A-Infos (en) Anarchist Age Weekly Review No.553 30th June 6th 2003­

[Phil McCrory <philmcc@melbpc.org.au>]

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NO GLOBALISATION WITHOUT DIRECT DEMOCRACY ­ ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE
"WE SWEAR BY THE SOUTHERN CROSS TO STAND TRULY BY EACH OTHER AND FIGHT TO
DEFEND OUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES" ­ EUREKA REBELLION OATH 185
 > KING CANUTE AND ALAN FELS
The retirement of Professor Alan Fels after fifteen years as head of the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) highlights the
impossible nature of the commissionıs brief.  Like King Canute, Alan Fels
has been trying to stop the tide coming in, by commanding it to stop, using
the current legislative framework to guarantee free and fair competition in
a capitalist society is akin to using an air rifle to hunt a pack of feral dogs.

Competition policy in a capitalist society is an oxymoron.  The natural
outcome of competition in a capitalist society is the formation of
monopolies.  It's no accident that production service industries,
distribution exchange and the telecommunication industry in Australia are
dominated by monopolies.

It's ludicrous to think that a society that accepts the dominance of market
forces in its economic affairs and which constitutionally does not have the
power to control prices and income, can regulate competitive forces in the
market place through the Competition and Consumer Commission and the courts.
Although Alan Fels has been able to keep the question about competition and
monopolies in the public eye, the A.C.C.C has not been given and
constitutionally cannot be given the necessary legislative powers to stop
the corporatisation and monopolisation of the economy. The legislative
framework the A.C.C.C is expected to work under is as effective as the chair
on the beach King Canute sat on when he commanded the tides to stop.

Competition policy without constitutional change is a fraud.  Establishing a
regulatory authority that only has its baby teeth in place to regulate
competition policy may be good for the occasional media headline, but has
had little impact on the formation of monopolies in Australian society over
the past fifteen years.

BOYS OWN ADVENTURE ­
PART TWO
It's interesting to see how the pieces for Australia's South Pacific boys
own neo-colonial adventure are falling into place.  Armed intervention in
the affairs of the Solomon Islands by an Australian Military force, with
symbolic assistance by a few other South Pacific Nations, has been supported
by all the parliamentary parties, including the Greens, the Democrats, the
United Nations, the South Pacific forum and all that everyone is waiting for
is for the Solomon Islands government to give its seal of approval to the
invasion.

Irrespective of how many media pundits, governments and non-government
agencies support armed intervention in the Solomons, the current proposal
raises the stakes in the South Pacific. The law and order problems in the
Solomons and many other parts of the South Pacific, including Tonga, Papua
New Guinea and Fiji, stem from inappropriate colonial divisions and endemic
social, economic and cultural problems.  Most of the Pacific Islands States
are artificially created colonial relics.  The fracture lines in the
Solomons are based on century old language and cultural differences that
were not taken into account by the British when the Solomons where granted
independence.  The breakdown of the Solomon Islands State and its
replacement by new entities is a logical consequence of the countries
long-term problems.

It's important to remember that what's proposed for the Solomon Islands is a
far cry from what has recently happened in Bougainville.  In Bougainville,
Australian military intervention has been limited to unarmed peacekeepers
keeping the peace by keeping the warring factions apart.  In the Solomon
Islands, overwhelming military force will be used to support some factions
at the expense of the others. Although military intervention may in the
short term be good for business, especially Australian business interests,
the type of intervention proposed will deepen the fracture lines within the
Solomon Islands.

Armed intervention by the Australian government is not the panacea that itıs
been hailed as. All those people that support the current proposal will find
that after what at first may seem a relatively calm few months, armed
military intervention by Australia will be the catalyst that unites the
opposition groups in the Solomon Islands to conduct a long and protracted
guerilla campaign against what inevitably will be seen as a foreign
occupying power-Australia.

