GPJA #519: What’s On in Aotearoa NZ (8/10/14)

Thursday, October 9, 7pm, St David 2, University of Otago, Dunedin
Public Lecture and Discussion on Israel/Palestine. Is Palestine Occupied? Benefit of Doubt or Benefit of Boycott? A Public Lecture and Discussion. We encourage you to join us for a public lecture and discussion regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. The recent intensification of violence between these parties has led to greater public consciousness of this conflict and many are questioning what can be done in seeking a resolution. Specifically, the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement calling for boycotts, divestment and sanctions of the state of Israel and other Israeli economic, cultural and academic institutions has been promoted by some as one feasible and legitimate method of responding to the conflict. This event aims to provide information and context regarding the conflict itself, and answer questions as to why many see the BDS Movement as a response to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The event will begin with a talk by Dr Najibullah Lafraie from the University of Otago’s Department of Politics. Dr Lafraie’s talk will give information and context on both historic and current aspects of the conflict. This talk will be followed by an interview with a member of the local Palestinian community, highlighting the nature of the everyday existence of many Palestinians. The first half of the event will conclude with a talk by Professor Richard Jackson of the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. Professor Jackson will introduce the topic of how we might respond to this conflict. In the latter half of the event members of the audience will be given time in which to pose questions/initiate discussion.

Saturday, October 11, 10am to 1pm, Garden Room, Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn

The Auckland Refugee Council Inc AGM 2014. This year we are delighted to host Guest Speakers Alia Bloom from ChangeMakers Refugee Forum and Dougal Ellis from Immigration New Zealand. Alia will be speaking on the research discussion document “Marking Time” – Experiences of successful asylum seekers in Aotearoa New Zealand with Dougal presenting insight to this topic from the perspective of Immigration New Zealand. As always light refreshments will be on offer after the conclusion of the AGM. Would you please be so kind to RSVP your attendance to assist us with the catering. arci.refugee

Wednesday, October 15, 7.30pm, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Cnr St Stephens Ave and Parnell Rd, Auckland
Just Prison Seminar: PFNZ and JustSpeak have the privilege of hosting the former president of PFI International, Ron Nikkel. This is a rare opportunity to hear from a leader that has decades of engagement with prisoners, prison officials and all those affected by crime. We would love you to join us for an engaging evening with Ron, PFNZ and JustSpeak.

Wednesday, October 15, 6.30pm, Maidment Theatre, Alfred Street, The University of Auckland. The Maidment Bar will open from 5.30pm
The 2014 Bruce Jesson Lecture: Mike Joy – Paradise Squandered; New Zealand’s Environmental Asset Stripping. New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and most of our groundwater are in a critical state. Decades of misguided regulation and a free-for-all on diffuse pollution have encouraged agricultural intensification and driven our increasing reliance on imported feed and fertiliser. The inevitable consequences have been devastating environmental impacts as well as increasing economic and biosecurity risks. The solutions are many but require a paradigm shift; a move away from dependence on imported feed and fertiliser to keeping nutrients on farm and adding value to products, and strong leadership to move away from short-term thinking that accepts the massive ecological debt we are running up. Mike Joy MSc(Hons), PhD in Ecology is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Environmental Science at the Ecology Group-Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North. He has received a number of awards, including the Ecology in Action award from the New Zealand Ecological Society; an Old Blue award from the Royal Forest and Bird protection Society; Environmental New Zealander of the Year from North and South magazine and the Manawatu Evening Standard Person of the Year. Presented by Politics and International Relations and the Bruce Jesson Foundation

Thursday, October 16, 6.30-8.30 Where: University of Auckland Business School, Owen Glen Building, 10 Grafton Road, Auckland
Narratives from the 2014 Election: What do we learn? – Sue Bradford, Russell Brown & Kirk Serpes discuss. A Fabian reflection on Dirty Politics, Dotcom and Labour’s worst result. You are invited to attend a debrief of analysis and lessons for the 2014 election campaign, a campaign that had so much to offer on so many levels and continues to remain fascinating. The panel for the session are: Sue Bradford is a well-known figure in the New Zealand political landscape and a recent speaker on the research she has done on the New Zealand Left. Sue has been keen on this debrief for some time. There is so much we need to think afresh. Russell Brown, with his Public Address site and the very significant Media Take programme on Maori TV, provided the best place to go throughout the campaign to make sense of it. He has used the word shellacking to describe one part of the election outcome! Kirk Serpes, is Executive Director developing material on inequality at the Centre for New Zealand Progress, and also providing support on social and environmental issues. He is a founder member of Generation Zero, has worked for Oxfam and led New Zealand delegations on climate change. You can register here. A Fabian Society Event.

