Action updates

Action against fascist violence

MELBOURNE — A small but vocal group rallied at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 20 as National Action leader Michael Brander faced assault charges. As he arrived the group began chanting "Nazis out".
The assault charge stems from a rally held by National Action on March 18 in which people attending a counter-rally were attacked. Despite an open display of weapons at the March 18 rally, the police took no action to stop the assaults. Despite five people being assaulted, only Brander was charged.

Abu-Jamal solidarity

BRISBANE — "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal" was the theme of a solidarity film and discussion evening held at the Resistance Centre on September 23. The night was co-sponsored by the Anarchist Black Cross, Green Left Weekly and 4ZZZ.
Mumia Abu-Jamal is a prominent US black revolutionary journalist who has spent 12 years on death row after being framed in 1982 for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer.

Anti-nuke protest

WOLLONGONG — Sixty people gathered in the mall on September 14 to protest against French nuclear testing and support independ-nce for the Pacific. During the rally, organised by Resistance, shoppers wrote messages to Keating on a large "postcard to Paul".
Speakers from Wollongong University students council, Student Life, the Democratic Socialist Party and the local Cook Islander community addressed the crowd. Resist-nce spokesperson Amy Finch expressed the sentiment of the rally when she said, "If the ALP were serious, they would stop mining and exporting uranium".

Prison policy launched

SYDNEY — A coalition of community organisations launched a policy on "Prisons and Blood Borne Communicable Diseases" here on September 18. Among those endorsing the policy are the AIDS Council of NSW, Prisoners Action Group, Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee and the gender Centre.
The policy advocates the provision of condoms, syringes, bleach and syringe cleaning instructions within prisons, as well as information and education about the correct use of safe sex equipment. It also calls for support of the rights of HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C positive prisoners.

Lively Resistance camp

BRISBANE — More than 40 people attended a lively educational camp at Yandina, on the Sunshine Coast, on the weekend of September 16-17. The camp, sponsored by the socialist youth organisation Resistance and the Democratic Socialist Party, featured talks and discussions on a range of historical and current political topics.
These included, Is socialism possible?, Third World revolutions, radicalisation in the 1960s and today, the history of the ALP, imperialism and national liberation in the Asia-Pacific region, and the history of Resistance and the DSP.

Guatemalan leader speaks

BRISBANE — Luz Mendez, a leader of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), visited here recently on the first leg of a national tour. As a member of the Political-Diplomatic Commission of the URNG, she is directly involved in the peace negotiations being held with the government and the army.
At a reception at the Resistance Centre on September 18, and again at a public meeting at the Trades and Labor Council the following night, Mendez spoke about the continuing oppression of the people in Guatemala and the slow progress toward peace. The tour was sponsored in Brisbane by the Committee in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean, the Committee for Human Rights in Guatemala and many other solidarity and social justice groups.