GPJA Newsletter # 297

GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND

NEWSLETTER No. 297, September 1, 2009

Website: https://gpjanz.wordpress.com/
Contact details:
Forums – John Minto, Work: (09) 845 2132, Home 09 846 3173 jbminto@xtra.co.nz
Newsletter Editor & Website – Mike Treen 0295254744 mike@unite.org.nz
Donations can be sent to GPJA, P O Box 7175, Wellesley St, Auckland.

Subscriptions: To subscribe to this newsletter please use this link. To change your existing subscription details please use this link.

DOCTORS OF TOMORROW – CUBA’S MEDICAL AID TO THE PACIFIC

In place of our regular GPJA forum on the first Monday of the month we have moved it forward one day (and at a different time and at a different place – see below) to take advantage of a visit by Australian academic Tim Anderson who is an expert on Cuba’s health programmes in the South Pacific. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear about the hidden but wonderful story of aid with conditions.

Sunday, September 6th, 2pm, Ponsonby Community Centre, 20 Ponsonby Terrace From Karangahape / Great North Rd, head down Ponsonby
“Doctors of Tomorrow -The revolutionary example of Cuba” – From Sydney, Dr Tim Anderson speaks on Cuban medical aid and disaster relief in the Asia-Pacific region. Cuban medical aid abroad is one of the good news stories the media fails to cover. Cuba gives more medical aid to the Third World than all the wealthy G8 countries combined. Recently Cuban doctors have begun work in the Pacific, in
places like Timor-Leste, the Solomons, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Nauru. We are privileged to have Dr Tim Anderson, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney, speak of his interest in this many-faceted solidarity. As part of his presentation, Anderson will show his 20-minute documentary, The Pacific School of Medicine. The movie is a follow-up to 2008’s
Doctors of Tomorrow. The meeting will also hear an update by Annalucia Vermunt on the international campaign to free the Cuban Five. In May Vermunt participated in an international youth conference in solidarity with the Five held in Havana, Cuba. Sponsored by: Auckland Cuba Friendship Society e-mail: inashina@clear.net.nz; or phone Ina,
303-1755; Global Peace and Justice Aotearoa Website: https://gpjanz.wordpress.com/ Contact – John Minto, Work: (09) 845 2132, Home: (09) 846 3173 jbminto@xtra.co.nz See Also: The Neglected State-builder: MICHAEL LEACH on Cuban medical programs in the Pacific. http://www.arena.org.au/archives/Mag_Archive/Issue98/leach98.htm

PROTEST AT HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN SRI LANKA

Before the forum there is an important protest against the continuing human rights abuses in Sri Lanks where hundreds of thousands of Tamils are being held in concentration camps while the Black caps play cricket without concern! There is a feeling within the New Zealand Tamil community that the Tamils in Sri Lanka have been abandoned by the international community. Let us show them some
support. See What’s on in Auckland for details.

Hammer the Pokies: More hammers needed!!

Thanks for the positive responses to the appeal for people to join the campaign. We won’t be calling for action in the short term as we need to build numbers much higher. This campaign aims to enlist a minimum of 200 hammers (with people attached!) and take civil disobedience action to drive pokie machines out of our neighbourhood communities. 80% of the cases of gambling addiction relate to
pokie machines in the community (aside from casinos) These are parasites on poverty and predominate in low-income areas of the country. They have to go. If you are prepared to join a crowd (min 200) and take civil disobedience action against pokie machines then please email John Minto jbminto@xtra.co.nz or Phone 8463173.

WHAT’S ON IN AUCKLAND

Tuesday, September 1, 12 noon, Sky Tower

On Gamble-Free Day, 1 September, AUT students will dump $5 million underneath the Sky Tower to demonstrate how much money is lost every day through gambling. At 12noon, bags of fake notes will be emptied at the entrance of SkyCity and the ‘money’ printed with facts about gambling, will be distributed to the public. All concerned people are encouraged to attend. In association with the
Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand, the students intend to raise awareness about the devastating effects of problem gambling on communities in New Zealand.

Tuesday, September 1, 7pm, APAC Theatre, 100 Motions Rd, Western Springs (opposite the Zoo, parking in the Zoo number 2 car park)

Art in the Super City: Care about where the Arts sit in the plans for the Super City? Meeting for the Arts organisations and artists across Auckland. We believe that the Arts play an enormous role in the health and vitality of all of Auckland. Come and have your say about your thoughts about the future of the Arts. Invited speakers include: Phil Twyford – Labour spokesperson on Auckland Issues;
Nikki Kaye – National MP Auckland Central and member of the Auckland Governance Legislation Select Committee. For further information please contact Maggie Gresson. Please RSVP to maggie@artistsalliance.org.nz Phone: + 9 376 7285; Mobile: + 021 220 9623. http://www.artistsalliance.org.nz Artists
Alliance receives significant funding from Creative New Zealand and ASB Community Trust.

