714

Riot
Directed by Leticia Caceres
Written by Vanessa Bates, David Brown, Stefo Nantsou and Sarah Gava
Designed by Joshua Mason
Newcastle Civic Playhouse
Bookings 02 4929 1977
Until June 23
Chants of, “Hey Brisbane, listen up; the cleaners are standing up!” and “Caruso workers´ rights, worth fighting for!” rang through the Brisbane CBD on June 15, as 60 cleaners, members of the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, marched from the LHMU office to the offices of Caruso Cleaning.
LAUNCESTON — On June 16, 11,000 people joined a rally organised by The Wilderness Society against Gunns’ proposed pulp mill in the West Tamar Valley. The crowd gathered at City Park and was addressed by Gardening Australia’s Peter Cundall, Geoff Law from TWS and Greens Senate candidate Andrew Wilkie, who condemned the plans to pollute the Tamar’s air and water with a kraft-chlorine pulp mill that will feed on Tasmania’s old-growth forests. Cundall warned Paul Lennon’s state Labor government and Gunns that “this is democracy in action” and “we are never going to stop fighting”. Protesters marched to Civic Square chanting “No pulp mill”.
On June 13, 100 students and staff rallied in front of the administration building at Queensland University of Technology’s Gardens Point campus to protest the suspension of two QUT academics, Dr Gary MacLennan and Dr John Hookham, on charges of misconduct.
Hundreds of people participated in events during the June 6-9 international week of action for justice for Palestine and an end to the 40-year Israeli occupation. The events were organised by the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) and the General Union of Palestinian Workers.
LaborStart.org reports that on June 7 Mikhail Chesalin, chairperson of the local Dockers Union of Russia in Kaliningrad, was savagely stabbed and beaten outside the union office. He was stabbed numerous times in the spine and severely beaten about the head. His assailants left him lying face-down, unconscious, in a pool of blood. Chesalin’s colleagues believe that the attack was orchestrated by Vladimir Kalinichenko, the general director of Kaliningrad Sea Commercial Port, where the dockworkers’ union is currently running an organising campaign. Kalinichenko has tried to break up union events by sending his personal “security” forces, together with local thugs, to spy on and intimidate workers. Visit http://www.labourstart.org for more information.
Fifty people demonstrated outside the defence plaza on June 15 to protest the beginning of the Talisman Sabre military exercises at Shoalwater Bay.
Wherever President George Bush went in Europe this June, whether he was meeting with G8 leaders, Pope Benedict, presidents or opposition leaders of NATO allies, or rightist officials in the former socialist countries, he provided an excellent reason for the people to come out in the streets, often in massive numbers.
Socialist Alliance hosted a discussion on June 12 about standing up to the “police state” laws introduced into the NSW parliament for the period of the September APEC summit. One person arrested in connection with the G20 protests in Melbourne last November told the meeting that police had directed him not to attend the APEC protests. He urged participants not to be intimidated by such tactics.
The recent storms that devastated much of the NSW Central Coast and the Hunter Valley were described by some as a mini cyclone. The fierce gales led to dramatic floods — the most severe since the 1970s, the deaths of several people and the beaching of a coal freighter on a Newcastle reef.
The 50th anniversary of the 1957 Palm Island strike was marked by a “very emotional” commemoration on June 15, Indigenous activist Gracelyn Smallwood told Green Left Weekly. She said up to 4000 people took part. Among the activities, relatives of the seven men and their families who were handcuffed, chained and removed at gunpoint from the island spoke about the violation of their human rights. The strike was triggered by a system that meant every Indigenous person on Palm Island had to work for 30 hours per week while being paid only in rations.
“The ABC’s Four Corners program on June 11, ‘Ghost Prisoners’, was a powerful exposure of the United States’ global torture network and of Australian complicity in it”, said Socialist Alliance spokesperson Raul Bassi. “It’s another step towards justice for Mamdouh Habib, one of the victims of this criminal system that has tortured some to death, forced others into worthless ’confessions’ and disappeared hundreds.”