Proposal for a regional anarchist federation in Oceania

This has been forwarded from the website at the bottom and was not written by Alarm

Even as many of us constantly engage in struggles to enact our revolutionary politics and ideas in collectives, as individuals, at work and at play, there is often an underlying sense of isolation from broader anarchist activity from which to draw knowledge and inspiration. We feel that this is a severe barrier on our ability to maintain effective struggle or to even propagate a revolutionary, anarchist politics on a larger-scale. We believe a Federation that collectives (and individuals) over the wide distances of this region can align with would begin to solve these problems.

Mostly the feeling that an Anarchist Federation is necessary emanates from a simple desire for solidarity amongst revolutionaries that cannot always be found in our local communities and workplaces. A Federation could provide strong support for campaigns and actions across the region. When organising around similar issues, collectives would gain a greater momentum from being able to share ideas and resources with others from across the continent and beyond. This is not a new idea but we hope that a new attempt can be made at solidifying such possibilities. That is what this proposal is for.

A solid, ongoing federation would help us look after each other. Solidarity with and support for those of us (and also those who aren’t ‘us’), who come under the repressive boot of the state is a crucial aspect of mutual aid and creating an anarchist community and will be an ongoing project for as long as we continue to resist.

Much of what communication currently takes place between anarchists happens on an ad-hoc basis at convergences, which are usually connected to major protests. This activist focus tends to exclude those who, because of family or work responsibilities, geographic isolation, or other reasons, can’t, or don’t want to, attend such events. A federation would enable better communication and ongoing political development. It could be a useful point of reference for people who, for whatever reason, are unable to be involved in collectives but who want to stay in contact or who need support. This would be important in helping to ensure intergenerational continuity so that individuals are able to stay involved and connected to anarchist struggle while being able to pass on their knowledge.

We do not wish to see a federation replicate or ‘override’ networks that already exist. By wanting to organise more explicitly as anarchists we don’t want to become inward-looking, purist or isolated. On the contrary, we hope that if we are more strongly organised, we will be better able to work alongside and be a part of social struggles that do not define themselves as anarchist.

One of the points we’ve discussed frequently is the tension between openness and political commonality. We don’t think it’s necessary or desirable to try to form an organisation of every activist, or even everyone who calls themselves an anarchist, in the region. Without a certain level of shared politics we won’t be able to go beyond talking about what we’re against and begin to talk about, and work towards, what we want. Alternately, we don’t want to define too narrowly a particular type of anarchism. One of the benefits we see of a federation is the possibility that different strands of anarchism can learn more about each other, and that we can further develop both our common and our separate politics. We want as much as possible that our contacts be your contacts, our networks your networks, our resources your resources and that internal strength can be translated into an outward focus.

This proposal is very much a draft. We’re putting forward our ideas in the hope that other people will consider and discuss the idea of a federation, not because we know for sure what it should be like. It was written by a small group of anarchists in Sydney. We’ve been helped a lot by discussion with others from Sydney and elsewhere, from looking at other models and from discussion that happened around previous proposals for a federation here. The people who wrote this are involved in anarchist projects such as Mutiny and the Black Rose Books collective, but it hasn’t been endorsed by these groups.

How we might get from proposal to federation:

Over the next few months, we hope that people will discuss the idea of an Anarchist Federation in their groups, in their cities, through existing forums & through an email list and a blog set up for such discussion.

http://afederation.wordpress.com
Anarchist.federation.discussion@gmail.com

Within the first half of next year we would like to help organise a convergence with the explicit purpose of discussing, and hopefully forming, the federation.

Common politics

The fundamental politics for participation in the federation would be that members:

• Seek the abolition of capitalism and class society in all its forms.
• Support an organisational philosophy based on decentralisation, mutual aid and autonomy, and reject domination and hierarchical/authoritarian organising.
• Oppose all forms of oppression and power over others and recognise that these rarely play out in isolation but are strongly interwoven and connected.
• Believe that an anarchist society is desirable, necessary and possible. Revolutionary change isn’t going to come from leaders, experts or professional activists but can only come from below: from the collective self-organisation of ‘ordinary’ people.
• Believe in solidarity across and against borders and are internationalists. We reject the state and all its functions such as the police and military.

Some further points

Here are some more thoughts that we’ve been discussing, and which inform our understanding of what the 5 points mean. These are provided for the purpose of discussion, not to be limits on the basis of federation.

Radical Struggles, Capitalism and Class

There are many different important elements in revolutionary and radical struggle. These include, but are not limited to, class, anti-colonialism, anti-racism, feminism and queer liberation. Some see one liberatory movement - such as the class struggle - as most important, whilst others choose not to create such a hierarchy. We hope that through working together we can discuss these differences in helpful ways.

When we talk about class struggle, we don’t simply mean the actions of the ‘traditional’ blue-collar working class. We recognise that the class composition of today has changed - largely as a product of neoliberal economic policies - and is characterised by conditions of casualisation and precarity. The unpaid and unrecognised labourer, the unemployed, the casually and underemployed, are all integral to revolutionary change. This class is diverse, but interconnected and we realise that all these struggles are affecting the same global capitalist system.

We further understand that capitalism is not just multinational corporations, economic summits or secret meetings of the very rich; it is a social relation and system that is played out and produced in our everyday lives.

Living without Hierarchy

The language of ‘non-hierarchical’ organising can still be used to implement the centralised control of a few. We believe that radicals should create structures that are genuinely decentralised and leaderless. Some frameworks for this include rotating and recallable delegates, consensus-based process and spokescouncils.

Although we may formally understand that racism, sexism, etc are an oppressive part of capitalism we still need to consciously ‘unlearn’ these concrete ideas and ways of social interaction in our own political organising and daily lives. This cannot be achieved by merely writing a paper - we need to create a liberatory culture everyday. That there are many ways of resisting all these forms of oppression is a strength, and we want to find ways of connecting our politics with these struggles.

Some Thoughts on Contemporary Struggles

The struggle against the global environmental crisis is inextricably linked to that against capitalism, and is a significant part of contemporary radical action. Environmental crises will necessarily affect those already marginalised and excluded more than those who are economically and socially privileged. ‘Green capitalism’ is not an answer, and we understand that a truly sustainable society will necessarily be decentralised, anti-capitalist and radically democratic.