Tuesday, September 1, 7.30pm, Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland (bus stop outside and easy parking)

Public Meeting to Protect our Tree Protection Rules – Remove Clause 52 of the RMA Bill. Speakers: Russel Norman MP, co-leader Green Party; David Shearer MP, Labour Party; Cr Christine Rose, Deputy Chair, Parks and Heritage Committee, Auckland Regional Council; Lisa Sanderson, vice president, NZ Arboricultural Association; Sigrid Shayer, Chair, The Tree Council and Stacy Colyer, Director,
Greenscene Ltd. Please pass on to others who might be interested. Thanks very much. Sigrid Shayer, Chair, The Tree Council, PO Box 78088, Grey Lynn, Auckland. ph 09 828 3727. http://www.thetreecouncil.org.nz Email: thetreecouncil@ihug.co.nz

Wednesday, September 2, 5.30pm, AIANZ’s conference room, downstairs, 68 Grafton Road, Auckland

AMNESTY PACIFIC RESEARCER SPEAKS: Come and hear Amnesty International’s Pacific Researcher Apolosi Bose speak on the organisation’s new direction in the Pacific. He will cover research on violence against women in Papua New Guinea, and slums as part of its just launched Demand Dignity campaign. Apolosi will also speak on a pending report on Fiji and touch on some broad human rights
trends in the Pacific, and take questions as time allows. Tea and coffee follows. Limited Parking available down Grafton Mews, behind the Amnesty Office. It will be on a first come, first served basis. To assist with set up and catering please RSVP by 5pm Tuesday, September 1 to Campaigns Intern, Alex Bayfield at campaigns.intern@amnesty.org.nz or by phoning 303 4520.

Thursday, September 3, 12noon-2pm, WT806, AUT Tower, AUT University

PROTECTING OUR PACIFIC FROM CLIMATE CHANGE “Information and Action Rally” – Host: Young Greens Auckland. To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below. http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=117999840204&mid=f418beG227fb72bG2803f4fG7

Saturday, September 5, 2pm, QEII Square, Customs Street and Queen Street intersection, outside Downtown Shopping Centre.

Rally for Justice and Peace in Palestine, come and support justice and peace based on an end to 40 years of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (including East Jerusalem), the right of return for Palestinian refugees, sharing Jerusalem, vacating all settlement colonies in Israeli occupied Palestine, and stopping Israel’s annexation / apartheid wall in occupied Palestine.
Starts 2pm, Organised by the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, for more information contact email or go to this web site.

Saturday, September 5, 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, Council Chamber – Waitakere City Council, 6 Henderson Valley, Waitakere

In the spirit of ‘Working Together during times of Global Financial Crisis’. We invite you to: A follow-up forum – Migrants’ Solutions to Migrant Issues. This meeting is being set up: As a follow-up to the 30th of May Forum and meeting with Minister of Immigration Meeting last 9th July 2009; For migrants to put their thinking hats together and offer solutions to the issues
faced by migrants and employers during the current global financial crisis; Migrant presentation of job creation initiative; To get your signature as we convert this paper into a national petition. It’s vital we get your full support. Kindly, advice by emailing migrantaction@xtra.co.nz , number of people from your group attending the forum. Thank you and we look forward to see you there.
Regards | Agnes Granada | Coordinator | Migrant Action Trust, 161 Stoddard Rd, Mt Roskill | P O Box 8315 | Auckland. Tel# (09) 629 3500 Fax 629 3504 email a.granada@migrantactiontrust.org.nz migrantaction@xtra.co.nz www.migrantactiontrust.org.nz

Sunday, September 6, 12.30pm, Aotea Square, Queen St

Vigil and Protest against detention in Sri Lanka of hundreds of thousands of Tamils. Hundreds of Tamils living in NZ will put themselves behind a barbed wire fence while a game of cricket is played outsdie with the cricketters withe their mouths taped shut, showing how Sri Lanka’s government is using the current tour to gain legitimacy despite the gross human rights violations.

