace the number of people starting treatment, while the upward trend in resources suffered a serious downturn this year.

"Zero New HIV Infections" and "Zero Discrimination" are equally as likely to spark high impact events from small scale community vigils to nation wide events using the universally recognized shape of zeros and the power of light to get life and death issues the attention they deserve.

For December 1st 2011 right up until 2015 it’s envisioned that different regions and groups will each year chose one or all of the Zeros that best addresses their situation.

The decision to go with the millennium development related goal of "Getting to Zero" comes after extensive discussions among people living with HIV, health activists, broader civil society and many others – more than a hundred organizations in all.

The vision for this year’s World AIDS Day and beyond may be aspirational, but the journey towards its attainment is laid with concrete milestones.

10 goals for 2015

* Sexual transmission of HIV reduced by half, including among young people, men who have sex with men and transmission in the context of sex work;

* Vertical transmission of HIV eliminated and AIDS-related maternal deaths reduced by half;
All new HIV infections prevented among people who use drugs;

* Universal access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV who are eligible for treatment;

* TB deaths among people living with HIV reduced by half;

* All people living with HIV and households affected by HIV are addressed in all national social protection strategies and have access to essential care and support;

* Countries with punitive laws and practices around HIV transmission, sex work, drug use or homosexuality that block effective responses reduced by half;

* HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence eliminated in half of the countries that have such restrictions;

* HIV-specific needs of women and girls are addressed in at least half of all national HIV responses;

* Zero tolerance for gender-based violence.

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke must use his powers to reject the Abbot Point coal export terminal now that the Queensland Government has given it the go ahead, the Australian Greens said today.

The six new coal terminals proposed at Abbot Point would enable the export of an additional 180 megatonnes of coal each year, leading to some 450 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions when burnt. Australia's total domestic emissions are 542 million tonnes.

"Tony Burke's clear responsibility is to protect the Great Barrier Reef and he cannot claim to do that unless he rejects the Abbot Point coal expansion," Australian Greens mining spokesperson, Senator Larissa Waters, said.

"This massive proposed expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal would put huge pressure on the Great Barrier Reef, both directly thanks to the dredging and reclamation for the terminal and the huge increase in coal ships travelling through it, and indirectly thanks to the carbon pollution it drives warming and acidifying our oceans.

"Anna Bligh's Labor Government proclaims that Abbot Point will create jobs, but she never seems to mention that it will destroy tens of thousands more jobs that rely on a healthy Great Barrier Reef - in tourism and fisheries - and on a healthy Murray Darling system," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.

"The Abbot Point coal terminal proposal is a prime example of Australia's climate policy and energy policy being on a direct collision course.

"Martin Ferguson's fossil fuel fixation is at odds with Greg Combet's Clean Energy Future plans and Tony Burke has to choose which side he is going to come down - coal or the climate?

"We cannot drive a massive increase in coal exports with one arm of government and with another arm pretend that we are taking the climate crisis seriously."

Today's release of the Senate MDBC committee into coal seam gas vindicates the stance taken by the Lock the Gate Alliance over the past twelve months.

The report calls for such measures as a moratorium on all further approvals of CSG projects in the Murray Darling Basin until all necessary scientific studies have been completed, although it does not call for a moratorium on all projects as the Alliance has demanded.

Lock the Gate Alliance president, Drew Hutton, said he was particularly pleased the committee pointed to the inconsistency between 'adaptive management', as implemented by the Queensland government, and the precautionary principle.

"This inconsistency has led to one of the most ludicrous situations faced by any development projects in this country's history as governments have given coal seam gas companies approvals without full knowledge of impacts and how to control them and then introduced a system of changing the conditions of their approvals if the companies are met by circumstances they didn't predict.

"This has led some critics to call adaptive management the 'suck-it-and-see' approach.

"All of this begs the question: why did governments abandon the precautionary principle in approving the big projects in Queensland, as well as some in New South Wales, if the practice of adaptive management is not consistent with that principle?"

The approvals process has been widely criticised by many experts, the environment movement and farmers' organisations, leaving a very difficult question that only a royal commission can answer.

Mr Hutton said it was now up to state and federal governments to address the recommendations from the report and to add some new ones including coal seam gas in areas outside the MDB, the life-cycle emissions from CSG/LNG, the social impacts of coal seam gas and the imbalance between the rights of farmers and mining companies in relation to land access.

Ilargi: Amid persistent rumors that yesterday the money markets were, in the words of economist Jeremy Cook, "a short shove away from complete collapse", all the world's central banks got together and decided to lower the cost of pushing US dollars across the globe.

Translation: billions of dollars more -albeit in short-term loans- were injected in what Alan Grayson yesterday depicted as "Russian Roulette" (he was talking about earlier Fed loans, same difference).

The stock markets of course are going through the ceiling; they love the smell of free money in the morning. The $16-$26 trillion the Fed has previously loaned may have largely been returned, but, says Grayson - and rightly so-, "what about next time?" After all, today's loans were poured into a financial system in which a whole set of first domino's are about to topple over.

The market reaction shows that there is indeed very cheap cash to be had. But also, and most of all, it shows that there are still a lot of people out there who've never figured out the difference between liquidity and solvency. And that's going to bite, because all the banks and countries that were broke yesterday are just as broke today.