BLOOD LUST
The ancient Aztec Empire required a steady stream of human hearts to keep
the wrath of the Gods at bay.  The post-modern neo-colonial Howard
government shares the same insane blood lust.  The Australian led military
intervention in the Solomon Islands is the first of a series of proposed
military incursions in the South Pacific.  The Howard government supported
by all the major parties in Federal parliament has embraced the discredited
Menzies forward defence doctrine.

In a lecture delivered not in parliament, but at the conservative Sydney
Institute, the Prime Minister flushed with Australiaıs pyrrhic military
success in Iraq, has embarked on a Biggles boys own military adventure that
will lock Australian military and paramilitary personnel into a series of
low intensity guerilla wars around the South Pacific.

Using the excuse that "failing" States pose a major threat to Australiaıs
interests in the region, the Howard government is willing to put the lives
of Australians as well as the people of the South Pacific at risk, to impose
short term military solutions for long term social and cultural problems.
The current instability in the South Pacific is a direct consequence of the
establishment of artificially created colonial states that were put together
by colonial administrators that took no account of centuries old language,
cultural and social differences.  The fracture lines that have appeared in
the South Pacific that are about to be exploited by an Australian government
that wants to impose Australiaıs agenda for the region by force, will only
aggravate the current instability.

As Australiaıs involvement in the region escalates and the number of body
bags sent home increases, the Australian government will soon find out that
itıs one thing as in Iraq to successfully invade a country and itıs another
thing to occupy that country and impose our dreams and aspirations on people
who have their own dreams and aspirations.

FOURTH ESTATE ­ PATHETIC!!
Australiaıs military intervention in the Solomon Islands highlights the role
the fourth estate plays in setting the political and social agenda in this
country.  Over the past few weeks every major media outlet in Australia has
focused their attention on the Solomon Islands, acting as mouthpieces for
the governmentıs spin doctors.  The opinions that have appeared both in the
editorial sections as well as general news items, are little more than
rehashed government media releases.

The one dimensional pre-packaged universal pro-government opinion pieces
that have appeared in the fourth estate have created a climate that makes
armed military intervention in the South Pacific seem as both inevitable and
desirable.  The fourth estate marching to the same drum as the Howard
government does not air opinions that donıt match the governmentıs policies
and lands opinions that support the Howard governmentıs resurrection of the
discredited Menzies forward defence doctrine.

At the same time this is happening, the fourth estate concentrates its
energy on putting forward the opinions of those Solomon Islanders that
support intervention while ignoring those elements that oppose military
intervention labelling them as mindless murderers ignoring the social,
cultural and political reasons why a significant proportion of the
population have bypassed the countries established institutions and have
taken up armed struggle.

Itıs ironic that on the very same pages that the presence of unarmed peace
keeping troops in Bougainville are lauded as the key to the islands
successful peace process, armed Australian intervention in the Solomons is
seen as the only solution to the problems in the Solomons.  The reporting is
so one dimensional and superficial, the South Pacific Forumıs decision to
back Australian intervention in the Solomons is hailed as a great victory
for the Australian government.

The reporting conveniently forgets to mention that if any government in the
South Pacific opposed intervention they faced the very real possibility of
losing what aid and assistance they currently received from the Australian
government.  All in all the resultant coverage has been an indictment of a
fourth estate, that has for all intentional purposes become a propaganda arm
for government policy.  The Pravada like approach taken to this issue and
many other issues in the fourth estate, highlights the fact that the
corporate owned media and the government gelded ABC in Australia are
incapable and unwilling to provide analysis that challenges government and
corporate orthodoxy.



CHOMSKY
The edited version of the article on Chomsky in The Age ­ Good Weekend
(21/6), which initially appeared in The New Yorker, although sympathetic to
the man, does not give an insight into where his ideas came from and why so
many people find them interesting and useful.  Noam Chomsky is first and
foremost an anarchist.  As an anarchist, he believes that people are capable
of governing themselves and don't need rulers to govern them.

He sees the world in terms of an ongoing struggle between those who exercise
power and those who are struggling to take back power into their own hands.
The struggle to create a society with no rulers, centres around creating
institutions and structures where everybody, irrespective of who they are or
what they do, has access to the common wealth and where everybody involved
in a decision is involved in the decision making process-direct democracy.