Friday, October 17, 7.30pm, Cinema 7, Downtown Cinemas, Broadway Ave, Palmerston North
VSA is excited to host the New Zealand premiere of Beatriz’s War, the first feature film from Timor-Leste. Join us for this unique movie experience and support the work of VSA volunteers in Timor-Leste. Tickets $20.00 from: hilary_smith 021 353-607

Saturday, October 18, 1-5pm, Te Aka Matua o Te Pou Hawaiki, in Epsom
Effective education for social justice for the 21st century (with panellists Tanya Newman, Paula Bold-Wilson, Alex Barnes & Gayathiri Ganeshan). The constant and changing aspects of AWEA’s 100 year history of education for social justice will provide a basis from which speakers and symposium participants will consider what aspects might be central to effective education for social justice for the next 100 years. A party! Saturday 18 October 7.30-9.30pm. Hear some of the great stories from our past, connect with people associated AWEA, enjoy retro food and music, and eat cake!

Saturday, October 18, 1pm, Cuba Street Stage, Wellington
Power to the People: a rally against prisons and police brutality
https://www.facebook.com/events/854905177866748/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Saturday, October 18, 1-4pm Where: Arataki Visitors Centre, 300 Scenic Drive, Oratia: downstairs lecture room.
Waitakere Ranges Conservation Network Seminar/Workshop: Do you dream of a Waitakere Ranges free of animal and plant pests? Would you like to connect with others who think the same and are working towards the same end? Then join us for the first seminar/workshop of the Waitakere Ranges Conservation Network. This workshop has been initiated by people from various conservation groups with support from the Waitakere Ranges Local Board. Groups are asked to send 2 or 3 representatives. Individuals welcome. Afternoon tea provided. Please reply by email to brutrix or here on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1488726008056872/

Sunday, October 19, 1-5.30pm, Te Aka Matua o Te Pou Hawaiki, in Epsom, Auckland
Treaty education – reflections and future directions with guest speakers Mānuka Hēnare and Mitzi Nairn). This symposium provides an opportunity to reflect on the last 30 years of tauiwi Treaty education, and consider future directions that might be taken to support Treaty relationships. The full programme see: www.awea.org.nz/centenary

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1511046532460182/

Tuesday, October 21, 1pm, The Quad, Auckland University

Rally for a living wage for our cleaners

Tuesday, October 21, 6pm, Pioneer Women’s Hall, 2 Freyberg Place, Auckland Central

Investigative Journalist, Nicky Hager, will speak at the Human Rights Foundation’s AGM. (Drinks and nibbles from 5.30pm). All welcome. If you wish, you can join the Human Rights Foundation online at www.humanrightsfoundation.wordpress.com or join or renew membership at the meeting.

Wednesday, October 22, 5.30 pm, Where: WG126, Sir Paul Reeves Building, AUT University City Campus, Mayoral Drive

Wednesday, October 22, 5.30 pm, Where: WG126, Sir Paul Reeves Building, AUT University City Campus, Mayoral Drive
Public lecture: Abrupt climate change – evidence and options for the future by Professor Emeritus Guy McPherson. Abrupt climate change is under way. Earth has warmed only 0.85 C since the Industrial Revolution began, but considerable evidence points toward increasingly rapid warming in the near future. For example, industrial civilisation has produced about twice as much atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1970 as before that time. There is about a 40-year lag between carbon dioxide emissions and warming, suggesting abundant warming is already locked into the planetary system. In addition, atmospheric methane has joined carbon dioxide as a major contributor to planetary warming. It appears the much-dreaded “clathrate gun” has been fired in the Arctic Ocean. This presentation presents evidence regarding abrupt climate change and poses a few questions for consideration: Shall we respond to anthropogenic climate change? If so, how? What tools can be employed by society and the media to positively alter the future? What role do individuals play? How shall we live in light of this information? Organised by the School of Public Policy and Pacific Media Centre at AUT University, Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand.