We support Indigenous struggles for true sovereignty, dignities and against the theft of land and resources and ongoing genocide. We understand that many modern states were built on a brutal and ongoing colonialism, which continues to be upheld and imposed by police and the military.

Our struggles are internationalist and directed against the nation state. Nationalism and patriotism are barriers that are used to divide and repress ‘ordinary’ people, and prevent our own autonomous self-organisation. Permitted and unpermitted migration is a pivotal part of contemporary capitalism, dividing rich and poor, and the vast bulk of people on the basis of a false nationality. We accept the slogan that “No One is Illegal”.

Direct Action, not Lobbying or Negotiation

We don’t want to negotiate with the representatives of the state or the functionaries of capital. We realise that the dominant global institutions are so intrinsically undemocratic, pervasive and directed by profit-making that lobbying has little or no effect. We see direct action and mutual aid as occurring in many different forms and as the most practical and realistic way of building our power, our autonomy and achieving revolutionary change.

Rough thoughts on structure

1. When we talk about a regional federation, we are deliberately unclear about where in particular we are talking about. To limit ourselves to Australian borders seems silly: we would like to be open to comrades from Aotearoa and further. On the other hand, perhaps it would be more practical to begin with a smaller geographic region. There has already been some discussion about forming an Asian Anarchist Network as well.
2. The federation would be horizontal and based upon already existing affinity groups or collectives that choose to align themselves with it. We see this as one way of ensuring a rejection of top-down politics.
3. We do see there as being some solid requirements for participating individuals and collectives. We believe that there should be some kind of dues structure. This would give us some financial reserve and could be used on, among other things, a publication, jail solidarity and travel expenses for delegates. There would be an e-mail list or a message board for discussion.
4. Anarchist spaces that already exist, such as infoshops throughout the country, could be supported more effectively. They could link up more frequently, and could provide an alternative space for organizing rather than through establishment-controlled structures like universities or student unions.
5. A regular publication, either quarterly or biannually, could be produced. We see this as crucial to furthering both internal communication and propagating anarchist ideas to a wider audience. A website could be established.
6. An annual convergence (that isn’t centred around a major protest) to bring together anarchists from across the region, to strengthen networks, share information and skills and to improve collective campaigns.
7. Collectives would nominate rotating delegates or spokes that would meet either quarterly or every six months. This would be to further communication and facilitate the better functioning of the federation. We believe these would operate by a consensus-based model, with details to be decided at the foundation convergence.
8. These people could be a contact point for the federation in their geographical area. A phone tree for urgent contact and discussion would be established.
9. When there is a cross-over between collective work on certain important issues, federation working groups could be established. For instance this could include an Indigenous Solidarity working group or one against Australian Imperialism. We see collectives across the region working on these issues, and believe that there could be better co-operation and development of ideas. An Outreach working group could be set up to better spread our shared philosophy.
10. We hope for a safer spaces policy to come out of a foundation convergence and we believe that there should be a grievance committee delegated at each convergence.

Ideas on Safer spaces

We have to talk and think about ways to make the Federation and its events spaces in which we respect and support each other: because this doesn’t just happen automatically. It is everyone’s responsibility to think about how their behaviour and the behaviour of others affect people’s ability to participate and feel safe in a space. We all have to constantly work to ensure our spaces are free from physical violence and sexual assault, from intimidation and discrimination. There will be people involved in the Federation from various backgrounds and with various identities and people will have different experiences of the same spaces. We want to be able to vigorously disagree with each other while still making sure that everyone is listened to and is able to talk.

We want to set aside significant time at the initial convergence to talk about these issues. Any founding document would highlight such concepts as a necessary element of revolutionary struggle. We hope that collectives and individuals will bring concrete ideas and proposals to participate in this dialogue.

Moving Forward

As we have tried to make clear, all parts of this proposal are open for discussion and change. To facilitate discussion over the next few months - hopefully leading to a convergence - we have created a blog and email account. We see the blog as a public forum for discussion while the email would originally be for direct queries/responses/getting in contact. If it becomes necessary we would possibly also look at creating an egroup for more practical matters such as organising a formation convergence.

http://afederation.wordpress.com

Anarchist.federation.discussion@gmail.com

Report back on successful picket action

Six weeks ago, on the 17th of October, a cleaner working at Australia Posts logistics center on the Burwood Highway in Knoxfield, Melbourne was arbitrarily sacked by his employer, CMC, at the request of Australia Post. The cleaner had been working there for 11 years and had never had a trust issue raised with him in that time.

The cleaner, going about his job as usual, was cleaning a bosses office when he found a tub of yoghurt on top of a plastic bag on the top of the desk. He put the yoghurt in the bin, opened the plastic bag to see if it was rubbish. There was paper inside so he opened the paper to check if it was rubbish. It was not, it was a letter, so he folded it back up and put it down on the desk. However as he was doing so, about to leave, the boss walked back in. The boss became irate, called the sub-contractor cleaning company, CMC, who employed the cleaner, and told them that said cleaner had been rifling through his files and documents and demanded that the cleaner be fired on the spot. CMC was all too happy to oblige, and this innocent worker lost his job without explanation. The cleaner and the union sought to take the case before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) last week as an unfair dismissal case, however CMC have claimed they only employ 87 people, and therefore, thanks to John Howard’s harsh and despicable anti-worker laws, they do not have to take any responsibility or give any reasoning for depriving this innocent man of his livelihood, and he cannot take it before the AIRC.

On the Thursday the 29th, at 6:30am a small group of Union Solidarity activists, set up a community based picket line on the Deliveries gate of the Australia Post Logistics centre on the Burwood highway, in Knoxfield. Two Socialist Party members also participated later in the picket line. The picket did not block workers from attending their jobs, but blocked no less than 6 trucks, and had a further delivery cancelled. The picket was so successful that it blocked an Australia Post semi-trailer, due to arrive at 7am, carrying a ‘just on time delivery’ of stamps to be distributed for the Christmas period. The truck was blocked for 3 and a half hours before a supervisor from Dandenong was sent to try and get the truck into the facility. After a further half hour stand off, in which time the local media attended, the supervisor conceded, the semi-trailer was sent back to its origin and another delivery was cancelled. The picket line was abandoned at 12:30pm after a major victory. The Australia Post Logistics centre had been effectively shut down for an entire day and Australia Post Management was in a furor.