Sunday, September 6th, 2pm, Ponsonby Community Centre, 20 Ponsonby Terrace From Karangahape / Great North Rd, head down Ponsonby

“Doctors of Tomorrow -The revolutionary example of Cuba” – From Sydney, Dr Tim Anderson speaks on Cuban medical aid and disaster relief in the Asia-Pacific region. Cuban medical aid abroad is one of the good news stories the media fails to cover. Cuba gives more medical aid to the Third World than all the wealthy G8 countries combined. Recently Cuban doctors have begun work in the Pacific, in
places like Timor-Leste, the Solomons, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Nauru. We are privileged to have Dr Tim Anderson, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney, speak of his interest in this many-faceted solidarity. As part of his presentation, Anderson will show his 20-minute documentary, The Pacific School of Medicine. The movie is a follow-up to 2008’s
Doctors of Tomorrow. The meeting will also hear an update by Annalucia Vermunt on the international campaign to free the Cuban Five. In May Vermunt participated in an international youth conference in solidarity with the Five held in Havana, Cuba. Sponsored by: Auckland Cuba Friendship Society e-mail: inashina@clear.net.nz; or phone Ina, 303-1755; Global
Peace and Justice Aotearoa Website: https://gpjanz.wordpress.com/ Contact – John Minto, Work: (09) 845 2132, Home: (09) 846 3173 jbminto@xtra.co.nz See Also: The Neglected State-builder: MICHAEL LEACH on Cuban medical programs in the Pacific. http://www.arena.org.au/archives/Mag_Archive/Issue98/leach98.htm

Saturday, September 12, 12.30pm, Assemble Myers Park (off Upper Queen St) to Britomart.

Protest government cuts to night classes: March from Myers Park to Britomart. The government cut 80% of the funding for night classes in this year’s budget. From next year most of the 212 schools around the country will cease their night class programmes and more than 200,000 New Zealanders will miss the opportunity to learn new skills, take up hobbies, meet and mix as community members etc.
Night classes have been a New Zealand tradition going back 100 years. Join the fightback to preserve adult and community education.

Saturday, September 12, 7pm, Samoa House, entrance off Beresford Street

Panther Party Celebration: The Black Panther Party’s Minister of Culture Emory Douglas is at Auckland University for a year. This evening is to celebrate the achievements of the Black Panther Party and its New Zealand counterpart, the Polynesian Panther Party. An evening of entertaimment from top New Zealand acts (such as Unity Pacific) is planned. GPJA has a table for 10. Tickets $20. Call John
Minto at 8469496 or 8463173(H) to reserve a ticket.

Satuday, September 12, 7pm to 2am, Pearce Hall, 3 Pearce St, Onehunga

Chile’s National day Celebration. Adults $10. Children under 16 free. Traditional food, cash bar. Bands performing. For tickets: makehuedancegroup@gmail.com Ph 636 8757

Saturday, September 19, 1pm, 3rd Floor, Auckland Public Library

DISPLAY AT THE AUCK PUBLIC LIBRARY: If you have any archival material from 1969 – photographs, clippings, leaflets etc, please send to ‘Jumping Sunday ‘09’, PO Box 86022 Mangere East 2158, or contact us by return email. The library display, including unique film footage, will continue for 2 weeks during the festival.

Sunday, September 20, 1pm, Albert Park

Come and Celebrate the Liberation of Albert Park – Bring Friends & Family. September this year marks the 40th anniversary of the “liberation” of Auckland’s Albert Park as a free speech area. On Sunday September 21st, 1969, Albert Park was taken as a free speech area, with a jug band in the rotunda and music interspersed with speakers. At first the Auckland City Council
vehemently opposed the events, which became known in the media as “Jumping Sundays”. However, as the crowds increased the Council backed down, Albert Park was recognised as a free speech area and for several years served as an Auckland version of Hyde Park in London. The legacy lives on, and the occasion is being celebrated with music and speakers this September: 1pm on SUNDAY 20th
SEPTEMBER 2009. (Rain day: Sun. 26th Sept.) Other events are in the pipeline. A fuller history of the event and photos can be found on: If you want to be on the organising group email list contact: jumpingsunday@clear.net.nz

Friday, September 25, 7am-9am, Newmarket Room at the Ellerslie Event Centre, Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland

Suffrage Breakfast commemorating Women’s Suffrage Day and Women’s Health Action’s 25th Anniversary. Click here to register online. Given that it is Womens Health Actions 25th Anniversary this year, we have invited Sandra Coney co-founder of the organisation to speak. Sandra will reflect on more than 25 years
of women’s health activism focusing on what have we achieved for the “Little Health of Ladies” and what there is left to achieve? Celebrate Suffrage Day at this informative and entertaining event. Tickets are $35 each (GST inc.) or $330 for a table of ten (Includes breakfast). Book a table for your work colleagues or friends. For more information contact Womens Health Action on
09 520 5295 or email info@womens-health.org.nz We would love to see you at this event, please feel free to forward this email to your friends and colleagues and please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries or require any further information. Kind Regards, Isis Mckay, Email: isis@womens-health.org.nz Women’s Health Action, P O Box 9947, Newmarket, Auckland. Ph: 09 5205295, fax: 09 520 5731 Website: https://www.womens-health.org.nz

October 7-8, Manurewa Marae

NA TA TATOU ROUROU – With Our Baskets the Children Will Prosper – A hui to build activism to end child poverty in Aotearoa. For registration details see the CPAG website at www.cpag.org.nz

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“It would be some time before I fully realized that the United States sees little need for diplomacy. Power is enough. Only the weak rely on diplomacy … The Roman Empire had no need for diplomacy. Nor does the United States.” : Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former UN Secretary General

Flash(back): The Head of the Bank of England Confesses: “As I look back, it now seems that, with all the thought and work and good intentions, which we provided, we achieved absolutely nothing … nothing that I did, and very little that old Ben did, internationally produced any good effect — or indeed any effect at all except that we collected money from a lot of poor devils
and gave it over to the four winds.” Of course, the “Ben” is Benjamin Strong, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York up to 1928, not Ben Bernanke. The speaker is not today’s Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, but rather the interwar governor Montagu Norman.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THE TELECOM WORKERS

How can I help? You can: – Call 0900 STAND TALL to make a $10 donation to the support fund.

– Make a donation at any BNZ branch or by online transfer to this account: 02-0568-0177685-00, Reference: Telco

– Start fundraising on your site for more information call 0800 1 UNION.

– Email Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds (the $5 million dollar man) at paul.reynolds@telecom.co.nz to tell him to get Visionstream to come to the table.

– Show your support by ringing talkback, talking to your friends and workmates and writing letters to the editor about this dispute and what it means for Kiwi workers. For more information you can visit the campaign site here http://www.epmu.org.nz/telecom

CLIMATE CHANGE PETITION

From Paul Bruce: I’ve just Signed On with thousands of other Kiwis calling for urgent action on climate change. I know that my name alone may not influence the Government but if we get many many thousands of people to Sign On, we can’t be ignored. Please join me by clicking on this link: http://www.signon.org.nz/invite/accept/Ch4K834X It’s like a petition only better. It will take only a minute and it’s very easy. Over 85,000 New Zealanders have already Signed On including Stephen Tindall, Rhys Darby, Keisha Castle-Hughes and of course, me. This December, world leaders, including John Key, will meet in Copenhagen to
decide what the world should do about climate change. We must give John a strong mandate to do the right thing in Copenhagen, so please Sign On today. Here’s that link again. http://www.signon.org.nz/invite/accept/Ch4K834X

INVITATION TO ENDORSE CAFCA’S OPPOSITION TO FURTHER LIBERALISING OVERSEAS INVESTMENT ACT

Friends, It is becoming clearer with every passing day that the Government is intent on taking NZ further down the discredited old road of open slather foreign investment, privatisation and more and more free trade agreements. The only beneficiaries of this are the transnational corporations and their allies in local Big Business. These are intimately interconnected issues and need to be
confronted as such, rather than separately. We have singled out the prospect of a Free Trade Agreement with the US, because that it is presented by both National and Labour as being the Holy Grail of free trade agreements. As you know, the Obama Administration has currently indefinitely suspended negotiations for such an Agreement with NZ, while it reviews the whole trade policy it has inherited.
But that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen, simply that it won’t happen tomorrow. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to let the Government know of the opposition to this whole agenda.

CAFCA is asking you to endorse the following:

•I/We say “no” to the Government’s proposal to further liberalise the 2005 Overseas Investment Act

•I/We oppose New Zealand signing a trade agreement with the US through the proposed extension of the Transpacific Strategic Economic Partnership (commonly known as the P4 Agreement, although the number of countries involved is now greater than four) and the extension of that Agreement to include investment and financial services.