Difference is, now it's going to bite you more, and the banks' investors less. Someone has to pay at the end of the day. Might as well be you; after all, you don't get to talk to the US Treasury Secretary for hot tips.

Wonder how much the ECB has put on the table. And what various parties in Europe think of that. The calls for Europe to let the ECB jump in big and buy any scrap of paper the banks can come up with don't abate. Certainly not after even German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble yesterday said the EFSF won't be leveraged enough, or in time, to save the hour, let alone the day.

Word is it can't get bigger than €600 billion or so. Peanuts in comparison to the debts overhanging Europe. And yes, it's absolutely true that Europe is handling the crisis completely wrong. But not at all for the reasons the financiers, politicians and other Neo-Keynesian groupies claim.

What Europe does wrong is not that it doesn't splurge additional humongous amounts of cash on member countries' debt. What it does wrong is that it isn't -very busily- restructuring that debt. Yet. Because it is inevitable.

That is where the difference between liquidity -give them billions in short term loans- and solvency -but they're bleeding broke!- becomes glaringly obvious.

How can you arrive at anything but wrong answers if nobody can even get the questions right? ...

Mrs CUNNINGHAM (Gladstone—Ind) (4.35 pm): I rise to speak to the disallowance motion in relation to the Queensland Children’s Hospital. I am interested in some information from the minister in relation to this proposal. Historically, hospital foundations have raised funds for hospital procedures. In this case it is the Queensland Children’s Hospital. I am concerned about the $10 million in capital fundraising. Historically, such capital was provided by government and foundations provided funding for other issues. I do not believe that anyone who has debated from either side of the notice of motion today would in any way want to depreciate or reduce the accessibility of or access to children’s hospitals and children’s health services. Children are in a very vulnerable age group, because sick littlies need all the help they can get.

When the first consultation was taken about where to locate the children’s hospital, there was an emotive debate about whether it should be on the northside or the southside, or whether it should have facilities on both sides of the river. There is concern about the current location because it is landlocked. Parking will be expensive for families, because in the main they will have to use parking facilities. Currently the Mater Hospital is a very expensive place to visit. To avoid paid parking, that is, in a private parking station, you have to accept a fairly long walk. By definition, being a children’s hospital there are practical issues for children accessing the children’s services.

I am interested in the inference in the regulation that the hospital foundation will be raising money to pay for things that, in the past, have been the purview of government—things such as the MRI, infrastructure at the hospital such as a long-day lounge and acute overnight accommodation. It is not unusual for foundations to pay for a fitout, if that is what this means. At the Gladstone Hospital our women’s auxiliary, which does a brilliant job, is made up of mostly senior people. The auxiliary does not have a lot of young people. They work tirelessly to raise money to buy additional bits and pieces for the hospital, because Queensland Health has very poorly resourced and staffed the Gladstone Hospital. The people there work extremely well, but they are under-resourced and certainly the hospital needs more staff and more specialist services.

Therefore, I am interested in the minister’s view in relation to the role of the foundation and the level of capital expenditure and capital fundraising the foundation will be required to undertake. If, as the members of the LNP said, there has been a wholesale resignation by current foundation members because of concerns over the new foundation, certainly that does not augur well for the new children’s hospital or, indeed, for the process. In the past people joined foundations because they have very generous and compassionate hearts and lifelong ambitions to give back to the community. If those same people have expressed an unwillingness to be involved in the new foundation, that is an indicator that there are problems with that foundation.

I reiterate that I do not believe any speakers for or against this disallowance motion want to see a diminution in children’s services. What speakers want to see is that those people who work tirelessly to establish a foundation raise money for things that are outside services that are normally funded by government. I look forward to the minister’s response.

Mrs PRATT (Nanango—Ind) (11.24 pm): I rise to talk about the proposed sand mining at Sandy Creek. As has been the wont in my electorate over the last few years, mining in some form or another seems to be becoming the major battlefield for most small rural towns. This particular mining proposal is in the Somerset Regional Council area. Their motto is ‘Council is committed to realising the community’s vision of a natural, vibrant, prosperous, well planned and united Somerset where lifestyle is the destination’. That is an admirable sentiment. If anyone knows the Kilcoy valley and the Somerset region, it is one of the most beautiful areas in the state. I am lucky enough to pass through it every time I come to Brisbane and go home. I know the beauty of it, the value of it and the value of the lifestyle. With the proposal of sand mining at Sandy Creek a group of people formed and called themselves SCRAM. That stands for Sandy Creek Residents Against Mining, but I think scram is what they are wanting the proposers of this mine extraction project to do.

Recently a meeting was held and, as members would know, Sandy Creek is a small community but 60 to 80 residents turned up to attend the meeting and talk about their concerns in relation to this project. One of the primary concerns is the very narrow roads. Road works will have to be undertaken to ensure that the buses carrying children can travel on the road safely and ensure the safety of the children. The homes in that area are quite a way apart but most of the kids actually walk to and from their friends’ places. Their safety must be ensured. There are concerns about dust, noise, property values and lifestyle as well. A lot of people have moved there because they like to remove themselves from the hustle and bustle of urban life. I ask that this government ensure that this beautiful area is protected and that DERM vigorously enforces any regulations required and also makes sure that the Somerset Regional Council, which is responsible for this decision, ensures that everything is above board and done correctly to maintain the future of this small community. It is a beautiful community. I do not think SCRAM will settle down and go away. I am sure SCRAM actually wants this proposal to go away. For them the sooner the better so they can have a happy Christmas without the worries.

