Australia: Right to strike to go

Blue to be made unlawful with Howard's IR laws. Right to strike to be (almost) taken away/

HOWARD MAKES THE 'BLUE' UNLAWFUL

THE RIGHT TO STRIKE GOES DOWN THE WC?

'The right of workers to leave their jobs is a test of freedom. Hitler suppressed strikes. Stalin suppressed strikes. But each also suppressed freedom. There are some things worse than strikes, much worse than strikes - one of them is the loss of freedom.' US President Eisenhower.

'Eisenhower was correct in pointing out that the hallmark of the Police State is the loss of the right to strike. A worker's right to strike is surely a basic human right. The right to withdraw labour is the one thing that distinguishes a free worker from the slave. This is a fundamental freedom.' Clyde Cameron, former Labor Minister.

There are many concerns with WorkChoices, WC. I only deal with how Howard is to (almost) extinguish the limited right to strike for workers.

Howard's WC legislation will be rushed through Parliament to hide repressive changes. One change is to make legitimate union industrial action 'unlawful'. There are new penal powers and sanctions against striking workers legitimately pursuing, as a last resort, their workplace and economic interests.

'Blueing' is to be even more risky. Will the Australian 'blue' with the boss be an endangered species? Workers and their unions in dispute, those 'blueing', will be liable to be ordered back to work, fined, sued and even criminalised, with increased penalties. Employers who love power and authority will benefit.

Australia is going through a low strike era. Howard did not raise these further restrictions on the right to strike during the election. Corporate associations lobbied Minister Andrews to take away the protections necessary for the effective right to strike.

The government ads say: 'We won't take away the right to strike' but this is 'spin'. Here are 8 further limits on the right to strike. The devil will be in the detail.

1. Minister Andrews himself is to have unbelievable government power to intervene in 'essential services' to halt strikes. This is now possible only through the Industrial Commission or Courts; not the Minister! But his version of 'essential services' is not limited to the army or police, but to cover any corporation and he cites car companies, mining companies and electricity companies. Public sector employment, nurses, teachers and public servants are to be covered. No choice here.

2. New provisions severely restrict basic union rights for industrial action for industry or pattern bargaining. No choice here, as there is no right to strike outside of the single enterprise. Nowhere else in the OECD is pattern or industry or national bargaining unlawful.

3. A small amendment, with wide ramifications, allows third persons affected by industrial action (other than the employer and unions in the dispute) to halt protected legal industrial action. By definition industrial action affects third parties in some way. So other businesses affected or other persons, such as students or patients can stop legitimate union protected bargaining.

4. Unions pursue claims that encourage unionism and many employers agree. Now employers and workers are to be banned from reaching agreement on such claims. No choice here. It is to be unlawful to pursue legitimate workplace matters by industrial action.

5. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission, which will be all but gutted of its 100-year-old responsibility to prevent and settle disputes, will only have more powers to halt industrial action 'not protected'. Employers can more easily go to the courts for labour injunctions to halt industrial action. Employers retain their power to easily lock-out workers.

6. Compulsory secret ballots have to be conducted before there is lawful protected action. They are now voluntary. The new compulsory ballot requirements are so prescriptively complex that it will be most difficult to implement a valid ballot. In practice this will severely restrict protected action in enterprise bargaining. No choice here. No requirement for employers to compulsorily ballot shareholders before locking out their workforce.

7. The already limited right to protected action is narrowed. Any industrial action that is not protected will be penalisable. All industrial action is prohibited during the life of an agreement. No choice here.

8. WC repeals the requirement for the AIRC to issue a s166A certificate before employers can take common law action to recover damages for unprotected industrial action. The ancient common law tort, based on master and servant doctrine, makes all industrial action unlawful. At least the current limited protection enables 72 hours of conciliation in the Industrial Relations Commission to settle the grievances. Now there is no choice.

The Howard government has already outlawed the right to strike for building and construction unions in legislation slammed through in August and applying retrospectively to catch unions' campaigns. Little debate was allowed in the Senate.

A new building industry police force is operating to 'investigate' workers involved in so-called 'unlawful industrial action'. They have incredible powers. Building workers basic civil rights to silence and not to incriminate yourself have been removed with threat of jail! (details available).

These labour laws do not meet Australia's ILO obligations for protecting the right of workers to collectively bargaining and exercise, without penalty, the right to strike. (Evatt Foundation website http://evatt.org.au/news/336.html )

Will Howard's attempt to suppress strikes be effective? Historically unions took protest industrial action to defend the right to strike. The right to strike as a human right has been long fought for as an essential freedom of being a unionist, for collective bargaining and to defend and promote the social and economic interests of working people and their families.

Eisenhower defended the right to strike because the abolition of such a right is the loss of a freedom. Freedom for industrial action without penalties.

Australia started as a penal colony with penal powers against workers acting in unions. Now in the 21st century penal powers return. This time in a globalised corporate world and a government on the extreme right wing ready to suppress strikes.

