From Jitterati, a comic that appears in one of the local free newspapers.
More details on the protest in question at Aotearoa Indymedia.
A comic about a friend…
October 31, 2008
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Operation 8 depositions hearing over – 1 defendant free
October 17, 2008Feature I just wrote for Aotearoa Indymedia:
Operation 8 depositions hearing over – 1 defendant free
The long depositions hearing for 18 of the the Operation 8 defendants has finally finished, with Judge Perkins today committing 17 of them to face trial.
1 of the arrestees, Rongomai Bailey, had all charges against him dropped. [ Video interview with Bailey from NZ Herald ]
The other 17 arrestees will all face trial, possibly in late 2009 or early 2010. A large number of the charges against the remaining defendants have been dropped. While previously the 18 collectively faced 343 charges under the Arms Act, all charges relating to the camps alleged to have been held in November, April and August have been dropped, heavily reducing the total number of charges.
The 17 remaining arrestees have their next court date on February 17th, for a callover, however all have been excused from appearing provided they are represented by a lawyer.
During his decision, Judge Perkins stated that he felt that one of the main planks of the Crown’s case would not hold up at trial. The Crown is attempting to argue that even if it can’t show that people held specific weapons, that they were in the same area as the alleged weapons makes them a party to the possession, and therefore guilty of the charges under Section 66(2) of the Crimes Act. Judge Perkins stated that he did not think this was the case.
All 17 have also had their bail conditions altered, including being granted permission to go to Ruatoki this weekend to attend a commemoration for the 1 year anniversary of the raids. All have had their reporting to the police station reduced to once a fortnight as well, and some have had other bail conditions, including non-association orders, dropped.
The Auckland District Court had a large contingent of banner bearing, flag waving protesters outside it (and an even larger contingent of media!), showing that what was done to the arrestees and their communities has not been, and will never be, forgotten.
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One year on…
October 15, 2008Courtesy of Aotearoa Indymedia:
Head to October15thSolidarity.info if you don’t know what this is about.
Also: Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty, Aotearoa Indymedia - Public Art in Remembrance of 15 Oct 2007, Christchurch Mayor, Bob Parker, Denounces TSA, One Year On From The Day Of Shame, One Year Later: Remember 15th October 2007 at Ruatoki Te Rewarewa Marae, Solidarity Picket for October 15th Arrestees on 17th October, October 15: a Horror Story, State Terror Raids NZ-One year later-Solidarity in the Kulin Nation, Auckland Picnic to Remember State Raids, ludditejourno
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An amusing sticker
October 10, 2008Saw this and laughed. Luckily my phone has a camera, so I took this shot:
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An anarchist analysis of the global capitalist crisis
October 8, 2008A very detailed talk on the cause of the current world financial crisis that starts off by explaining the background economics in an easy to understand manner, moves on to the role the war and other events apart from the sub-prime crash played and concludes with a look at what opportunities have been created for anarchist by this sequence of events. The discussion afterwards concentrates on the specifics of the situation in Ireland where the meeting was recorded.
Low-paid workers strike and protest at multiple stores
October 6, 2008A short piece I just wrote for LibCom News:
Low-paid workers strike and protest at multiple stores
In Auckland and Hamilton low-paid workers at McDonald’s and the Farmers department store are striking and protesting for better pay and working conditions.
The strikes started on September 19th with workers working out of Otara McDonald’s, to be accompanied on the picket line by a giant inflatable rat. October 3 saw staff at six different McDonald’s walk out, five in Auckland and one in Hamilton. The striking workers at the Auckland Airport McDonald’s travelled into the city to support strikers at two other stores, while when the Hamilton strikers left their store, only mangers who were specially brought in from Auckland, 130km away, were left running the store. During these strikes, which lasted for several hours or longer, many customers left without food rather than cross the picket lines.
The strikes are part of a campaign by the Unite union aimed at raising wages and ending the bullying of staff. Currently, staff have no guaranteed hours in their contract, and owners are known to use the shift roster as a means of bullying and controlling unionised staff, amongst others. In September, a Unite member and former Kaiapoi McDonald’s worker was awarded NZ$15,000 (US$9700) after she had her hours cut and was bullied into resignation after joining the union.