Hervey Bay, Ophthalmology Services

Mr SORENSEN (Hervey Bay—LNP) (11.30 pm): I rise to tell the House about the crisis that grips Hervey Bay, where my constituents have zero hope of getting their cataracts fixed under this tired Labor government. I mentioned this in parliament on 13 October and I mention it again now. I would like some answers. I have made many representations to the health minister and I have asked a question on notice about this serious problem. We need public ophthalmology services in Hervey Bay as things are now at a critical flashpoint. I table documents that show that the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital has now closed its books to regional Queenslanders in need of cataract surgery.

I also table documents from the Fraser Coast health services that correctly state they do not provide eye surgery in their public health service.

Tabled paper: Proforma letters from the Executive Director, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, dated 18 October 2011, and the Executive Director of Medical Services, Wide Bay Health Service District, 1 September 2011, in relation to the lack of availability of certain services.

It is hopeless to send referrals to them, especially when this government is not allocating any money to the Surgery Connect program for Hervey Bay. In answer to my question on notice, the government said that the Surgery Connect program is only used for a safety net. I ask the Minister for Health to bring out the safety net, because people are going blind under Labor’s watch. I encourage those opposite to try dropping off their drivers licences and catching a bus home, blindfolded. No, they would not to do that, but it is what they are expecting people in my electorate to do.

I know that I am taking this a bit personally, as are my constituents. Out of the hundreds on the waiting list I will name just one: Alfred Smith. Alfred has been a taxpayer all his life. He is going blind because of the Labor government’s absolute inability to manage the government, the health services and the hospitals. I ask the health minister: where can I send people such as Mr Smith to get their operations, because at this point in time there is nowhere for them to go? It is sad when a grown man stands in front of you with tears rolling down his cheeks because he knows that he is going blind. It is about time something happened. What is happening is shameful.

Clouds Across The Sunshine

What’s really behind the surprise push by the Bligh government for civil partnerships in Queensland?

I say surprise, because Labor’s been in power up in the Sunshine State now for more than 13 years. If a civil partnership scheme really is, as Anna Bligh puts it, a “precious human right”, why didn’t her government introduce one years ago when other state and territory Labor governments were?

And, why is it being introduced as a private member’s conscience bill rather than a binding government bill?

The member championing civil partnerships is Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser, whose seat contains a high percentage of Greens voters and whose preferences he needs to hold onto it. The Liberal/National Opposition are already decrying the bill as a sweetener for Greens preferences; in return, Labor are accusing LNP leader Campbell Newman, who personally supports marriage equality, of pandering to the anti-equality right in his party by denying a conscience vote for his MPs.

This is probably Labor’s true motivation – to wedge the Opposition and make Newman look weak. Fraser is bemoaning the “death of liberalism” in the LNP, and Julia Gillard and federal Labor will surely do likewise should they allow, as anticipated, a conscience vote on federal marriage equality while Tony Abbott locks his MPs into a binding “no” vote.

Strange days indeed when the traditionally collectivist party is allowing conscience votes while the party of individualism refuses any freedom of expression for those members who support marriage equality!

The proposed Queensland scheme also takes some heat off Gillard and federal Labor, no doubt another motivating factor for the Bligh government. With all states and territories having relationship registration schemes in place by the time Labor’s national conference finally rolls around (except NT, Liberal WA and SA, which is likely to move soon given its new progressive Premier), Gillard and other anti-equality advocates in the party can argue against the need for or urgency of marriage equality, even if as expected a conscience vote is granted.

While state-based partnership schemes are no substitute for marriage, they’re arguably a more legitimate and serious mechanism for formalising relationships. The statutory requirement for participants to declare or prove they are already a couple means that, unlike marriage, two people seeking registration can’t get a quickie Vegas wedding on the same night they drunkenly meet.

Conservatives who claim to believe in the sanctity of marriage should be arguing for this proof-of-existing-relationship requirement to be part of marriage laws rather than bleating about the alleged threat same-sex couples pose to that sanctity.

This argument probably won’t be aired, however, by Bligh, Fraser or other civil partnership advocates in Queensland Labor, as their true motivation seems to be cynical political point-scoring rather than genuine law reform.

The Coal Seam Gas Inquiry Report released today by the Senate Committee on Rural Affairs and Transport has recommended a complete review of the Government’s “jump first, fix later” approach to the risky coal seam gas industry.

The Report made a number of recommendations for better management of CSG operations, including a moratorium on further CSG approvals in MDB overlays of the Great Artesian Basin and in NSW’s Namoi catchment until a number of studies and investigations are completed.

“With so much scientific evidence about the uncertainty of the long-term impacts of CSG, I am delighted that committee members from all parties could agree that the industry needs far better regulation,” Greens mining spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said.

“I am also pleased that the other parties have a had a change of heart after voting down my motion in September for a moratorium on new CSG approvals, and are now recommending that we wait for better scientific information before approving some projects.

“The Government must now urgently act on these recommendations to protect our groundwater, food security, rural communities and our Reef.

“The very first recommendation acknowledges that ‘adaptive management’ – forging ahead and responding to problems as they arise – may not be appropriate given the lack of scientific understanding of the long term impacts of CSG.