Australians do not want to go to the penal days of masters and servants, or slaves, with forced labour.

No choice, no fair go. Will the long tradition of the Australian 'blue' be suppressed? Or will the 'blue' survive?

By Chris posted 3 November 05

Chris White 29/10/2005 Flinders University is researching The Right to Strike in Australia? Contact 0418830297 whitecd@velocitynet.com.au References available.

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'Social Services cheats' may face election next time around
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Costello to force single mums to look for work?
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The HoWARd Government is simply robbing the disabled blind
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Welfare Reform for Warfare Expenditure?
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Govt plots post-July strategy?
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Corporate Welfare

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Unemployed:

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Anti-War Extremists Loyal to Scott

What can I say to someone like Scott Parkin? Sorry mate, to get a PEACE prize in this country you need to be drop dead sexy, go-tees are out - you gotta go. Peace Prize.

Last year, Arundhuti Roy, non-violent human rights activist and writer, was awarded the Sydney PEACE Prize. She delivered an address in Sydney called ' What we call peace is little better than capitulation to a corporate coup '. Despite her dissenting views on corporations and state terrorism, Arundhuti received quite positive coverage in the mainstream media at that time.

She was not locked up and deported as a terrorism suspect [scapegoat] or have her visa revoked. And she was not subsequently tied up for years of legal battles or stopped from visiting other countries around the world because she had something stamped on her passport thanks to ASIO. She was able to continue her journey through life unhampered by the draconian laws our government is now putting in place.

From what I've read of Scott Parkin he is coming from a very similar place, if not influenced by people like Arundhuti Roy. No specific charges have been laid against Scott, and yet his career as a writer and activist has taken a severe set back.

That's what this whole thing with Scott in Australia is about - chopping people off at the knees by tying them up with legal battles that can take years. Diverting their energy and time away from what they really want to do, what they really need to do.

Convict Mentality

Now even last night, Tony Jones [LATELINE] asked John Pilger straight up (via satelite) if he would be prepared to go to jail to stand up for the position he takes as a writer and journalist. There is some pretty sick stuff going on in our mainscream media, but now with the legal precedent set with this action against Scott Parkin, the message to both up and coming and seasoned activists and writers and journalists like Pilger, Chomsky, Naomi Klien, Tarik Aviv, Amy Goodman, Greg Palast, Michael Moore, Avi Lewis, Mumia Abu Jamahl is clear - Australia is a country with no Bill of Rights being run by savage freaks and if you come here your career may suffer the consequences.

Friendly Fire

I hope you can recover from this experience and continue your journey through life doing the things you were put here to do. You're situation has received quite a bit of mainstream attention and you are now known by many as an anti-war activist. Not quite an anti-war extremist yet however, as Cindy Sheehan and her supporters are referred to, but most people will see through the newspeak and begin to realize that the new National Security Measures being applied in this country are proving to keep the so called elite more secure, and the growing majority of ordinary people less secure.

And the Winner is...

Perhaps future winners of the Sydney Peace Prize will have to deliver their address via satelite.

And the Loser is...

john hoWARd the coward!

Robin Banks from Sydney's Public Interest Advocacy Centre says Mr Ruddock's comments suggest national security now means much more than just the threat of terrorism.

"The Government should make very clear the detail of the reasons for its decision and why it considers that [alleged] involvement in a violent protest is sufficient to be determined to be a national security risk," he said.

"Also to give him an opportunity to respond to that allegation."

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks says it is incumbent on Mr Ruddock to explain why the law was used and why suspicion is held.

"To not have an explanation brings into disrepute the very law which has been applied," Mr Bracks said.

Human rights activists say that Mr Parkin's case highlights the way in which anti-terror laws are being used to suppress political dissent.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission president John Von Doussa says Australia needs to prove it is an emergency to breach the Covenant On Civil And Political Rights.

He says proposed new laws to allow more than 48 hours' detention would also cut out protection of rights by the High Court.

"The states are being enlisted to pass laws so that they can bypass that constitutional protection," Mr Von Doussa said.

By Bill Posters 13 September 05

Pride Cometh Before The Fall

Pride" that is the word Halliburton uses in its advertising.

Halliburton: Poster Child of the War Profiteers

More and more revelations about contract abuse by Halliburton come out regularly. Just last week Rep. Henry Waxman issued a report that found Halliburton overcharging in Iraq now totaled more than $200 million, see: Activists in Houston are working with national groups, including Democracy Rising, to highlight corporate contract abuse by Halliburton when they hold their shareholders meeting this May 18. In the interview below with DemocracyRising's Kevin Zeese, Scott Parkin, a Community Organizer for Houston Global Awareness describes their plans and how it fits into the overall goals of the organization.

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Lawyer claims Al Qaeda suspect's evidence tainted!
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Man terrorised by ASIO remanded in 'AA' isolation!
A Victorian man has been remanded in custody after being charged with terrorism offences, including having links to Al Qaeda?