23/24 October, Rydges Latimer, Christchurch

Social justice in communities – What is it? How can we build it? How can we sustain it? A conference jointly hosted by Community Networks Aotearoa (formerly NZCOSS) and the NZ Council of Christian Social Services. Social justice is vitally important in Christchurch as it is rebuilding and redeveloping; it is equally important in all of our communities. It does not happen by accident but is the result of deliberate and inclusive decision-making. Inspirational speakers from Christchurch, elsewhere in New Zealand and Australia will share their experiences in working within communities to bring about self-determination, inclusion and empowerment for community members. This conference will strengthen participants’ commitment to social justice, it will inform them of how socially just communities have been developed and will inspire them to work towards this ideal in their work and communities. Registrations are open – register now!

Wednesday, October 29, 7pm, The Roxy Cinema,

Beatriz’s War – media luna new films (rated M). East Timor’s first feature fi lm, BEATRIZ’S WAR, is the haunting, passionate story of a woman’s conviction to remain true to the man she loves and the country for which she fought. It is a bold reworking of the 16th century French ‘Martin Guerre’ story. In this adaptation, it’s transposed to Portuguese Timor during the Indonesian occupation. Sixteen years after Beatriz’s husband disappeared during a brutal massacre by Indonesian forces, she is troubled by his mysterious return: Is he the young man she’d lost or is he an impostor? Tickets cost $25 and include pre-screening nibbles. See more details and buy your Wellington tickets now.

Wednesday, November 5,

Invitation to a symposium on Intersectionality. The AUT Pacific Media Centre, AUT Pacific Academic Staff Team, and staff in the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy, AUT University are hosting a small symposium titled ‘Intersectionality revisited – Beyond the contours of race, class and gender’. The purpose of the symposium is to discuss, debate and critique ideas, concepts and perspectives including and beyond the traditional intersections of race, class and gender and to engage with those intersections that are within themselves contested, inconsistent and contextual. The keynote speaker via live streaming is Professor Lisa Bowleg (George Washington University). The symposium will take the form of panel discussions. These sessions will provide the opportunity for you to present your research or your own developments in the area of intersectionality. If you would like to attend the symposium, please reply to this email (camille.nakhid) giving your name, institution, and whether you wish to present as part of a panel – by 15th September. If you wish to present in one of the panel sessions, please send us a brief abstract (150 – 200 words) of your presentation by 30th September. Response to your submission will be given by October 10th. We hope to write a review of the panel session discussions to submit to the New Zealand Sociology journal. Authorship will include the panellists. Please forward to your networks.

“Intersectionality is a theoretical framework that posits that multiple social categories (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status) intersect at the micro level of individual experience to reflect multiple interlocking systems of privilege and oppression at the macro, social-structural level (e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism)”. Bowleg, L. (2012)

Friday, November 7, 7.30pm, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby, Auckland

Dorothy Brown Memorial Lecture:

‘How much do present problems in the Middle East arise from the peace settlement after World War I?’, by Professor Richard Falk, formerly UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Free entry.

Saturday, 8 November, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby, Auckland


Study Day – World War I: How shall we remember them?

From 8-30am to 5pm (registration from 8.30am, programme begins at 9am), opening prayers by the Right Reverend Te Kitohi Pikaahu, Bishop of Tai Tokerau, followed by:

• Does the way we remember war affect our collective morality? Professor Richard Jackson, National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Otago University

• Anniversaries of War, Remembering in 2014, Associate Professor Annabel Cooper, Otago University

• Did the Church yield to the State and prevailing attitudes in society? If so, why? What can we learn from this? Professor Peter Lineham, Massey University

• How do we understand the evil that led to the huge death toll? How can we be empowered to live peacefully together? Dr Andrew Shepherd, formerly Centre for Theology and Public Issues, Otago University

• Panel: Who Chose to Resist? with Nanaia Mahuta MP on Princess Te Puea; historian Megan Hutching, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, on New Zealand women who opposed the war; Ryan Bodman on the Passive Resisters’ Union; Chairperson: Keith Locke, former Green MP

• Enabling a century of warfare – the role of scientists, Associate Professor Peter Wills, Department of Physics, Auckland University

• Remembering WW1 in the context of ongoing militarism, Edwina Hughes, Peace Movement Aotearoa.