“Significantly, the Committee also recommends the Great Artesian Basin to be included as a 'matter of national environmental significance' under the EPBC Act. We would welcome federal regulation of the GAB, but think it makes more sense to protect all water resources impacted by mining across Australia - as my bill before the Senate would achieve.

“In our additional comments, the Greens called for a holistic and independent study into true life cycle emissions of coal seam gas, so we can finally determine with accuracy the contribution the CSG industry is making to climate change.

“This report responds to the widespread and serious concerns held by scientific bodies and Australian communities, and the Government needs to heed the advice of the Committee and radically change its approach to coal seam gas in this country.”

The Government now has 3 months to respond to the Inquiry Report. If it accepts the recommendations of the report, the Environment Minister would be obliged to delay his decision on whether to approve the fourth major LNG export project in Queensland, by Arrow Energy, until the CSIRO & Geoscience Australia report is completed by the end of 2012.

The entire report is at www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/rat_ctte/mdb/index.htm.

... Afghanistan’s known hydrocarbons are primarily located in the North. Its approximately 1.6 billion barrels of crude oil and 15.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas are minor in comparison to the resources of its neighbors (Iraq’s oil reserves are estimated at 115 billion barrels), but are comparable to those in nations such as Chad and Equatorial Guinea —and may be considerably larger, as there has been no significant exploration in decades.

Unknown to most Afghans, in January 2009 the government implemented a new Hydrocarbon Law that transforms its oil and natural gas sectors from fully state-owned to all but fully privatized. In April 2011, the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines launched the first of what it expects to be “several tenders for Afghanistan’s oil and gas resources over the next few years.”

As in Iraq, the contracts include production-sharing agreements. These agreements are the oil industry’s preferred model, but are roundly rejected by all the top oil-producing countries in the Middle East because they grant extremely long-term contracts (45 years or more, including the exploration phase, under Afghanistan’s law) and greater control, ownership, and profits to the companies than other models. They are used for only approximately 12 percent of the world’s oil. The Afghanistan contracts, moreover, would not require foreign companies to invest earnings in the Afghan economy, partner with Afghan companies, or share new technologies.

The Kabul-based nonprofit watchdog, Integrity Watch Afghanistan, found the Ministry of Mines severely lacking in the capacity to implement sound oversight, including to protect impacted communities and the environment, and found that this, “combined with reported endemic corruption in Afghanistan,” means that the Afghan government will not be able to ensure the good management of these resources.

The Norwegian government recently concluded an analysis of Afghanistan’s hydrocarbons, finding that “most Afghans express a high level of suspicion about the motives and intentions of neighboring countries and, increasingly, also of the international community. Further, “[M]any Afghans point out the risk of a lack of political willingness to ensure that such benefits [from hydrocarbon development] will have a fair distribution.” ...

Next stage of eco-tourism plan investigates National Park opportunities

Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business Media Release [29/11/11]

The Bligh Government is set to ramp up its discussions with the conservation and tourism sectors on options for the establishment of tourism accommodation in and near some of Queensland’s most spectacular national parks.

Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business Jan Jarratt and Environment Minister Vicky Darling today said targeted consultation would begin on extending permit to occupy periods for eco-friendly accommodation in national parks.

Ms Jarratt said that eco-tourism opportunities in National Parks would have to be undertaken in a manner which was sustainable for both the environment and financial investors. ...

Ms Darling said detailed site prospectuses analysing factors such as environmental values, location, access, transport, environmental and heritage values have been undertaken at six key sites to determine ecotourism opportunities, including:

·Ninney Rise, Mission Beach

·Green Mountains, Lamington National Park

·Mt Mee, D’Aguilar National Park

·Cowan South, Moreton Island National Park (now removed for environmental grounds)

·Eurong, Fraser Island

·Jonah Bay, Whitsundays ...

Queensland

For The 99%

http://tallyvsboral.com/

... KAREN BERKMAN: Tamara Walsh has spent all her working life researching the connection between poverty and homelessness. She says Susan Bebbington could have been helped by Brisbane's special circumstances court.

DR TAMARA WALSH [UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND]: The special circumstances court which runs out of the Brisbane Magistrate's Court makes a real genuine effort to link people in with services.

KAREN BERKMAN: But this 28 year old mother of seven wasn't taken before any court at all.

SUE GARLICK [HOMELESS PERSON'S LEGAL CLINIC]: I think it's outrageous that someone can go to jail without a court considering their circumstances.

MATILDA ALEXANDER [PRISONERS' LEGAL SERVICE]: Locking up a woman who's the primary care giver of six young kids who's seven and a half months pregnant with another child who ended up being born in custody just makes no sense.

DEBBIE KILROY, SISTERS INSIDE: I believe that no magistrate would have actually sentenced her to a term of imprisonment

KAREN BERKMAN: Susan gave birth to baby Fabian while she was in the Brisbane Women's Prison.

SUSAN BEBBINGTON: Because I had a really bad birth with Fabian in there and you never get over that. I was handcuffed during my ultrasound handcuffed during, when I was in labour. It was horrible. It was the most hardest birth I've had. And then being there on my own.

KAREN BERKMAN: Corrective Services denies that she was handcuffed, but Sisters Inside, who lobby for the rights of women in prison, say it's a battle they've been having for years.

