GPJA #482: MARCH THIS SAT FOR BOYCOTT OF CHOGM IN SRI LANKA – ASSEMBLE 12 NOON, BRITOMART

GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND NEWSLETTER No. 482, NOVEMBER 8, 2013

For those who have missed this newsletter I have been on annual leave – which included the newsletter! Hence also the reduced number of links this week. I have probably missed some upcoming events I have been asked to advertise also for which I apologise. Resend the notice if there is still time to advertise – Mike Treen, Editor

MARCH THIS SAT FOR BOYCOTT OF CHOGM IN SRI LANKA – ASSEMBLE 12 NOON, BRITOMART
https://gpjanz.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/march-this-sat-for-boycott-of-chogm-in-sri-lanka/

SAT JUST JEANS PROTEST CANCELLED
It seems that Just Jeans have offered to sign up to an international accord to protect workers rights! http://www.95bfm.com/default,213417.sm

ASSET SALES REFERENDUM – MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON THE ELECTORAL ROLL
This is by postal ballot so you need to be on your local electoral roll at your current address for the information and voting papers to be sent to you. Make sure you and your family are enrolled to have a say in Keeping Our Assets. If you have moved house since the last election and have not re-enrolled you need to do so. Enrolments close on Thurs 21 Nov 2013. Go to elections.org.nz, call 0800 36 76 56, or get a form from your local Post shop or branch of Auckland Libraries.

PEACE, POWER AND POLITICS : HOW NEW ZEALAND BECAME NUCLEAR FREE
A new book by Maire Leadbeater, published by University of Otago Press (www.otago.ac.nz/press) November 2013. The following events are being held to launch this book and to celebrate our nuclear free movement.

Dunedin – Nov. 14
Hosts: Otago University Press and the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. 5.30–7.30 pm, 14 November 2013, University Union, Main Common Room, 660 Cumberland Street, Dunedin. RSVP ESSENTIAL. publicity

Wellington – Nov 20
Hosts Wellington Activist Coalition and Otago University Press. 6pm, 20 November 2013. St John’s Hall, Cnr Dixon and Willis Streets, Wellington. RSVP by 15 November to: artwork

Christchurch – Nov 25
Hosts: Anti-Bases Campaign, the Disarmament and Security Centre and Otago University Press . 6.30 pm 25 November 2013, Knox Church Bealey Avenue, Christchurch. RSVP: abc

Nelson – Nov 27
Elma Turner Library 27 Halifax St, Nelson. Book talk – Wednesday 27 Nov, 12.30-2. Maire Leadbeater on her new book ‘Peace, Power and Politic: How New Zealand became Nuclear Free’ and Nelson’s role in the movement to make New Zealand nuclear free.

Auckland – December 10
Hosts: Auckland Labour History Group and Otago University Press. 5.30–7.30 pm 10 December 2013. Mt Eden Village Centre, 449 Mt Eden Road, Auckland. Speakers: George Armstrong, Claudia Pond Eyley, Bunny Mcdiarmid. Music: Caitlin Smith. (Hall entrance is off Ngauruhoe St, behind historic church). RSVP: annie.newman

WHAT’S ON IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND

Monday, November 18, 5.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Gey Lynn
Closing the Gap in Auckland: Come and hear: Max Rashbrooke, editor of Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, on the growing gap between rich and poor. First Union’s Ed Miller on food security. Living Wage campaign coordinator Annie Newman on the latest campaign developments. The meeting is organised by Auckland Closing the Gap, the Auckland, Labour History Group and the Working Women’s Resource Centre, Closing the Gap is a network of activists dedicated to reducing inequalities in New Zealand and creating a fairer, more equal country. Come along and help us to start close some of those gaps.

Wednesday, November 20, 10.30-11.30am & 2-3pm, Pioneer Women’s Hall, Cnr High St & Freyburg Pl, CBD
COME AND HEAR HER STORY OF SURVIVAL:

Friday, November 22, 7.30 – 11pm, Where: Galatos (off K Rd, Newton) Auckland
The Sea Shepherd Fundraiser for 2013 with Te Radar as MC for the evening, music by Tama Waipara, Hopetoun Brown & more. Plus a performance by Jahra Rager. Captain Peter Hammarstedt from the Sea Shepherd ship ‘Bob Barker’ will be speaking along with our very own dolphin defender & conservationist Christine Rose. Canapes by Divine Foods. Live and silent auctions with some great items you can check out at our fundraiser website: http://www.seashepherdnzfundraiser.org.nz Tickets are limited. Get them from Eventfinda or our Sea Shepherd NZ page:http://www.seashepherd.org.nz/events/future-events.html For more info please contact Michael Lawry, Coordinator Sea Shepherd NZ www.seashepherd.org.nz Ph: 021 747861