The Nation State, whether "democratic" or dictatorial, uses force to
maintain order in societies whose institutions and economic structures are
based on inequalities.  The greater the degree of inequality, the greater
the amount of force required to maintain order.  Chomsky as an anarchist, is
not burdened by the dead hand of ideology when he analyses what's happening
in the world.  He is able to use reason and argument in seeking truth and
knowledge about everyday reality.

He does not accept the parameters that the "God Queen and Country" brigade
and the ideological warriors from the Left and Right peddle as given truths.
Anarchism is based on principles, not given truths or ideological straight
jackets.  Hence he strikes a cord with those tens of millions of people in
both the so called developed and developing world who are trying to make
sense of a world where they hear and see one thing and experience another.
The growing rhetoric reality gap in a world where consensus is manufactured
to suit the interests of those who wield power and control wealth, drives
people to look for some of the answers for the alienation they feel and
experience in Chomsky's body of work.

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q.  IS ANARCHISM AN IDEOLOGY?
A.  Anarchism is based on one very simple principle.  An anarchist is
somebody who supports the idea that people donıt need rulers to govern them.
What type of institutions, structures and decision making processes that
need to be created to achieve such a society is a continuing matter for
debate and conjecture. The Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society /
Anarchist Media Institute supports the idea that the best way to create a
society where there are no rulers is by holding wealth in common and by
allowing everybody a decision effects to be involved in that decision making
process.
Inequalities between individuals and groups of people within a community
breed the conditions that allow people to impose their will on other people.
Wealth and power are the elixir of rulers.  The greater the wealth a
minority possesses, the greater the power they exercise, the greater their
hold on the population.  Anarchism is not an ideology, itıs a philosophy
thatıs based on the principle that people donıt need rulers to govern
themselves.
Anarchists do not accept the Œgivensı, that are accepted by the God, Queen
and Country brigade and the ideological warriors of the Left and Right.
Anarchist thought and action is not limited by the dead hand of ideology.
Anarchism is a dynamic set of ideas and strategies that change to meet
prevailing conditions.
Ideologies come and go, the desire to control our own destiny and create
structures, which give us the freedom to control that destiny is an inherent
human characteristic.  Anarchism is not a set of ideas that if followed will
result in the creation of a utopian community.  Itıs not a way of living, a
lifestyle, an ideology, a religion, a strategy or an economic blueprint.
Itıs much more, itıs a method we can use to understand the present and break
through the virtual manufactured consensus that those who wield power use to
limit public thought and debate within set parameters.  Itıs a weapon that
can be used to break up the current growing rhetoric reality gap and begin
the struggle to create a society where there are no rulers, where wealth is
held in common and everybody is involved in the decision making processes.

