MELBOURNE — Many unions have passed motions in support of the March 20 international protest against the occupation of Iraq.
They include: the Geelong Trades and Labour Council; the Victorian branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union; the Victorian state council of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union; National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) branches at the University of NSW and the University of WA; the Canterbury-Bankstown branch of the NSW Teachers Federation; the South Barwon Australian Education Union (AEU) in Victoria; and the WA Maritime Union of Australia.
Motions are also being put to Victorian state leadership bodies of the AEU, the NTEU, the Electrical Trades Union and the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union.
South Australian United Trades and Labour Council secretary Janet Giles is supporting the protest, and motions will be put to UTLC and ACT Trades and Labour Council meetings soon.
A motion passed by several unions calls on the Australian government to end its support for the occupation, withdrew its military personnel from Iraq and divert its budget for military operations in Iraq to humanitarian aid.
The motion also condemns the US-appointed Coalition Provisional Authority for maintaining Saddam Hussein's anti-union laws and for its attacks on the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions and the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq.
To obtain copies of a union motion supporting the protest, phone Sue on (03) 9639 8622 or email <sue_bolton@hotmail.com>.
Sue Bolton
Refugee ordered to pay $18,000
Mohsen Soltanyzand, an Iranian poet and writer granted permanent residence in Australia after four years in detention, was sent a bill by the federal government in early February for $17,928.
Soltanyzand is being billed for two unsuccessful appeals to the Federal Court, after the Refugee Review Tribunal rejected his application for asylum. He was granted a permanent visa after appealing to the High Court and having his case returned to the tribunal.
David Manne from Melbourne's Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre told ABC Radio National's Breakfast Show on February 18: "In general, costs are usually paid by the losing party [i.e., the federal government]. If successful in the High Court, costs in lower courts become void. Usually the High Court overturns costs from the lower courts." This didn't happen in Soltanyzand's case.
The bill must be paid by February 26, and the accompanying letter states: "Failure to pay may result in further legal action, which will incur further costs to you."
Soltanyzand suffers from acute post-traumatic stress disorder, has no reliable income and no assets, and hence no way of paying the bill.
Please send letters of protest to newspapers and to immigration minister Amanda Vanstone . Phone (02) 6277 7860, fax (02) 6273 4144, email <VanstoneAZ@aph.gov.au> or by post: Suite MF 40, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600.
Sarah Stephen
Heat no dampener on peace rally
ADELAIDE — On February 15, 100 members and supporters of this city's NoWar committee met to mark the anniversary of last year's massive anti-war mobilisations.
NoWar convenor Mike Khizam explained that last year's 100,000-strong protest had been by far the biggest political demonstration in South Australia's history.
Flinders University academic David Palmer argued that the global protests did not fail just because the war subsequently went ahead. The effects of the demonstrations were still being felt, Palmer maintained, in the intense public pressure being applied to US President George Bush and British PM Tony Blair over their lies that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Socialist Alliance senate candidate Amy McDonell argued that the anti-war movement must maintain pressure on the war-makers by building mass demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the invasion in March.
Kris Hanna, Greens state MP, called on voters in the coming federal elections to support parties with a clear record of opposition to the war in Iraq.
Renfrey Clarke
Anniversary of global protest
MELBOURNE — On February 17, a public meeting was held by the Darebin Anti-War Group to mark the first anniversary of the historic global protests against the war on Iraq.
The meeting was addressed by Samantha Roberts from the Victorian Greens and Graham Matthews, Socialist Alliance candidate for the federal seat of Batman.
Both speakers supported the call for an independent inquiry, with the powers of a royal commission, into the federal government's decision to go to war.
The meeting pledged to build the March 20 global day of anti-war action in Melbourne, which will demand an end to the occupation of Iraq.
The next Darebin Anti-War Group meeting is at 6.30pm, March 2, 478 High St. Northcote.
Geoff Spencer
Meeting rejects M4 options
SYDNEY — A packed meeting in the Leichhardt Town Hall on February 16 unanimously rejected all M4 East Motorway extension "options" on offer from the NSW Labor government.
The 200 people present voted for a halt to Road Traffic Authority planning on the proposed tunnels, an independent enquiry, a reopening of investigations into extending light rail to Sydney's inner-west and for the state government to spend more on railways and rail staff.
Many people spoke passionately in support of public transport, and the crowd applauded when a speaker lambasted the Labor government's running down of the rail system and the scapegoating of train drivers.
Paul Benedek
TAFE teachers to strike
SYDNEY — On February 24, NSW TAFE Teachers will hold a two-hour stop-work meeting to vote on whether to hold a 24-hour strike and rally on March 10.
NSW teachers Federation president Maree O'Halloran said: "This stop-work is in direct response to the disadvantage accruing to students who have either sought exemption from or paid the massive fee increases imposed by the NSW government. The government has failed to respond to calls from teachers, students and the community to reconsider the TAFE fee increases."
Jenny Long
From Green Left Weekly, February 25, 2004.
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