DEBBIE KILROY: We have a pregnant woman who then gives birth in handcuffs. Now Corrective Services have been very clear to us that that policy exists no longer. But it obviously does exist. ...

Tiga Bayles spoke with Debbie Kilroy, Chief Executive Officer of Sisters Inside Inc. Debbie Kilroy is a former prisoner, qualified social worker and practicing lawyer. Debbie spent much of her teens in youth prisons, and several years in adult women's prisons, in Queensland. She has led Sisters Inside Inc., an organisation that advocates for the human rights of criminalised women in Queensland.

Establishing A Peaceful Palestinian State Next To Israel Long Overdue – Ban: UN Media Release [29/11/11]

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today led a chorus of United Nations officials in stressing the need for a just and lasting solution to the question of Palestine and achieving a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

“The establishment of a Palestinian State, living in peace next to a secure Israel, is long overdue,” Mr. Ban said, in a message marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which is observed annually on 29 November.

“The need to resolve this conflict has taken on greater urgency with the historic transformations taking place across the region,” he added.

“I call on the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to show courage and determination to seek an agreement for a two-State solution that can open up a brighter future for Palestinian and Israeli children.”

The need to resolve this conflict has taken on greater urgency with the historic transformations taking place across the region.

Two months ago Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submitted Palestine’s application for UN membership. Mr. Ban noted that while this is a matter for Member States to decide, it is vital to not lose sight of the ultimate goal of reaching a negotiated peace agreement on all final status issues, including borders, security, Jerusalem and refugees.

Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro called for translating solidarity into positive action as she addressed UN Headquarters’ observance of the Day, which also featured remarks by a number of senior UN officials.

“The international community must help steer the situation towards a historic peace agreement,” she told the meeting. “Failing to overcome mistrust will only condemn further generations of Palestinians and Israelis to conflict and suffering.”

General Assembly President Nasser Abdulaziz Al-Nasser told the gathering that everything must be done to alleviate the daily suffering of the Palestinian people.

“The situation on the ground is a source of great concern,” he said.

Israeli construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory has continued, especially in and around East Jerusalem and in Area C of the West Bank, he noted. Area C refers to the over 60 per cent of the West Bank where Israel retains control over security, planning and building.

“Properties continue to be demolished, land continues to be confiscated and Palestinians continue to be evicted from their homes, in violation of international law and in defiance of international efforts to revive negotiations between the two sides,” said Mr. Al-Nasser, stressing the need to work collectively to attain a just and comprehensive settlement in the Middle East.

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, used the occasion of the Day to call urgent attention to the plight of the Palestinian Bedouin people of the West Bank.

“The recent unprecedented pressure by Israeli authorities and settlers to expel Palestinian Bedouin communities from Area C is deplorable, illegal and must cease,” Mr. Falk said in a news release.

In recent months, approximately 2,300 Bedouins who reside in 20 impoverished communities in the hills east of Jerusalem have been informed by the Israeli authorities that they must leave the area, as part of a plan to expel Bedouin communities living in Area C.

“The proposed transfer of Bedouin communities raises a number of concerns under human rights law, especially with respect to forced eviction and forced displacement,” noted the rapporteur.

In connection with the Day, a photo exhibit entitled “Palestinian Vista” will be open today at UN Headquarters in New York, featuring paintings by Ibrahim Shalaby, a Canadian-Palestinian architect and artist born in Jordan.

The exhibit will also feature ceramics and textiles presented by Farah and Hanan Munayyer, the co-founders of the Palestinian Heritage Foundation – a cultural and educational organization aimed at promoting awareness and understanding of Arab and Palestinian culture and traditions.

FoEI: IN SUPPORT OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS [17/11/11]

The world’s largest grassroots environmental organization today spoke out in support of the Occupy protests and called for environmental activists and organizations around the world to join the movement to demand radical system change.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), with member groups in 76 countries, issued a statement [1] in support of the Occupy movement at a time when many of the camps are being shut down by police.

"We offer our solidarity and our support, and we join this movement wholeheartedly," reads the FoEI statement. "To save our communities and our environment, we stand united in calling for a profound transformation of the current globalized political economic system."

The grassroots organization believes that tackling excessive corporate power and promoting economic justice are key to solving the environmental crisis, including the climate crisis.

Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International chair, said:

"We are one with those who raise their voices against corporate greed and who speak out for social equity and real solutions to the crises we face."

"In our struggles on the ground, around the world, it's clear that corporate interests have captured many of the spaces where people's interests should be served. Economic policies that prioritize profit over life have led us to the brink of catastrophic climate change; continuing with the same approach will only lead to more environmental destruction and inequality. This is system failure – we demand an alternative system with environmental and economic justice at its core," added Bassey.

Next week a FoEI delegation will take this message to the UN climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa (Nov.28-Dec.9). FoEI will be demanding that negotiators stop prioritizing corporate interests and that industrialized countries drastically cut their carbon markets, without offsets or carbon trading, in order to address the climate crisis that threatens the lives and livelihoods of billions of people.

You can find the full FoEI statement here.

 

MIC CHECK!

Councillors.
We are Occupy Melbourne.
We come here in peace.
We hope you will let us speak.
We will only take a few minutes of your time.

We have come to speak to Robert Doyle
because he refuses to speak to us.

We understand some in the council support us.
We urge you to speak out publicly.