Signed: Title (if any):

Please return your endorsement to CAFCA, at this e-mail address. cafca@chch.planet.org.nz We will make use of the endorsements in publicity material; we will put them on our Website; and we are happy to provide you with further information as it comes to hand. For the list of those who have already signed and for further information on the
liberalisation of the Overseas Investment Act, go to http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/OIReview/OIReview2009.html For further information on the P4 and the proposal for a Free Trade Agreement with the US, go to http://www.nznotforsale.org/

NEW ZEALAND UNION OF STUDENTS ASSOCIATION – REINSATE THE TIA

The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations is launching a nationwide petition today calling on students and the public to register their opposition to the axing of the Training Incentive Allowance by the Government in the 2009 Budget. The petition urgently requests that the Government reinstate the allowance and highlights the beneficial effects the TIA has had on allowing
those on fixed incomes to access higher education and move into the labour market over the many years it has been available.This petition is very imporant because of the importance of having people access further and higher education to improve skills and create pathways into the workforce. http://www.students.org.nz/files/Press_2009/TIA%20Petition040809.pdf

LIBERATION OF ALBERT PARK – ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 1PM SEPTEMBER 20

September this year marks the 40th anniversary of the “liberation” of Auckland’s Albert Park as a free speech area, on September 21st 1969. An event with bands and free speech is planned for the afternoon of September 20th to celebrate the anniversary. Everybody is welcome! Remember – September 20, 1.00pm – Albert Park. Albert Park Photos: http://pym-vietnamwaractivismhistory.blogspot.com/ Contact: jumpingsunday@clear.net.nz Speakers include Tim Shadbolt & Sue Bradford. Entertainers: The Frank E. Evans Band, Graham Brazier (‘Hello Sailor’), ‘Starfish Magic’ with Dave Neumegen (Arif Usmani), Tigi Ness
(‘Unity Pacific’), & special street theatre performance! We are also hoping to track down Alistair Riddell (‘Space Waltz’ singer) who played in the ‘Mad Dog Jug Band’ in 1969. If you know how to contact him, please let him & us know.ALSO! DISPLAY AT THE AUCK PUBLIC LIBRARY: Come to the launch 1pm on Sat 19 September (Floor 3). If you have any archival
material from 1969 – photographs, clippings, leaflets etc, please send to ‘Jumping Sunday ‘09’, PO Box 86022 Mangere East 2158, or contact us by return email. The library display, including unique film footage, will continue for 2 weeks during the festival.

CALLING ALL NEW ZEALANDERS: JOIN THE NEXT SOLIDARITY BRIGADE TO VENEZUELA! DECEMBER 1-9, 2009

Organised by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network. Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution led by President Hugo Chavez is shaking up global politics and inspiring millions of ordinary people with the evidence that a better – a peaceful, democratic and socially just – world is possible.

* Whereas in Australia and Aotearoa, public health, education and infrastructure is being run down or privatised, in Venezuela, major industries are being nationalised and put under workers’ control, and universal access to health, education and social welfare is now guaranteed.

* Whereas in Australia and Aotearoa, workers are being sacked, and wages and conditions are being eroded under the guise of “weathering” the economic crisis, in Venezuela, wages are increasing, and union membership and organisation is growing.

The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network-organised brigades to Venezuela are a unique opportunity to see an unfolding revolution first-hand. The AVSN warmly welcomes the participation of New Zealanders on the brigades. Participants in the December 1-9, 2009, brigade will visit worker-controlled factories and cooperatives, free public education and health programs, and community media outlets.
They will observe “popular power” at work in communal councils, and speak to a range of grassroots organisations, unions and government representatives about the radical changes being implemented by the Venezuelan people.

The AVSN has organised nine solidarity brigades to Venezuela, involving more than 165 participants. These study/solidarity tours are inspiring experiences, providing an opportunity to observe and understand why Venezuela’s goal of creating “socialism of the 21st century’’ is transforming the world.

Brigade organisation and costs: The deadline for registering for the December 2009 brigade to Venezuela is October 31, 2009. Participants will need to book their own international airfares, but the brigade organisers can help with advice. Accommodation, transport and English translation within Venezuela will be organised for brigade participants. You will need to budget for a total cost of
approximately $4000. This includes: international return airfare and taxes; accommodation (twin-share basis); transport and food in Venezuela; and the brigade registration fee ($500 for workers, $300 for full-time students or pensioners). Reports and photos from previous AVSN brigades are posted at http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org. For more
information, please email brigades@venezuelasolidarity.org

27TH SOUTHERN CROSS BRIGADE TO CUBA

“A better world is possible”: The Cuban people have proven that there is another way. ICAP (the Cuban Institute for Friendship between Peoples) provides, through its Brigades, the opportunity for people from all over the world to experience and participate in the Cuban revolutio.

What does the Brigade entail?