Since then, CMC have blamed Australia Post, and Australia Post have blamed CMC for the loss of this mans livelihood. The cleaner has not received his job back, or compensation yet, but the struggle will continue until this happens. The Socialist Party is in full support of this man and the struggle for his livelihood and wishes to express their solidarity.



Yeah thats the article I wrote for SP webby. I was there, I was one of the SP dudes.
When I said a 'small group' of US Activists, I mean it fluctuated between 6-9 for the entire time I was there, between quater to 9 and about 10:45. The Truckie was staunch as, but I shouldn't say to much more on a public forum. When they sent the supervisor out, we all thought it was gunna be some crazy cunt who was gunna try and just drive the semi straight through us and into the facility. This was partly because not to long ago there was a 3 month stand off at the Aus Post site in Dandenong for a whole swag of jobs, and the fucken' crazy bosses were like assualting the picketers, and charging them with vehicles and shit. Luckily enough the boss wasn't to intent on doing that, and due to Dave Kerin's skillfull negotiation and Steve's crazy as Bad-cop stylz going verbally balistic at this guy, aswell as some other actions to block the truck from moving at all, we were successfull, and the boss told us he'd cancelled another delivery due in a half an hour.

Kirk.

UPDATE: DIRECT ACTION GETS SATISFACTION! JOB HAS BEEN RETURNED TO JANITOR!

Akin Sari - Political Prisoner

On October 18, 2007, Akin Sari pled guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to a number of charges stemming from the G20 protests in Melbourne in November 2006. He was arrested in Sydney on September 6, 2007 for breaching his bail conditions, and was denied bail, just as he had been following his initial arrest. Akin Sari was granted asylum by the Australian government as a political refugee for his political activities in Turkey. He will now rot in an Australian jail ’til February 2, 2008, when he’ll be sentenced in the Victorian County Court.

Please send Akin Sari a letter or postcard in support today!

Write to:

Akin Sari
c/- Melbourne Remand Centre
PO BOX 500
St. Albans
VIC 3021
AUSTRALIA

Brief History, and outline, of some of the Human Rights violations under Colonial, and post-Colonial Australia toward Indigenous people.

By Nick


Like all colonial nations, established under the guidance and command of an empire, Australia has a history of Human rights abuses. What could be argued as an Apartheid-like-system was what Australia look liked; with racial segregation, racial oppression, and white dominance – and indeed, White Nationalist promotion by some of Australia’s – as a nation – founding fathers. Though White Nationalism is not a human rights abuse in itself, it is a mentality which leads to human rights abuses, in the form of racial oppression.

From the Bathurst Massacre of 1824, where martial law was declared and 100 Aboriginal people were killed; to the modern day example of the Northern Territory intervention – which Mob from Redfern and the N.T. have dubbed as the Northern Territory invasion – we can see this continue.

Historically, we have many examples.
The initial invasion of Australia in 1788 is in fact a breach of Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (of which we will refer to as UDHR), for it denied the right to a home – by the seizing of land by the invaders – as well as a the 3rd article, in which the British denied the right to security, liberty and life; as well as article 21 – of which an invasion always denies (the right to take part in the government of one’s country), as well as all other human rights, which the invasion removed (which is pretty much all of them).

After the initial invasion, the subsequent massacres which followed also are, quite obviously, major breaches of Indigenous Human Rights.
There are numerous examples of these massacres, such as the Waterloo Creek Massacre of 1838, where unmounted police attack a group of Kamilaroi people, killing between (what is estimated to be) between 100-300 people, of which no police officer was ever tried, or punished for.

Of course, these cannot necessarily be pinned on Australia, for it wasn’t a nation at that point, but rather, a series of racist, penal colonies.

Indeed, though prior to federation, what is now “Australia” were still in the same territory by the same system.
A pre-Federation example is the Amendment to the act, “An act to provide for the protection and management of Aboriginal Natives of Victoria”, is an example of a human rights violation, and systematic racial discrimination carried out by the state. Of which the right to freely marry who one chooses – whether on the basis of 'love' or tradition – was only possible with the approval of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines (a violation of article 16, and 3), also denying the right to their nationality and cultural practices, as it was an act of assimilation; the choice of where one was to live was also denied (violation of 17, 12, 7, and 13). Indeed, the lives of Indigenous people in Victoria (and later in W.A) were put under control of the state, which is a blatant violation of the most basic human rights.

After the Federation of Australia, and it becoming slightly more independent of the British Empire – slightly – the Human Rights abuses did not stop, despite a global push in most nations against such abuses – such as the American revolution, and some years later, the Russian Revolution – of which Liberty and justice were the foundations of these nation states (although, they had many other foundations, leading to the subsequent demise of these concepts in these nation states).

Indeed, after the Federation of Australia, the racial hierarchy was only reinforced, with Aboriginal people not being given the right to vote (violation of article 21), counted in the census, or even as human beings (violation of articles 5 and 6), but instead put under the Flora and Fauna act, which subsequently denied them many other basic human rights, such as liberty (3) and justice (6, 7), the right to own property (17), and the right to live free from persecution (14).

There are countless violations of Human Rights after the federation of Australia against Indigenous peoples. The simple establishment of Australia without any basic recognition of Indigenous peoples is an enormous one as is – as it ignores the role of the land to Indigenous life – culturally, spiritually, and as a means of subsistence – and essentially, is an invasion of their land, in which they're stripped of their culture, religion, and freedom, and everything that comes with it.

One of the biggest, State sponsored examples of this was a policy which was implemented in the early 20th Century which became known as the Stolen Generations, where “half caste” Aboriginal children were forcefully removed from their homes and families, and put on to missions, where they would be stripped of the Aboriginal culture – by not allowing Aboriginal children to speak their own languages, etc – by forcing British ethics, values, and religion onto the children (that being a violation of articles 15, 1, 3, 4, 5, [and much later, 8] 9, 12, 13, 18, 27, and 30).

