Month: February 2017

Peace protectors are presently occupying the Carlton site of the future Lockheed Martin weapons research lab.

Now an empty building and lot on the site of the former Women’s Hospital near the University of Melbourne, building will soon begin to make it the largest Lockheed Martin weapons research centre outside of the United States.

The weapons research centre will be known as the STELaR Lab (Space, Technology, Engineering and Research) and it is a joint project of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, the University of Melbourne, the Australian Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin (Australia).

“Whilst thousands of people are homeless across Australia, it’s outrageous that our government is giving money to large corporations like Lockheed Martin” Eli Jessup a spokesperson for the group said.

“The government claims that funding the building of this lab is about job creation. We Peace Protectors say it is about preparation for war and that a better way for the government to create jobs is to invest in housing, healthcare and education”, Mr Jessup said.

“At the end of the day, handing billions of dollars over to Lockheed Martin, whether its at the University of Melbourne, or buying their expensive and dodgy F35 Joint Strike Fighter is a killer of jobs and growth. It is our taxes sucked straight out of the Australian community into the hands of Lockheed Martin one of the biggest profiteering US corporation.

The occupation coincides with the lead up to the Avalon Arms Fair and Airshow, where private contractors such as Lockheed Martin are expected to reap up to 100 billion dollars of government money.

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via: Insurrection News

The fight involved a group of 16 youths after they barricaded themselves outside.

An Emergency Response Team was called in to assist.

Corrections Commissioner Jan Shuard​ told 3AW Radio she expects charges to be laid.

“It’s a matter for Victoria Police, but there was damage to property,” she said.

“They’ve done a fair bit of damage outside,” she said.

There have been no reports of youth offenders sustaining injuries. Ms Shuard told 3AW that OC spray was used in the initial response against the youths, who damaged the exercise yard and visitor centre.

In response to the latest Barwon Prison youth riot, a staff member at Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre called for a system overhaul, saying many of her colleagues had been assaulted.

“It’s like working in amongst savages,” she said.

In a statement, a spokesman for Corrections Victoria said emergency-response staff and DHHS youth-justice workers resolved the Barwon Prison upheaval at 9.55pm.

“The incident, involving a number of young offenders and damage to property, was … confined to the grounds of the youth-justice precinct,” the spokesman said.

“Police were on site and are investigating the incident.”

Along with police, the Country Fire Authority and Ambulance Victoria were also called to the scene on Monday night, and were on standby.

The latest incident comes as the Victorian government is set to face a fresh challenge in the Victorian Supreme Court over its decision to use the Barwon adult maximum-security prison to house young offenders.

The Human Rights Law Centre, which led two previous and successful court challenges against the use of Barwon’s Grevillea wing to house about two dozen teens, is launching a third legal challenge in a bid to force the government to remove teenage detainees from the jail.

Late last month, a 16-year-old boy held in Barwon Prison suffered a fractured vertebra after being bashed by adult inmates.