The annual Green Left Weekly Twilight River Cruise set sail successfully on the Brisbane River on April 29. More than 60 people came aboard for an evening of sumptuous food, drinks, live entertainment and guest speakers, all while enjoying spectacular views along the river.
Flautist Hannah Reardon-Smith, singer-guitarist Carrie (from Carrie and the Cut Snakes), and bass player Dom Hale provided music on the night. Speakers included Socialist Alliance co-convenors Ewan Saunders and Jim McIlroy, and SA candidate for Sandgate in the recent Queensland elections Mike Crook.
Saunders said: “A lot has happened since the last cruise and GLW has chronicled the twists and turns, the momentous achievements of social movements, the victories, the defeats, the uprisings and revolutions, the wars and bloody crackdowns ... GLW has reported it all.
“And in Australia, GLW has been the mirror of our domestic struggles, the essential tool of our social movements and the activists within them. The past 12 months has also seen the exposure of the Murdoch empire — not just the exposure of the News of The World phone tapping scandal, but questioning over his influence on governments, both in Britain and Australia.
“This reminds us of the great influence the corporate media has not just on politics and how our world is run, but most critically its influence on how people see the world and themselves. GLW is, and has always been, a crucial alternative presenting the world in a light that isn’t manufactured, showing us the world for what it is.
“But most importantly, GLW presents working people, the oppressed and the marginalised with a picture of themselves not as hapless bystanders, but as the most vital of actors in their own lives and in the future of our planet. From climate change to coal seam gas to imperialist wars, attacks on our most basic rights and more ... GLW has been there.
“Tonight, I thank you all for being here for GLW. But more than that, I ask you to continue that important support. GLW strives to raise $250,000 a year to survive. We run on a shoestring budget, with a dedicated national team of staff and editors and a global array of contributors. GLW relies on you all to keep its work afloat.
“So please, donate, subscribe and attend other GLW fundraising events.”
The 2012 cruise raised more than $900 toward the GLW Fighting Fund, with further donations of $1250 pledged on the night.