Melbourne man charged over ASIO links
ASIO a know Australian terrorist organization is verballing the community again...about allegations that a man, while living overseas, received funds from Al Qaeda and had close association with the members of the terrorist group.

DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD
A court has been told Joseph Thomas is a sleeper? ZZZ! Melbourne Australia: A court has been told that Osama bin Laden asked a Melbourne man to become a "sleeper" in Australia before undertaking activities for the Al Qaeda network? Munchkins: "Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead."

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.

Mamdouh Habib: Taunted and Tortured!
Four Corners [Walls]: Terrorist - or Taunted by the Australian Defence Force who sacked him as a cleaning contractor? Who is Mamdouh Habib? And why was he harassed by the Australian Federal Police? Then tagged and labelled as a spy? Why was he vilified by the community? When he fled to Pakistan how did he end up being tortured in Egypt? And how did he end up at Guantanamo prison camp reserved for the men America calls "the worst of the worst.

He was an undercover agent for the blues
He was my journalist, he was working undercover. The fellow knew all of the moves.... He really had me romping, bare footing stomping. He just kept igniting my fuse....

Up there Khasali: Innocent man new bail laws
The New South Wales Supreme Court has asked innocent man Bilal Khazal to increase to amount of surety offered, before the bail is formally continued.

HEY! BIG BROTHER? LET INNOCENT PEOPLE GO!
Young men terrorised, tortured, and threatened with charges for no crime by Australia mate the lucky country. Lucky if you're not used for Howard's FEDERAL ELECTION and George Dubya's WAR ON LIBERTY! Who shot liberty? IGNORANCE!

Keelty foresees more terrorism
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says terrorist groups will continue to find new ways to threaten countries.

Islamic movement denies links to Al Qaeda
The Islamic Youth Movement has denied having any links to Al Qaeda and says it is considering legal action against the Four Corners program. In a statement released early this morning, the group rejects allegations it is helping coordinate any kind of terrorist network inside Australia and says it is being unfairly targeted.

2nd Renaissance -10 The War on Witches [150]
In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal Bull that became the rationale for establishing the Inquisition in Germany. The following excerpt from the Bull sets out the official view of the danger of witches to the community. The Bull and this this passage provided the sole excuse for the torture and cruel executions that were, ultimately, to be the fate of up to fifty percent of the population of some villages.

'Different times' call for bill of rights, says QC'

To ensure no future government can erode basic human rights

One of Australia's top barristers has called for the introduction of a bill of rights, to ensure no future government can erode basic human rights.

Lex Lasry, QC, gave last night's key note address at the University of Western Australia's annual Day of Ideas.

He told delegates while Australia has a good human rights record [?], he is concerned the Government is compromising that in its fight against terrorism. [Scapegoats for resource wars in the Middle East.]

But I don't know where he gets that from at the moment Australia's Human Rights record is appalling just ask any Refugee! Anyway I do understand pragmatism so I won't knock him any further because he wants to compromise with the government about their human rights record.

He says renewed debate is needed about the introduction of a bill of rights.

"I think the Government is using fear to erode people's rights and it's only perhaps in more recent times that people have started to see that it's important," he said.

"That these rights have to be protected in a way which can't be changed at the whim of government.

"I think the current Federal Government wouldn't be terribly sympathetic to that argument, but it may remain to be seen whether they are or not."

He says it is an issue that can no longer be ignored.

"The community's being urged to regard themselves as living in different times," he said.

"And every time you hear a politician say 'We're living in different times', the concern is that that's really code for 'You can't expect to have the same liberties now that you had in the past'."

"The problem with that is that it assumes that taking away people's liberties is going to prevent terrorism, and I obviously take issue with that logic."

Comment: Michael

More like a Bill of Right Wingers

Now would be the worst possible time to introduce a Bill of Rights in Australia. The same authorities who are currently trampling all over our rights in the name of the Wars on Terror, Drugs, Crime, Mental Illness, Non-Conformism, etc would hijack the process and simply legitimise and entrench their own agendas.

Good Bills of Rights don't come about when oppressive authorities hold the whip hand. They flourish in the brief periods following social upheavals *against* those authorities, while the memories of their abuses and the price paid to end them are still fresh and the new authorities have not yet entrenched their power against those who elevated them to power.

After we've gotten rid of the likes of John Howard, Philip Ruddock, Kim Beasley and, yes, Lex Lasry QC - whether it be through upwelling of disgust, collapse of the social order or bloody revolution - *then* is the time to start talking about drafting a Bill of Rights.

What about a bill of rights?

Hi. The deed is nearly done. By tonight, the NSW parliament will have passed new laws which allow police, on the say so of the police minister, to break-in to your house and search it, to strip search you, to search your vehicle, and to insist that you answer questions. The police minister is immune from scrutiny for whatever he authorizes and there’s no public disclosure of what is done under the new powers.

