Brisbane – DISACCORDS

Brisbane: Students occupy Peter Dutton’s Office

12 Feb – Early Friday morning in Brisbane, university and TAFE students occupied federal immigration minister Peter Dutton’s office.

Sitting in the cramped public space, we chanted: “Say it loud, say it clear! Refugees are welcome here!”.

Behind the locked doors, Dutton was nowhere to be seen.

Framed in the foyer are numerous awards and messages, including a mental health awareness poster. Lauren Saunders, NUS Women’s Officer for Queensland pointed out the irony:

“Many of the asylum seekers are here in Australia to be treated for the psychological trauma they have suffered on Nauru – and now they are being sent back to an island camp which is not fit for human beings.”

She indicated to a number of framed children’s drawings on the walls of Dutton’s office. “We can see a giraffe and bicycles here. Meanwhile children locked in detention are drawing pictures of themselves committing suicide.”

After two hours, media arrived. When one of our representatives stepped outside to speak with them, 14 police clamped down on the occupation.

A follow up action took place in King George Square at 5pm to demand the government #letthemstay.

The protest coincides with another action in Sydney this morning where activists have placed 37 cribs along Bondi Beach to symbolise the 37 babies facing removal.

Brisbane: Protesters occupy Peter Dutton’s office

30 Oct – Some Brisbane residents have staged a protest at Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s office to condemn the assault of women in offshore detention and demand an end to the government’s violent policy of deterrence.

Residents are calling for an end to mandatory detention, offshore processing and the extremely damaging ‘stop the boats’ rhetoric which has not only misled the Australian public, but endangered the lives of innocent men, women and children seeking asylum.

Since the re-opening of offshore detention centers in 2013, rates of violence, sexual abuse, torture and neglect have continued to escalate on Manus Island and Nauru.

Protester Camilla Tafra said, “The Immigration Minister’s constant fallback on the ‘stop the boats’ rhetoric aims to give the Australian public a sense of moral security, when the horrific reality is that the physical and psychological torture of asylum seekers is integral to the policies claiming to save lives.”

The Senate Inquiry earlier this year uncovered 67 allegations of child abuse and 33 allegations of sexual assault/rape on Nauru. The government’s introduction of the Border Force Act demonstrates a priority of silencing those who would speak out against abuse and injustice over any intentions to take responsibility for the safety of those in Australia’s care.

“We’re here today to hold Peter Dutton accountable” explained Kelly Purnell, “The authorities are actively silencing women who have been violently assaulted in offshore detention. This policy of vicious deterrence must stop now. It should never have begun.”

Melbourne: Strike at Woolworth’s liquor warehouse

Workers picket the entrance to a Woolworths liquor distribution centre at Laverton.

17 August – Report from Anarchist Affinity members who were supporting the MLDC (Melbourne Liquor Distribution Centre) strike last week.

Workers at Woolworths MLDC launched unprotected (unlawful) strike action in the early hours of Monday morning last week. Workers were responding to broken promises by management; Woolworths management had announced the week before that all new hires at the Laverton site would be through a labour-hire agency despite promises to the contrary made in EBA negotiations less than a year earlier.

The MLDC strike was called for, planned and hastily executed by rank and file union militants at MLDC. The decision to strike occurred to the genuine surprise of NUW union organisers and officials (the NUW is the workers’ union), and this decision was taken by a workforce who had never previously been on strike together.

The MLDC sits at a critical juncture in Woolworth’s supply chain. The strike shut-down liquor and cigarette supplies to Woolworths, BWS and Dan Murphy’s stores across Victoria.

On day four of the strike, industrial action occurred at two other Woolworth’s distribution centres in Hume and Barnawatha. The Hume DC afternoon shift joined the strike and the Barnawatha DC imposed an overtime ban whilst planning to join the strike.

This strike action continued despite the threat of fines and dismissal. It continued in defiance of an order by the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday. When ordered back to work, strikers at MLDC burnt copies of the FWC order and announced they would not return to work until Woolworths agreed “no labour hire and no repercussions [for striking]”.

The power that these workers held in their hands was palpable.

Continue reading “Melbourne: Strike at Woolworth’s liquor warehouse”

Brisbane: Shoes thrown at Federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton at refugee ceremony

Federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton had two sneakers thrown at him at an event in B

14 June – Immigration Minister Peter Dutton was the victim of a shoe throwing incident as he attended a welcome ceremony for refugees in Brisbane this morning.

