GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND NEWSLETTER No. 474, AUGUST 20, 2013
Video of the Stop The GCSB Bill Public Meeting – Auckland Town Hall
Video on Demand: IF YOU DID NOT MAKE IT to the Auckland Town Hall on Monday night for the Stop The GCSB Public Meeting you can watch the entire debate here on The Daily Blog.
FULL VERSION OF MEETING ON YOUTUBE
NZ – GCSB
GCSB Bill protest meeting held in Auckland http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11111048
Rowdy crowd protest GCSB Bill at meeting http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9061202/Rowdy-crowd-protest-GCSB-Bill-at-meeting
Hundreds attend last ditch attempt to stop GCSB bill http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/hundreds-attend-last-ditch-attempt-stop-gcsb-bill-5536708/video
Big crowd for anti-GCSB bill meeting http://www.3news.co.nz/Big-crowd-for-anti-GCSB-bill-meeting/tabid/423/articleID/309663/Default.aspx
Key slams GCSB opponents http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-slams-GCSB-opponents/tabid/1607/articleID/309717/Default.aspx
Campbell Live GCSB roadie, poll end http://www.3news.co.nz/Campbell-Live-GCSB-roadie-poll-end/tabid/817/articleID/309661/Default.aspx
Spy bill hanging on single vote http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9061404/Spy-bill-hanging-on-single-vote
Photos: GCSB bill protest meeting held in Auckland http://www.demotix.com/photo/2458641/gcsb-bill-protest-meeting-held-auckland
John Key defends the GCSB bill http://www.3news.co.nz/John-Key-defends-the-GCSB-bill/tabid/367/articleID/309018/Default.aspx
Dear Peter Dunne, S.O.S. | 500 Words http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1308/S00125/dear-peter-dunne-sos-save-our-souls-500-words.htm
Revealed: govt plans secret orders to service providers once spy bill becomes law http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/revealed-govt-plans-secret-orders-so-service-providers-under-spy-bill-ck-144562
Public Notice: The Encroachment of the Mass Surveillance State http://snoopman.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/public-notice-the-encroachment-of-the-mass-surveillance-state/
GCSB Bill: why small govt conservatives should be worried http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/gcsb-bill-why-small-govt-conservatives-should-be-worried-rh-p-144493
SUPPORT EDWARD SNOWDEN
“Thank you Edward Snowden! We say no to the surveillance state!”
Add your name to the growing list of people showing their support for Edward Snowden http://www.justiceonline.org/thank-you-edward-snowden/say-thank-you.html
WHAT’S ON IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND
Friday, August 23, 12pm at Albert Park (opposite Auckland University) in the Auckland CBD
Teddy Bear’s Picnic to Support Paid Parental Leave 26 weeks! And to say a very big loud: DON’T VETO THE BILL, BILL! To date our confirmed speakers are Sue Moroney, Jan Logie, Marama Davidson and Carmel Sepuloni https://www.facebook.com/events/196478883847114/
Friday, August 23, 7.30pm, OUSA Recreaction Centre (formally Clubs n Socs), Albany Street, Dunedin.
Come and join us in part one of our surveillance film and discussion series! Organsied by Disintermedia.net.nz, The Organisation for Global Nonviolent Action (OGNA) and Students for Free Culture. Currently in Aotearoa/NZ the GCSB bill has disturbing implications for both individual privacy and civil liberties. It gives the state increased powers of surveillance that allow it to be increasingly intrusive and challenge freedom of speech. Beside the fact that it infringes on human rights there is also no evidence of necessity or effectiveness. This kind of activity has been a global trend within the last decade. The series will have three parts: The first week we will focus on moving beyond the problem, and lay out a vision of where we want to go. The film will be “V FOR VENDETTA”. The second week we will focus on the problem and the challenges of reaching our end goal. The film will be “WE LIVE IN PUBLIC”. And finally we will focus on possible solutions to the issue and what action we can take. The film will be “FREE THE NETWORK”. We aim to create a space where anyone can come and openly discuss important issues that have an impact on our society. Through discussion we aim to find solutions to global problems , and afterwards turn our proposed solutions into action. We see this discussion as an opportunity for people to clarify their own ideas as well as present and be exposed to possible solutions.