ACTION BOX
  WHY?
Why should Australian Anarchists become involved in the ŒDefend and Extend
Medicareı struggle? ŒDefend and Extend Medicareı was a initiative of the
Melbourne based Anarchist Media Institute.  It is now a totally independent
organisation with its own structure.  Although ŒDefend and Extend Medicareı
was formed to block the Howard governmentıs attempts to privitase medical
care, its central aim is a universal one ­ HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT, NOT A
CHARITY OR A LUXURY ­ an aim that all anarchists should have no difficulty
supporting.
The organisation is non-party political, is run by volunteers and uses
direct action to influence politicians of all political hues to embrace the
idea that health care is a right.  ŒDefend and Extend Medicareı is organised
around non-hierarchical principles.  Over the next few months, ŒDefend and
Extend Medicareı hopes to establish a group in each of the countryıs 150
Federal electorates.  Local groups are autonomous, they elect or appoint
their own spokespersons and determine their own activities within their
electorate.  Currently there are 8 ŒDefend and Extend Medicareı groups
established, unfortunately they are all in Victorian electorates.
Local groups send delegates to a delegateıs meeting that is held every 2
weeks.  The groups that have been established meet in the Evatt Room on the
1st Floor at Melbourneıs Trade Hall.  Their next meeting is at
7.00pm on THURSDAY 10TH JULY at the EVATT ROOM, 1ST FLOOR TRADES HALL
BUILDING, 54 VICTORIA STREET, MELBOURNE.
The first half of the meeting is taken up by delegateıs reports.  The second
half of the meeting is an open discussion.  Observers are welcome to attend
the first part of the meeting to listen to the delegateıs reports.  They are
able to actively participate in the meeting once the delegateıs reports are
presented.
Access to health care is an issue that is important to everybody
irrespective of what type of society they live in.  ŒDefend and Extend
Medicareı is an organisation that anarchists should have no trouble working
with.  We encourage all our readers especially those interstate and in
regional and rural Victoria, to take the bull by the horns and call a public
meeting to establish a ŒDefend and Extend Medicareı group in their Federal
electorate.
If youıre interested in forming a group and need literature and help, you
can contact ŒDefend and Extend Medicareı at
Email:defendmedicare@yahoo.com.au  Postal: P.O. BOX 5035, Alphington 3078,
Victoria, AUSTRALIA.  Telephone: (03) 5982 1170 (answering machine ­ leave a
message).
REMEMBER, IF YOU DONıT BECOME INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE TO MAKE ACCESS TO
HEALTH CARE A RIGHT, NOBODY ELSE WILL.
FORM A ŒDEFEND AND EXTEND MEDICAREı GROUP IN YOUR FEDERAL ELECTORATE TODAY ­
CONTACT ŒDEFEND AND EXTEND MEDICAREı ­ NOW!!

AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY
THE EUREKA SERIES B-2
   THE REACTION IN MELBOURNE!!
Eureka was not just a dispute about gold licenses limited to the Ballarat
gold fields.  The ramifications surrounding the Eureka rebellion were heard
around Australia.  In Melbourne, Governor Hotham swore in 1500 special
constables to protect Melbourne from 1000ıs of armed diggers who it was said
were making their way towards Melbourne.  Considering that Melbourneıs
population in 1854 was a little over 150,000 people, 1 special constable had
been sworn in for every 150 men, women and children living in Melbourne.
The government called a special public meeting at the Mechanicıs Institute
at 188 Collins Street in Melbourne, the day after the Eureka uprising, to
bolster support for its armed intervention at the Eureka stockade.  Around
3,000 citizens turned up, spilling out into Collins Street.  The official
speakers failed miserably in their attempts to pass motions supporting the
maintenance of Œlaw and orderı.  As the radical sentiment of the crowd
became clear, the colonial authorities tried to close the meeting down.
Within 24 hours of the Eureka massacre, public sentiment had swung in
squarely behind the miners and their demands.
Within a few days, over 200,000 people gathered outside St. Paulıs Cathedral
in Melbourne, to show their support for the Ballarat miners and condemnation
for the colonial governmentıs actions.  Fearing an armed uprising in
Melbourne, Hotham was forced to re-think his strategy of bludgeoning the
miners into submission.  The acquittal of the 13 men who were charged with
High Treason, as a result of their participation in the Eureka rebellion in
1855, were greeted with wild and joyous demonstrations.  The acquittal of
John Johns, a 6 foot 6 inch Afro American from New York, the first of the 13
tried for High Treason, was greeted with spontaneous applause and cheers by
over 20,000 people who had surrounded the Court House.  After the verdict
was handed down, John Johns was placed in a chair and carried around the
streets of Melbourne for hours in a spontaneous show of support for those
that had taken up arms against the colonial government at Ballarat.
RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT
OF THE EUREKA REBELLION!!
AT THE EUREKA STOCKADE SITE
CNR STAWELL & EUREKA STREET, BALLARAT
>From 4AM TO 4PM
ON WEDNESDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2003
CELEBRATE THE 149TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE EUREKA REBELLION

