Ark Tribe case adjourned until October

(Dave Noonan, National Secretary of the CFMEU, promises a campaign of retaliation if Ark Tribe, about third from left in black top, is jailed)

As the song says, something like fifty men a year are killed in construction industry accidents around Australia, but I've never yet known a boss to go to jail for industrial manslaughter.

Yet a worker who took issue with slack safety standards on his job found himself required to answer questions about a meeting to discuss the issue: who said what, and to whom.



This is under laws bequeathed to the nation by the previous Prime Monster Liberal John Howard, and kept alive by current Prime Monster Rudd and his Deputy Julia Gillard, of the so-called Labor Party.

Ironically, both were put into office by an electorate demanding the protection of rights at work.

Ark Tribe attended his second court appearance yesterday, out at Elizabeth, north of Adelaide, charged with failing to appear at a compulsory interrogation.

The penalty for non-appearance at an ABCC interrogation is six month's jail!

Three hundred work mates, community activists and members of other unions were there to support Ark. It was a great turn-out for mid-morning on a working day.

As the supporters gathered, the Ark Tribe song was played over a scratchy speaker system.

State Secretary of the CFMEU Martin O'Malley described Ark as "this generation's Ned Kelly or Ben Hall...he's a hero."

He introduced speakers including SA Unions leader Janet Giles, and parliamentarians Mark Parnell (Greens) and David Winterlich (Democrats).

"Where's the bloody Labor Party," someone from the crowd yelled, to ironic cheers.

Then it was Ark's turn to again face the courts, his lawyers winning an adjournment to Adelaide on October 30.

Don't expect any bosses to be standing in the dock with him - that will have to wait until we've got people's courts and a people's legal system.

And it will be an Ark Tribe then who sits in judgement on the murderers and maimers of workers!

(Above, Rex with his "MUA - here to stay" flag: "they tried it on the wharfies, with scabs and thugs and lost..." To the far left, as you'd expect...brace yourself...it's Joe from WA!)

(Above, Bob with the Oath of the Eureka Stockade, still an inspiration in the struggles of today together with the Stockade's magnificent blue and white flag).

Prof James Anaya puts spotlight on racist "intervention"

Professor James Anaya, who holds the mandate for investigating and reporting on the rights of Indigenous people under the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will visit Australia in August.

A letter welcoming Prof. Anaya is being circulated (see below) and many individuals and organizations are signing in support of its call for the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) in the Northern Territory.

The RDA was suspended by the Howard government to give effect to measures such as its quarantining of income payments to NT Aborigines.

It was claimed at the time that the measures were required in order to deal with the effects of alcoholism and of child abuse and neglect.

Whilst some individual instances of improvement have been noted, the measures have caused widespread resentment in Aboriginal communities.

The Rudd government differs little from its predecessor in its heavy-handed and paternalistic treatment of NT Aboriginal communities.

Both governments refuse to listen to and empower the communities.

There is continuing conflict around the takeover of town camps; attempts to restrict services to and drive people from homelands (“outstations”); removal of people from the CDEP scheme which, for all its faults, at least provides income in return for work; having to shop at designated stores with a “basics” card; suppression of bilingual education; failure to reduce the gap in health services and life expectancy; failure to improve and expand housing. The list goes on and on.

There is turbulence in the administration of Aboriginal affairs by the NT government. Aboriginal MP Marion Scrymgour (left) resigned as deputy head of government and minister for Indigenous Affairs and then left the Labor Party. Her replacement, another Aboriginal MP, Alison Anderson (right) threatened to resign when told that no houses had yet been built in remote communities, and that less than a third of the money in the program would be spent on housing. After giving her government a deadline for action, she followed through two days ago and resigned.

Rudd and Macklin compound the turbulence and resentment, saying that they will reinstate the RDA but continue the discriminatory and paternalistic measures of the Intervention as “special measures” allowed under the RDA for positive discrimination.

Hopefully Professor Anaya will see though all of this to what is essentially a land grab on behalf of mining giants and other business interests, and use his office to support genuine consultation with Aboriginal communities.

To sign the letter to Prof. Anaya send your name, location and email address to harrisme@bigpond.com .

……………..

Dear Professor Anaya,

Many Australians, Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal, are hopeful of your support in communicating the following views to the Australian government.

There is strong support for the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) in a manner which complies with human rights principles, and does not impose ‘special measures’
‘Special measures’ in their current and proposed form are discriminatory and opposed to by very many Aboriginal people

‘Special measures’ were imposed on Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory in 2007. These ‘special measures’ are racist and would have been illegal had the RDA not been suspended.
The current ‘consultations’ process based on the ‘Futures Directions - discussion paper’ is flawed and any findings must be disregarded. The document is complex, biased towards preferred government policy, written in the English language and presented without the regular use of interpreters. Consultations are not transparent and no records of meetings are available.

Government must re-commit to the recently articulated principle that ‘one size does NOT fit all’, and provide choice to individuals and communities, including the choice to accept or reject any or all of the special measures.

Re-engagement in genuine negotiation with Aboriginal elders and their representatives must be commenced as soon as possible. The process must be transparent and independent facilitators should be engaged for the purpose. In this regard attention should be paid to the statement from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission:

“As Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christians, representing many different denominations and backgrounds, we are united against the NT Intervention in its current form” and ask government to, ‘Recognise the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to negotiate agreements with governments. We stress negotiation as distinct from consulting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples about the implementation of policy and programs which have already been already been developed and decided on”. (4 June 2009)

Professor Anaya, we welcome you to Australia and we call on you to encourage our government to respect and recognise the views of all Aboriginal people through genuine negotiation and respect for human rights. Consultations in their current form are manipulative and are aimed at maintaining racist legislation.

Yours sincerely,

Traditional owners want Beverley Four Mile Stopped

The Coober Pedy Regional Times newspaper, in both its print and online versions, has been a courageous champion of the environment.

The report below is sourced from the online CPRT.



BEVERLEY 4 MILE CLOSURE DEMAND AS MINERS "JUMP THE GUN"



Posted on July 28, 2009 by Coober Pedy Regional Times

Traditional Owners call for immediate halt to uranium operations at Beverley 4 Mile



Vada Ardlanha (above) is a place close to the mine site where the spring water is constantly hot and in the winter has steam rising off it. Traditionally Vada Ardlanha is a religious site, intricately connected to Adnyamathanha understandings of radioactivity and the uranium ore.

Traditional Aboriginal owners of the country that includes the Beverley 4 Mile uranium deposit are outraged with mining operations having commenced prior to the completion of State and Federal approvals processes.

Last week Traditional Owners visiting the site were greeted by new fences and locked gates. They were advised by company representatives that future visits would require company consent and supervision as the mining site was ‘already operational’.

Community members believe the company has pre-empted the Australian approvals process as Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has not yet approved a Monitoring and Management plan, a Mine Closure plan and a Community Engagement plan, all of which are required prior to the start of mining works at Beverley 4 Mile.