Negotiations for a new contract have stalled since they began in March. Unite plans to keep the strikes going until McDonald’s accept their demands.
For images from the McDonald’s strikes, click here. Some information about Unite’s previous campaign for improved rights and conditions at fast food stores, see Super Size My Pay – Fast food workers in New Zealand organise for better pay and conditions, 2005-6.
Meanwhile, October 6th, workers at the Farmers department store walked out after being offered what they described as an “insulting pay rise”. The workers, members of the National Distribution Union, were offered between nothing and 60 cents, with most offered a 20 cent rise on their $13.50 an hour wage (the minimum wage is $12). Workers are seeking $15 an hour. After picketing the store, workers hopped on a union bus and took a drive to the wealthy suburb of Remuera, where the owners of Farmers (worth over NZ$300 million) live. They proceeded to put leaflets in letterboxes all over the neighbourhood and even knocked on the owners door to try to start a discussion – unfortunately, nobody was home.
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Katipo Books Monthly Newsletter – October 2008
October 3, 2008Hi everyone,
Sorry this newsletter hasn’t quite been coming out every month – we try our best, honest! Hopefully this one will be the start of a regular run of news and updates from all of us at Katipo Books – http://www.katipo.net.nz
As always, if you don’t want to receive this newsletter, you can log on to your account on Katipo Books and untick the newsletter box. If you’ve been forwarded this email or seen it somewhere online and want to register for future newsletters, go to http://www.katipo.net.nz and register an account (you don’t need to buy anything, although of course you can!) and don’t forget to tick the newsletter box.
Coming soon
Katipo constantly has new stock arriving. Upcoming stock includes copies of the latest issue of MsFit, the Aotearoa anarchafeminist zine, this one produced by the Militant Anarcha-Feminists In Auckland (MAFIA). Also coming soon is the 2nd issue of Liberate, the Aotearoa animal liberation magazine, and 2009 organisers (both large and small) from the Slingshot crew – we sold out this year, so we’ll be getting even more in for 2009.
Stalls
Katipo is on the lookout for events and gatherings in Otautahi / Christchurch (where we are based) that would welcome us doing a stall. If you know of something coming up that we’d fit in well with, please email us at info [at] katipo.net.nz
Katipo on Facebook
Yes, that’s right, Katipo Books now has a Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook, search for us and become a fan!
Badge Maker
Our badge maker is fully operational and pumping out badges (check out the 40-odd designs currently on our site). We can also make bulk orders at wholesale prices for radical political groups / campaigns – email us for more information or to make an order.
New Stock
A whole lot of new stock has been added in the last few days, including books, pamphlets, zines and badges. Here’s a taster, check out http://katipo.net.nz/products_new.php for the rest.
Out Here: Personal writing from queers in Aotearoa – $3.00
http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/536
From the Kitchen – sexism anarchism and men – $2.50
http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/508
You Are What You Say – $2.00
http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/531
Rivet #3 – $4.00
http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/530
Lock Out The Landlords! Anti-Eviction Resistance 1929-36 – $4.00
http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/528
Katipo Books Badge – $1.50 (3cm) and $2.50 (5.5cm)
http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/516
Until All Are Free… Badge - $1.50 (3cm) and $2.50 (5.5cm)
http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/521
Food Not Bombs Badge - $1.50 (3cm) and $2.50 (5.5cm)
http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/513
That’s all for now, enjoy reading and feel free to forward to your friends,
Katipo Books
info [at] katipo.net.nz
http://www.katipo.net.nz
PO Box 377
Christchurch
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Two recent posts worth reading
October 3, 2008One from Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty:
Immigration
I’m not big on writing about the elections. But sometimes the jokes just write themselves. Those times usually involve New Zealand First in this Peter Brown
Click the title link to see the whole (short but snappy) post. Thanks to Maia for saving me the effort of writing about this…I’d rather not write about the elections at all, to be honest.
The 2nd is from Ludditejourno:
Gangs are bad, says DomPo
Posted on October 1, 2008 by ludditejournoYesterday’s editorial in the Dominion Post was pretty standard - gangs are bad, and this is what they should do to improve:
As a start they could stop beating their wives and kids, get proper, 40-hour-a-week jobs that don’t depend on funding from government social agencies, and stop intimidating their neighbours. They could even join social organisations of a different sort, say, the local Rotary club, and give up their spare time to help build facilities for the communities they have, till now, preyed upon.