  BOOK REVIEW
   "RADICAL MELBOURNE­A Secret History"
Jeff & Jill Sparrow with a foreword by Stuart MacIntyre, The Vulgar Press,
ISBN 0 9577352 43
ŒRadical Melbourneı is a testimony to the adage that Œhistory is normally
written by those who wield powerı.  Melbourneıs radical history is more
forgotten than secret.  Jeff & Jill Sparrow spent countless hours in the
State Library of Victoria putting together Melbourneıs forgotten radical
story.  History is more than the story of governments, politicians and those
who wield power.  History is a context of ideas whose record is found in
forgotten corners, demolished buildings and the hopes and aspirations of
those, who lived and fought to ameliorate the human condition.
Melbourne has a rich Anarchist, Socialist and Communist history.  In a
little over 220 pages, the Sparrowıs bring to light the history of Melbourne
between its European foundation in 1836 to the beginning of WWII.  In just
50 short chapters, the skeletal framework of radical Melbourne is laid bare
for all to see.  Chapters that would be of particular interest to anarchists
include, ŒThe History of the Melbourne Anarchist Clubı (Chapter 21), ŒThe
I.W.W. Officeı (Chapter 24), ŒAndrades Bookshopı (Chapter 28), ŒAnarchist
Bookeryı (Chapter 32) and ŒThe Matteotti Clubı (Chapter 49).
ŒRadical Melbourneı is an unconventional history because it details the
history of those people who set the social and political agenda, whose
contribution is shunned and conveniently forgotten by mainstream society.
Even after years of struggle and suffering, even after their demands have
been met, radical activists are normally denied their moment in history. The
Sparrowıs have given these forgotten heroes and heroines their moment by
combining the history of their struggle with the history of the buildings,
lands and parks they carried out their struggles in.
Names that were instrumental in fashioning the history of Melbourne but that
have been ignored in official history, see the light of day again.  The book
is liberally strewn with illustrations (many of which lay dormant in the
Victorian State Library) of activists, their struggles and where they
carried out these struggles.
ŒRadical Melbourneı is available for AUD$45.00 from THE NEW INTERNATIONAL
BOOKSHOP situated at MELBOURNE TRADES HALL, 54 VICTORIA STREET, CARLTON
3053, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA.
ŒRadical Melbourneı is an indispensable book for all those people who
continue the tradition of our long forgotten brothers and sisters.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION
Four months ago the friends and family of Robert Thomas contacted me to see
if I could help them bring the plight of Robert to the publicıs attention.
I had met Robert about a decade ago when he worked as a personal care
attendant for one of my patients.  His family and friends had tried
unsuccessfully for months to get the Federal government and the media to
take up his case.  Mr. Thomas found himself in a Kafkaesque situation in a
Saudi Arabian prison, sentenced to twelve months imprisonment and three
hundred lashes, because as a husband he must have known that his wife was
sending small items from the hospital they were working in, in Saudi Arabia
to the Philippines.  In Saudi Arabia itıs inconceivable that a husband does
not know what his wife is doing at all hours of the day and night.
In a final desperate effort, I was approached to initiate a media campaign
on his behalf, as they were aware that as spokesperson for the Anarchist
Media Institute I had some experience in dealing with the media.
The media release that I wrote and released had the desired effect and
within a few days Mr. Thoması plight became public knowledge.  The Prime
Minister, John Howard and the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, were
forced to respond to the pressure that the public exposure of Mr. Thoması
case generated.
As a result of the media exposure, especially the sympathetic, sensitive
coverage in The Age, Mr. Thoması prison conditions improved dramatically and
an early release date was set by the Saudi Arabian government.  Mr. Thomas
returned to Australian ten days ago.  Faced with escalating costs and debts,
Mr. Thoması family agreed to sell his story to Womanıs Day and Channel
Nineıs A Current Affair to help recoup some of their costs and provide
Robert, a man in his mid fifties with limited job opportunities, a small
amount of money to get onto his feet when he returned to Australia.
To The Ageıs credit they made it clear that they donıt practice chequebook
journalism.  Over the next few days, the Australian public will be
blitzkrieged by Womanıs Day and Channel Nineıs A Current Affair, the two
organisations that have bought exclusive rights to his story and have tried
to keep his return home under wraps so they can stage manage his return to
suit their current ratings drive.  At the very least, news organisations
that practice chequebook journalism should be compelled by law to state
whether they have bought a story and what they paid for the exclusive
privilege of airing that story.
Iıd like to personally thank The Age readers and The Age staff for the
invaluable assistance they provided in helping to have Mr. Thomas released.
Iıd also like to congratulate The Age for not taking the easy way out and
succumbing to the allure of cheque book journalism.