By Injust-Us 3 September 05

Related:

Australia: a little dab will do ya .....
Reflections on the phoney, hypocritical "values" debate being promoted by the federal government, as part of its proscriptive program to emasculate our democracy.

Government warned Terror Laws "inherently dangerous, draconian and open to misuse" John North, Law Council of Australia: "In times of fear, it is easy for governments to impose ever (more) draconian laws."

Fishing expedition pays off
A man whose home was targeted by ASIO in fishing raids this year is facing fraud charges along with a co-accused who is linked to firearms offences.

The Terrorism of ASIO Laws
Wanda Fish asks Australian Senators to reject Howard's proposal to strengthen laws that already erode our basic legal rights. This legislation has the potential to turn ASIO agents into terrorists who can kidnap and detain innocent Australians simply because they "might know something".

Terrorgraph not quiet on 'Aussie militant' probe
AFP refuses to comment on investigation into militant video: hoWARd's abc.

Phillip Duddock's 'accent' heard in militant broadcast
Australian/Arab television has broadcast a video showing a masked militant with an apparent Australian accent criticising British Prime Minister tony bliar over Iraq.

HICKS: Not a Happy Birthday!
AUSTRALIA/CUBA/US :David Hicks, the Australian imprisoned at the US Base of Guantanamo Bay, will be 30 years old this coming Monday August 7, 2005.

GetUp! Stand Up! Stand Up For Your Rights!
Because of you, something exciting happened in our democracy last week. From every corner of the country, more than 20,000 emails were sent to the Coalition Senators. Our message was simple: now you have control of the Senate, we will be holding you to account. Thousands of you added personal messages to your representatives about the issues you care about.

Australia: We're Living In A War Zone
Prime Minister john hoWARd and his cronies have now placed us in a war-zone moving defence capabilities to Australia's south-east coast.

All the alleged terrorists are Muslims
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner mick keelty, a well know propagandist and liar, now claims that 60 Islamic extremists are operating in Australia and they are not news to the police and intelligence agencies.

All the wicked witches in Pakistan?
Pakistani authorities say 800 suspected militants [scapegoates and patsies] have been arrested in raids following the deadly London [false flag operation] bombings, as Islamic groups protest a move to expel 1,400 foreign students.

It's just not cricket: Khan
The perception in the West remained that somehow Islam was connected to militarism and terrorism, that all Muslims believe that all suicide bombers go straight to heaven. No one mentioned that before [false flag operations of] 9/11 70 per cent of suicide bombings in the world were committed by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, who were Hindus.

Lawyer dismisses ASIO fishing raids as PR stunt
Fascist federal Police (AFP) and ASIO officers conducted more raids in Melbourne and Sydney yesterday but the publicity surrounding the raids has been dismissed as a public relations exercise by the Melbourne lawyer for an accused terrorist.

Howard off to US, UK - part 5
PART-5- PRIME minister john hoWARd will meet US president george w buSHIT, British prime minister tony blair and queen 'imperialism' herself during a 10-day visit to the United States and the UK next month.

hoWARd, ruddock, ellison, keelty and news ltd plotted chaos
AUSTRALIA/CUBA: Government and corporate propaganda agencies 'believe' they have foiled an attack on the Melbourne Stock Exchange by a radical Islamic network linked to a covert group, which has carried out surveillance on key Sydney sites.

Houses raided over 'possible' political attack plans?
ASIO have raided a number of properties in Melbourne on a 'fishing expedition' in relation to a 'possible' political scare campaign by the hoWARd government, playing on the fears of all Australians... again!

Is this our most dangerous Newspaper?
The Daily Terrorist should be managed with manacles and flown into Siberia via a jumbo jet tomorrow amid fears government fascists may attempt to use them again on someone else.

HOSTAGES OF THE WAR ON TERROR
This forum will bring together legal representatives and victims of counter-terror, along with justice campaigners and organisations in order to share strategies for achieving justice for these men and the many other like them.

WAR ON TERROR, WAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS: AMNESTY
The Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group & the Justice for Hicks & Habib Campaign welcome the statement by Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan, condemning the US Administration for condoning torture and the suppression of 'human rights' in their 'war on terror'.

Murdoch's war on truth in war reporting
People who remain to be convinced that cross-media laws are important to maintaining the fabric of our democracy need look no further than today's page one of The Daily Telegraph.

Chomsky signs on for justice
Noam Chomsky has signed the Justice for Jack campaign petition which calls on the Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock and Director of Public Prosecutions to "drop any charges reliant on records of interviews conducted under duress without the presence of a lawyer."

If he'd been given his passport he'd be a free man
A Sydney man [scapegoat in the Coalition of the Killings resource wars in the Middle East] has been found not guilty of preparing for a terrorist attack on a Commonwealth building [ruling class propaganda.]

Trial by unrelated video clips
Should alleged terrorist suspects [scapegoats for the resource wars in the Middle East] be shown on television side-by side-'terrorist training camp film clips' gathered by the government and media archives to give the wrong impression of accused people facing trial?