Monday, November 25, 6.30pm, Alice’s Cinema, Tuam & High Sts, Christchurch
5 Broken Cameras, a Palestinian film by Emad Burnat, nominated for a 2013 Academy Award. A Palestinian farmer is given a video camera which he uses to record the ongoing non-violent popular resistance of his village, Bil’in , to the IDF (Israeli army) to the ongoing expansion of the Wall, stealing village land and water sources. The IDF smashes his camera; he manages to get another & continue filming. The Guardian , in its review, said that 5 Broken Cameras “gives us a direct experience of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of oppression and dispossession, administered by the unyielding, stony-faced representatives of those convinced of their own righteousness. But it isn’t vindictive and has a sense of destiny.” Martin and Lois Griffiths went to Bil’in on an October 2012 Friday to witness events and found themselves caught up in a tear gas barrage. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. For the latest news re Bil’in, the IDF has shot the star of the film, Emad Burnat’s brother. Tickets available at Alice’s or online www.aliceinvideoland.co.nz

Saturday, November 30, 8pm, Sudio on Krd, Karangahape Rd, Auckland
Mana Up Fundraiser with House of Shem, Three Houses Down, Tyree, Tribal Connections, MC Hazaduz, Te Hamua Nikora, Natural T, Envioso, DJ Poroufessor.

Tuesday, December 10, 5.30pm, Mt Eden Village Centre, cnr Ngaururohe St and Mt Eden Rd, Mt Eden
Book Launch: Peace, Power & Politics: How New Zealand became nuclear free. Speakers: George Armstrong, Claudia Pond Eyley, Bunny McDiarmid. Music: Caitlin Smith. RSVP for catering purposes: annie.newman@sfwu

December 7-13, 2013
18TH WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS – QUITO, ECUADOR.
The Festival is a unique opportunity to meet with youth and students from around the world to discuss how to advance social and political struggles today on an anti-imperialist axis. It will be held in Quito, Ecuador this December 7-13 and will be hosted by the Ecuadoran government. They are ready to receive thousands of young people. The 17th Festival was in Pretoria, South Africa in 2010 with some 12,000 participating. Discussion and debates will take place at the Festival on the fight against the consequences of imperialism and the worldwide capitalist economic crisis, the struggle for democratic rights and sovereignty, how to advance culture and education, and protect the environment. For more information email: nznpc18wfys

January 24-26, 2014
CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE NOW! Organised by the Anti-Bases Campaign, P.O. Box 2258, Christchurch. E-mail abc www.converge.org.nz/abc

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SIGN THE TPPA PETITION NOW! WATCH CELEB VIDEO! SEND TO FRIENDS!
Had enough of the secrecy of the TPPA negotiations? So have a number of prominent Kiwi actors, musicians and commentators. They have made a video that airs on TVNZ Breakfast and TV3 Firstline on Tuesday 1 October calling for the government to release the TPPA text – and urging you to sign the petition to the PM now. View the video and sign the petition on www.itsnotright.org.nz Let’s make it snowball. Text, tweet, email, facebook to at least five of your friends and get them to pass it on … Together we can force the TPPA out into the daylight. http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=c307111c0b&e=400b29f860

GET FREE – A CALL TO ACTION
GET FREE is a call to action. A call against the reckless expansion of fossil fuel extraction in the lands and waters of Aotearoa New Zealand. GET FREE is a call for groups and individuals who want a future based on clean energy free of the harms of dirty energy and climate change. GET FREE is a call for New Zealanders to uphold their right to protest as an essential democratic freedom. GET FREE is a call to reclaim NZ’s integrity and independence and to break free from the influence of those who are now pulling New Zealand in a direction that risks our oceans, our land and our good name in the world. GET FREE is yours, it’s all of ours. Use it. Get Active and GET FREE! http://www.getfree.org.nz/

1913 STRIKE: CENTENNIAL EVENTS
During the later months of 1913 New Zealand society was rocked to its foundations by a bitter industrial dispute involving some 16,000 workers, massive demonstrations and a wave of violence on a scale that arguably, has yet to be matched. The series of spontaneous strikes, known as the Great Strike of 1913, stretched across New Zealand and reached almost all corners of society. When work returned to normal in December and January, the strike had cost employers around £1,000,000 and labour relations in the country had been changed forever.
To mark the centenary of this profoundly transformative episode in our history, the Labour History Project Inc. (LHP)—a non-profit national organisation to research, preserve, present and celebrate New Zealand’s labour history—alongside a number of unions, local bodies, and culture and heritage institutions, have organised a range of exciting projects.
Wellington guided walks of the key sites of struggle; an interactive website featuring digitised archival records and photography; People’s History walks on the strike and other aspects of New Zealand’s past; an exhibition at the Museum of Wellington City & Sea; as well as talks by prominent labour historians, are just some of the events planned for the 1913 Strike Centennial. To find out more, please explore the projects in the left-hand menu.
November 12 2013 What happened to them afterwards – Savage, Fraser, Freyberg, Cullen? (Mark Derby). 5.30pm at the Museum of Wellington City & Sea, Queen’s Wharf.
November 19 2013 1913: still relevant after all these years? (Jim McAloon, Melanie Nolan, MUNZ & RMTU). 5.30pm at the Museum of Wellington City & Sea, Queen’s Wharf. A packed night of talks, introduced by LHP Chair Jim McAloon. Featuring a talk by leading labour historian Melanie Nolan, and presentations by MUNZ (The New Zealand waterfront in 2013: back to the future?) and the RMTU (Development of solidarity on the waterfront since 1913).