STOP PRESS
"HUMAN RIGHTS"
Humanus ­ Human ­ Belonging to the species Homo Sapiens.
"Human rights" seem to be one of the most misunderstood terms of the last
century.  Although human rights are by their very nature universal, many of
the countries that have human rights restrict them to different categories
of people.  Unfortunately it seems the more power youıre able to exercise,
the more human rights you have.  People seem to forget that human rights are
there for minorities as well as majorities.
Democracy without fundamental human rights, is tyranny.  What the majority
decides or wants is not necessarily just or right.  Freedom is interlinked
with human rights.  Any society that does not extend human rights to every
other human being has the kernels of tyranny within its structure.  The
Howard governmentıs tenure in office has been marked by a significant shift
away from the concept of universal human rights.  Rights that people have
taken for granted are now reserved for only some human beings.
If youıre an indigenous Australian, an asylum seeker, an extra parliamentary
activist, gay, disabled or poor, you soon find that you donıt have access to
the same rights that other Australians enjoy.  Human rights are no longer
extended to people because they are human but because they have particular
characteristics.  Some of the most appalling injustices that have occurred
in world history have occurred when minorities within a community are denied
access to the same rights the majority enjoys.
The Howard government has maintained its healthy parliamentary majority by
pitting the majority against minority interests in the community.  Asylum
seekers, indigenous Australians, the poor, the unemployed, religious
minorities, extra parliamentary activists, the gay and the disabled have all
felt the blow torch of this governmentıs divisive agenda.  To allow the
Federal government to continue to pedal the myth that human rights are the
preserve of those who support the Howard governmentıs cultural, political
and social agenda is to allow this government to destroy what generations of
activists have fought for.

Joseph TOSCANO / Libertarian Workers
for a Self-Managed Society.


ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
- ARIVISTA ANARCHIA No.291, JUNE 2003, C.P.17120, 20170 Milano, ITALY,
Tel:022896627, Fax:0228001271, Email:arivista@tin.it
www.anarca-bolo.ch/a-rivista
- LE MONDE LIBERTAIRE No.1325 19TH ­25TH JUNE ı03,  145 Rue Amelot, 75011
Paris, FRANCE, Tel:0148053408, Fax:0149299859
- ROJO Y NEGRO No.156 JUNE 03, CGT, C/-Compania9, 10 1zda, 31001
Pamploma/Iruna SPAIN, Tel:948224766, Fax:948212399,
email:suscripciones@rojonero.info
- UMANITA NOVA Vol 83 No.20 EL 1ST JUNE Œ03, Settimanale Anarchico, C.50
Palermo 46, 10152, Torino ITALY. tel/fax (011) 857850 Mobile 338-6594361
email:fat@inrete.it
OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
- LOMGRASS, NO.2, JUNE ı03, Longgrass Ass. , c/- Darwin, G.P.O., N.T. 0801,
AUSTRALIA. http://longgrass.tripod.com


