The Victorian Socialist Alliance held a successful special state conference in Melbourne on June 16. Ninety people attended, with a strong presence from Geelong and Ballarat. The conference also attracted activists from environmental organisations, a range of unions and Latin America solidarity groups.
Margarita Windisch
On May 24, the Peel Hotel in Collingwood was granted an exemption to the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act, allowing the venue to refuse entry to all women and heterosexual men.
The Victorian Labor Party has gone on a propaganda offensive against the Greens, accusing them of selling out on nuclear issues and taking away Victorians right to protest against nuclear reactors. Large posters have been put up and pamphlets will be sent to households in the four lower-house seats where the Greens pose the most direct challenge to the ALP.
On April 14, the Victorian Socialist Alliance held its state conference, which unanimously voted to make the federal election a key area of campaigning for the coming year. The alliance will hold further meetings to preselect candidates and determine the shape of the election campaign.
Around 40 people attended a screening of Who Killed the Electric Car on April 18, hosted by the non-profit, community run Western Region Environment Centre in Werribee. The film was followed by a very lively debate about issues such as industrys drive for corporate profits, the lack of leadership from federal and state governments to provide solutions to climate change and the need for community action.
Around 120 people rallied outside Liberal MP for Deakin Phil Barresi’s electoral office in Mitcham, Melbourne, on March 27, the anniversary of the proclamation of the federal Coalition government’s unpopular and destructive industrial relations laws. The lunchtime protest and barbecue were organised by the Deakin community and Your Rights at Work campaign group, which has been raising awareness and campaigning in the area against the anti-worker laws.
Lawyers acting for 12 of the Melbourne 13, a group of Muslim men who have been held in Barwons Maximum Security Prison for more than a year, argued on March 20 that the possibility of a fair trial had been jeopardised and applied for a stay in proceedings.
A spirited demonstration of 200 people marched to state parliament on March 9 to protest the poisoning of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is imprisoned in Turkey. Waving Kurdish and Australian flags and holding pictures of Ocalan, the founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the protesters chanted “Freedom for Ocalan, long live Kurdistan” and called for an end to the war in Kurdistan.
Opening an October 23 public forum organised by Reproductive Choice Australia, Leslie Cannold, Melbourne Age columnist and author of The Abortion Myth, said that Victorian Labor Premier Steve Bracks had stated he favoured keeping the status quo on abortion, even though the ALPs election platform calls for its decriminalisation.
On October 21, 80 people attended a public forum in Footscray organised by the Maribyrnong Action Group. Speakers discussed the health risks of diesel emissions and the ever increasing quantity of trucks passing through residential streets in Maribyrnong. A range of solutions were presented, from immediate curfew observance and extensions to shifting more freight onto trains.
The Last ValleyDirected by Peter VaughanCapitol Theatre, 113 Swanston St, MelbourneNovember 14, 8pmentry $10/7conc.<>
Melbournes public transport system is in crisis despite a huge increase in subsidies since privatisation. Delays, cancellations and standing room only this is the reality for passengers across the system. And on top of the bad service, Melbourne has the most expensive fares of any Australian capital city.
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