Similarly Petratherm announced the commencement of drilling without community consultation being satisfied and without a Risk Assessment being obtained to satisfy community concerns of their intentions regarding chemicals use and contaminated waste disposal procedures.

“On the 4 Mile a number of important South Australian Aboriginal heritage assessment processes are also currently unfinished or incomplete. This was not the deal. The company has jumped the gun. Our community is being left out and our concerns are being ignored,” said Adnyamathanha elder Enice Marsh.

“We want the Federal and State governments to make this company stop work now.”
Traditional Owners and custodians are deeply saddened and angered by the position taken by the mining company Quasar Resources, an affiliate of the US weapons and nuclear energy corporation General Atomics (see attached statement).

STATEMENT FROM TRADITIONAL OWNERS

Adnyamathanha Elders Turned Away from Sacred Lands

CUSTODIANS TREATED LIKE DIRT OVER LAND GRAB

A disastrous Work Area Clearance under Native Title left one Adnyamathanha woman extremely distressed by the attitude of the mining company; as a result she went missing for hours and a full scale search was required.

‘This is not respectful consultation, this is extreme bullying and treating women like dirt’ says Enice Marsh who experienced this frightening event as one of the party went missing for hours.

‘And neither Heathgate nor the anthropologist has spoken publicly on this dreadful event that may have ended in tragedy; there’s just been a big cover up over the whole thing. And those of who took part in the site survey back in April 2009 have never received a copy of the Anthropological report, nor have the Native Title Named Applicants that represent Adnyamathanha.

‘We haven’t even seen the report in draft form, so we could make comment on it before the Anthropologist sent it off the Heathgate’ claims one person. We are just left out in the cold, used up by the mining company to make it look like they are doing the right thing’.

‘It’s the land that is precious to us, not the money that Native Title offers as a bribe. On a visit to the area last week we followed the route we used since we were small children living on the area with our parents … only to find that this route has now been fenced off and locked up. We were then told by employees of Heathgate Resources that the Beverley Four Mile mining site is ‘already operational’ so the only way we can visit is through the main gates as supervised guests of the company.

WHERE’S THE HONOUR MR. WEATHERILL?

Our reaction was one of shock and disbelief: ‘How can the extension at Four Mile Mine already be up and running? What about the heritage investigation that’s taking place’ said one distressed Elder.

‘We want to be able to visit our land in private, not have mining company people gawking at us as we share our stories of how important the land is to us and our old people that have passed on’ said another Elder. ‘Leave it then, let’s not visit … we will just have to sit around the fire back at our campsite. We have no choice but to sing our songs somewhere else, share our stories about our love for our Yarta (country)’

The heritage survey formally instigated by Minister Jay Weatherill is still underway, yet the mining proponent continues on, uninterrupted in their destruction of our lands.

Aboriginal people are only being employed in low paid and unskilled jobs; where are the apprenticeships and long term investment of money for our future generations? They are just not there.

This is the reality of so-called ‘benefits’ for locals – damage to our cultural sites, unrestricted pollution of the water and contamination of the soil, destruction of animal habitat – these can never be rehabilitated.

And due to lack of environmental best practice rehabilitation is simply not necessary in the eyes of SA government and the mining industry. Shame on the Rudd Labor Government for allowing mining companies to openly abuse the lands and waters of South Australia!

BLACK & WHITE COMMUNITIES SHAFTED IN THE SNATCH ‘N GRAB

‘The local people in the region are being shafted – black and white.’ says Mrs Marsh. ‘People are being forced into going along with the Native Title process on both sides and it’s time the public started to see the full picture. The precious little amount of water we have in our State is being polluted right under our noses, yet water is the lifeblood for people in arid Australia. And the only way people will get the full picture is from those of us who really care about the environmental and cultural value of the land in South Australia, from the local people. Our government Ministers are behaving just like the miners – it’s ‘snatch and grab’ and leave the mess behind for future generations to have to deal with’ .

ATLA – DUTY OF CARE A MOCKERY

The governing committee for Native Title known as ATLA did not make a submission when the Four Mile PER was out for public comment, yet there are many sites on the floodplains that have been identified by old people that needed to be properly protected. This should have happened before exploration started. ‘The female Anthropologist that went out with us recorded some of our sites, but we have not yet seen the final report. And we know now that the mining company is already in there under the Mining License’ says Mrs Marsh.

Old people say that ATLA has a duty of care to all Adnyamathanha yet it fails to act to protect our sites and speak up for the people that are subject to abuse by the mining company. ‘

Why should it be left up to the Elders to speak up for our country? When is ATLA going to start working for Yuras instead of the mining companies and lawyers?’

Relations between the Han and Uighur in Xinjiang

On the night of June 25-6 at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, a riot occurred between Han and Uighur Chinese over the alleged rape by a Uighur of a Han girl.

The deaths of two Uighur workers created tensions in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China. Violence by Uighurs against Han, and by Han against Uighurs took place.

The Chinese government blamed Uighur separatists and particularly the Uighur World Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer for stirring up trouble.

Kadeer’s credibility suffered when she held up a poster-sized photo of police at the Shishou mass incident in Hubei Province and claimed that it showed overwhelming police force in the Xinjiang capital, Urumuqi. “How could our people cause the troubles against force like this,” she asked.


Other separatist Uighur activists around the world used similar sets of photographs of incidents outside of Xinjiang in an apparently orchestrated attempt to demonise the Chinese government.

(Above, a photo of a car accident in Hangzhou last May waved by a Uighur separatist in Turkey as "evidence" of Government suppression in Urumuqi.)

The Western media, also ever-keen to demonise China, grabbed isolated images unrelated to Xinjiang to misrepresent events.

(The English paper, above, removed the accompanying photo, which it said showed Uighur women who had been attacked by police. The photo actually showed Han women who had been attacked by Uighurs.)

(Above: The New York Times ran with this photo allegedly showing Uighur victims of the police in hospital before someone pointed out that the name of the patient on the wall, enlarged below, showed that he was a Han.)




Whilst it is hard from a distance to get some sense of objective facts, the interview below from the Hong Kong magazine Yazhou Zhoukan provides some interesting observations on the events, and in particular of possible fundamentalist Muslim involvement.

The interviewee, interestingly, refers to Mao Zedong’s criticism of great Han chauvinism. Mao was conscious that relations between the Han and the more than fifty national minorities amongst the people of China were one of what he called “ten major relationships” that had to be handled correctly by the ruling Communist Party.

The primary responsibility for that particular relationship, he said, lay with the Han. They had to treat minorities with respect, and accord them equal status with the Han.

The advent of the ideology of “to get rich is glorious” has undermined the ideological authority of the Party. The goal of communist equality is no longer the motivation force for Han or Uighur.

Together with mass incidents reflecting social polarisation, ethnic disturbances reflecting Han chauvinism and ethnic separatism will continue for the foreseeable future.

..........................................