Human Rights violations in Australia against Indigenous people, however, have never really ceased. Particularly instances of violations – such as the Stolen Generations has, but Australia, due to the nature of the state, and of it's foundations in racial and cultural hierarchies, the inequalities and injustice committed against Indigenous peoples continues to this day.

There are many examples of this.
As a general example, Indigenous peoples in Australia are some of the lowest on the socio-economic scale in Australia, if not the lowest.
This is not an example of systematic violations of human rights, but rather, covert racism, and sometimes overt, in employment sectors, where Indigenous peoples will struggle to get hired – due to their location, appearance, etc and the stereo types which are attached to that – and thus, be subjected to unemployment (violation of article 23), and numerous other factors.
This sometimes leading to other means of subsistence, some legal – such as welfare – and some not.

They make up 2% of the whole population of Australia, and 24% of the Prison population - in some states, such as the Northern Territory, Aboriginal peoples making up almost 80% of the prison population. This, too, can be drawn back to covert racism, and leads to human rights abuses (essentially, the right to be innocent until proven guilty [11]).

There are many examples of the violation of article 4, particularly around the subjection to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Indeed, the portrayal of Indigenous people in the media as drunken-child-molesters (something which has been reaffirmed by the recent actions by the Federal Government in the Northern Territory) could be seen as an example of degrading treatment of Indigenous people.

Inhuman and cruel treatments can be seen in the recent death of an Aboriginal man, Mulrunji Doomadgee, who mysteriously died in police custody on Palm Island on the 19th of November, 2004, from a ruptured spleen, 4 broken ribs and a liver torn almost in two.
The police officer, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley , who had arrested Mulrunji (alledgly, for singing “Who let the dogs out?” while walking down the street, which Sergeant Chris Hurley believed to be a reference to the police), was put on trial - only after a massive campaign was launched, headed by Palm Island locals, relatives, and indigenous leader Sam Watson, which got thousands of people marching on the street in Brisbane - but almost immediately acquitted despite the large amount of evidence to the contrary of what was claimed by the defence.
This being a violation of the right of article 8, in which no justice was achieved for the family of Mulrunji, as well as article 9, for which he was arrested on grounds which already violating innocence til proven guilty, but were clearly an act of racial profiling, though arrested anyway, and a violation of article 3, for which Mulrunji was killed that evening while in police custody.

An even more recent example of Human Rights violations was that committed by the State as a reaction to the “Little Children are Sacred” report, in which the Federal government sent troops and police to the Northern Territory, took away land (17), all rights and liberties (3), and presumed all Aboriginal men were Child molesters (both 11 and 12).

As we can see here, Australia has a long history, from the colonization, until the present of Human Rights violations against Indigenous peoples, from both the State – and all arms of it (from the police to the States and Territories, to Europeans).
Indeed, White Australia has a Black history, and it's certainly one covered in scars because of these violations, or rather, open wounds.

National day of action against the NT invasion!

National Day of Action – Unite for Aboriginal Land Rights!

STOP THE NT INVASION
LAND RIGHTS NOW!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18 10am
The Block in Redfern


Wear Red. bring your banners. flags. your (angry) mob.. grrr. and packed lunches!
March from The Block to Victoria Park where more is happening!


- Restore the Racial Discrimination Act

- Remove Commonwealth “Mission” Managers

- No cuts to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP)

- Fund community controlled services, not troops and bureaucrats

- End racist welfare quarantines

Speakers from affected NT communities – find out what’s really going on that you’re not being told!!

We write this in solidarity with Indigenous groups who have organised this rally. We want to bring as much of our mob as possible in support of these communities.

If the government, cops and general workings of the Australian state can be so damaging to indigenous people and communities, they can just as easily turn on any other community – women, immigrants, workers, queers, or anybody else.

We work together not (exclusively) out of our good nature, but because we’re interested in seeing the dismantling of the system of privilege and power which works against so many people and for so few.

A bunch of queers and others will be meeting at the block by the big pink flag. And we’re the ones with the smouldering good looks. We may have catchy chants with synchronized dance moves worked out by then so come prepared to strut your chanty stuff. or just come

International Food Not Bombs Action Day

This weekend a number of Food Not Bombs groups in places all over the world are going to be part of an International Day(s) of Action.

The English translation of the flyer says:

On November 13, 2005 in St. Petersburg, Russian nazis killed 20 year old Timur Kacharava - a student, a musician, an antifascist, our comrade. Timur was attacked on his way from a "Food Not Bombs" action : he served out free vegetarian food to the homeless and people in need.

Today, this FOOD NOT BOMBS global action is devoted to Timur's memory and is taking place in a lot of different countries such as Belarus, France, Russia, UK, Lithuania, Ukraine, USA, Australia...

We are serving food for those who are in need on the streets, in our cities and towns. We want to call your attention to the nazi problem which exists at the moment - and which governments of some countries prefer to ignore. Timur and other people were killed by nazis right in the centres of big cities.

FOOD NOT BOMBS was created during the 80's in the USA as part of the anti-nuclear movement. Now we are everywhere.

FOOD NOT BOMBS : Self-organised groups who are for solidarity, vegetarianism and anti-fascism all over the world.

Daily you pass people who do not have the essentials to live. Why is this happening? Who is profiting from this? Why is nothing changing? We know that if you want to change something - you have to act. We're sure that everybody can act. Today a lot of people will read this leaflet - in different languages – around the whole word.

Tomorrow is a new day and what it will be like depends on you.

On us. On everybody.

In Sydney, Food Not Bombs will also focus on the local issue of government occupation of Aboriginal Communities.

They will be serving at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Victoria Park on Saturday November 10, at 2pm.

Food Not Bombs Sydney: sydfoodnotbombs.blogspot.com

Eureka Flag Banned - Union Solidarity rally!

Emergency Anti-Howard Rally, Melbourne.

"The Socialist Party has just been informed that Prime Minister John Howard will be speaking at a function organised by the Institute of Public Affairs tomorrow. An emergency rally has been called to let him know that he is not welcome in this town!
The details are 10am Thursday 8th November 2007 at the Sofitel, 25 Collins Street, Melbourne."

http://www.socialistpartyaustralia.org/archives/2007/11/07/emergency-melbourne-protest-against-howard/
http://www.ipa.org.au/

Melbourne Solidarity Rally: Free the Urewera 17!