Monday, August 26, 6pm, Case Room 3, Owen Glenn Building, University of Auckland
Narratives for Auckland 2 – Building Liveable Cities. I would like to invite you to the second seminar in our Narratives for Auckland Series. The ingredients of a liveable city (affordable housing, modern public transport, great public spaces, urban renewal and the celebration of creative diversity) cannot be delivered by the market. It takes many hands working with councils, communities and the private sector. Phil Twyford MP will discuss the role of government in facing these challenges, Denise Bijoux and Paul Grimshaw will outline what they learned on good urban development from their recent visit to Seattle, Victoria and Portland. Phil Twyford is Labour’s spokesperson on Housing, Auckland Issues and he is Associate Environment spokesperson with a focus on cities. Phil is the Member of Parliament for Te Atatu, and was first elected to Parliament in 2008. Before politics he spent 15 years with the international humanitarian organisation Oxfam. Denise Bijoux works in community-led development to create effective models of partnership, participatory community development, sustainable healthy housing, placemaking and Asset Based Development. She has worked with Inspiring Communities & manages the Neighbourhoods Programme for Beacon Pathway. Denise led the study tour to North America. Paul Grimshaw is a lawyer with 25 years experience who has specialises in construction disputes and Building Code compliance issues. Over the last 10 years he has acted for approximately 6,000 owners who have been affected by the leaky building disaster. His experience has provided him with valuable insight in to the current state of housing in New Zealand. And more … as a follow-up session for activists for community level organising, there is a workshop, Thursday 29th August 6pm at the Polish Society Room, Morningside. Jim Diers on “The local is everything in the lively city” $20 cover charge + lite food + a bar. See Jim here http//www.neighborpower.org/ and here http//www.abcdinstitute.org/faculty/diers Warm regards, Phil Harington, For the New Zealand Fabian Society
Saturday, September 7, 8pm, Onehunga Community House, 83 Selwyn St, Onehunga, Auckland
YOU ARE WARMLY INVITED TO CONMEMORATE CHILE- NZ 40 YEARS of SOLIDARITY, RESISTANCE and STRUGGLE (9-11-73 /2013). CULTURAL NIGHT ( with Special guests from Chile). $10. Music, Poetry and More. Note: Long Live the Chilean Revolution
Sunday, September 8, 6pm, The Victoria theatre, 48-56 Victoria Rd, Devonport
https://www.facebook.com/events/196478883847114/
‘FRANCES HA’ – MOVIE NIGHT: Come to the movies with us on 8th September and help support us and the Auckland Womens Centre. There’s a choice of 2 tickets:- $20 Movie Ticket Only; $25 Movie Ticket + Glass of Wine or Ice Cream. Contact the Office on 444 4618 or email us at women.ctr to get your ticket. Payment can be made by cash, cheque or direct credit. Alternatively tickets can be purchased through Auckland Womens Centre Ph: 376 3227 ext 0 or email info or – if you’re in the Ponsonby area – at the Womens Bookshop. A bit about the film ….. Frances (Greta Gerwig) lives in New York, but she doesn’t really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but shes not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren’t really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. FRANCES HA is a modern comic fable that explores New York, friendship, class, ambition, failure, and redemption. (c) IFC Films
Wednesday, September 11
LEGAL SEMINAR ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT – PRESENTED BY GALVIN LAW: This seminar will be beneficial for women who are, or have been affected by, domestic violence as well as community workers, counsellors and anyone supporting women in this situation. This seminar is a women only event. Cost: $10 (waged) or $5 (Community Services Card/Unwaged). Call the office on 444 4618 to register your place.
Friday, September 20, 7pm, 3 Pearce St, Onehunga, Auckland
You are invited to join us for an exciting night of Culture, Live music with Calle Latina, Cuban Accent, with Special guest Mallarauco and Traditional dances by Macondo , The Cuban Grove , food, bar and much more!! Estas invitado a participar en la celebración de la Fiesta de Chile que estará llena de cultura, música en vivo con Calle Latina, The Cuban Accent, tradicionales música con Mallarauco bailes con Macondo y Bailes de Salsa con The Cuban grove, comida, bar y mucho mas… buy you Ticket now!! $10 Entry only cash https://www.facebook.com/events/423572647757106/
JOIN THE 2013 SOLIDARITY BRIGADE TO VENEZUELA – DECEMBER 4-13, 2013
Witness a people’s revolution in action. The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network’s 14th international solidarity brigade to Venezuela this December is a very special opportunity to observe, learn about and be inspired by the Bolivarian revolution that is transforming Latin America and challenging the greed and exploitation of global capitalism by showing that a better world is possible.
Since 1998, when the late Hugo Chavez was first elected president, the Bolivarian revolution has achieved remarkable things by putting control of Venezuela’s politics and economy back into the hands of the poor majority. Despite the challenges created by Chavez’s death last March and the right-wing’s campaign to undermine new President Nicolas Maduro, this people-power driven revolution continues to flourish and defy all attempts by the imperialism-backed opposition to destroy it.