Heyrat Niyaz on the July 5 Riots in Urumchi
In its August 2 issue, the Hong Kong newsweekly Yazhou Zhoukan interviews Heyrat Niyaz , a Uyghur journalist, blogger and AIDS activist. In the interview, which another blogger has translated below, Heyrat tells of how he tried to warn officials that "blood would flow" in Urumchi on July 5 and gives his thoughts about the background to the ethnic rioting.
* * *
YZ: When did you feel that something could occur on July 5?


HN: After the incident in Shaoguan, Guangdong, I felt that something big would happen, that blood would flow. Before the Shaoguan incident, there were already seeds of a disturbance in Xinjiang. After the Shaoguan incident, I wrote a series of three blog posts analyzing the impact of the incident and, the more analysis I did, the more certain I felt about my prediction.


YZ: Do you believe the July 5 incident was organized and premeditated?


HN: Looking at it from today, it was certainly organized. As for premeditated, between June 26 and July 5, there was already plenty of time for that. But the most crucial thing was that the government did not take prompt measures to prevent deterioration of the situation. On July 4, I was continually listening to Radio Free Asia and the Voice of America. On that day, World Uyghur Congress President Rebiya [Kadeer] and others were truly a bit out of the ordinary on that day, with nearly all of the leaders going on the air to speak.


Around 8 p.m., I called a friend of mine in the government and said, "Something is going to happen tomorrow. You should take some measures." I gave him the URL of Rebiya's speech so that they could listen for themselves. They said they would report to their superiors.The next morning, I called again. At around 10 a.m., I went with a friend to see a high official in the regional government. I told him that as an ordinary person of conscience, I have an obligation to remind you that blood will certainly flow today. You should immediately take steps and mobilize emergency preparations. Then, I made three recommendations: First, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Chairman Nur Bekri must make a public speech before 12 noon. Second, notify Han merchants in predominantly ethnic neighborhoods to close shop early and go home. Third, mobilize as many troops as you can, cordon off ethnic neighborhoods and block and patrol crucial intersections. After the close of business, impose martial law.


At the time, the official said he would make a phone call to seek instructions. In the end, not a single one of these recommendations was taken. In fact, I was not even the first person to warn
the relevant government agencies on July 4. Just after 6 p.m. on July 4 another person had provided a warning.


YZ: You said that prior to the Shaoguan incident there were already seeds of a disturbance in Xinjiang. What do you mean by that?


HN: There are two direct reasons that led to something like what happened on July 5. First is the promotion of bilingual education, and the second is the government's arrangements to send Uyghurs away to work. These two policies were strongly opposed by many Uyghur cadres, but anyone who dared to say "no" was immediately punished.The first to bear the brunt of the bilingual education policy were teachers who had previously taught in ethnic languages. Tens of thousands of teachers faced being laid off because their Chinese was not up to standard, and this led to unstable popular feelings among grassroots educators.


As for sending Uyghurs away to work, in the eyes of [Uyghur] nationalists you can joke all you like, but don't joke about our women. Almost all of the workers initially organized to be sent out to work were 17- and 18-year-old girls. At the time, some elders said, "Sixty percent of these girls will wind up as prostitutes; the other forty percent will marry Han Chinese." This led to enormous disgust [among people]. In carrying out this policy, the government first failed to carry out proper education work and, second, failed to realize that such a small thing could have such major repercussions.


YZ: Before the promotion of these two policies, how were ethnic relations in Xinjiang?


HN: In the 1950s, even though Mao Zedong criticized "great Han chauvinism" in Xinjiang, contemporary ethnic policies in Xinjiang never led to a rupture. Ethnic relations in Xinjiang really became more tense over the past 20 years or so. After taking office, Party Secretary Wang Lequan adopted a high-handed posture that would not allow for any ethnic sentiment among minority populations. For example, if a ethnic cadre were to express the slightest complaint during a meeting, he would definitely not be promoted and might even be sacked. [Wang] overemphasized and exacerbated the anti-separatist issue. In fact, border provinces in any country that have cultural, linguistic, or ethnic ties with foreign countries are bound to have such tendencies. The current anti-separatist struggle in Xinjiang is not simply something [being carried out] by law enforcement agencies but has become something [carried out] in the whole society.


YZ: Have these tense ethnic relations led to increased thoughts of independence among Uyghurs?


HN: My father took part in the "Revolution of the Three Districts" [in which ethnic partisans revolted against Chinese rule in 1944 and established the second East Turkestan Republic] as a soldier. Logically, he should be a classic example of someone with thoughts of independence, but as far as I know not even someone like him is pro-independence—much less so someone like me.In fact, looking historically, the Uyghur people transformed early on from a desert-based [nomadic] people to an agricultural society and developed an extremely exquisite civilization. The nature of this people has become such that we don't spread or seek conflict. Even during its strongest point, this society was never expansionary. When the Khitan came, Uyghurs quickly surrendered. When the Mongols came, the Uyghurs basically surrendered without a fight. Historically speaking, Uyghurs don't like to fight and have no foundation for independence.


YZ: How do you view the issue of "East Turkestan"?


HN: This phrase "East Turkestan" is something invented by Europeans and not something that Uyghurs themselves came up with. However, it has been built up by the Turks and forcibly thrust upon us. We Uyghurs have no concept of "East Turkestan." From historic times to the presnt, Uyghurs have called Xinjiang "Land of the Uyghurs." No one has ever called it "Land of the Turks," much less "Eastern Land of the Turks."


YZ: If this is so, why do so many pro-independence types in Xinjiang make a fundamental claim for "East Turkestan"?


HN: At the time of the Silk Road, Uyghurs had opportunities to travel about in neighboring countries and their thinking was more open. Later, when maritime navigation became dominant, Uyghurs found themselves isolated and closed-off. In such a backwards circumstance, it's easy to think that "monks from outside can really chant the scripture" [i.e., outsiders have the answers]. It's just as when China first opened up, all sorts of ideas flowed in, both good and bad, and it wasn't clear which were good and which were bad. Moreover, over the past several decades local Uyghur elites suffered under the repression of the Communist Party's leftist policies and there were no opportunities to develop thought. The moment a few people shout "East Turkestan," many among our people have no idea what to think.


YZ: How do local Uyghur intellectuals view Rebiya [Kadeer]?


HN: They're not interested. Rebiya basically has no ideas.


YZ: For outside forces to be able to organize the July 5 incident, doesn't it mean that they have considerable influence inside China?


HN: Yes, definitely. I believe that the July 5 incident was organized by "Hizb-ut-Tahrir al-Islami" [ILP, Islamic Liberation Party], an illegal religious organization that has spread extremely quickly in southern Xinjiang. I've studied this group, which was founded by an Afghan. When the Afghan died, a Pakistani doctor among his followers carried out a reorganization and recruitment drive. Whether in China, Afghanistan, or Pakistan, the ILP is an underground movement. In 1997, when the ILP had just begun to appear in Xinjiang, there were probably only several hundred members. According to statistics made public last year by the relevant agencies, the organization may now have close to 10,000 members in Xinjiang.


