Avery Vincent, Melbourne
On November 18-19, the G20 summit of finance ministers and central bank governors from the world's 19 largest national economies — Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the US — and the European Union will meet at the Grand Hyatt on Collins Street.
Also attending will be the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The G20, according to its official website, "is the key international forum for discussion and cooperation on global economic issues" between the world's major capitalist governments. The primary goal of the G20 is to discuss and develop policies that promote the "high and sustainable growth" of the global economy through promoting policies consistent with the G20 Accord for Sustained Growth agreed to in 2004.
This accord stresses a range of neoliberal policies, including the elimination of restrictions on the international movement of capital, "flexible" labour market conditions, privatisation of government businesses and functions, enforcement of intellectual and other private property rights, creating a "business climate" conducive to foreign direct investment and global trade liberalisation (through the WTO and bilateral "free trade" agreements).
Given the widespread effect the G20 summit's "informal" discussions will have on people across the globe, an interesting network is forming to protest against the summit.
The Melbourne-based StopG20 collective has been running an information campaign that is gaining steady involvement from networks and individuals critical of the G20. It is promoting a Carnival against Capitalism for November 18 and a "quarantine against neoliberalism" for the next day.
"There's an excitement in the air about the possibility of there being a carnival atmosphere early this November in Melbourne, with a multitude of conferences, interventions, actions, parades and performances being planned, all with the idea of letting the world know that Australians care, and will stand up for global justice", StopG20 collective member Tom Civil told Green Left Weekly.
The Melbourne Space Outside collective is planning a "convergence" to discuss topics such as peak oil and energy resource management, as well as the "war on terror" and activist responses to it. The convergence will be encouraging aid, trade and debt-concerned groups to look more critically at the politics of aid and the G20's role in this. Space Outside will facilitate a day of action on November 17 that incorporates recent campaigns and targets different sites around the city.
The Melbourne Social Forum will be held on November 19 and its website is already facilitating discussion around the themes of the event. Its organising collective has framed the MSF as a "space for the politics of possibility".
For more information visit <http://www.stopg20.org> and <http://www.melbournesocialforum.org>.