To Robert Doyle we offer this statement:

We are Occupy Melbourne.
We are a part of a global movement.
Our movement is non-violent.
Our movement seeks to reclaim our voice in democracy.

We occupy because people’s needs are not being met.
We occupy because we are opposed injustice.
Because injustice makes us sick to our stomachs.
We occupy because there are simple and systemic reasons for this.
We occupy because it is unacceptable, and there IS an alternative.
We occupy because the colonization of indigenous peoples
is a horror we have never accounted for.
We occupy because we are fighting wars
Where 90% of casualties are civilians.
We occupy because a system
in which homeless people freeze outside
while others live in luxury
does not deserve to exist.
We occupy because a system
that allows for people to go hungry
while others make billions is unacceptable.
We occupy because ‘our’ economic, corporate and political systems
are corrupted and co-opted.
They are creating an unjust and inhumane global society.

We occupy because we are sure
That it does not have to be this way.

We occupy because another world is possible.

We occupy for the people and the survival of our planet.
We occupy because we have already allowed too much destruction.
We occupy because we have already allowed too much suffering
for the sake of power and greed.
We occupy because we have had enough of our own apathy.
We occupy because we have had enough of your petty complicity.

We will continue to occupy because you cannot evict an idea.
We will continue to occupy because there is no deadline on our civil rights.
We will continue to occupy despite council harassment.
We will continue to occupy despite police brutality and intimidation.
We will continue to occupy for the fundamental tenets of democracy.

We will not move.
We will continue to occupy.
Please approach us with love and respect.

We are Occupy Melbourne.

Gladstone Harbour

Mrs CUNNINGHAM [Ind - Gladstone]: My question without notice is to the Minister for Main Roads, Fisheries and Marine Infrastructure. The health of the harbour remains a great concern to the residents in the Gladstone electorate. I ask: will the minister give an undertaking to the people of the Gladstone that the report of the scientific panel will be released to the public on the same day the report is presented to the minister by the panel?

Mr WALLACE: I thank the member for Gladstone for her question. I want to congratulate her again on her interest in this subject and on keeping her community informed about the findings regarding fish health in Gladstone. I can give a commitment to the member for Gladstone and to the Gladstone community that we will make public that independent panel report as soon as it is available. We will put it on the website so that not only the people of Gladstone but also people anywhere can have a look at that panel discussion.

I have heard some scuttlebutt around the place that I was influencing the panel, that I had somehow directed the panel to make certain findings. I can guarantee to this House and to the member for Gladstone that that is totally untrue. Indeed, I have made it my practice not to speak to Dr Poiner since he has been appointed or to the panel because I do not want there to be any suggestion that I have directed that panel in any way whatsoever.

There were two reports that members may have seen in the media lately. One was about algae in Gladstone Harbour causing sickness in the fish. Scientists from DERM and Fisheries Queensland have advised that there is no evidence linking the algae to the sickness in harbour fish, that is, the two conditions affecting fish in Gladstone that we know about—Neobenedenia, which is the parasitic fluke, and red spot that we have uncovered causing sickness in barramundi. Gladstone Ports Corporation monitoring found that there were three types of algae found in the harbour, and the advice is that many of those algae are commonly found every year along the Queensland coast.

The other report which members would be aware of is a report about some banana prawns that had a growth near their heads that were caught in the vicinity of Gladstone harbour. We caught 85 prawns in Gladstone harbour. One had a gill parasite known as a Parasitic Isopod and one had a slight blemish. The other 83 were in good condition. The parasite that we found in the gill is commonly found on crustaceans including prawns along the Queensland coastline and northern Australia, and sits under the gill causing the shell to bulge. It can be mistaken for a deformity. That particular parasite is found quite regularly along the Queensland coast.

We continue to sample fish in the Gladstone harbour. We continue to look at findings in the Gladstone harbour. We will continue to report to the public as soon as those findings have been made available. Again, I give the guarantee to the member for Gladstone that when we have that independent report we will not only give it to the people of Gladstone but also put it on that website for everyone to see. This government hides nothing. We have put it all out there for public consumption.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The time for question time has ended.

... A statement on the Environmental Justice Society website says the organisation is working in collaboration with [Erin] Brockovich and Shine Lawyers to investigate water quality issues on behalf of fishermen in the Gladstone area who have been affected by the loss of marine life.

The statement was picked up by Crikey.com.au, who ran an extensive piece on the subject last week.

The issue of water quality and marine life health has Gladstone fishermen at odds with the local ports corporation which has publicly accused the fishermen of complaining about diseased fish in the harbour as part of a campaign to link sick wildlife with dredging to gain compensation.

Biosecurity Queensland is currently investigating the disease outbreak of fish in the harbour.

Earlier this year Brockovich, launched the Environmental Justice Society during a visit to Brisbane.

Yesterday a spokesman for Shine Lawyers said it was too early to comment at this stage but the company was investigating the issue.

Dr DOUGLAS (Gaven—LNP) (10.04 pm): Bus timetabling on the Gold Coast is dangerous for drivers, gives the public poor service and reflects a 1995 Gold Coast demographic. Recent very minor changes are not reflective of the growing, urbanised city of the Gold Coast. Bus drivers, passengers, pedestrians and motorists are being put at risk as drivers are forced to speed and run red lights just to meet the stops on these 15-year-old timetables. Gold Coast roads are complex and carry heavy-density traffic 24/7. Most bus routes now have multiple intersections and traffic lights. If bus drivers do not keep moving constantly, they can be one hour late at the end of a route. They can forget about getting a toilet break.