Join the Southern Cross work/study tour and support Cuba in the most direct manner by working (picking fruit or pruning fruit trees, etc) and then visiting schools, hospitals, urban agriculture projects, etc You will experience at first hand the cultural, political and social conditions in revolutionary Cuba. This year we will be having a closer look at Cuba’s innovative approaches
to the environment and climate change. Children are welcome on this tour as are older participants. Our Cuban hosts take great care of visitors of all ages. The main features of the Brigade include:

* Talks on various aspects of conditions in Cuba given by prominent Cuban speakers;

* Working with Cubans;

* Visits to places of interest (eg schools, hospitals, factories);

* Opportunities to explore Havana independently;

* Visits to provincial centres;* Homestays and visit to Las Tunas Province

Unbeatable value – $1000. (Includes: All meals, accommodation, excursions and transportation in Cuba during program). Not included:

– Air travel to Cuba – get in early to book your flights! (Check out Aerolineas for cheap flights. There are now also weekly flights with Continental from Los Angeles to Havana.)

– Compulsory travel insurance

– Any additional nights stay in Cuba prior to commencement of the Brigade or following the conclusion of the program (prior to the flight home). Inexpensive accommodation is available – opportunity for independent tourism

Contacts: NZ Paul Maunder (03) 732 4010 email wkcultur@ihug.co.nz; Ina Lawrence (09) 303 1755 email inashina@clear.net.nz Australia Robert Cooper – National Coordinator of the 27th Southern Cross Brigade – 0408 624 629, email robert@conceptis.com.au or write to PO Box 6139 Kingston ACT 2604.

WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST JANUARY 22-24, 2010

The Waihopai spybase was dragged into the public spotlight in April 2008 when three Ploughshares peace activists penetrated its high security and deflated one of the two domes concealing its satellite dishes from the NZ public. The Anti-Bases Campaign was happy to support this non-violent direct action anti-war activity (which is yet to come to trial). The public face of New
Zealand’s role as an American ally is the NZ military presence in Afghanistan. But New Zealand’s most significant contribution to that, and other American wars, including the one in Iraq, is the Waihopai electronic intelligence gathering base, located in the Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim. It is controlled by the US, with New Zealand (including Parliament and the Prime Minister)
having little or no idea what goes on there, let alone any control.

First announced in 1987, Waihopai is operated by New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in the interests of the foreign Powers grouped together in the super-secret UKUSA Agreement (which shares global electronic and signals intelligence among the intelligence agencies of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ). Its two satellite interception dishes intercept a huge
volume of civilian telephone calls, telexes, faxes, e-mail and computer data communications. It spies on our Asia/Pacific neighbours, and forwards the material on to the major partners in the UKUSA Agreement, specifically the US National Security Agency (NSA). Its targets are international civilian communications involving New Zealanders, including the interception of international phone calls.
Post- 9/11 the GCSB and Waihopai now spy further afield, to those regions where the US is waging wars. The codename for this – Echelon – has become notorious worldwide as the vast scope of its spying has become public. New Zealand is an integral, albeit junior part of a global spying network, a network that is ultimately accountable only to its own constituent agencies, not
governments, not citizens.

Join us for the weekend of anti-war protest at this spybase. Come prepared for roughing it and camping out. We provide the food (we cater for vegetarians but vegans will have to bring their own). Bring sleeping bag, groundsheet, a tent, torch, water bottle, eating utensils, clothing for all weather, and $40 (or $20 unwaged) to cover costs. No open fires.

How to find our camp at Whites Bay: turn off SH1 at Tuamarina (9km north of Blenheim or 20 km south of Picton) and drive to Rarangi on the coast. Follow the steep Port Underwood Road over the hilltop before descending to the Whites Bay turnoff. There is a DoC public camp at the bay with basic facilities. ABC has to pay a fixed charge per head.

This will be the first Waihopai spybase protest since the Domebusters’ courageous 2008 citizens’ deflation action. Waihopai does not operate in the interests of New Zealanders or our neighbours. Basically it is a foreign spybase on NZ soil and directly involves us in America’s wars. Waihopai must be closed.