Accused Australian Citizen 'denied passport in 2002'?
AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN who was refused a passport by DFAT in mid-2002 became frustrated at the government for treating him differently.

Court should be told Gov't using 'Jack'!
A Melbourne court should have been told a man accused of working for Al Qaeda is being used by the fascist Australian Government as a pawn in their leverage to win support for their illegal and degrading activities.

Noble Cause Torture?
AUSTRALIA: The Labor Party has decided not to support a Senate inquiry into new allegations made by Mamdouh Habib that the Australian Government cooperated with Egyptian intelligence authorities who he insists tortured him.

New account adds weight to interrogation claims
Australia/Cuba/Iraq: The fascist Federal Government is under further pressure today because Australians were involved in the interrogation of tortured Iraqi prisoners.

Australian senate accused govt of war crimes
Did you hear the one about David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib having a Barbeque in Afghanistan with Bin Laden? Yeah it was reported on Channel Seven's Sunrise this morning! But they don't know if it was a sheep or a goat, but sources say it was most likely a goat.

DPP to appeal innocent man's bail
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will seek to have an innocent Melbourne man Joseph 'Jack' Thomas, returned to isolation in custody?

Fascist Australian Govt torture exposed
The fascist Federal Government has been exposed for the torture of Australian Mamdouh Habib and the US Government's allegations against him (if they were true) would have been made under duress.

Innocent witch verballed by federal fascists!
Shame on the federal fascists. The wicked old witch is dead! A Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard that a 31-year-old innocent Victorian man was facing terrorism charges?

Lawyer blames police for Habib break-in
John HoWARd, Alexander Downer, Phillip Ruddock, Robert Hill, to name just a few....HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

No reason for Habib to sell story: Beazley?
Federal Agreement Leader Kim Beazley is a well-paid loser. A loser who supposed to be defending our democratic rights by standing up to the HoWARd Government's fascism.

Australia: a presumption of guilt......
KAREN PERCY: Two of Australia's leading barristers have seized on the return of Guantanamo Bay detainee, Mamdouh Habib, to launch an unprecedented attack on the Federal Attorney General, Philip Ruddock.

Aust Community criticises Govt for 'crimes'!
Australia: The Law Council of Australia is warning that the Federal Government must learn from its mistakes over Guantanamo Bay? Now that's a mistake!

Australian Govt Guilty of Crimes: Community
Australia: The community says federal fascists who allowed the torture of its citizenry including Mamdouh Habib may be arrested when the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal address the War Crimes Indictment set out by the community.

What they did to Habib
Mamdouh Habib was the victim of atrocities fit for a concentration camp, including being tied to the ground while a prostitute menstruated on him, his lawyer said yesterday.

Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes
Complaint to Australian law officers about Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes.

There is no justification for torture
In the weeks since the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison were revealed, evidence continues to seep out of similar mistreatment of prisoners in other US military detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

Howard rejects spy agency overhaul
Prime Minister John Howard has played down the need for a major overhaul of Australia's spy agencies as a result of an inquiry by former intelligence officer Phillip Flood.

Fascist Australian Govt torture exposed
The fascist Federal Government has been exposed for the torture of Australian Mamdouh Habib and the US Government's allegations against him (if they were true) would have been made under duress.

Innocent witch verballed by federal fascists!
Shame on the federal fascists. The wicked old witch is dead! A Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard that a 31-year-old innocent Victorian man was facing terrorism charges?

Innocent Victorian man held in custody for Xmas?!
Lawyers have argued the case against Mr Thomas was weak and based on a statement he made in Pakistan without a lawyer present and therefore unlawful.

Innocent Melbourne man makes second bail bid
Rubish, just plain propaganda, fear-mongering, draconian nonsence from the HoWARd goverment's war agenda stink tank.

MPs to review spy agency powers
Australian spy agency ASIO'S controversial powers to detain and question suspected terrorists [scapegoats for HoWARd's resource wars] will be re-examined by a parliamentary committee. Parliament passed the new counter-terrorism powers in July last year.

Goulburn Jail breaches UN standards
NSW: Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has called on Justice Minister John Hatzistergos to bring Goulburn Jail's Maximum Security Wing into line with United Nations standards, after a prison inmate's covert survey of his fellow inmates revealed problems with rehabilitation programs and basic amenities.

Lodhi toilet paper: crap!
He is facing nine charges and is accused of planning a major terrorist attack on Sydney defence sites and the electricity grid using downloads off the internet and having 100 rolls of toilet paper to wipe his arse after low level bombs and farts.

Brain injury for suspicion 'inhumane'
Faheem Khalid Lodhi refused bail by a Sydney court and remanded until June in hell at the (HARM-U) High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn. While he is in there he will receive a brain injury and is likely to self-harm due to the gross violation of living standards.