12 noon, Saturday 27 October, Federation Square, Melbourne
In a wave of massive state repression, 300+ para-military police raided houses across New Zealand on Monday October 15th 2007, making 17 arrests. The arrestees are all Maori, environmental and peace activists.

This is the first time New Zealand’s 2002 Terrorism Suppression Act has been invoked in a search warrant. The use of this Act to target indigenous activists and other dissenting voices is sets a frightening precedent for Australia, where the Federal Government has introduced similar draconian laws.

Support for the arrestees has been vocal in New Zealand, with many solidarity demonstrations and packed courtrooms. And the solidarity effort has gone global with a demonstration in Melbourne and Sydney last week, as well as actions in Germany and Greece and a solidarity statement from South Africa.

Rally MC will Robbie Thorpe (Camp Sovereignty) and other speakers include:

Sina Brown - Polynesian Anti Globalisation Activist
Marisol Salinas - Mapuche, Environmental Activist, Lasnet
Rayna Fahey - Treaty, Green Activist
Will Anderson - Civil Rights Defence
Liz Thompson - Orgasan, Fair wear
Anthony Main – ACDC, Socialist Party

Waiata by Ivan Davis (Tainui)

See http://indymedia.org.nz/ for background information and the latest news on the Urewera 17 campaign.

See http://www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz/ for more information on how to support the arrestees and their families, including how to donate to the fighting fund.

Reclaim the Night

26 October 2007, 7.00pm
Town Hall to Hyde Park
Followed by the Festival of Women

Food Not Bombs will also be serving food as part of the event.

What is RTN?

From their site:

Reclaim the night is an annual march to help raise awareness and stop violence against women. Reclaim the Night is a world wide event occurring in cities and rural areas aroung the globe.

Demand a world where women can live free of fear of violence.

RTN Sydney is a women's march that hopes to empower women to speak out against violence while raising awareness in the community. If men attend they will be asked to march at the back behind the women!

More info: http://www.reclaimthenight-sydney.com/

Anarchy and Order

By Nick

Order can only come from the free arrangement of peoples. That being, if forced, then it will not be order, it will be obedience, it will be of instability; and it will be a result of coercion. People are not asked, but they are told. Coerced into lives chosen by others above them, who pretend to act in the interests of those people.
However foolproof this may seem, it is bound to collapse. It creates tension, and hatred, and denies true freedom, regardless of the illusion it creates.
Law and Order is not so, Law is disorder, law is chaos.
Why? Law is only necessary in a society with inequality; either with a state, or with capitalism. It is a mechanism which is used to repress dissidence, to maintain “business as usual”; to keep the interests of those in power in place. And in thus, it violates ones liberty. It results in people feeling worthless. People no longer place value on themselves, for they themselves have no value under such a system which values nothing but the state and rulers!
Like boiling water spilling out of a pot when it gets to hot, the results of society are much the same. Violence, hatred, aggression, these are all characteristics of such systems.
If rules are not agreed upon by all, how can they represent the interests of all?
If politicians are not re-callable when the public feels that they are out-of-line, how is that they might represent us fairly?
How can these rulers even be fairly and democratically elected, when we have the choice between two parties who represent the same people, and the same interests?
How can, in societies with many different peoples with all different backgrounds and from different class’s, a government rule in the interests of all?
Simply, it cannot. It can rule in the interests of some, but not of others. Those are interests of the ruling class, the rich.
The ruling class is that rules over all people; it is the domination of one class over all others; it holds all political and social power. They often pretend they own economic power, and in some ways, they do. But it is not they who work in the factories, who farm the land, and so forth. No, they merely “own” these.
And why do they own these, though they have often contributed absolutely nothing to their creation or use? Because the law says they have the right too. The law legalises the theft from one class from another. The law protects the private property of the rich because it is they who wrote the laws. They did not represent the workers when they drafted it, when they passed it, and when it is enforced. No, it was merely put in place for their benefit, and their benefit alone. To sustain their order.
And what does this leave for the workers? Nothing, workers have simply the right to work, or starve. The rulers are, of course, not forced into such an agreement, but we are. We are forced to maintain their privilege, and it is at our expense. To maintain their “order” at our expense. Surely, such a system, if looked upon from an outside view would be laughed at. It is a mockery of every single human being living it. We work for a boss, who gives a small, often pitiful amount of money, and then only to go back and buy necessities from the same people we work for!
And when we ask for more, we are marginalised and ignored! And when we organise, we are fired, and arrested by those who aim to protect the interests of the bosses!
It is no wonder that people feel worthless in a system that suggests that their only value is to create capital for their boss, for someone who is above them; more important than them.
No, such a system will not maintain order, it will create chaos, because it is chaotic in theory, it is chaotic in all spheres.
One person can not work for another, be paid pitifully, and then be expected to happily buy back his labour. Such a thing is an insult. How can such a system create order? It cannot! It can only create disorder! It can only create tension, because it rests on such a thing! If a worker was to try and take more than they earned, they would be locked up. But if a boss takes more than they have earned, they will be protected by the law! Pay cuts are an example of this. The boss is beginning to lose profits, so what is the first thing he will cut? The pay checks of his workers. Why? To ensure that he can continue to get the maximum amount of profit from what he is still able to sell.
The workers toiled for long hours so that the product may be created, and only to have the pay they were to receive for their work sliced in half. Do they do any less labour once their pay has been cut? No, more likely, they will do more to make up for the boss’s losses. And if the boss looses all, they will simply be cast out, unemployed, only to seek employment, and be subjected to the same conditions as before.
Such a thing is nothing less than robbery!
In the eyes of the boss, the worker is nothing – s/he is a machine.
How can a system like this create order? It cannot. It can only create disorder.
Only order through liberty can be harmonious. In essence, ‘liberty is the mother of order.’
Such order is created by all, in the interests of all. It can represent the interests of all people, because it is the living, breathing existence of all people. Order requires not law, nor force, it requires liberty, and it requires equality.
Order requires Anarchy.
Only through anarchy can there be order, freedom, and equality. For in anarchy, they all co-exist.
In anarchy, we may rule ourselves, and only in a society of anarchy can such rulings be fair, because they are our rulings over ourselves.
In anarchy, we manage our factories; we manage our society and problems. And only in this, can we work in our interests. Who knows better how to run our society than us, the people who live and work in it? No one

Such a society is attainable, it is within our reach. If we realise our potential as people, as workers, we can over come any foe, overthrow all governments, establish systems of fairness, equality, and liberty. How is this so? Because in the end, they the bosses, rest on our power. Without us, they are powerless. It was once said that “without our brain and muscle, not a single wheel can turn”. That stands true to this day, and will always stand true.