The minister was about to deliver a speech at Welcomefest, at Annerley, when a man stood up and yelled at him, before throwing two sneakers at him.

A 33-year-old man from Ocean View, near Dayboro, was arrested over the incident.

He later told reporters: “I think (Mr Dutton) should be ashamed for what his Government is doing and how asylum seekers are being treated in detention centres.”

He accused Mr Dutton of hypocrisy over the Government’s policy of turning back asylum seeker boats.

“Here he is welcoming refugees, but his Government isn’t welcoming refugees at all — they’re doing the absolute opposite,” Mr Sprigg said.

The 33-year-old was charged with one count of public nuisance and is expected to appear before the Brisbane Magistrates Court on June 30.

Plan B: a call for decentralised resistance to the G20 Australia Summit

https://planbg20.wordpress.com/

We Did Not Want To Be Here Again…

We’ve been on the streets before. Carried placards and banners and signed petitions and when nobody listened we’ve thrown bricks and set skips on fire. But we’ve got meals to cook, gardens to grow, books to read, loves to tend. We don’t want to be here, doing this.

This is Plan B.

We just don’t think we have a choice. The gap between rich and poor is still growing. Children routinely die starving while hoarded food rots. The world moves daily closer to feeling the tangible effects of irreversible climate change. Profits flow through borders unimpeded (always into the pockets of the rich) but people are caught in razor wire traps. Alongside Eugene Debs, we recognise our kinship with all living beings. We say that while there is a lower class, we are in it; and while there is a criminal element, we are of it; and while there is a soul in prison (or an illegal detention centre), we are not free. These circumstances force us to fight. Fight for our lives.

And we have a plan.

The G20 is meeting in Brisbane in November. This elite decision making body epitomises the undemocratic nature of state-sponsored global capitalism; delegates from the 20 wealthiest economic zones make self-serving proclamations which affect everyone, without open discussion or oversight. The meeting has been faced with fierce resistance everywhere it has gone but this opposition has been smashed by the heavy hand of the militarised police forces which define our century. We’re sick of seeing our comrades beaten and arrested. We’ve learnt from these mistakes. We have a Plan B. Instead of gathering our strength and marching into the traps they have set for us, we are calling for disseminated disorder. Rather than an arterial block, we want to see a distributed attack on the peripheries.

We are calling for people to form affinity groups in their home towns and autonomously organise decentralised direct action against the G20 and the capitalist occupation of our lives.

See you on the streets!!

Brisbane: ‘G20 looms as security nightmare as protesters plan for mayhem’

27 September: Protesters are circulating a plan to unleash “waves of destruction” during Brisbane’s G20 summit.

The plot to mar the event — dubbed Plan B — is being distributed online by protest groups.

It advocates destroying ATMs and other property and disrupting sport and social events. The plan cites an array of activist causes including globalisation, poverty and gay rights.

Attacks would be launched away from the heavily fortified security zones in favour of areas where police would be thinner on the ground.

Police yesterday extended the time and locations that would be subject to restrictions — security lockdowns will now begin on November 8, six days earlier than planned.

Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett said police needed the extra time because protesters would be out in force earlier than first anticipated. Continue reading “Brisbane: ‘G20 looms as security nightmare as protesters plan for mayhem’”

Brisbane: G20 anarchists vow chaos and mayhem for Brisbane’s streets

9 December: An anarchist group labelled as violent has vowed to cause “chaos and mayhem” at Brisbane’s G20 Summit – prompting other protest groups to warn against getting involved with them. [Unfortunately, all that really happened is that the Courier Mail found a six month old pisstake post on Indymedia – disaccords]

Police are keeping close tabs of protest groups which have embarked on online recruitment drives a year out from the event to ensure a strong presence in Brisbane.

The Sydney-based Black Rose Syndicat has taken the most hostile approach issuing a virtual”call to arms” on websites, vowing to cause “chaos and mayhem” at next year’s event. Police sources have told The Courier-Mail officers are also preparing for protesters to use “Black Bloc” tactics, an identity-concealing strategy commonly linked to anarchists. Continue reading “Brisbane: G20 anarchists vow chaos and mayhem for Brisbane’s streets”