Ul-Haque 'the man who wants to become a doctor'
The taskforce is investigating French man Willie Brigitte, who was tipped back home for a visa breach. Allegedly the Un-Australian Newspaper claimed he also attended training camps before his six-month stay in Sydney. Police have not alleged Mr Ul-Haque knew Brigitte. The Un-Australian just mentioned it because they are 'you guessed it' up John Howard's butt and they like the USA want 'you guessed it' our Federal Government. Well Yankee go home!

Daily Terror rolled-over for Howard's war games
The DAILY TERROR is suspected of being the source of the news this morning that Willie Brigitte is a terrorist and that Sydney faces a bomb attack.

Ruddock foreshadows new terrorism laws
The new laws will allow police to access emails and mobile phone SMS messages, enable wider use of surveillance devices, and protect sensitive national security information during terrorism trials.

Community seeks more power to interrogate ASIO suspects
Greens Senator Bob Brown does not think increased police powers are necessary. "We have enormous powers for surveillance, apprehension or punishment of people who are engaged in or intending to engage in or thinking about being engaged in terrorist acts in this country," he said.

Greens warn of 'politicised' terror trials
AUSTRALIA/CUBA?: The Australian Greens say they are concerned that new anti-terrorism laws being debated in the Senate allow for the "political black-banning" of defence lawyers at terrorism trials.

Lawyer claims Al Qaeda suspect's evidence tainted!
Before returning to Australia last year, Thomas was arrested and held in custody for five months by Pakistani authorities before being released without charge.

Man terrorised by ASIO remanded in 'AA' isolation!
A Victorian man has been remanded in custody after being charged with terrorism offences, including having links to Al Qaeda?

Melbourne man charged over ASIO links
ASIO a know Australian terrorist organization is verballing the community again...about allegations that a man, while living overseas, received funds from Al Qaeda and had close association with the members of the terrorist group.

DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD
A court has been told Joseph Thomas is a sleeper? ZZZ! Melbourne Australia: A court has been told that Osama bin Laden asked a Melbourne man to become a "sleeper" in Australia before undertaking activities for the Al Qaeda network? Munchkins: "Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead."

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.

Mamdouh Habib: Taunted and Tortured!
Four Corners [Walls]: Terrorist - or Taunted by the Australian Defence Force who sacked him as a cleaning contractor? Who is Mamdouh Habib? And why was he harassed by the Australian Federal Police? Then tagged and labelled as a spy? Why was he vilified by the community? When he fled to Pakistan how did he end up being tortured in Egypt? And how did he end up at Guantanamo prison camp reserved for the men America calls "the worst of the worst.

He was an undercover agent for the blues
He was my journalist, he was working undercover. The fellow knew all of the moves.... He really had me romping, bare footing stomping. He just kept igniting my fuse....

Up there Khasali: Innocent man new bail laws
The New South Wales Supreme Court has asked innocent man Bilal Khazal to increase to amount of surety offered, before the bail is formally continued.

HEY! BIG BROTHER? LET INNOCENT PEOPLE GO!
Young men terrorised, tortured, and threatened with charges for no crime by Australia mate the lucky country. Lucky if you're not used for Howard's FEDERAL ELECTION and George Dubya's WAR ON LIBERTY! Who shot liberty? IGNORANCE!

Keelty foresees more terrorism
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says terrorist groups will continue to find new ways to threaten countries.

Islamic movement denies links to Al Qaeda
The Islamic Youth Movement has denied having any links to Al Qaeda and says it is considering legal action against the Four Corners program. In a statement released early this morning, the group rejects allegations it is helping coordinate any kind of terrorist network inside Australia and says it is being unfairly targeted.

2nd Renaissance -10 The War on Witches [150]
In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal Bull that became the rationale for establishing the Inquisition in Germany. The following excerpt from the Bull sets out the official view of the danger of witches to the community. The Bull and this this passage provided the sole excuse for the torture and cruel executions that were, ultimately, to be the fate of up to fifty percent of the population of some villages.

GetUp! Stand Up! Stand Up For Your Rights!

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights! Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!

Thanks for being there at the beginning of a new movement to build a more progressive Australia!

hoWARd man, don't tell me, heaven is under the earth. I know you don't know, what life is really worth.
It's not all that glitters is gold; 'alf the story has never been told:

So now you see the light, eh! Stand up for your rights, come on!

Because of you, something exciting happened in our democracy last week. From every corner of the country, more than 20,000 emails were sent to the Coalition Senators. Our message was simple: now you have control of the Senate, we will be holding you to account. Thousands of you added personal messages to your representatives about the issues you care about.

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights! Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!

NowYouAnswerToUs

The Government's response to this outbreak of political participation was anything but democratic. Coalition MP and key strategist Andrew Robb appeared on national television to condemn the emails you sent to your elected representatives as "highly irresponsible" and "spam". Coalition MP Tony Smith called your messages an "email scam". And Senator Eric Abetz was so upset he complained to the Australian Electoral Commission!