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR THE ROGER AWARD FOR THE WORST TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OPERATING IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND IN 2013
You can access the nomination form online at cafca Nominations close on October 31, 2013. Please note that Fonterra is not eligible

BEST ON THE WEB

NEW ZEALAND

Roastbusters, rape culture and the problem of criminality http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1311/S00043/roastbusters-rape-culture-and-the-problem-of-criminality.htm

Citizen A with Keith Locke & Dr Wayne Hope – Roast Buster scandal, SkyCity secrecy, Chorus & TICS Bill – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/11/08/citizen-a-with-keith-locke-dr-wayne-hope-roast-buster-scandal-skycity-secrecy-chorus-tics-bill/#sthash.oRz9dNtH.dpuf

Labour can’t be all things to all people By John Minto – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/11/04/labour-cant-be-all-things-to-all-people/#sthash.7YeA24uo.dpuf

As Rest Of The World Considers Cutting Back Aggressive Surveillance, New Zealand Legalizes Massive Spying http://tinyurl.com/mpn42yn

Locked Up Warriors – Why does New Zealand have one of the highest rates of incarceration in the developed world? http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2013/11/locked-up-warriors-201311481133704146.html

GCSB boss: Ex-MP Keith Locke not spied on http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11152426

The unequal nature of spying By Keith Locke http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/11/04/the-unequal-nature-of-spying/

Why John Key must not go to Sri Lanka By John Minto http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/11/06/why-john-key-must-not-go-to-sri-lanka/

NZ – ECONOMY

Public Private Capitalism By Keith Rankin http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/11/08/public-private-capitalism/

NZ – WORKRIGHTS

Unite letter to speaker of NZ Parliament http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/11/06/letter-to-speaker-of-nz-parliament/

Campaigners want council’s ‘living wage’ to go further http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/campaigners-want-council-s-living-wage-go-further-5690710

Living Wage Movement welcomes Auckland’s step towards a Living Wage http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1311/S00189/movement-welcomes-aks-step-towards-a-living-wage.htm

Brian Rudman: Living wage the only decent option http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11153264

Dump worker unfairly sacked for scavenging http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11152573

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” – Jimi Hendrix

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” – Oscar Wilde

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. – Harriet Tubman

“Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.” – John Lennon

FEATURES

Russell Brand: we deserve more from our democratic system http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/05/russell-brand-democratic-system-newsnight?CMP=twt_gu

WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS

This transatlantic trade deal is a full-frontal assault on democracy http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/04/us-trade-deal-full-frontal-assault-on-democracy?CMP=twt_gu

Capitalism and ‘High Tech’ http://critiqueofcrisistheory.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/capitalism-and-high-tech/

Tortoise-like global growth, led by the US… and the UK? http://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/tortoise-like-global-growth-led-by-the-us-and-the-uk/

LAND, LABOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Five banks made £2.2 billion from food speculation in 2010-2012 – See more at: http://www.wdm.org.uk/food-and-hunger/five-banks-made-%C2%A322-billion-food-speculation-2010-2012#sthash.6vx8bTZP.8tZljqyc.dpuf

AFGHANISTAN

U.S. Special Forces Guilty of War Crimes? : Last spring, the remains of 10 missing Afghan villagers were dug up outside a U.S. Special Forces base – was it a war crime or just another episode in a very dirty war? http://www.rollingstone.com/feature/a-team-killings-afghanistan-special-forces

Encounters With the American Military in Afghanistan www.thenation.com/article/177046/encounters-american-military-afghanistan

AUSTRALIA

Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-northern-territory-nt-intervention

John Pilger: Australia’s silent apartheid http://newint.org/columns/finally/2013/11/01/john-pilger/

In the lucky country of Australia apartheid is alive and kicking http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/05/australia-apartheid-alive-aboriginal-history

CUBA

Why Cuba Must Be Punished By William Blum – Each fall the UN vote is a welcome reminder that the world has not completely lost its senses and that the American empire does not completely control the opinion of other governments. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36784.htm

FRANCE

As National Front support grows, strategy struggle erupts in Left Front http://links.org.au/node/3582

INDONESIA

Indonesia’s labour movement stirs http://redflag.org.au/article/indonesia%E2%80%99s-labour-movement-stirs

SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi police crack down on foreign workers http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/saudi-police-cracks-down-foreign-workers-201311512595083108.html

USA

Torture on Tape: Disturbing Video Shows U.S. Special Forces Observing Brutal Afghan Interrogation http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/7/torture_on_tape_disturbing_video_shows

Unmanned: American drone Wars info pack http://tinyurl.com/ktparc9

Median wage falls to lowest level since 1998 http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/4/median-wage-stagnationincomeinequality.html

VENEZUELA

Sorry, Venezuela haters: this economy is not the Greece of Latin America – Predicting a Venezuelan apocalypse won’t make it happen: in this oil-rich country the only thing imploding is poverty http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/07/venezuela-not-greece-latin-america-oil-poverty