I’m no fan of violence, but let’s deconstruct this a little – men in Rotary don’t assault their wives and children? Really? Tell that to Women’s Refuge.
Again, click the title link to read more :)
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Global day of action against state terror in Aotearoa / New Zealand
October 1, 2008Just wrote this for the next issue of the Earth First! Journal, based in the USA.
Global day of action against state terror in Aotearoa / New Zealand
Demonstrations and protests were held around the world on August 30th for the global day of action to ‘Drop the Charges’ against the 20 people arrested in the nationwide State Terror Raids of 15 October 2007 in Aotearoa / New Zealand.
On Monday, October 15th 2007, more than 300 police carried out dawn raids on dozens of houses all over Aotearoa / New Zealand. Police claim the raids were in response to ‘concrete terrorist threats’ from indigenous activists. The reality, however, included heavily armed police terrorising an entire township. To date, no evidence of the so-called terrorist plot has been revealed.
Police arrested 16 indigenous, anarchist, environmental and anti-war activists, including Tuhoe, Te Atiawa, Maniapoto, Nga Puhi (all Maori iwi, or tribes) and Pakeha (non-indigenous) people (a further person faced unrelated drugs charges stemming from a raid on his house). Police wanted to charge 12 people under the Terrorism Suppression Act (TSA), however the Solicitor-General denied the police permission to proceed. After four weeks in jail everyone was released on bail. On Tuesday, February 19th 2008, police raided further properties, arresting 3 more men. All were released on bail with strict conditions that same day. A woman was arrested on Thursday April 17th, 2008, and also faces charges under the Arms Act.
The 20 arrestees face hundreds of charges of illegally possessing firearms and molotov cocktails. This is despite the face that only a handful of weapons (many legally owned and registered) were found during the extensive police raids, while many of the firearms people have been charged with possessing have never been proven to even exist.
On a cold and miserable day, the cries of “No More Police State!” echoed through central Auckland’s as over 200 Maori, trade unionists and left wingers joined a rally to defend the Urewewa 20, and remember the State Terror Raids of October 15th last year. Images and Sounds were projected against the court house in support of the Global Day Action. International indigenous support was present with First Nations manuhiri (guests) from Turtle Island (Americas). 150 people went on a lively march through the capital city, Wellington, and stopped at the police station for a shaming history of their violence, and a pass-by of Labour Party candidate Grant Robertson’s office nearly resulted in a very large broken window.
Overseas, banners were hung and fliers were handed out in Hamburg, Freiburg and Berlin (Germany), Basel and Lausanne (Switzerland), the Congo and Melbourne (Australia) in support of the call to drop the charges. Fundraisers and awareness raising events were also held in Vancouver (Canada) and Tucson (USA). Many international groups also signed on to the solidarity statement prepared by the October 15th Solidarity collective, which can be seen at http://october15thsolidarity.info/en/node/332
Court Update
September 1st saw the start of the depositions hearing, a pre-trial hearing where the crown presents its evidence and the Judge rules on whether there is enough for the charges to proceed to trial. At the time of writing, this hearing (now into its fifth week) is still ongoing, and it is still unclear what the outcome will be.
Early in the hearing, the judge issued extensive suppression orders, making it illegal (potentially punishable by an indefinite jail sentence and/or an unlimited fine) to discuss anything that is said or occurs inside the courtroom – this includes media (corporate and independent), public talks, leaflets and anything else you can imagine.
During the course of the hearing, Police have conducted an intimidation campaign against the arrestees and their supporters. On September 9, one of the arrestees and his partner were arrested, after Police accused the arrestee of scratching the car of Aaron Pascoe, the lead officer in the raids. Both were bailed after several hours in the cell (and face charges of wilful damage, assaulting police and resisting arrest), however the partner was not allowed to breast-feed her young baby while she was in the cells for over 4 hours.
More background information on the raids and the issues surrounding them, regular updates on the court hearings and information on how you can show your solidarity with the arrestees is available at http://www.october15thsolidarity.info
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