Most people think, great God will come from the skies, take away everything and make everybody feel high. But if you know what life is worth, you will look for yours on earth: And now you see the light, you stand up for your rights. jah!

This government is already rattled. But our work has only just begun. This morning Senator Robert Hill announced that the Government plans to roll back the Senate budget estimates process, which plays a crucial role in exposing government bungles and cover-ups.

Get up, stand up! (jah, jah!), Stand up for your rights! (oh-hoo!), Get up, stand up! (get up, stand up!), don't give up the fight!, (life is your right!), Get up, stand up! (so we can't give up the fight!), Stand up for your rights! (lord, lord!), Get up, stand up! (keep on struggling on!), Don't give up the fight! (yeah!)

The traditional checks and balances in our parliamentary process are under threat, and we know the other political parties are incapable of a strong or effective opposition. If this government is going to be held accountable, GetUp needs to grow in strength and numbers - and we need your help to do this. Please forward this email to your friends and tell them to join the campaign:

We sick an' tired of-a your ism-skism game - Dyin' 'n' goin' to heaven in-a jesus' name, lord. We know when we understand: Almighty God is a living man. You can fool some people sometimes, but you can't fool all the people all the time. So now we see the light (what you gonna do? ), we gonna stand up for our rights! (yeah, yeah, yeah!).

As we write, the government is preparing to unveil a raft of new legislation that we deserve a say on. In the crucial period ahead, GetUp will help you take action on the major issues of the day. Stay tuned -- we are just getting started.

Thanks for being part of this,

David, Jeremy & the GetUp team

GetUp!
Action for Australia

So you better:

Get up, stand up! (in the morning! git it up!) Stand up for your rights! (stand up for our rights!) Get up, stand up! Don't give up the fight! (don't give it up, don't give it up!) Get up, stand up! (get up, stand up!) Stand up for your rights! (get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... ) Don't give up the fight!
(get up, stand up!) Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up! Don't give up the fight!

Related Audio:


By Gregory Kable & Bob Marley 9 August 05

Related:

Australian Greens Senator Responds To: Social Services Cuts
I am writing to you because I am concerned about people living in poverty in Australia. In Parliament, legislation will be introduced to put many people with disabilities and single parents on unemployment payments. If this law goes ahead unchanged, more people will live on less money after July 2006.

HICKS: Not a Happy Birthday!
AUSTRALIA/CUBA/US :David Hicks, the Australian imprisoned at the US Base of Guantanamo Bay, will be 30 years old this coming Monday August 7, 2005.

All the alleged terrorists are Muslims
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner mick keelty, a well know propagandist and liar, now claims that 60 Islamic extremists are operating in Australia and they are not news to the police and intelligence agencies.

Australia: We're Living In A War Zone
Prime Minister john hoWARd and his cronies have now placed us in a war-zone moving defence capabilities to Australia's south-east coast.

Personal data 'being shared'
UNPRECEDENTED volumes of personal information on millions of ordinary Australians are being shared between federal government departments under dramatic extensions of a little-known "data matching" scheme, privacy advocates have warned.

Detention policy: Change Your Mind
It would not be wrong to answer in the affirmative. Another reason is that our political system is adjusting to the highly publicised breaches of human rights via individual cases such as Peter Qasim, Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez Solon.

'A Nice Day Out' From Risdon Prison

Arranged for maximum-security prisoner 43637 Trustrum, Thomas Edward, by Justice Pierre W Slicer, Tasmania's Supreme Court human-rights an social-justice crusader.

(* quote from Supreme Court transcript 4 May 2005,page 36, para 40)

Prisoner Trustrum - age 73: At about 8am on my two nice days out arranged by former solicitor (now judge) Mr Pierre Slicer, on 4 May and 15 June this year, the yard-officer informed me that I was 'going to court'.

A 'yard' is a big wire cage containing about 40 cells and around 60-70 prisoners (half of the 3mtr-square cells are shared). There are six big wire cages altogether holding around 500 prisoners.

I was then marched form my cage by a guard, to what is called the 'reception centre', where prisoners ordinary cloths are stored in small' shoeboxes' for between 12-months and 30 years.

There is no similarity between Risdon prison's ugly little 'reception centre' and a real reception-centre on the outside.

Prisoners going on a nice day out to court or the Royal Hobart hospital can choose whether they wish to go in their prison track-suit and boots -- or in their crumpled suit and used shirt stored in their shoebox.

The big prison laundry is next to the ugly little 'reception centre' -- but prisoners are NOT ALLOWED to go on their nice days out in fresh, clean cloths.

Either way, you are then instructed to STRIP OFF and bend over, to allow your anus to be checked for concealed crowbars, cranes or helicopters. Your underpants and socks are 'shaken out' and your shoes or boots are peed in (correction -- peered in).

After you have dressed and stood upright again, you are handcuffed and bent over again to scramble and slither into the low prison van (without using your hands, because you are handcuffed) which takes you on your nice day out to court or hospital.