Cost is $20 including lunch, to be paid on the day. Pre-registration is essential for catering purposes, please email barfoots@xtra.co.nz or tel 09 575 6142. Arranged by the Aotearoa New Zealand Peace and Conflict Centre Trust, NZ Christian Network, Pax Christi, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship and Auckland Labour History Group. The A4 poster for both events, including the programme, is available at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/apf/apf-sd14flyer.pdf and the Facebook event is https://www.facebook.com/events/660619040702869

November 8

On 8 November 2014 Kiwis will kickstart the global day of action against the TPPA. TPPA poses an enormous threat to NZ’s ability to regulate for itself, and gives foreign investors and multinationals new rights to control our laws. This could mean losing the ability to regulate our workplaces, our environment, our health and education systems and much more. For more information on the TPPA head to www.itsourfuture.org.nz

Current list of events (more to come):

AUCKLAND:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1467237610222528/

HAMILTON:
https://www.facebook.com/events/817162211683822/

RAGLAN:
https://www.facebook.com/events/835063413190548/

TAURANGA:
https://www.facebook.com/events/368971729938626/

ROTORUA:
https://www.facebook.com/events/568804863225997/

NEW PLYMOUTH:
https://www.facebook.com/events/692278354188260/

NAPIER:
https://www.facebook.com/events/293223324204021/

PALMERSTON NORTH:
https://www.facebook.com/events/820312961369156/

LEVIN:
https://www.facebook.com/events/459224204217396/

WELLINGTON:
https://www.facebook.com/events/367360156747943/

NELSON:
https://www.facebook.com/events/287512898112082/

CHRISTCHURCH:
https://www.facebook.com/events/369750123173101/

TIMARU:
https://www.facebook.com/events/812868475430336/

DUNEDIN:
https://www.facebook.com/events/853219618046052/

INVERCARGILL:
https://www.facebook.com/events/400028260151334/

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRIDE OPENS IN NZ CINEMAS ON OCTOBER 16.

We are thrilled to announce PRIDE will open in NZ cinemas on October 16.

Pride is a feel-good movie about the 1984 miner’s strike. It is a tender portrait of the real people who stood up and fought for their place in society – full of witty humour, personal and universal stories of triumph and touching moments of humanism.

Starring Bill Nighy (Love Actually) and Imelda Staunton (Maleficent) Pride is based on an incredible true story about two seemingly disparate communities who form a surprising and ultimately triumphant partnership.

We thought this film would be of interest to your group/union and we encourage you to spread the word!

We would be happy to provide you with some in season passes to giveaway via social media channels/newsletter if you are interested. Or if you have a suitable event/meeting coming up we could provide a number of 2-4-1 passes. Just let me know – happy to hear your suggestions.

View the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsFY0wHpR5o

About the film: Based on an incredible true story, Pride is a film about two seemingly disparate communities who form a surprising and ultimately triumphant partnership.

Set during the Thatcher era, the Welsh mining community of Dulais face dark days as they struggle to make ends meet during the 1984 mineworkers strike. Recognising the sting of marginalisation and driven by a sense of solidarity, a group of gay and lesbian activists in London decide to raise funds for the striking miners and their families. The group call themselves ‘LGSM’ – Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners – and approaches the Mineworkers Union to pledge their support.

But there is a problem – the Union seems unwilling to accept their help. Undeterred, the LGSM members travel to a small village in Dulais to make their donation in person. Initially, they are met with scepticism. But championed by an open-minded few, including local leader Dai and the formidable village matriarch Hefina, the two communities soon overcome prejudice to forge an extraordinary bond.

A terrific ensemble cast portray an array of richly drawn characters in this tender portrait of the real people who stood up and fought for their place in society. A rousing British crowd-pleaser in the spirit of Billy Elliot and The Full Monty, starring Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton, Pride is a funny, affecting and truly inspiring film about how the unlikeliest of unions can bring about the greatest change.

For more information contact Kylie Leggoe <kylie>

JOIN THIS YEAR’S AUSTRALIAN SOLIDARITY DELEGATION TO VENEZUELA DECEMBER 2 – 13, 2014

Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network. Registrations are now open for the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network’s 2014 solidarity tour to revolutionary Venezuela.
http://links.org.au/node/3700