For a society of liberty, equality and freedom.
For a society of free association.
For Anarchy.

A declaration of ignorance: The New Right/National "Anarchists."

By Nick

The APEC weekend was the fateful weekend in which Australia's very own group of Troy Southgate’s (the founder of national anarchism) declared their existence; Yes, there is now a new group of racist, homophobic, ultra nationalists on the block known as the New Right.
The New Right is a National “Anarchist” organization, which, according to their manifesto, wants

"decentralized, federal, autonomous set of ethnically-homogeneous communities to take the place of the current neoliberal/social democratic State system which rules the West today."

They believe that multi-culturalism "ends up wiping out the differences between peoples" using examples such as the former Yugoslavia.
They predict that "the Western multiculturalist States will eventually need to resort to more and more force, more and more State repression" and will resort to enforce multi-culturalism - despite the measures being taken by the Howard government, who have claimed "multi-culturalism has failed", and which are bringing in new measures to try and wipe it out - such as the new Citizenship test.

They even include an interesting definition of anarchism, where anarchists wish for the state to whither away (I'm not kidding, they actually said that).
Despite their idiocy, they're essentially racist-(pseudo)-Bookchinists, which is a bizarre mix, really (and to be realistic, doesn't actually exist).

It’s hard to work out whether or not this group is a threat. The manifesto is so all-over the place that it’s actually difficult to work out who wrote it.
Take this for example,

"To put it this way, many heavily-populated urban areas in the West are constructs of capitalism: that is, they contain 'indigenous' populations of European descent who have lived there for hundreds, if not thousands, of years"

It should be reminded that this is written (supposedly) by National Anarchists from Australia and New Zealand, and is in reference to said places, as well as America, Canada, etc.
White folk have only lived in Australia - or at least, began to colonize Australia - since 1788.
That doesn’t qualify, in the least bit, as Indigenous.
But even if we refer to places, such as the United States, white folk there are not Indigenous either.
Indigenous peoples are an ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection.
To live somewhere for a long time doesn't make you Indigenous.
Just simply to say this shows incredible disrespect to the actual Indigenous people from here, as well as all other actual Indigenous people in the West. It's a completely absurd statement, and basically re-enforces the concept of Indigenous - actual Indigenous - dispossession by Colonizers.

Another one of their classic, historically misguided claims is this one:

"the Paris Commune, the Soviets, the anarchist communes of the Spanish Civil War, were ethnically homogeneous. Were they alive today, the anarchists from those periods would have resisted, bitterly, the encroachment of immigrants from the Third World - and have been denounced by today's mainstream anarchists as being 'fascist' and 'racist' and, somehow, 'pawns of capitalism and the State."

I don't really know what bit of "Workers of the world, Unite!" - Or any other historical Anarchist (and Marxist) slogans - they didn't understand. But it seems they missed it.
This statement, again, displays a great amount of historical ignorance.
Realistically, the Paris Commune certainly wasn't "ethnically homogenous", and neither were the Soviets in Russia, and neither was Barcelona in 1936.
If we look at the (former) USSR's geographical nature, the absurdities of this become pretty evident. The USSR had, due to its incredible size, always had a diverse ethnic mix. If we simply look at the states which, after the collapse of the USSR, started to pop up, home to many different ethnicities, we can see how much of a farce this claim really is.
On top of that, Russia was 3rd world in 1917.
This is a typical baseless assertion, distorting historical facts to push their agenda.
The former analysis would have, and only could have come, from those who had betrayed their original anarchist (or Marxist) principles, and had succumb to ignorance, fear and xenophobia.

Not only that, but they even managed to contradict themselves no less than a paragraph after! Which we can see here,

"the classical anarchist theorists viewed everything through the prism of class and class warfare; and classes, as such, are devoid of ethnic characteristics"

Wait...So, they would have "resisted, bitterly" the "encroachment" of immigrants from the 3rd World, yet they viewed them as comrades of their class?
I think they need to take this bullshit back to the trash where they found it.

But they're right, as Anarchists, traditionally, we have viewed things through class lines: and we recognize capitalism as an oppressive socio-economic system, and the state has a means of repression, and guaranteed privilege.
But we also recognize patriarchy, homophobia, nationalism and racism (and all things of that nature) as counter-productive to our cause for total emancipation for the human race.
We want freedom, equality, and justice. We don't want more divisions. We don't need more divisions. We need solidarity, not separation.

It's pretty clear what these guys are, and what politics lie beneath their black flags. It is clear that this is just a new group of White Nationalists, who are attempting to infiltrate the anti-globalisation movement by "adopting some of the imagery of today's anti-globalist Left", in order to recruit young people into ultra-nationalist, racist, homophobic politics.
They should be treated, and seen for what they really are: Ultra-Nationalist racist scum.

Dividing ourselves along the colors of our skin is a pointless and reactionary measure.
Crime, violence, etc do not exist in our societies because of multi-culturalism.
The cause of crime does not come from culture; crime that is related to culture stems from a mindset of cultural (or ethnic) superiority and arrogance. That's not the fault of a culture, or because of cultural interaction, it's a result of a mindset of superiority, ignorance and fear – which is what these nationalists are really advocating.
There are these characteristics in all cultures, and it's these tendencies that must be challenged, not the existence, or interaction of cultures; but the dominance of one culture over another – and the mentality which asserts that right.

This declaration asserts that emancipation comes from the dividing of cultures and races, and nothing could be further from the truth.
The emancipation of humanity is all, or it is nothing. Liberty, equality and justice can only exist in a world built on those principles – and such a society must break down barriers between peoples, to build a truly egalitarian society, where all peoples of all colours, races, genders and sexualities are equal and free.