The inside of the small van is based on the design of a sardine-tin. The floor and two bench seats along each side are of shiny painted sheet-metal. There is nothing to 'hold onto' (even if you were not in handcuffs). This means prisoners are thrown around when the van is moving.

The sardine-tin usually carries three or four prisoners at a time on their nice days out to and from court -- but up to eight at a squeeze. The vehicle is also used for carrying sick or injured prisoners to and from the Royal Hobart hospital -- in handcuffs.

Once the guards have locked the bent-over, handcuffed prisoners in the sardine-tin, they get in the driver section; which is a separate compartment. This often causes prisoners anxiety as the guards cannot see or hear them -- and if the cheap old van were ever to collide and burst into flames, the prisoners would be BURNED ALIVE in handcuffs, as the fuel-tank is under their locked door!

(Prisoner Trustrum had noted on tv on several occasion after being jailed that prisoners and terrorists in Third World countries are often transported in small modern coachers. But in will obviously be many years before the Tasmanian government can afford the luxury Spirit of Tasmania Three ferry - which sails between Sydney and Tasmania mostly empty- and a small coach for Risdon's 500 prisoners.)

On arrival at court on your nice days out, you are marched to the cells below in your handcuffs and locked in, until your case is to be heard. Or you are marched through the Royal Hobart hospital (in handcuffs) if you are sick or injured. Or you are handcuffed to a stretcher or trolley.

After you nice day out in court or hospital, you are handcuffed and bent over again, to climb into the sardine-tin without using you hands (which are handcuffed) where you spend the next 20 minutes - or two hours if you are at Launceston - PRAYING that the old tin without springs will not collide with anything and burst into flames.

Eventually your nice day out in court or hospital in handcuffs, in a crumpled suit and dirty shirt, comes to an end as you arrive back at the ugly little 'reception centre' next to the big prison laundry.

Your crumpled suit and dirty shirt are thrown back in the shoebox again; ready for your next nice day out.

[Arranged by judge Pierre Slicer of the National Committee for Human Rights Education.]

Next -- prisoner Trustrum, 73, taken to Royal Hobart hospital. He is warned by mysterious visitor of plan by DPP Ellis - to kill him. Prison Governor Barber conceals the story.

By Just Us posted 27 July 2005

Related:

PRISON ACTION & REFORM INC: Tas Prison Complaints
TASMANIA: Prison Action & Reform was formed in response to the five deaths in custody that occurred between August 1999 and January 2000. Chris Wever, Vickie Douglas, Rose Macaulay, Judith Santos and others came to together to fight for reform in an outdated, increasingly cash-strapped and uncaring system. Of the original members, three lost loved ones to the Tasmanian prison system.


Tasmanian prison support visit
Prisoners from Risdon Prison and Prison Action & Reform (PAR) in Tasmania have requested support from the Australian Prisoners Union and Justice Action following the siege in the prison ending on May 9.

Prison Action & Reform challenge the Attorney General
Members of Prison Action & Reform are furious with the latest lies from the Attorney General -- Judy Jackson, and demand that she produce evidence to support her ludicrous claims.

Tasmania PAR banned from Risdon
Since then, she and other PAR volunteers, have brought to the public's attention scandalous and inhumane events that have occurred in the prison - which Judy Jackson would have otherwise covered up.

Chronology of a Tasmanian Prison System: A Documented Report
We believe that the people of Tasmania - both victims of crime and the general public - have the right to know that the Tasmania Prison Service is delivering a humane and just system of containment that is conducive to the reintegration of inmates back into Tasmanian society.

Risdon prisoners' seize prison to protest mistreatment
Apparently one prisoner had been mistreated and held in isolation in an SHU (Segregation Housing Unit) [Solitary Confinement] because, he'd had and altercation with a screw. SHUs cause severe mental harm - regarded as torture - and are a cruel, inhumane and degrading way to keep prisoners.

No Safe Place
In a brief four month span from August 1999, five men died in Tasmania's Risdon prison. Their deaths have put the state's corrections system in the dock and led to the planned demolition of a jail which even the State's Attorney-General now calls an "appalling facility".

Association for the Prevention of Torture
The Optional Protocol requires 20 ratifications to enter into force. All States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture should seriously consider ratifying the OPCAT as soon as possible. National Institutions and others promoting the human rights of people deprived of their liberty need to be informed of their potential role as national preventive mechanisms under the OPCAT.

Corrected or Corrupted
A psychiatrist from the prison Mental Health Team attached to Queensland Health made the comment that 25 per cent of inmates suffer from a diagnosed mental illness.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

Ex-Prisoner Locked Out of Prison
The NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS) has revealed a policy which bans ex-prisoners from entering prisons.

Justice Action: Access to our community
NSW: Justice Action went to the NSW Supreme Court before the last Federal election on the constitutional right for prisoners to receive information for their vote. The government avoided the hearing by bringing prisoners' mobile polling booths forward. We pursued it after the election. This is the report.