Brigade registration and costs
The registration deadline for the 2013 brigade is September 1, 2013. Accommodation, transport within Venezuela and English-Spanish translation throughout the brigade will be organised for all participants by the AVSN. Participants will need to book their own international airfares. Please do not purchase your tickets before the registration deadline of September 1.
In addition to your international airfare, you will need to budget for approximately $1200. This will cover your brigade registration fee ($500 for waged workers or $350 for students/pensioners), and your food, transport and (shared) accommodation in Venezuela.
To register or for more information: EMAIL: brigades
www.venezuelasolidarity.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PROCHOICE HIGHWAY
Many thanks to all for a great 24 July Auckland launch of Fighting to Choose: The Abortion Rights Struggle in New Zealand. The follow-up book tour-cum-roadshow, Prochoice Highway, kicks off next month, and runs till the end of the year. If you’d like to follow the Highway via occasional email updates, this link will take you to a page where you can sign up. Otherwise your in-box will be left in peace from now on (unless, that is, you already happen to be a subscriber). Ngā mihi nui, Alison McCulloch
COROMANDEL WATCHDOG
Please see attached our Winter Newsletter. It has been a busy year for Hauraki/Coromandel with the Manaia campaign, closely followed by the Regatta and most recently the protest to protect Parakiwai, as well as expanding threats of mining in areas that are totally inappropriate. The government continue to present short-sighted committment to facilitating the mineral industry over and above communities and the environment. Thank you for being part of protecting the Coromandel, we know that communities deserve better than short-term unsustainable economic solutions and together we can save the Coromandel from this. Do not hesitate to get in touch with your ideas and/or to volunteer your time.
Kind Regards, Renee Annan, Coordinator, Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki. m: 0220181764 www.watchdog.org.nz Newsletter: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18076151/Newsletter%20Winter%202013%20for%20email.pdf
ROGER AWARD
Nominations are open for the Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in Aotearoa – New Zealand in 2013. Download a nomination form here http://bit.ly/13RBjuT
LIVING WAGE TO FEATURE AT LOCAL ELECTIONS
Candidates will be asked by communities to step up for a Living Wage at this year’s local body elections in Auckland, Wellington and beyond. The Living Wage Movement will hold seven meetings in Auckland with communities that want to see employees and contracted workers at Auckland Council paid a Living Wage. Living Wage Aotearoa NZ will join with the following Auckland communities to call for a Living Wage and to support other critical issues that really matter to their communities:
Unions @ Papatoetoe Cosi Club | August 22, 4-6pm
Women @ Columbus Centre, 40 Vermont St, Ponsonby | September 3, 6-8pm
Youth @ Auckland University quad | September 4, 12.30-1.30pm
Migrant and Refugees @ Mays Rd Memorial Hall | September 7, 4-6pm
Faith-based groups @ Columbus Centre, Ponsonby | September 10, 7-9pm
West Auckland communities @ Tuvalu Church, Aetna Pl | September 18, 6-8pm
Pacific Communities @ Pacific Island Church Otara | October 4, 5-7pm
And for Wellington they are:
St Peters on Willis, 7-9pm, Monday, 23 September
Victoria University, 1pm, 25 September
Pacific Islander Presbyterian Church, Newtown, 2-4pm, Saturday 28 September
BEST ON THE WEB
NEW ZEALAND
Kiwis protest Egypt violence http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10914017
League tables show parents little http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/9058269/League-tables-show-parents-little
Opposition to Govt crackdown on offshore protests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_pPSbwWPgQ
Dairy industry yet to clean up its act http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9054351/Dairy-industry-yet-to-clean-up-its-act
Don’t harbour any illusions about Egypt’s military regime By Keith Locke – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/08/19/dont-harbour-any-illusions-about-egypts-military-regime/#sthash.4t1mMDSN.dpuf
Mayoral candidates square off across the picket line By John Minto – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/08/15/mayoral-candidates-square-off-across-the-picket-line/#sthash.XIYfBChv.dpuf
NZ – POVERTY AND INEQUALITY
Unite targets welfare minister http://www.waateanews.com/waateanews/x_story_id/NTE2Ng==/Unite-targets-welfare-minister
Damient Grant: Poor are sacrificial pawns in politics of housing http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10913784
Every Child Counts Newsletter August 2013 http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=bbeed7866786b064ae099101e&id=e02322974a&e=8108f354a6
STATS OF THE WEEK
