More than 150 people rallied in rainy weather in Sydney on Saturday May 29 at a national protest to support abortion rights. The rally was organised by the Women's Abortion Action Campaign and a group from Brisbane's Pro Choice Action Collective attended.
Dropping charges against a Cairns woman who allegedly imported the abortion drug RU486 to terminate her own pregnancy was one of the demands of rally organisers.
New South Wales Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said it was time abortion was not regulated by criminal law.
Picture: Lee Rhiannon Monthly Archives: May 2010
150 Rally for Abortion Rights in Sydney last Saturday
More than 150 people rallied in rainy weather in Sydney on Saturday May 29 at a national protest to support abortion rights. The rally was organised by the Women's Abortion Action Campaign and a group from Brisbane's Pro Choice Action Collective attended.
Dropping charges against a Cairns woman who allegedly imported the abortion drug RU486 to terminate her own pregnancy was one of the demands of rally organisers.
New South Wales Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said it was time abortion was not regulated by criminal law.
Picture: Lee Rhiannon Filed under Zedlines
Brisbane City Council Secrecy Plans Treat Community As The Enemy
Brisbane City Council is treating the community as the enemy with new plans to keep details of civic cabinet meetings secret for ten years, says a local government academic.
Newsbytes.com.au reports Dr Doug Tucker says the State Goverment is co-operating by putting the secrecy plans in the City of Brisbane Bill (pdf file). Dr Tucker says the State Government's own record on making information public has been deplorable.
The ALP State Government and the Liberal National Party State Opposition both support the secrecy plans. The ALP Oppositon in the Brisbane City Council oppose the plan, with ALP council Opposition Leader Shayne Sutton saying it is a backwards step.
Filed under Zedlines
World Refugee Day planning meeting this Wednesday June 2
The Refugee Action Collective will meet this Wednesday to plan a rally and march for World Refugee Day on June 20.
The Refugee Action Collective says refugees should be welcomed to Australia, not victimised and used as political footballs. It says it must not be just those who promote intolerance and inhumanity whose voices are heard at the election expected later this year.
All supporters are welcome at the planning meeting. The meeting starts at 6.30pm this Wednesday, June the 2nd, and is at the Trades and Labour Council building at 16 Peel St in South Brisbane. Peel St is near the corner of Grey St, a short walk from the Cultural Centre bus station and South Brisbane train station.
Click here for a Google Map showing the location of the Trades and Labour Council building.
Indigenous business leaders in Pilbara split on mining tax
Indigenous business leaders in Western Australia's Pilbara region have taken different sides on the Federal Government's planned 40% tax on mining profits which are above the rate at which the Government borrows money.
The National Indigenous Times reports that Barry Taylor, head of indigenous earthmoving and civil engineering company Ngarda Civil and Mining, says potential job cuts will be felt by those, quote, "at the bottom of the food chain – that's contractors and black fellas. In most cases, we are both, particularly in the Pilbara".
Meanwhile the ABC reports the Pilbara Aboriginal Contractors Association support the tax, with Chairman Ralph Keller of the company Portacrete saying the tax would not make a difference to Aboriginal communities, but calling for five percent of the revenue from the tax to be directed to services for Aboriginal people.
10 Years Since the Declaration for Reconciliation Walk
Today marks 10 years since the Declaration for Reconciliation walks taking place in Australian capital cities.
In 1995 the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation first considered a proposal for the People’s Walk for Reconciliation.
This involved a group of indigenous people walking towards non-indigenous people along the Sydney Harbor Bridge and meeting physically and symbolically in the middle.
Over 200, 000 people walked in Sydney while further walks carried out in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth later that year saw estimates of over half a million Australians participating.
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Beyond Billabong Program Tailored for Indigenous Girls
The Beyond Billabong program received new federal funding ensuring Indigenous girls participation.
Beyond Billabong is held at Longreach and provided life skills and training for 120 Indigenous boys from across the state since it began in 2009.
The program’s CEO Boyd Curran said women are a vital part of the community and deserve an individualised program.