Common sense might suggest that if the frequency of bus services is doubled then patronage should double. Interestingly, the data shows that patronage is not directly proportional. Doubling frequency leads to a more than doubling of patronage over time, especially when you upgrade weekend services to match weekday services. The marginal costs of operating more off-peak bus services would be returned in patronage growth.

Queensland Rail also must move forward with a stage 2 timetable review. Like the bus system on the Gold Coast, the rail services do not run frequently enough, particularly in off-peak periods. If the government was serious about encouraging positive public transport habits, it would run more services in off-peak periods with a good discount. At the moment, the Brisbane to Gold Coast rail trip has a number of tradies taking trips outside of peak hour. There are real gains to be made here.

However, I want to raise the importance of the interconnectedness required in our transport system—that is, between heavy rail, which is metropolitan rail; light rail, which is coming; and bus. At the moment, the bus and rail timetables on the Gold Coast are not synchronised. Unfortunately, commuters will frequently wait more than 20 minutes—in fact, the average wait is 31 minutes—for a train after getting off the bus or vice versa. This delay increases a journey time considerably. For example, a journey from Highland Park in my electorate of Gaven to the Brisbane CBD takes close to two hours. Over 15 minutes of that time is spent waiting for the train connection at Nerang. This Labor government has also reneged on its deal to provide wi-fi on Gold Coast trains by 2009.

It is now 2011. In other words, there is still no wi-fi. Why does Labor not care? Because people cannot find a seat on the train during peak hour anyway. The trains are crowded and people are standing in the trains during peak hours. Therefore, if Labor were serious about encouraging greater public transport use on the Gold Coast, it would review the bus and rail timetables. Not only are the bus timetables outdated but also they need to be synchronised to run efficient routes. Additionally, TransLink needs to run more services in off-peak times and it needs to provide wi-fi, as promised over two years ago. The drivers need adequate time for a turnaround and dignified toilet breaks and locations.

Nurses' Discontent Highlighted In Survey

Nurses join this week's general strike at UC Davis [Image: @ProtestInTheUSA]

Monash University [21/11/11]:

A national survey of nurses’ attitudes backs up the current disharmony in the sector finding nurses are discontented with their work and work conditions, with many intending to leave the profession in the next year.

The survey by Monash University researchers, Associate Professor Peter Holland, Dr Brian Cooper and Dr Belinda Allen from the Department of Management comes at a time when hospital beds have been closed and many elective surgeries has been cancelled as Victorian nurses are involved in industrial action and the Victorian state government is rumoured to be seeking to cut nursing budgets and reduce the ratio of registered nurses on wards.

“The research indicates serious underlying problems in the nursing profession. We found that 15 per cent of nurses are likely to leave the nursing profession during the next year. Alarmingly this figure rises to 38 per cent when nurses are also unhappy with their rewards and benefits.” Associate Professor Holland said.

The survey found that stress was another key factor identified as to why nurses intended to leave the profession. Nurses frequently cited unmanageable workloads due to a lack of nurses as the main cause for their high stress levels. The results showed nurses felt they were unable to provide the highest quality of care due to high patient loads and inadequate staffing.

The research also found nurses felt undervalued by their employers with 72 per cent stating that they did not feel their employer valued their contributions at work.

“The survey showed that nurses think management are making decisions on specific areas with no knowledge or training in that area or without consultation,” Dr Belinda Allen said.

“Many felt that when there was consultation it was lip service only; they were asked for their imput but suggestions were not implemented. This point reflects the general perception of nurses that they are underpaid and undervalued.

“The findings suggest the government should take a ‘quality’ strategy and recruit and retain skilled nurses rather than a cost-cutting strategy that focuses on an increasing role for low-skilled health assistants.”

 

1. If you work hard, and become successful, it does not necessarily mean you are successful because you worked hard, just as if you are tall with long hair it doesn’t mean you would be a midget if you were bald.

2. “Fortune” is a word for having a lot of money and for having a lot of luck, but that does not mean the word has two definitions.

3. Money is like a child—rarely unaccompanied. When it disappears, look to those who were supposed to be keeping an eye on it while you were at the grocery store. You might also look for someone who has a lot of extra children sitting around, with long, suspicious explanations for how they got there.

4. People who say money doesn’t matter are like people who say cake doesn’t matter—it’s probably because they’ve already had a few slices.

5. There may not be a reason to share your cake. It is, after all, yours. You probably baked it yourself, in an oven of your own construction with ingredients you harvested yourself. It may be possible to keep your entire cake while explaining to any nearby hungry people just how reasonable you are.

6. Nobody wants to fall into a safety net, because it means the structure in which they’ve been living is in a state of collapse and they have no choice but to tumble downwards. However, it beats the alternative.

7. Someone feeling wronged is like someone feeling thirsty. Don’t tell them they aren’t. Sit with them and have a drink.

8. Don’t ask yourself if something is fair. Ask someone else—a stranger in the street, for example.

9. People gathering in the streets feeling wronged tend to be loud, as it is difficult to make oneself heard on the other side of an impressive edifice.