On July 5, I was on Xinhua South Road watching as rioters smashed and looted. More than 100 people gathered and dispersed in an extremely organized manner, all of them wearing athletic shoes. Based on their accents, most were from the area around Kashgar and Hotan, but I did not see any of them carrying knives. I suspect they were from the ILP because of their slogans. The rioters were shouting "Han get out!" [and] "Kill the Han!" Other than these [slogans], there was also "We want to establish an Islamic country and strictly implement Islamic law." One of the main goals of the ILP is to restore the combined political and religious authority of the Islamic state and strictly implement Islamic law; it is a fundamentalist branch.This organization is extremely disciplined and its composition rather unusual. It attracts young men around the age of 20, mostly from rural areas. In fact, this organization is extremely backwards, so that even among Uyghurs without any basic social underpinning, those with even a bit of education don't have any interest [in the ILP]. The influence of groups like this that have infiltrated from abroad is ultimately quite small, because they bring nothing to the table. A serious attack from the organs of state power could totally wipe them out. There's no need for anti-terrorism measures throughout society in Xinjiang.


YZ: What do you think is the main problem for Xinjiang at the moment?


HN: I don't think the main problem for Xinjiang is ethnic separatism. The key problem for Xinjiang is still economic development. Actually, so-called ethnic conflict is really conflict over interests. Last year during the "two meetings," I watched video of President Hu Jintao's meeting with the Xinjiang delegation many times. President Hu said that Xinjiang should emphasize development and only at the end did he say anything about stability. Subsequently, I decided to write a series of articles clarifying my views on this.

Clayton “regulator” endangers workers as well as ecosystem

The so-called “regulator” over the Finniss River at Clayton should have been finished a fortnight ago.

However, unexpected problems with its construction have delayed completion and placed project workers in danger.

In the first place, workers are being made to start early and finish late without any more lighting than that supplied by truck headlights.

(Above, dusk at Clayton and only headlights provide any lighting out on the "regulator").

Given that they are driving heavy trucks on a soft-walled structure this should require an on-site OHSW presence even in broad daylight.

But it is more complicated than that.

They are not dumping sand (taken by the private contractors from excavations for the nearby Hindmarsh Island marina) onto a stable base of bedrock, Instead, they are dumping it on a soft muddy base that cannot take the weight of the “regulator”.

On 19 and 20 July, sections of the end of the “regulator” collapsed. On another occasion, a truck slid off the edge and had to be “rescued” by heavy equipment.

The throwing of mud by a resident at a government spokesperson during a public “consultation”, and the arrest a couple of days ago of two women who prevented work on the “regulator” by standing at its end with a banner, has brought some much-needed media attention to the issue.

ABC radio broadcast from the site this morning and was there, just before 10am, to witness another collapse at the end of the “regulator”.

Broadcaster Matthew Abraham was talking when he suddenly said “Now there’s a hole at the end of it. The dirt has just disappeared!”

The person whom he had been interviewing described it as “an incredibly dangerous place…What if trucks had been driving across the hole when it sank?”

The “regulator” was promoted by the SA government as a temporary measure to prevent further exposure of soils along the Finniss River and Currency Creek to the atmosphere. The exposure creates acid sulphates in the soil.

Government sources claim the “regulator” is a response to an acid sulphate “emergency”, but regular monitoring of the two river systems has only shown the existence of local “hot spots” that can be dealt with by bioremediation and lime release.

With good rains throughout July and water flowing past the incomplete “regulator” into Lake Alexandrina, a consensus is emerging that there is no “emergency” and that work on the regulator should stop.

This is certainly the view of the Ngarrindjeri, the traditional owners and custodians of the Lower Lakes and Coorong. A statement by the Ngarrindjeri on July 29 reads:

STATEMENT FROM NGARRINDJERI REGARDING CLAYTON REGULATOR

(Tom Trevorrow, left and Major Sumner, right, representing the Ngarrindjeri people at the opening of the Clayton Fresh Water Embassy in June).

The Ngarrindjeri people of the Lower Murray River and Coorong have told the State Government that the construction of regulators will seriously damage Aboriginal sites. Ngarrindjeri has informed the Government that it considers there has not been adequate justification for the construction of the regulators. The State Government has acknowledged the pain and loss to Ngarrindjeri, but determined to proceed regardless. Ngarrindjeri has been placed in a position where it must bear witness to the damage, disturbance and interference to its culture. The State Government, by proceeding with this work, is responsible for its own actions in the destruction of the area.

In recent times there have been important and significant rains in the area. The water the partly constructed Clayton regulator was designed to block has been released into Lake Alexandrina. In light of this, the State Government should review its plan and to this end immediately stop the construction of the regulators. There is no longer, if they ever was, any environmental advantage to the Goolwa Channel, the Currency Creek or the Finniss River of the construction of these regulators.

Does the PM need new specs?

(Above, Malcolm Turnbull, leader of the conservative Liberal Party which introduced laws removing the right to silence from construction workers, under threat of six months jail, nevertheless claimed the same right for himself, under parliamentary privilege, when investigated over fake emails in the "Utegate" affair. The new "Labor" government has kept intact these laws that victimise construction workers. The following article is cross-posted from the Ark's tribe website.)

The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in welcoming and thanking those who attended the Community Cabinet meeting at Elizabeth High School last night, made a point of praising his own government's economic achievements over the past year.

Ironically, the meeting was held not far from the magistrates court at which Ark Tribe will be facing a sentence of six months jail in less than two weeks time.

Besides other things, the PM pointed out the infrastructure package he and his team had developed which has assisted small business and kept workers employed. He highlighted the Northern Expressway and the bridge his minister had just opened as a good example of what his government is building. Overheard from a worker in the audience was, "I can't remember seeing any of that lot up the front helping us on the job".

Ark Tribe was also observed at the meeting along with about 400 other citizens.

When the Prime Minister had finished his speech, he asked for questions from the good citizens.
Ark Tribe was standing up at the back of the hall with his hand up. All the audience in front of Ark was sitting down. Many questions were asked and each question was meticulously answered by the PM and/or the minister concerned. Ark Tribe remained standing, hand raised hopefully on each occasion.

The PM called for the last question and Ark Tribe, still standing with hand up and everyone seated in front of him, still couldn't be seen by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

One would have to conclude that the PM deliberately ignored Ark or he needs new glasses.

At the conclusion of the meeting I approached Ark Tribe and asked him what question he wanted the PM to answer. He replied with the following:

"Why is it, that as recently demonstrated by Mr. Turnbull, he like most other Australians can exercise their right to remain silent, yet I as an Australian Construction Worker who only demands the same right, find myself in a situation where your government is trying to imprison me for 6 months?”

“All I want, Mr. Prime Minister, is a fair suck of the sauce bottle mate."

Stand Tall – for Ark Tribe

Come gather round and listen
To the thunder rolling in,
‘Cos the rich are trying to break us
And we’re not gonna let them win.

Well they tried it on the wharfies
With scabs and thugs and lost,
So how to break the building sites
Where the workers won’t be bossed?

