Stonewall anniversary
BRISBANE — The pinnacle event of the annual Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival, the Stonewall rally and march, will be held on June 29. The rally will begin at King George Square at 11am and march to Musgrave Park for a festival.
Rally organisers describe the purpose as twofold: "to celebrate our lifestyles and to demonstrate to those who prefer we didn't exist". For more information phone the Lesbian and Gay Pride Collective on 0418 152 801.
Speak-out for Chinese refugees
BRISBANE — The Anti-Racist Campaign sponsored a speak-out in the Queen Street Mall on June 20 to support the rights of recently arrived Chinese refugees who have been the target of racist vilification since they landed in the Torres Strait Islands earlier this month.
Speakers pointed out that the arrival of this latest group of refugees has been used to rev up the anti-immigration push highlighted by Pauline Hanson and implemented by the Howard government. It was also explained that only Asian "illegal immigrants" were detained at the Port Hedland centre, no whites, a clear sign of the racist nature of this "concentration camp".
Picket over log reclassification
HOBART — A picket outside the offices of Forestry Tasmania on June 19 protested against the reclassification of speciality timber sawlogs, which allows them to be woodchipped. Protesters carried the sawn-off butts of sassafras logs that bore Forestry Tasmania stamps designating them as sawmill quality. A statement by a BBC film maker said that while filming in a forest near Maydena, his crew found the butts under a pile of logs that had been restamped as woodchip quality.
Protest organiser Amanda Sully of the Wilderness Society said, "The fact that small sawmillers and craftspeople are crying out for these speciality species sawlogs, which are instead being woodchipped, is nothing short of scandalous. Sawmilling jobs are being thrown away with Forestry Tasmania's pulping of sawlogs."
Rio Tinto strike extended
SINGLETON — A mass meeting of miners' union members from the Hunter Valley No. 1 coal mine voted to extend their strike by two weeks at a mass meeting on June 20. The strike began on June 10 in protest over management's blocking of an enterprise agreement. Around 40 jobs (out of 550) are earmarked to go, with more to follow in the future if management gets its way.
Five miners have left their union and signed individual contracts with the company Coal & Allied ahead of an agreement with the union. C&A is owned by the union-busting multinational Rio Tinto (formerly CRA). Unions claim that C&A has been deliberately obstructive. Hunter Valley No. 1 is the only mine in the district without an enterprise agreement.
McDonald's protest
WOLLONGONG — On June 21, 50 people gathered at the McDonald's store where a young worker was fatally electrocuted last year, to mark the international day of protest against McDonald's. Protesters handed out leaflets and entered the store until police evicted them. They then marched up the main street carrying colourful banners and chanting "Ronald says — brainwash your kids" , "Ronald says — do you want cancer with that?".
The protest ended with a rally and speak-out in the mall. Organisers from University of Wollongong Student Animal Rights Activists said they were happy with the event, which had been quickly organised to celebrate the end of the first round of the "McLibel"case in Britain.
Curragh miners continue strike
The strike at the Curragh open cut mine in central Queensland, which began on May 9, is continuing into its seventh week. ARCO, a US multinational, is attempting to ram through a 50% cut in the work force, abolition of seniority, 12-hour shifts and a free choice of contractors.
ARCO lost a case associated with seniority before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission on May 12. Now it has taken the case to the Federal Court.
Demonstration against private prisons
MELBOURNE — "How many women must die before Deer Park prison is closed?" was the question asked by demonstrators, organised by the People's Justice Alliance, outside a national conference on Privatisation and Public Policy on June 16.
The conference was sponsored by Correction Corporations of Australia, which operates the Deer Park private women's prison, and Group 4, which will operate the Laverton North private men's prison.
After only nine months of operation, there has already been one death in the Deer Park prison. The prisoner who died was on remand. She had previously attempted suicide.
Citypower dispute
MELBOURNE — Citypower workers have been in dispute for over six weeks as they seek to prevent Citypower — one of the companies that bought into Victoria's privatised electricity distribution system — from introducing US-style anti-worker conditions.
Citypower is proposing to reduce long service leave entitlements, reduce sick leave, change call back and penalty provisions and require workers to work any five days out of seven, with no penalty rates for weekend work. It is refusing to negotiate with the union, the Electrical Trades Union, and is taking action in the Supreme Court to try to prevent picketing.