10. It is not always the job of people shouting outside impressive buildings to solve problems. It is often the job of the people inside, who have paper, pens, desks, and an impressive view.

11. Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending.

12. If you have a large crowd shouting outside your building, there might not be room for a safety net if you’re the one tumbling down when it collapses.

13. 99 percent is a very large percentage. For instance, easily 99 percent of people want a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and the occasional slice of cake for dessert. Surely an arrangement can be made with that niggling 1 percent who disagree.

... In 1995, the professor was offered the chairmanship of Lihir Gold Limited. The company was funded with a loan by the Australian Export Finance and Insurance Corporation - the Australian taxpayer-funded body that underwrites Australian overseas investments. It provided Lihir with $250 million in financial guarantees after the equivalent United States government agency - the Overseas Private Investment Corporation - refused to back the mine on environmental grounds. ...

Family violence reforms passed by Parliament: Attorney General Media Release [24/11/11]

Attorney-General Robert McClelland today welcomed the passage through Parliament of landmark legislation to protect children who are caught up in family law matters from family violence and child abuse.

Mr McClelland said the measures in the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011 will create a safer and fairer family law system.

“The safety of children caught up in family law disputes must be our top priority. The law must send a clear message that family violence and abuse is unacceptable, and these reforms do just that” Mr McClelland said.

“These new laws will better facilitate the reporting of violence and abuse, and encourage people to act on those reports.”

At the same time, the laws promote a child’s right to a meaningful relationship with both parents where this is safe for the child.

“The best interest of the child is and must remain the number one consideration in parenting matters. Where there are no concerns for the child’s safety, a child’s ability to have a meaningful relationship with both parents will not be affected by these reforms.”

“This Government continues to support shared care, but only where this is safe for the child” Mr McClelland said.

The measures passed today will significantly improve the family law system by:

removing disincentives for victims of violence and abuse to disclose this to the courts;
reflecting a more contemporary understanding of what family violence and abuse is by clearly setting out what behaviour is unacceptable, including physical and emotional abuse and the exposure of children to family violence; and streamlining the provisions relating to the reporting of family violence and child abuse to make reporting family violence simpler.

“These reforms will go a long way towards ensuring the safety of children in family law matters. I thank all those who have worked to get these reforms right for the benefit of those most vulnerable in our society,” Mr McClelland said.

The three Faili Kurd asylum seekers who have had their lips stitched together since last Monday are continuing their protest and have now declared a hunger strike.

On Saturday, 26 November, the three told the Immigration department and the Red Cross that they would now be on hunger strike.

Until Saturday, they had been taking some sweet tea and juice.

At least one other Faili Kurd in the Darwin detention centre has been on hunger strike for over a week. Two other Faili Kurds in Curtin were hospitalised last week after self harm incidents.

The Immigration department already offered to move them to another detention centre if they unstitched their lips, but the protesters have rejected that as not offering them any solution. Yesterday (Saturday), the department offered to negotiate their return if they unstitched their lips but said that the arrangements would take them at least ten months.

“The offer to return in unbelievable,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, “At least one of the Kurds applied to be returned five months ago, but they were told then that as they are stateless, the government could not send them anywhere.

“The government knows it is unable to send them anywhere, but is keeping them in indefinite detention.

“An urgent review of all the stateless asylum seeker cases is needed. It is estimated that there are around 600 stateless asylum seekers presently in immigration detention. They should be released. We don’t want any more Peter Kasims,” said Rintoul.

Peter Kasim, was a stateless asylum seeker, that the Howard government kept in detention for seven years (until 2005), although he applied for residency to 80 countries.

“The bridging visas announced recently are not about to solve the problems of long term detention. Three of the Kurds in Darwin have been in detention between 17 and 21 months already. The Minister has the power to release them, he should use it.”

The Tall Man will be released by Hopscotch Films on November 17 around Australia. The feature documentary has just screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. Read the reviews in Screen Daily and Sound on Sight. The documentary is directed by Tony Krawitz and produced by Darren Dale, the film is based on the award winning novel by Chloe Hooper.

The Tall Man, written by Tony Krawitz, won the 2011 AWGIE award for Documentary - Public Affiairs.

The draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan fails the river, regional communities and the national interest, because it doesn’t do enough to secure the future health of the Basin’s rivers, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.

“A good Basin Plan must set out how to return the river system to health, so that it is not being poisoned by salt, so that it flows and is alive,” said ACF Healthy Ecosystems Program Manager Paul Sinclair.

“Anything less threatens the future of the river and the communities that rely on it.

“This draft plan fails the river, regional communities and our national interest, because it doesn’t do enough to flush the salt out through the Murray Mouth, revive dying wetlands and keep the country’s lifeblood – the Murray-Darling – flowing.

“There’s no future, and there are no jobs, on a dead river.

“Rivers die from the bottom up. South Australian communities will be hardest hit if the government fails to deliver an effective plan.

“The Basin Plan must serve the national interest – not just the interests of big irrigation industries and their lobby groups and financial backers.

“Water Minister Tony Burke should send this plan back to the Authority and instruct it to prepare one that will return enough water to give the Murray a good chance of returning to health and will detail how this can be achieved over the next decade.

“Minister Burke should instruct the Authority to assess the benefits of providing higher volumes of water – in the order of 4000–5000 gigalitres – to the river system.”

HOME