Football fans against fascism: Melbourne

Following on from the successful attempt to force Blood & Honour
(Australia) and the (Southern Cross) Hammerskins out of The Birmingham
Hotel in Fitzroy, the boys have moved their temporary bunker to Sunshine
and the Melbourne Croatia Social Club, where the annual ISD gig took
place on Saturday night, October the 13th. As a result, this Thursday,
October 25th, a rally is being held outside of the headquarters of
Football Federation Victoria, the peak body for football (soccer) clubs
in Victoria. This is one means of exerting pressue, on both the
Melbourne Croatia Social Club and the Melbourne Knights Football Club,
to come clean about their participation in this event, and to discourage
any further co-operation in promoting neo-Nazism. To this point, neither
has accepted responsibility for hosting the event, or even acknowledged
its occurrence.

Please consider coming.

Polite emails, phone calls, and letters to the Clubs, the Federation
and/or local media are also encouraged.

WHEN : Midday, Thursday, October 25th, 2007
WHERE : Football Federation Victoria,
Darebin International Sports Centre,
Head Office : John Cain Memorial Park
281 Darebin Rd, Thornbury, VIC, 3071
Melway REF: 31A7

For further information, please see:

FightDemBack! ::: http://fightdemback.org
Boycott The Birmy ::: http://birmyboycott.wordpress.com /
http://www.myspace.com/boycott_the_birmy
slackbastard ::: http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com

Zapatista Solidarity!

This Sunday is the last weekend Estela (Mexican participant in the Other Campaign) is in Australia before returning to Mexico where she is involved in guerilla radio and the Other Campaign.She wants to raise funds to take back to the impoverished communities of Chiapas, as well as political prisoners from Oaxaca and Atenco.

Come along to have a good time and help out. There will be a political poster auction, DVDs (in Spanish and English) for sale as well as other publications.

THIS Sunday, 21st October 5pm-10pm, 43 Edgeware Rd, Enmore
Donation entry
Dinner and Drinks by donation
Nice music and good time to chat before she returns to Mexico
Come along in solidarity!

Youth Wages, Discrimination and Exploitation: How we are being cheated

By Kirk

About 75% of high school students over the age of 15 work in part time and casual jobs. But while we are busy enjoying our new found cash, we don’t always realise exactly how badly we are being exploited and ripped off by our bosses.

Young workers make up their own special group within the bigger workforce with 60% of them working in the retail and hospitality industries. Companies like McDonalds, Subway, KFC and Hungry Jacks are built around young, low paid workers, and they rely on young people, to be the ones cooking the burgers, dishing out the soft serve and operating the cash registers. And it’s not just fast food that relies on young workers, but super markets who roster 15 16 and 17 year olds to operate the checkouts at 10 o’clock on a Saturday night, or spend their Sundays putting the soft-drink and the chips on the shelves. Companies and businesses like these also rely on 18, 19 or 20 year old workers to be duty managers and supervisors in these situations, meaning that the majority of the most essential and basic work is done by young workers.

No doubt it is easy to think of many similar jobs that get done by young workers almost exclusively. But it is not the hours or the triviality of the jobs that is the main thing that sets young people apart in the workforce. It is the legal recognition of those under the age of 21 years as ‘youth’ and therefore the right of bosses to pay them less in wages than those who are 21 years of age or older. The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission have stated that “Employers may lawfully pay a youth wage” or that it is well within the rights of bosses to exploit young workers by paying them less than their older colleagues, based on age.

Young people are being denied their basic human right in the workplace, the right of equal pay for equal work. This right is actually enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Australia signed up too in 1948. It states “Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.”

15 and 16 year old workers at Safeway only receive half of the wage anyone over the age of 21 dose for work such as operating checkouts, cutting fruit and vegies and stacking shelves, all of which is essentially unskilled labor. This fraction of full wages is outrageous, and similarly insulting percentages are faced by workers from 17 years of age to 20 years of age. These outrageous fraction-wages can be found in agreements for Coles and other supermarket workers aswell. At KFC, 15 year old workers can be paid a tiny 40% of full, adult pay, all for the exact same work that anyone who is 21 years or older would do.

Bosses and companies argue that young people don’t have the same skills or don’t work as hard or as fast as older workers, or even that they don’t need as much money as older workers because they don’t need to support families. But all of those arguments are completely wrong and the truth is that bosses are just looking for any excuse to make bigger profits, and are backed by the organs of a capitalist state, such as the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

Too say that young people can’t stack shelves, operate cash registers or serve food as fast or as well as older workers just because of their age is a total lie.

It’s said in a manner which suggests that, what the young workers don’t receive for their labour, the older workers do. But this is simply not the case. The raising of youth wages should not, and does not, lead to the lowering of wages for older workers, in the same way that raising the wages of women did not do the same thing.

It would be like saying that if a company had 10 workers, and employed 10 more, that the wages of the previous 10 would be lowered so that the pay is more equal, as if the income of these companies does not vary what so ever.

What the young workers don’t receive goes straight back into the pockets of the bosses, and not into the pockets of their co-workers.

Young people still have to pay the same amount of money as older workers on full wages, for clothes, food and shelter, and due to this, many young people live in poverty even though they have jobs. It is also important to note that the arguments used by bosses in favour of giving young people less than a full wage, are the same as the arguments used by bosses in the past in favor of paying women less than men.

Youth Wages are a major issue for the young people of today and into the future, as they affect the ability of the youth to get a decent start in adult life, wether that is in HECS debt or other studying costs, saving for a car, or just saving to move out of a home.

The concept of ‘Youth Wages’ is totally unfair and illogical and exists only so that companies and bosses can make bigger profits off the backs of young workers.

There exists ways in which we can challenge these laws, together, and be able to struggle for better conditions, better pay and a better world.

We must build from the ground up and not the other way around. Organizing in our workplaces is one of strongest and best means available means to us.

It gives us strength, and it gives us confidence.

We call for young workers to organize and take industrial action to have the outrageous concept of Youth Wages that leads to the impoverishment working youth abolished.

Posting Guidelines

FOR COLLECTIVE MEMBERS

To keep the site organised and functioning well, could you follow these guidlines for posting:

1: Title goes in "Title" (obviously!)