Register to take part in the protest ($40 waged / $20 unwaged). Writre to: CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE NOW! Organised by the Anti-Bases Campaign, P.O. Box 2258, Christchurch. E-mail cafca@chch.planet.org.nz www.converge.org.nz/abc Make all cheques to ABC

NOMINATIONS FOR 2009 ROGER AWARD

Nominations are now open for the 2009 Roger Award for the Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which is organised the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa and GATT Watchdog. You can download the nomination form (in either Word or PDF) from http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/index.html Nominations close on October 31, 2009. Send your nomination to: The Roger Award, Box 2258, Christchurch; e-mail cafca@chch.planet.org.nz

AUCKLAND HERITAGE PEACE WALK

9.00am Sunday 27 September, QEII Square – New Zealand is the starting place for a World March for Peace and Nonviolence which will travel around the globe with stops in 90 countries, beginning with an event in Auckland, to be followed by the official launch in Wellington on 2 October. The World March was initiated by the organisation World Without Wars. The objectives of the World March
are: •To give a voice to the majority of world citizens who want peace by having them send out a unified signal •To create global awareness of the urgent need to condemn of all forms of violence and bring about real peace •By highlighting the work of individuals and organizations around the world to end violence and promote peace, citizens who are moved to support this work will be
empowered to do so. Aotearoa-New Zealand was chosen in recognition of: •The nonviolence traditions of Moriori and Parihaka •Being the first country to grant women the vote •Being the only country to have a Minister for Disarmament •Our inclusion of peace studies in the school curriculum and the establishment of Peace Cities •Our moves towards peaceful resolution of past
injustices to Tangata Whenua and other ethnic communities

•Our nuclear-free status •Our government’s support for the UN. The Auckland Heritage Peace Walk Launch is Auckland’s welcome to the international participants in the World March. The walk will visit various peace landmarks around the central city, ending at St Matthew-in-the-City with performances, exhibits, music and speakers. Sites on the walk include: • Rainbow
Warrior mural, Marsden Wharf

• The Peace Place, Emily Place • Memorial – Tiananmen Square Massacre , Maclaurin Chapel, Princes St, • Albert Park – the band rotunda • Gateway sculpture, Victoria St • Suffragette mural, Khartoum Place. Local individuals and groups have endorsed the World March including: Helen Clark, Jim Anderton, Jacinda Ardern, Phil Goff, Phil Twyford, Sir Paul Reeves, Kerry
Prendergast, Dr Kate Dewes, Marion Hancock, Kevin Clements, Pauline Tangiora, Moana Manipoto, Yulia, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Disarmament and Security Centre, The Peace Foundation, Oxfam, United Nations Association of NZ. We are seeking further endorsements as well as participation in the Auckland Heritage Peace Wal. Auckland co-ordinators for the volunteer team organising the Auckland
events: Audrey van Ryn: 368 1516 audrey@writeaway.co.nz and Wende Jowsey: wende@jowsey.com www.worldmarch.co.nz www.theworldmarch.org

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John Minto: Booze barons rule in liquor review http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0908/S00161.htm

Tougher regulation of temping agencies needed http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0908/S00553.htm

John Minto: A boil on the country’s backside http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/blogs/frontline/2801891/A-boil-on-the-countrys-backside

Matt McCarten: Can 700 Davids beat a corporate Goliath? http://www.unite.org.nz/?q=node/681

Tougher regulation of temping agencies needed http://www.unite.org.nz/?q=node/676

ECONOMIC CRISIS

Income Inequality Is at an All-Time High: Income inequality in the United States is at an all-time high, surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression, according to a recently updated paper by University of California, Berkeley Professor Emmanuel Saez. The paper, which covers data through 2007, points to a staggering, unprecedented disparity in American incomes. On his blog, Nobel
prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman called the numbers “truly amazing.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/14/income-inequality-is-at-a_n_259516.html

Keynsian Illusions: “America’s Exhausted Paradigm: Macroeconomic Causes of the Financial Crisis and Great Recession,” http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/keynesian-illusions/

FOOD, FARMING AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The false promise of energy efficiency and a real alternative http://links.org.au/node/1217

REVIEWS

The free-market fallacies of Ayn Rand http://links.org.au/node/1221

`BLACK BOOK’ EXPOSES CANADIAN IMPERIALISM – Yves Engler’s “Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy” lays out the facts on Canada’s sinister role as a partner in world imperialist and colonial quests, and urges us to understand the consequences. He challenges the belief that Canada is a peacekeeping nation. http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=567

AFGHANISTAN

AFGHAN WOMEN’S RIGHTS LEADER SAYS FOREIGN TROOPS SHOULD LEAVE http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=539

Afghan Election: “In My Family of 45 People, I’m The Only One Who Voted” http://www.alternet.org/world/142118/afghan_election%3A_%22in_my_family_of_45_people%2C_i%27m_the_only_one_who_voted%22/

BOLIVIA

Bolivia’s Evo Morales: ‘Economic liberation necessary for political power’ http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/808/41582

Morales Annuls Forest Exploitation Concessions, Turns Land Over to Indians http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2009/08/morales-annuls-forest-exploitation.html