“We own the law, we own the courts
And that’s the key to their defeat:
We’ll give the workers six months jail
For every time they meet!”

The workers met on safety
And Ark Tribe led the way,
So Gillard’s thugs decided
That he would have to pay.

“If your name it is Ark Tribe
Come to our interrogation –
You’ll have to dob your mates in:
That’s the way we run this nation!”

“Oh my name it is Ark Tribe
And I ain’t gonna talk to you.
My freedom flies with the Southern Cross
And there’s nothing you can do.”

“If there’s anything that I’ve done wrong
I’ll take your jail, that’s fine!
But killing fifty men a year
Is the bosses’ crime, not mine!”

“As for your Liberal and your Labor,
To me they look the same
With Howard’s rotten laws served up
In Julia Gillard’s name.”

“Well, I’d a-ridden with Ned Kelly
I’d a fought with bold Ben Hall,
‘Cos it was wild colonial boys like these
Who taught us to stand tall.”

Well, if Ark Tribe’s put in prison
By their “tough cop on the beat”,
The wild colonial boys and girls
Must get out in the street.

And we must ride like Edward Kelly,
We must fight like bold Ben Hall,
‘Cos it was wild colonial boys like these
Who taught us to stand tall!

Garrett's short Four Mile memory

Regardless of what one thinks of uranium mining, there can surely be no argument that the decision by Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett to approve the Four Mile uranium mine in the northern Flinders Ranges area proves that parliament is the graveyard of principle.

We often talk of this or that political party “getting in to power” when they win an election. Really, this betrays an illusion about the workings of bourgeois democracy.

It would be better to say that this or that party “gets in to office” because the real power is with the giant corporations and financial institutions that provide the backbone of the ruling class.

Peter Garrett is the former lead singer with rock band Midnight Oil. The Oils were famous for their advocacy of social justice, of land rights and of the environment. They were famous for their opposition to multinational corporations, to US military bases in Australia, and to nuclear arms and uranium mining.

When the campaign to prevent the Ranger uranium mine was at its height, the Oils staged a concert at the edge of the mine territory (below).

Garrett became President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, was on the international board of Greenpeace and a founder of the Nuclear Disarmament Party.

The Labor Party recognized Garrett’s popularity and decided to kill two birds with one stone. By offering him a safe Labor seat and a front bench portfolio, they could benefit in the wider community at voting time by having a high profile pro-environment candidate on their team. And by having him “inside the tent pissing out” rather than “outside the tent pissing in” they removed him as a threat and neutered him politically.

In a pathetic echo of his former self, Garrett said the approval was “a difficult decision”.

“I am a team player,” bleated the man who went to the 2007 ALP Convention to argue for no expansion of uranium mining, and lost. And how could he hope to win when Labor’s continued occupancy of the government benches is conditional on them not upsetting big business, when in fact the party he represents is completely unblushing in its acceptance of its embrace of the business community and their needs. This is a party that has leaned well the lessons of the constitutional coup that toppled the Whitlam government.

Garrett is now a despised figure. He is hated as a hypocrite by a wide section of the community, yet is still regarded with suspicion by many in the business community.

Such is the fate of those who think they can make a difference by working from within the capitalist Labor Party.

Marathon - really, really, really wrong in every direction

Two items of interest caught the blogger’s eye today.

Firstly, the trial is continuing in Queensland of former state Labor government minister Gordon Nuttall who has pleaded not guilty to 36 counts of receiving secret commissions from Mr Ken Talbot, then CEO of Macarthur Coal and mining executive and former senior public servant Harold Shand.

Talbot is alleged to have “loaned” some $300,000 to the Labor politician. There was apparently no requirement for repayment.

Nuttall is alleged to have received the first of 36 payments just one day before the Queensland Treasury signed off on a $28.7 million “assistance package” allowing Macarthur Coal to develop a road and rail corridor to enable the expansion of its Coppabella coal mine.

Talbot Holdings is the largest single shareholder in Marathon Resources.

Talbot has a very “hands on” approach to management of Marathon. Sacked former Marathon CEO Stuart Hall has alleged that Talbot had demanded Hall be sacked and replaced by a “Talbot man”, Denis Wood, or Talbot would withdraw his financial support for a rights issue of shares in the company.

Blackmail as well as bribery?

Hall had also alleged that Talbot and his company were unhappy about his opposition to the promotion (by Wood in his capacity as a Marathon director) of Leightons Contractors to manage the pre-feasibility study for Mount Gee without the contract being put to tender in circumstances where opposition by Hall was in the best interests of the company.

As events unfold in the Queensland courts this week, further light may be cast on the personality and methods of Ken Talbot, such that if an Independent Commission Against Corruption was ever established in South Australia, Marathon might be high on its agenda of companies to be investigated.

The second item was the release on the company website of a letter to Marathon shareholders from its new (“clean and green”) CEO Shad Lynley.

Lynely makes direct reference to their exploration finding that they have not yet established the limits of the deposit in three directions - it might be bigger in any one of those directions, or in any combination of them. This is simply a way of asserting that if you think what we've found so far is big, then understand this - there might be more in any of three directions. It might be really, really, really big (three “reallys”, one for each dimension).

But Lynley’s message is not just for shareholders. It is really for members of the SA Labor government, and is intended to talk up the need for more exploration in advance of a government review of the decision to suspend their exploration license pending the clean-up operations of their unlawful waste disposal within the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

That is what they are doing, and in so saying, they are hinting that if they don't get their license continued, then they'll be cut short in their prime of exploration, before they've had the chance to work out just how big it really, really, really is (three “reallys”, one for each dimension). And, who knows, it might be so big that they'd have other options for its development away from pristine eco-tourism areas, and if not, well maybe the question will not have to be answered until after the next state election(March 2010) while they look around in any of three directions.

The government would have to be pretty mean to deny them that, the chance to find out how really, really, really big it is, and to find a spot (not necessarily geographical, could be figurative) away from public gaze to work on it.

And shareholders will be wise to stump up some more cash for exploration, considering how big it is already, and how it might be really, really, really big, bigger than a rock wallaby or a wren. No, they haven't even found the limits in three directions, or perhaps in any direction for that matter.

Declaring that “the margins of the Mt Gee deposit are open in three directions” allows Lynley to avoid the hard asks - which are – “Where do they intend to mine?” (Answer, don't have to answer that just - don't know - still trying to find out how big this is) and “When will you mine?” – (Answer, same as before , plus saves us the trouble of asking the government in the lead up to the election, and we are still courting Spriggs. And we don't have the cash to mine anyway, and aren't game to ask, for the cash or permission, so better if we can drag things out some more, in three directions).

And when the state government doesn't just ban the mining – it will be “Because we don't know how really, really, really big (three “reallys”, one for each dimension) this mine’s contribution could be to the future of our state - we’d better let them keep finding out.”

Fair few directions possible when you think in three dimensions.

