Occupy Wonthaggi took off on 7-1-12 under sunny skies. Around 30 people either spoke or listened at the Speakers Forum in front of Peacebus, under in the mine whistle in the centre of town. Everyone had a 5-minute limit to their speech, ensuring a fair go.

Topics ranged from the threat of coal seam gas development in Gippsland to refugees, military spending, the international Occupy movement, constitutional change and the relavance of statistics and maths when assessing climate change. A speaker pointed out that the "waste" from the desal plant, its destination currently a controversial issue, is actually a destroyed ecosystem.

We talked about about the choice between endless war and a peaceful future.

Occupy Melbourne's strategy of "going mobile" to get around the "Notice to comply" orders, continually issued against them by the Melbourne City Council and enforced by the police, was taken to a whole other level today 4th December. Watch the video below to see the Occupy Melbourne "tent monsters" emerge from their tents and literally chase the confused police and council officers out of the Flagstaff Gardens. This is a beautiful example of how creative non-violence can use humour to highlight and undermine the absurd use of state power. The hilarity of these actions does not change the fact that the State is trying to prevent Occupy Melbourne through constant harassment from creating a public space to discuss and organise for a fairer, peaceful and more sustainable world. On the 5th of December the Federal Court will hear a case testing the legality of the Melbourne City Council's actions against OM. May their spirit of resistance stay strong - get down there and support them!
Related: Occupy Melbourne outfoxes council and police -- OM Digest for news about the campaign -- OM Monsters on Youtube

A flash mob descends on Coles in solidarity with workers on strike from the Baiada Chicken factory in Laverton, Melbourne. Baiada supplies major supermarkets including Coles under the brands Steggles and Lilydale Chicken. And supply fast food chains such as KFC.

Baiada workers have been killed and injured due to unsafe working conditions, the mostly migrant workforce are bullied into accepting terrible conditions, and many workers are paid as low as $10 an hour cash in hand, or employed as contractors.

Workers and community supporters are maintaining a picket 24-hours a day blocking entry to scab labour and trucks with live chickens.
Related Coverage: Support the striking poultry workers at Baiada -- Baiada workers not chickening out of a fight by Benjamin Solah -- Flash mob on Youtube

The Refugee Action Collective (Victoria)organised a rally and march reiterating demands for an end to mandatory detention and offshore processing. This came in the wake of two events: the High Court decision ruling the government’s intended Malaysia deal illegal, and the drowning deaths of asylum seekers off the coast of Java a few days previously.

Among the speakers at the State Library were Mahendra Kusumawardan, refugee activist from Indonesia, and Aran Mylvaganam, a refugee from Sri Lanka. Others included Sister Brigid Arthur of the Brigidine Asylum Seekers’ Project, Kate Jeffery of Labor for Refugees, Louise Newman of the Alliance of Health Professionals for Asylum Seekers, and Jody Betzien of the AMWU. After these speeches at the State Library the rally moved down Swanston Street to Federation Square to hear from Berhan Ahmed of the Greens and Hazara refugee Mukhtar Naza,who read a poem in memory of the 23 Hazaras massacred in Quetta, Pakistan, in September last (see http://melbourneprotests.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/international-day-of-p....) Daniella Olea and Lauren Ireland of RAC-Vic shared the role of MC. Members of The Conch played before the start of the rally.