CUBA

Bolivia Prescribes Solidarity: Health Care Reform under Evo Morales – The first time Mario Terán faced a doctor from Cuba, he killed him. He heard Che Guevara utter his famous last words: “Shoot, coward; you are only going to kill a man,” and in October of 1967, in a small schoolhouse in rural Bolivia, Sergeant Terán fired a round of bullets into the revolutionary’s body. Forty years later,
Terán walked into a medical clinic staffed by Cuban physicians. Disguising his identity, he requested medical attention. His cataracts were corrected, his sight restored. http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2054/68/

HONDURAS

The Learning Curve of the Teachers vs. the Honduras Coup http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3381/learning-curve-teachers-vs-honduras-coup

LIBYA

Lockerbie verdict ‘politically influenced’ – A United Nations observer at the trial of two Libyans accused of the Lockerbie bombing has said the judgment appeared to be politically influenced. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/scotland/2002/lockerbie_appeal/1773868.stm

Al-Megrahi statement in full -Upon leaving HM Prison Greenock en route back to Libya, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi issued the following statement through his lawyers: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/200982016359962688.html

PACIFIC

Fiji’s military takes on the methodists http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25963303-16953,00.html

AUT brings more Pacific news to Scoop website http://www.pacific.scoop.co.nz ( http://www.pacific.scoop.co.nz/ ) – A new online Pacific media service, Pacific Scoop, was launched today at AUT University’s Maori Expo by Scoop co-editor Selwyn Manning in a live video panel with Maori and Pacific communications students. A partnership between Scoop Media and
AUT’s Pacific Media Centre, Pacific Scoop is hosted on the existing Scoop website. It provides up-to-date news stories about Maori and Pasifika issues written by student journalists with support from experienced reporters and commentators. Contributors will include students from AUT’s School of Communication Studies, the Divine Word University (Papua New Guinea), the National University of Samoa
and the University of the South Pacific. Manning said today: “The Pacific Scoop hub provides AUT’s journalism students and staff a place to foot it with other practising journalists and respected commentators around the region.” Dr David Robie, director of AUT University?s Pacific Media Centre, said the service would introduce a fresh and independent voice of the greater Pacific. We are keen to
tell the hidden stories and address important Pacific issues like climate change, human rights and resource development. New website launching: http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2009/08/scoop-and-pacific-media-centre-launch-new-independent-regional-news-site/ Video feed on the PMC’s
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/pacmedcentre

Jailed union leader calls for probe into ‘terrible’ prison conditions for Kanaks http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2009/08/jailed-union-leader-calls-for-probe-into-%E2%80%98terrible%E2%80%99-prison-conditions-for-kanaks/

Interview with jailed pro-independence trade union leader Gérard Jodar http://links.org.au/node/1222

The Neglected State-builder: MICHAEL LEACH on Cuban medical programs in the Pacific. http://www.arena.org.au/archives/Mag_Archive/Issue98/leach98.htm

PALESTINE

Illegal Invasion: Israel’s Ongoing Arrest And Intimidation Campaign – Hundreds of Palestinians, Israeli, Spanish, French and other international supporters, responded today to the Popular Committee’s call to resist the Wall and to show solidarity with the Bil’in prisoners.

Answer to Rosenfeld: Jewish History, Anti-Semitism, and the Challenge of Zionism http://qumsiyeh.org/answertorosenfeld/

Kasrils: Who Said Nearly 50 Years Ago that Israel was an Apartheid State? http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14924

US Turns Blind Eye To Israel’s New Separation Policy: “ While Palestinian-Americans are being denied entry to the region or excluded from Israel and East Jerusalem, Israel is actively encouraging American Jews to come and settle in the West Bank.”. http://www.countercurrents.org/cook170809A.htm

TIMOR LESTE

No justice in Timor-Leste ten years after independence vote http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/no-justice-timor-leste-ten-years-after-independence-vote-20090827

USA

The Debilitating Myth of the ‘Free Market’ Alternative http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/24

Critical Condition, a new documentary on the U.S. health care system: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08212009/profile.html

We don’t want to rule the world – The US public largely opposes America’s foreign wars and economic meddling. They need a voice in US foreign policy http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/25/us-foreign-policy-public-opinion

United States: Ted Kennedy — The myth of the `liberal lion’ http://links.org.au/node/1223

Race and class — African Americans in a sick system http://links.org.au/node/1220

VENEZUELA

Photo essay: Venezuela’s Comuna ‘Renacer del Sur’ — people’s power in practice http://links.org.au/node/1211