Graph the top 1 percent share of America’s income over the last 100 years, former labor secretary Robert Reich marvels in the engaging new feature film Inequality for All, and you get a veritable suspension bridge: an almost identical hyperconcentration of income in the 1920s and then again today. Inequality for All will debut in theaters September 27. Just released: the film’s official trailer.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
FEATURES
Dissent, Disappointment and Draconian Rule – Bradley Manning’s Plea and the Fight to be Human http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/16/bradley-mannings-plea-and-the-fight-to-be-human/
Taking Power In and Beyond the State by John Milios and Haris Triandafilidou http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/866.php
WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS
A Decade of Grassroots Resistance to WTO and Free Trade – See more at: http://focusweb.org/content/decade-grassroots-resistance-wto-and-free-trade#sthash.FeJ7L9cQ.6VK1lDEj.dpuf
Corporations Will Have Far More Power Than Governments with this “Free Trade” Agreement: TPP http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/corporations-will-have-more-power-than-governments-with-this-free-trade-agreement-tpp/
LAND, LABOUR & THE ENVIRONMENT
New Hot Zones now cover 5% of Earth; Only Fix is Halting CO2 (Lazare) http://www.juancole.com/2013/08/earth-halting-lazare.html
Corporations Begin To Lay Claim To the World’s H20 http://www.undergroundhealth.com/corporations-begin-to-lay-claim-to-the-worlds-h20/
CULTURAL DISSENT
MMIGRATION AND REFUGEES: MATT DAMON TALKS ELYSIUM: Film writer Garry Maddox talks to Matt Damon about the hot button issues which are tackled in the new film ‘Elysium’. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/elysium-review-bracingly-sardonic-but-time-for-director-to-move-on-20130814-2rvoa.html
ALGERIA
Algerian Memories: An Interview with Henri Alleg http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/13556/algerian-memories_an-interview-with-henri-alleg
AUSTRALIA
Casual workers most exploited http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54759
Whitlam minister rebukes Labor over refugees, supports Green Left Weekly – See more at: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54778#sthash.igmgR3eZ.dpuf
EGYPT
Military/police violence and vigilantism against anti-coup movement in Egypt as protests continue http://www.rogerannis.com/militarypolice-violence-and-vigilantism-against-anti-coup-movement-in-egypt-as-protests-continue/
Egypt on the Brink of a New Dark Age, As the Generals Close in for the Kill – Compromise is no longer feasible, and the army controls the levers of power. But can its victory be conclusive? by Patrick Cockburn https://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/18-3
The Police Keep Firing; The Bodies Pile Up. In Cairo, Bloodbaths Are Now a Daily Occurrence by Robert Fisk https://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/17-4
Why are Egyptian Liberals Celebrating a Massacre? http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10592
Egypt’s Counter Revolution by Adam Shatz 16 August 2013 – See more at: http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2013/08/16/adam-shatz/egypts-counter-revolution/#sthash.fiT6dkqN.dpuf
How some ordinary Egyptians became ‘malicious terrorists’ – It’s our dear friends the Saudis whom the Egyptian army and police can count on http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/how-some-ordinary-egyptians-became-malicious-terrorists-8773354.html
Interview | Live from Cairo: Hannah Elsisi on the Egyptian crisis http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/live-cairo-hannah-elsisi-egyptian-crisis/
FRANCE
One year after the Sarkozy defeat http://www.socialistproject.ca/leftstreamed/ls184.php
IRAN
CIA Admits It Was Behind Iran’s Coup http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/18/cia_admits_it_was_behind_irans_coup
NIGERIA
PHOTONEWS: Protesters Embark On Save Public Education in Nigeria In Lagos http://saharareporters.com/gallery/photonews-protesters-embark-save-public-education-nigeria-lagos
PALESTINE
Noam Chomsky: Israel’s West Bank plans will leave Palestinians very little http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/16/opinion/mideast-talks-noam-chomsky
TUNISIA
Daily protests as assembly crisis grows http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54789
UK
Glenn Greenwald: Detaining my partner: a failed attempt at intimidation http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/18/david-miranda-detained-uk-nsa
Police ‘spied on activists for blacklisting agency’ http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/18/police-activists-blacklisting-agency-alleged
USA
US fast food workers takes on junk wages http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54793
Bill Maher: “This country is becoming a police state, it is very troubling to me” http://therealnews.com/t2/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/76757
Oliver Stone: Snowden Is a Hero; Obama Is a Snake http://therealnews.com/t2/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/76758
VENEZUELA
Venezuela Withdraws Its Ambassador from Egypt http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/9946
GPJA 