The National Freedom Movement is planning a second sit-in protest at Parliament House in Canberra when federal parliament resumes on February 9.
Protesters will raise issues, including the large numbers of Aboriginal children being taken from their families and the destruction of homeland communities.
Aboriginal leader Michael Anderson said: “Unity is how we will achieve anything. We need to come together as nations, support and educate each other on how we take what is ours.”
VIGIL FOR BALI NINE HELD
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A week before the Queensland election more than 500 people rallied against premier Campbell Newman and the Liberal National Party on January 24.
Speakers included Indigenous activist Sam Watson, Secretary of the Electrical Trades Union Peter Simpson, Debbie Kilroy from Sisters Inside, Drew Hutton from Lock The Gate Alliance and Greens candidate Jonathan Sri.
"Today was the best Invasion Day protest that I have ever been to," Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton told Green Left Weekly on January 26. "There was a real feeling of Aboriginal pride and resistance. The crowd was bigger today too."
In Melbourne, the protest began with a smoking ceremony near Parliament House followed by a rally on the parliament steps.
The rally then marched to the official "Australia Day" parade, moved the barricades and marched along the official parade route.
Workers at International Flavours & Fragrances (IFF) began occupying the Dandenong factory on January 27 after negotiations for a new workplace agreement stalled. Negotiations have been ongoing since June, after contention arose over management’s proposal for a $0.55 an hour wage rise if workers forfeited one of their two paid 10 minute breaks.
Protest camp – the Bat Attack
Join a 6-day mass convergence on Gomeroi country to say NO to further bulldozing of the Leard State Forest. Skillshares, music, art, workshops an dcommunity-led civil disobedience. Saturday February 14 to Wednesday February 18 at Maules Creek.
RSVP to frontlineaction.org/bat-attack.
Support the sit-in
Join First Nations elders from around the country as they converge on Canberra for a sit-in, vowing not to leave until a resolution is reached. Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra until February 14.
A 13-day hunger strike by asylum seekers imprisoned by Australia on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, was suspended on January 26 after Wilson’s Security flew in reinforcement to storm compounds where detainees were on hunger strike.
The hunger strike was in response to plans to move those whose refugee claims had been accepted to a new camp on the island under the guise of releasing them into the community.
This new camp at Lorengau, the Manus provincial capital, differs from the detention centre only in that its inhabitants are more vulnerable to violent attacks by vigilantes.
Planetary boundaries are those considered crucial to maintaining an environment in which humanity can safely exist.
Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen, US climatologist James Hansen and Johan Rockstrom from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, developed an analysis of nine of these boundaries some years ago.
Alongside climate change, they include ocean acidification, ozone depletion, fresh water use, change in land use, biodiversity loss, chemical pollution, atmospheric aerosol loading and the nitrogen and phosphorous cycles.
Vigils were held in Melbourne and Sydney for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran on January 29. The two are facing the death penalty after having been convicted of drug smuggling in Indonesia.
Chris Peterson gave this speech to the Melbourne vigil.
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I would like to thank everyone who came out on this cold windy night. We are continuing a movement. We no longer have the death penalty in Australia because people came out on cold evenings for justice.
More than 500 people held political parties contesting the Queensland elections to account over the protection of the Great Barrier Reef at a public forum at Brisbane City Hall on January 22.
The forum was was organised by the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), Queensland Conservation Council, the Wilderness Society, Greenpeace, Australian Youth Climate Coalition and GetUp. It was chaired by Professor Ian Lowe.
The 15th solidarity brigade from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) joined a long tradition of international brigades to visit Venezuela since 1998, and enjoyed a packed itinerary during its visit from December 2 to 13.
The workers of International Flavours & Fragrances began occupying their building on January 27 as part of an ongoing strike.
The Dandenong Leader reported workers "were locked out today after negotiations for a new workplace agreement stalled. About 60 workers were stranded by indefinite lockout by management early this morning. Negotiations have been ongoing since June, after contention arose over management’s proposal of a 55 cent an hour wage increase if workers forfeited one of their two paid ten minute breaks.
"Today was the best Invasion Day protest that I have ever been to," Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton told Green Left on January 26. "There was a real feeling of Aboriginal Pride and Resistance. The crowd was bigger today too."
The protest began with a smoking ceremony near Parliament House and then a rally on the Parliament Steps.
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