Let alone the fourth - do they have the cash? Or the fifth - do they have the permission? Or the sixth - can they get the permission, and the cash? Or the seventh - should they?

When you look at it like that they are really one-dimensional - buying time to avoid the seventh dimension.

POSTSCRIPT:

Lynley has already blotted his copybook with the ASX, having to re-issue his letter to shareholders after omitting to point out the actual composition of the "current combined and indicated resource estimate of the Mt Gee deposit".

The new letter to shareholders admits that only 4m tonnes of U308 ore carry the "Indicated" status, while a massive 47m tonnes is still only "Inferred", ie yet to be verified.

And given that this is all very, very. very low grade, it hardly deserves the claim that it is the "fifth largest undeveloped uranium deposit in Australia".

While Lynley eats a public humble pie following the previous day's braggodocio, company secretary Sam Appleyard has revealed that Lynley's salary as CEO is a mere $100,000. Daily paper the Advertiser says this is one third less than the salary paid to his predecessor.

Also noted is former Labor Senator Chris Schacht's decision to sell off 12% of his investment in the company.

The good ship Marathon has not yet sunk, but it's listing badly.

Latest report from Lalgarh

This report from Lalgarh concerns the worrying, but not surprising, news of the involvement of US “intelligence” in the armed violence against the cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and their adivasi (tribal) supporters in West Bengal.

The imperialists practice bourgeois internationalism, helping to maintain the ruling classes of capitalist states in power. The task of the working class is to practice proletarian internationalism, helping oppressed people to win liberation.

Whilst it is not clear from the article below how the revolutionary forces are dealing with the new tactics being used against them, they will no doubt be guided by the writings of Mao Zedong, and will take heart from teachings such as:

“Lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own feet” is a Chinese folk saying to describe the behaviour of certain fools. The reactionaries in all countries are fools of this kind. In the final analysis, their persecution of the revolutionary people only serves to accelerate the people’s revolutions on a broader and more intense scale…

Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive factor; it is people, not things, that are decisive. The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power, but also a contest of human power and morale. Military and economic power is necessarily wielded by people.


Latest Report from Lalgarh

Amit Bhattacharyya
Dated, 28 June, 2009

The Bengali daily Sanbad Pratidin of 27 June 2009 carried a front-pagenews item which clearly shows that US intelligence agencies and the Indianspace research centre, the ISRO are very much involved in this wardeclared by the central and WB state government against the people ofLalgarh.

The report is captioned ‘Chemical dyes and foreign technologyused to locate Mao’, and written by Rajarshee Dasgupta. This is a freetranslation.

“Goaltore: A literally ‘high tech’ war has started in Lalgarh. The namesof both the US intelligence satellite and the Indian space research centre, ISRO have been tagged with this war preparation for regaining the areas held by the Maoists. On the other hand, in order to trace the Maoist guerrillas who have kept themselves mixed with the villagers, the administration has taken the help of the most modern technology.

At thebeginning of the second round of the ‘Operation Lalgarh’, the air force has dropped special chemical dyes over Murarka village adjoining theBurishol forest where 1,500 Maoist guerrillas are supposed to be holed up. In case that dye falls on the bodies of the guerrillas, that colour will last for one year. It means that after they are driven out from that area by the forces, they would take shelter in another village; it would thus be easy to identify them. As a result, the Maoists, on the one hand, would not be able to get themselves mixed up with the villagers; on the other hand, the police forces would not be accused of arresting innocent peoplewhile going for the Maoists.

The first part in this ‘high tech’ war was successful on Friday (i.e, 26 June). There will be a fresh expedition on Saturday. On that day, the administration has taken the decision to apply this special method.

For the last eight months, the police were totally in the dark about what had been taking place in the interior. It was only after decision was taken to undertake joint expedition that the state home department woke up from its slumber. They requested the central government to help them know about the whereabouts, base area, the location of the forces etc of the Maoist guerrillas inside the ‘core area’.

After a lot of discussion, it was decided that foreign technological assistance would be taken. The central home department also thought about satellite pictures. Accordingly, the government turned towards the ISRO and US technology. It was through RI Sat-2 and US intelligence satellite that areas such as Baroperlia, Kantapahari, Ramgarh, Mahultal, Kadashol, Pingboni, Goaltore on one side and Dhrampur and Jhitka on the other came under the satellite scanner.

After continuous scanning, the two institutes started sending still pictures. Then army intelligence officers were called upon to analyze the data. The army intelligence officials sat down at the eastern army headquarter at Fort William, Kolkata and noticed the movement of a massive guerrilla army inside the Kadashol forest. They could also identify the movements of armed squads in Ramgarh-Narcha region. The news of a red Maruti van being parked in Ramgarh bazaar was communicated to police officials in charge of operations. On the basis of this information, the expedition started from Goaltore towards Ramgarh.

Morecompanies of the central forces were brought in. After that, order was given to those leading police supers, deputy supers and CRPF commandants for march. Ultimately, the expedition started on Friday (i.e, 26 June). As the forces had prior knowledge about the area, the joint forces could, with ease, capture the 6-km area from Goaltore to Kadashol by overcoming the difficulty posed by 12 landmines and the Maoist guns.

In course of the expedition, time and again did debate broke out over the question of how to separate Maoists from the villagers. It was to overcome this problem that the decision to drop one particular chemical from the helicopter was taken. On Friday, it was dropped on the Maoist guerrillas on an experimental basis. On different occasions in foreign countries and in many a war, this method was applied. It is in Lalgarh that for the first time in a state-led expedition, such things were applied against the secessionists(sic!).

On the whole, it can be stated that from the satellite pictures to the dropping of helicopters—everything in the‘Operation Lalgarh’ is ‘high tech’”.

Support the Iranian people!

The ruling regime in Iran has encountered massive opposition to the fraudulent presidential elections held in June.

The street marches and demonstrations go beyond support for the reformist candidates and strike a blow at the heart of the repressive forces of the regime.

Fishing in troubled waters, the US imperialists try to contain the people’s movement, hoping to see the ousting of the anti-imperialist incumbent, Ahmadinejad and his replacement by a government headed by the “opposition” candidate Mousavi. They promote Mousavi as a candidate sympathetic to negotiating an end to Iran’s nuclear program and promise a relaxation of their economic blockade of Iran if he can replace the “hard-liners”.

In fact, these two candidates are among the four chosen by the Guardian Council of the Islamic Republic to run for the elections. Each candidate is committed to the continuation of the Islamic Republic and opposed to secular and progressive change.

The reformists held office prior to the rise of Ahmadinejad. They had the opportunity twelve years ago to legalise the right to form trade unions, but refused. They support the neo-liberal economic policies of the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank and are fully in support of the privatization of major sectors of the economy in order to attract imperialist investment.

Ahmadinejad was brought into office by the Iranian ruling class as a response to imperialist economic sanctions, sabotage and threats. He takes a militant stand against imperialism and Zionism on one hand, but on the other, refuses to mobilize the most conscious and steadfast anti-imperialist section of the Iranian people, the workers. Indeed, labour activists are tortured and jailed. This year’s May Day rallies in Teheran, Sanandaj and other cities were brutally attacked by thugs of the regime, using electric batons and pepper spray. More than 150 activists were arrested.