Three girl’s programs will operate between January and June next year and will be tailored around activities challenging, stimulating and motivating the girls.
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More Work Required to Improve Indigenous Artists Reaching Audiences
A report by the Australia Council and the Australasian Performing Rights Association shows attitudes, inadequate training and equipment hinder Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers reaching wider audiences.
Dr Mark Bin Bakar from the Australia Council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board said it’s important to work with the industry allowing more Indigenous artists to play in more venues.
Dr said some Indigenous bands booked for gigs turn up and face rejection because they are Aboriginal.
Lou Bennett from Indigenous band Tiddas said staying strong and being true to yourself gives you the passion to tell the truth and tell a story that has not been told.
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Tax Deductible Status for One Laptop per Child Australia
The Federal Government announced today tax deductible donation status for One Laptop per Child Australia.
One Laptop per Child Australia aims to improve the lives of Indigenous children living in disadvantaged communities in rural
and remote Australia.
Since 2008, the organisation has delivered over 1,500 laptops to 20 disadvantaged schools in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland and hopes to provide up to 20,000 laptops by 2012.
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Fifth Annual FarmDay this Weekend
This weekend the fifth national FarmDay event takes place helping to bridge the gap between city and country Australians.
FarmDay is a non-profit event providing people with opportunities to witness the diversity of agriculture, including livestock, grains, fruit and vegetable farming.
City children are encouraged to be involved with farm activities, such as learning how to milk cows, rounding up cattle and sheep, planting trees and feeding animals.
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Tuesday, 25 May Zedlines
UQ and The University of Auckland students have gained insight into issues of Indigenous people in Australia and New Zealand, thanks to a new exchange program.
Program coordinator Kelly Greenop says the exchange was established to allow students to undertake a comparative study of cultural landscapes and Indigenous issues in Auckland and Brisbane.Ms Greenop says students benefited from meeting Maori and Aboriginal people and hearing about the places which matter to them and how they interact with the contemporary urban landscape.
The ‘Close the Gap’ campaign has used the National Palliative Care week to urge Indigenous health providers and Indigenous people to talk about dying and death in their communities.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda says the week’s theme is called “If only I knew…how to talk about dying”.
Mr Gooda says it should remind Indigenous Australians suffering terminal illness of the need to prepare for the type of culturally appropriate care and treatment they would like to access.1 The Human Services Minister, Chris Bowen, has been accused of preventing Centrelink from providing data to the Parliamentary Library for a research project it was conducting for the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. The Senate President, John Hogg, says he would investigate what the Coalition branded "an abuse of power". Centrelink had told the library it could not provide information unless it knew who was seeking it and why.
Arts Industry bodies are protesting against Tourism Australia’s new marketing campaign “Nothing Like Australia” objecting the Government-funded agency’s efforts to source photographs free of charge.
Chief executive of the Australian Copyright Council, Mary Anne Reid, says that despite a united protest from Industry bodies Tourism Australia has refused to back down on the issue.
The campaign will have free use of thousands of photographs submitted by the public to a Tourism Australia competition and entrants will receive no reward for their work.
The Obama administration has been brought under pressure to save the bluefin tuna and other rare species from becoming extinct.
The long-term environmental consequences of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has called upon the administration to grant endangered species protection to bluefin tuna.
BP officials announced they would pledge as much as $500m over the next 10 years for research into environmental consequences of the spill.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has condemned social networking site Facebook and former college student founder saying thesite has a complete disregard for users’ privacy.
Senator Conroy says the site has turned from one where prople could share photos and thoughts into one that profits from users information.
1 The Australian Greens says the Government's decision to examine the useof community land trusts comes more than two years after the idea was first putforward. Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson for Indigenous Affairs says these announcements echo calls made advocating Community Land Trusts in 2008. Senator Siewert says this approach helps close the gap, strengthen communities and advocate long term changes that have been promised for so long.
4zzznews
David Jackmanson
4ZzZFM NEWS 