2: If you didn't write the article, make sure you acknowledge the author in the first line of the article (eg. By Murray Bookchin), if the person doesn't wish to be named just write "anonymous" instead of the name.

3. Font: Make sure the font size is set to "Normal".

4. Labels*: To keep the links on the right hand side of the page organised an working how they are supposed to could you use the following labels (the labels go in the "Labels for this post:" part):
"anarchism" if the article is about Anarchism, Libertarian Socialism/Communism, anti-statism etc.
"labour" for articles related to labour or workers struggles, etc etc
"environment" for posts relating to environmentalism, ecology, etc.
"discrimination" if the article is about sexism, racism, ageism, etc.
"antifascism" for articles that are about fascism
"sydney news" for news from the Sydney cell
"melbourne news" for news from the Melbourne cell
"apec07" for articles about APEC 2007
"election07" for articles about the 2007 election
I think that is all the labels that are currently in use on the site. Please use at least one of the labels for your post, if you think that it needs more than one than that is fine. If you are uncertain of where it goes, or you think there should be a new section, email alarmcollective@riseup.net and it should be sorted out.

5. Then click "PUBLISH POST" and all should be fine.

Any troubles: alarmcollective@riseup.net

* please note that over time there will probably be more labels/links used on the site so make sure you are aware when changes like that happen.


Thanks.

Safeguarding Australia Summit

(A message of thanks to comrades in Melbourne for the information here)

On the 26th of September, the 'Safeguarding Australia Homeland Security' summit took place in Melbourne, at the Melbourne University. The summit was organized by the Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA), which is a body, funded by the federal government and supported by private industry leaders.

The Summit was organized as a means to develop, strengthen and display security technology in Australia, as well as discussing the "threat" of 'Muslim population growth in Australia', as well as other things such as 'Terrorism today'. It's essentially, a body that has been established as a means of deepening the climate of fear toward terrorism, and immigration, and establish stronger security measures, tightening laws around free speech, free movement, and liberty; and taking further measures in turning Australia into (more of) a police state.

The first leg of it, however, did not go unnoticed, thanks to the organizing of the ACDC block - a block which was organized for the APEC rally, standing for 'Alliance for Civil Disobedience Coordination'.

Over 50 people from the Alliance for Civil Disobedience Coordination (ACDC) met outside the university and marched to University House where a fancy dinner to was being held to launch the summit. A blockade was established on the main entrance as well as a side entrance to the hall. It was held for over an hour. Many guests were turned away despite hired goons from Chubb Security trying to intimidate protesters.

Eventually almost 40 police officers arrived and threatened to arrest anyone who continued to blockade. Unfortunately (for them) the dinner had already been successfully disrupted and a decision was made to retreat after a job well done.

Alarm: Why it exists.

Alarm is an Anarchist Collective which was formed in Sydney. It was created because we saw the need for a place where young people could organize where they felt comfortable, and where the voices of young people could be heard.

It was created by and for anarchist youths.

It was organized along anarchist principles – without leaders, and where all peoples are equal – to serve those ends; because that is the world we aim for.
Alarm was established as a means of spreading revolutionary ideas, and helping for those ideas to blossom in the minds of young people, and to be put into practice.

It was seen by some of us, that joining already established groups can be quite intimidating, seeing as though most are much older, and such environments can make us feel unwelcomed and uncomfortable.

Alarm exists to help end this. It exists to help create an environment of solidarity and comfort between young people, where we can organize, discuss, and struggle together.

We can’t escape intimidation and dominance; but we can help to destroy it.

It was also created to help spread Anarchist ideas as an alternative to those that we see among the ‘left’ in Australia.

Many groups here in Australia have succumb to reformism, and have become nothing more than bodies which, despite all illusions, do nothing more than maintain the status quo, by having an unquestionable, and unchangeable system, which asserts that we must keep the peace by any means necessary, which, as rightly claimed by groups, aligns with the repression of dissent that is happening in this country.

We want peace. But Peace without justice and without liberty is not peace at all. That is fear. That is intimidation. That is us taking whatever the state puts forward to us lying down, without challenge, without resistance, though the only way that we may challenge these laws is through our resistance.

This simply isn’t good enough, and has to end; and this is where it begins.

We welcome all Anarchist youths to join Alarm

Because a better world is possible, and it’s foundations are born in our hearts and minds

A declaration of revolutionary solidarity,

Alarm

Alarm Anarchist Collective Manifesto

Alarm is a youth anarchist collective, with cells both in Melbourne and Sydney. It was formed in the hopes of spreading anarchist ideas, as an alternative to the ideas forced upon us every day. Though Alarm was formed in Sydney, it doesn't have a "base" or a head quarters - it is a collective which is trying to help spread revolutionary ideas across Australia.

We are opposed to all forms of dominance, hierarchy and bureaucracy. Thus, we are opposed to capitalism - for it is an economic system based on systematic exploitation of the working class for the benefit of a privileged few, the ruling class- and (all arms of the) government - which we see as an institution used to protect the interests of the ruling class. We wish to help lay the foundations of a world of anarchism; with communities based on liberty, equality, solidarity and direct democracy.

Alarm is an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, and anti-nationalist collective. These divisions are used to divide us as a people against ourselves, and we reject them in all forms.
We activiley oppose these divisions, and wish to continue to do so by educating and resisting; by helping to build a strong anarchist movement, and by activism in all areas of life; and by creating alternatives to capitalist media, which only reinforces these prejudices; and by building solid networks to support one another.

As said above, Alarm is an anarchist collective, and welcome all people with congruous politics to join the collective.Presently, Alarm does not have a solid political ideology within anarchist ideas, so all anarchists (from eco-anarchists, to anarcho-syndicalists, anarcho-communists, etc) are welcome, the exception being national anarchists and Anarcho-capitalists.

To be a member of a collective, a minimum amount of activism is required within the collective - this can be done through contributing articles, contributing to discussion, distributing zines, or whatever suits you.

If you wish to join the collective, you're welcome to do so by any means that suit you. The simplest being sending an email to alarmcollective@riseup.net, and letting us know. You can also come to a meeting and join, or through a collective member.

Solidarity,
Alarm.