We must support the right of the Iranian people to struggle against the bogus elections. The fight for the overthrow of the reactionary regime of the Islamic Republic, for the right to form trade unions and to strike, for full equality between men and women, for the prohibition of child labour and for the release of all imprisoned workers and progressive peoples, is entirely just and accords with the principle of international working class solidarity.

India seethes with discontent

(Above, April 25, adivasis take their weapons to the streets of central Kolkata, the West Bengal capital. Around their necks they wear placards showing police atrocities in the Lalgarh district.)

India is a seething cauldron of people’s discontent.

Nowhere is this discontent stronger than in the adivasi areas, many of which are the strongholds of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) which has just been declared illegal by the "Left Front"

There are some 70 million adivasis in India (about 8 percent of the population). They are the traditional custodians of vast swathes of Indian territory. Like Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, they regard themselves as belonging to and responsible for the land. Their lifestyles, belief systems and cultural practices are based on the land. They are incredibly knowledgeable and skillful in their appreciation and use of tribal territory, much of which is forested or jungle.

Despite protection as Scheduled Tribes in the Indian Constitution, they suffer discrimination and poverty. Once self-governing tribes, they suffered under British colonialism through the zamindari system, according to which the British allocated adivasi lands to certain feudal lords of the Hindu upper castes for the purposes of rent and tax collection.

Right-wing Hindus often regard the adivasis with the same contempt as is shown to the dalits, or untouchables.

For a number of years, adivasi lands have been expropriated for special economic zones by the big Indian and multinational industrialists and manufacturers. Struggles around the defence of adivasi lands have provided the CPI (Maoist) with opportunities to create liberated zones through armed struggle, drawing on the great Naxalite traditions of the 1960s. Currently, such liberated zones exist in the Indian states of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

On June 15, for example, armed units of the CPI (Maoist) near Lalgarh led thousands of adivasis to attack and burn to the ground a number of police camps, and a newly constructed two-storey house belonging to an official of the revisionist CPI (Marxist) which leads the government of West Bengal. More than 300 police fled the area.

Police have been beating and raping adivasis since last November’s road mine blast directed at the convoy of the state’s Chief Minister. He had been complicit in the expropriation of land for a 5000 acre SEZ on behalf of the Jindal company, and was hated by the adivasis.

With the support of the Maoists, the adivasis established a Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA). The committee has faced up to the challenges of poverty and backwardness around Lalgarh, building 20kms of road and repairing quite a few tube wells that supply villagers with water. It has started land distribution and created a health centre at Kataphari.

A tribute to the close integration of the Maoists with the local people was a stern warning from the West Bengal government on June 17 for the Maoists not to use “innocent villagers, especially women and children, of trouble-torn Lalgarh as human shields”.

The warning was issued by the Chief Secretary of West Bengal as the government sought to regroup police in the area so as to attack the liberated zone and crush the people’s movement.

But the PCAPA, according to the Hindustan Times, said the entire country will be in flames if the central forces entered Lalgarh.

"If the government deploys the central forces, then it will commit a blunder. The entire state, and even the country, will be in flames," said PCAPA leader Chhatradhar Mahato.

As the picture, abvove shows, specially trained anti-Maoist cobras (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) have been deployed to the Lalgarh region and are imposing a reign of terror on the adivasi masses.

Industrial manslaughter: killers should be jailed.

Adelaide woman Andrea Madeley has called for the national adoption of industrial manslaughter laws.


This follows a $72,000 fine imposed by an Adelaide magistrate on local business Diemould Pty Ltd which had employed her teenage son Daniel until his death in their workplace on Saturday June 5, 2004.


Her call follows the state Labor government’s disgraceful attack on worker’s compensation laws last year, and the Federal Labor governments “lowest common denominator” approach to a standardised national set of worker’s compensation laws.


The teenager suffered fatal injuries when his dust coat became caught in the unguarded spinning shaft of one of the company's boring machines. He died the next day in the Flinders Medical Centre.

The boy suffered injuries to every part of his body – his brain bled severely, his spine was lacerated, his arms and legs were broken and both feet were severed – in the incident.


"I need to ask Daniel's employer these questions now,” said Andrea Madeley. “We're talking about a machine capable of tearing a human being apart - please tell me what the hell you were thinking having Daniel operating that thing alone in the factory in the middle of the night?


"It will be my life's work to hound the conscience of shoddy operations - companies that believe the bottom line is more important than the lives of their workers and their loved ones. That is the promise I made to Danny. I aim to keep it."


To keep her promise to her son, and to help the families of other victims of workplace death, Andrea established the organisation VOID (Victims Of Industrial Death) in May 2006. She is its foundation President, and maintains this website for the organisation. As recently as April 28, she addressed construction workers and others at a Victoria Square rally to commemorate workers killed on the job (below).



At the time of Daniel’s death, the maximum penalty for an employer convicted of safety breaches was $100,000. The maximum penalty for such breaches tripled to $300,000 in January 2008, three and a half years after Daniel's death.


Industrial Court Magistrate Richard Hardy said Diemould had failed to put a protective guard around the machine, failed to prevent access to it, and did not provide instruction, training or supervision for its use.


He also rebuked the company for not banning the wearing of loose fitting clothing near the machines.


(Above, Adelaide construction workers take on the ABCC which persecutes those who take a stand over safety issues - just see the Ark Tribe website for more info.)

However, despite describing Diemould as "glaringly culpable'' and saying that he found it "difficult to envisage a more aggravated offence'' of workplace safety regulations, Hardy only imposed a fine of $80,000, and then reduced that to $72,000 in recognition of the company’s guilty plea.

"This is a joke,” said Andrea Madeley. “We put people in jail for embezzling money, we put such a high priority on other issues but when it comes to the life and safety of workers, and almost all of us are working in some degree, we would like to think somebody has our back.''

She said the Industrial Court had delivered her the "final blow'' by not enforcing its maximum penalty of $100,000 on Diemould.

"I was so sure the Industrial Court understood the severity of this and I am sorry but $80,000 doesn't come close.

"If he is saying there are worse (safety breaches) out there then there should be a jail cell.

"You cannot just exploit these young lives and walk away with such a pitiful fine.''

(Perth construction workers take on Worksafe, a government agency which fails to secure work place safety.)

Madeley will now pursue the company for compensation in the civil court.

In a 2007 submission on the Workcover Corporation as President of VOID, Madeley had earlier described how “one of the most delicate issues that arises from this claims process is the overwhelming feeling of shame that comes with confronting the idea of compensation.”

“Financial matters are not an immediate priority, because the ability to focus on such matters is over shadowed by pain.

“By far the vast majority of the general public in this State would be unaware that in many cases, a death in the workplace can result in no compensation to family, even though the worker was clearly going about his work – and even though there is evidence of neglect where the death could have been avoided. It appears to not matter how little regard the employer had to OHS - the point is mute. The employer has no obligation to compensate irrespective of the seriousness of the neglect.”

Injured workers must have the common law right to sue employers for negligence.

The crime of industrial manslaughter must be introduced with a jail term and substantial fines as penalties.

Fresh Water Embassy opened at Clayton

Two hundred and fifty Lower Lakes and Coorong residents have opened a Fresh Water Embassy at Clayton in South Australia.

The purpose of the Embassy is to provide a profile for protest against the State Government’s plans to place an earthern water flow “regulator” from Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island) to Clayton in order to cut off fresh water flow into Lake Alexandrina from the Finniss River and Currency Creek.

Other regulators and a weir are planned to completely seal off both Lakes Albert and Alexandrina.
(Kumurangk in the background. A house boat sits high and dry. To the right, bulldozers wait for use in building a 400 metre wide "regulator" across the water to Clayton).

The Government claims that such measures are necessary following the drastic decline in water levels of both lakes and the need to manage the emerging problem of exposed acid sulphate soils and sediments. The Government intends to raise the water levels in the lakes by flooding them with salt water, although this will kill off their freshwater ecosystems.

The Government claims that engineering solutions are necessary to manage the ongoing effects of drought and climate change. These are both contributors to the plight of the lower sections of the River Murray.

However, the more significant factor in the water crisis affecting the Murray-Darling Basin is the privatization of what should be protected as a common good - water.

The establishment of a water market carries forward the criminal neo-liberal, free market fantasies of the Bush and Howard eras and is the real reason for the destruction wrought on the Lower Lakes and Coorong.

Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water Issues to the UN General Assembly, claims that “Commercial water takings have decimated water systems in Australia and around the world.”

“Water markets are a terrible idea. They separate water from the very watersheds we need for survival and sell upward towards money, not need.

“They will also open up Australia’s water resources to foreign investors.”

The state Government has been forced to act like kiddies playing with Tonka toys in a sandpit because neither they nor the Federal government will take back water from the private market they have established.

They treat private profit as holy and betray the sacred trust of the environment and the people.

The opening of the Fresh Water Embassy was preceded by a Ngarrindjeri smoking ceremony carried out by Elder Major “Moogie” Sumner. The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional custodians of the lands and waters of our Lower Lakes and Coorong.

(From right: Diane Bell, Major Sumner, Tom Trevorrow)

Ngarrindjeri Elder Tom Trevorrow in a circulated statement said that “we support an holistic approach to the problems occurring in the River, Lower Lakes and Coorong due to over allocation of water…(the) regulators will cut up our country and waters.”

“As traditional owners, we have an inherited sacred responsibility to care for the country.

“Our teaching is that all things are connected.”

Then anthropologist Prof. Diane Bell spoke about the issues behind the protest and declared the Embassy open. She relayed a message of greetings and support from Maude Barlow.

The Australian, Ngarrindjeri and Murray River flags flew overhead.

Alexandrina Council Mayor Kym McHugh opened “relations” between the 1800 square kilometer Council and the Embassy, declaring that “We are resolute in our resolve to have a fresh water solution.”

Peter Laffan, spokesperson for the Friends of Gulf St. Vincent and the anti-desalination plant Save Our Gulf Coalition, conveyed greetings from the "salt water creatures of the Gulf to the freshwater creatures of the Lakes and rivers."

His presence symbolised the growing unity of purpose between various action groups that have developed in response to the water crisis in South Australia.

Local residents placed core flutes carrying their slogans around the flagpoles.

The Council has given permission for the Embassy to be housed in a shelter shed nearby for the duration of the “regulator” construction, and volunteers have posters and leaflets about the issue to hand to the public.

For further information see http://www.hurrysavethemurray.com/ and
http://www.stoptheweir.com/

For Matt Walker's much better photos, go to http://www.mattwalkerphotography.com/stoptheweir/stotheweir.html

Hundreds rally for Ark Tribe

Hundreds of South Australian unionists rallied outside the Elizabeth Magistrates Court this morning in support of construction worker Ark Tribe (above).

When Ark appeared in a closed court, the magistrate adjourned the case until August 11.

Ark has been charged with refusing to attend an interview with the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the so-called building industry watchdog set up by the conservative former government of John Howard.

Despite being put into office by the Australian working class on an electoral platform of workplace fairness, the Labor government of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard has continued with the ABCC and is now set to preside over the 6-month jailing of an ordinary worker.

Gillard has even gone so far as to boast that Labor is "keeping the cop on the beat"!

Outside the Elizabeth Magistrates Court this morning, construction workers taking their RDOs (rostered days off) were joined by members of the Transport Workers Union, the LHMU, both education unions (public education's Australian Education Union and private education's Independent Education Union), the Nurses' Federation, and the Australian Metal Workers Union.

Construction union (CFMEU) State Secretary Martin O'Malley addressed the gathering, warning that the powers of the ABCC were a danger to all working people.

The ABCC has the right to interrogate anyone about the conduct of union meetings, or any other matter related to the construction industry. People who refuse to attend interviews with the ABCC (as Ark is alleged to have done), or who refuse to answer questions, or who tell any other person about their interrogation (spouse, children, workmates, union officials etc) face 6 months in jail and fines of up to $22,000.

"There's one set of laws for workers in the construction industry, and one set for everyone else," observed O'Malley.

"They say they've drawn a circle around our industry, but the circle can be widened at any time to include other groups of workers. This is what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s," he said.

He then introduced Tribe, describing him as "just a construction worker who wants to go to work each day and do his job."

State Secretary of SA Unions, Janet Giles congratulated Ark on the stand he was taking, adding "and I promise you we will be with you all the way."

She related how Ark and other workers on a construction site at Flinders University had met to discuss workplace safety violations. "Workplace SA (the state government's workplace safety regulator) subsequently visited the site and served two notices on the employer," she said.

"Months later, Ark was told he had to attend an interview with the ABCC over the meeting."

As Ark stood waiting to go into court, O'Malley invited those present to sign a Eureka flag with messages of support for Ark, and then the whole assembly recited the Eureka Oath, first sworn at Ballarat in 1854 by miners who took up arms against the British colonial oppressors: "We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other to defend our rights and liberties!"

Those present them formed an arch of honour with Eureka flags and union flags fluttering above Ark as he walked to applause into the courtroom.

Howard's laws in Gillard's name - support Ark Tribe

South Australian construction worker and CFMEU member Ark Tribe is facing six months in jail for refusing to answer questions about a union meeting.

Is this Iran, the Philippines, Pakistan?

To even ask the question is to believe in the theory of exceptionalism - that the Australian ruling class is an exception to general ruling class hatred of workers, an exception to the general tendency of ruling classes everywhere to fall back on outright force and violence when other methods of intimidating and controlling the working class have failed.

Here's Ark's story, on video.

Liberal, Labor - both the same:
Howard's laws in Gillard's name!