DEBT ELIMINATION APPEAL - Our debt stands at $1625.15
HERE WE GO AGAIN, ONLY SEVEN MONTHS INTO 2003 & we find ourselves struggling
to pay our bills & survive.  Just in case youıre waiting for a renewal
notice ­ we donıt send any out, we leave it up to our subscribers to take on
this responsibility & re-subscribe when their subscription has run out.  We
need to raise $210.00 per week in order to cover typing, printing, postage &
radio program and ongoing campaign costs. How much we are able to do depends
to a large degree on the level of our finances.  You can help by A) -
Subscribing to the AAWR $10.00 = 10 Issues, $50.00 = 50 Issues, B) - joining
our Dollar A Day group or C) - donating money or stamps.  Think about buying
your local library or a friend a subscription to the A.A.W.R. If sending
less than $20.00 save on banking costs & send us 50cent stamps. Otherwise
make out cheques & money orders to LIBERTARIAN WORKERS & send to P.O. BOX
20, PARKVILLE 3052, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.
Debt 02-07-2003            $1625.15

FILM & VIDEO REVIEWS
ORSTRAYLIANA THEME
"NED"
109 minutes. Director Gregor Jordan. 2003.
The reputation of Ned Kelly Australian 'revolutionary outlaw' movies is
hardly rock solid. Mick Jagger (1970, Ned Kelly) & Yahoo Serious (1993.
Reckless Kelly) had a dig at the legend with diabolical results. The 1ST
film ever made in Aust was based on Ned Kelly. In the 1980's there was a
4-part TV series. This latest version reunites Director Jordan with his -Two
Hands - star Heath Ledger. It's Victoria & the 1880's. Ned is 16 & part of a
large family of Irish immigrants & still dealing with the obscure death of
his father. Ned is imprisoned after being falsely accused of stealing a
horse, owned by a powerful & 'respectable' landowner. After 4 years Ned is
released he works the land for another rich Englishman, fights some
knuckle-men bouts for extra money. Ned supposedly courts the beautiful wife
of the landowner, played by his real life partner (Naomi Watts)... To boost
Heath Ledger's "leading man" status? Tragedy strikes late one evening when a
drunken police officer (Kiri Paramore) invades the Kelly family homestead &
makes unwanted advances toward Ned's sister Kate. The incident soon
escalates into gunfire; forcing Ned to run & form the Kelly Gang. Bank
robberies, shoot-outs & bush fires speed up the drama. The Authorities
inevitably out gun the "terrorists". Ned is executed on Nov 11th, the same
date as the US govt, legally lynched the Haymarket, Chicago Martyrs. These 6
anarchists were prosecuted as organisers of the 8hr day movement, then
erupting around the world. Thereıs no Jerilderie letter -strategy-
discussed. Melbourne's public protests at Kelly's hanging & historical
continuity with other events eg. Eureka & other "collective" revolts are
missing from the edited action. The sound track lacks rebel songs of the era
too! Based on Robert Drewe's novel, Our Sunshine. Overall the film glorifies
the Victorian bush land & dusty towns, recreating a time in Aust made for
tourism-industry, Colonial-era "theme parks"... For speaking out against the
war on Iraq from the stage of the Victorian Peace Network, Heath Ledger
upset the establishment. Corporate media was soon under-whelmed by the film
& the actor. Compared to the next big thing hyped US product, The Matrix
Trilogy & Keanu Reeves. Upsetting the pro-War corporate lobby is for Ledger
a better legacy of 'rebel spirit' of Ned Kelly than either the film or
Glenrowan's souvenir-shop plastic-products made in sweatshops. In contrast,
the State Library ran an exhibition of Ned Kelly memorabilia so you could
find out more than the cut down film version allowed. The library workers
dressed up, in cardboard Ned armour, to publicise their ongoing fight for a
pay increase.
POLITICS ** ENTERTAINMENT ***

TRIVIA for other Oz outlaw violence flix see: Mad Dog Morgan, 1976, Phillipe
Mora. Now on DVD with features like how the stunt tricks were done! Chant of
Jimmy Blacksmith, 1978 Fred Schepsi. Based on Thomas Keneally's novel set in
NSW on the eve of Federation between the States in 1900. Robbery Under Arms,
1985, Ken Hannam. also filmed in 1957. With 148 'actors' & 2,000 extras
(cattle!) & 120 crew-members it was a big effort in the genre. Kangaroo.
1986 Tim Burstall. Based on DH Lawrence's trip to NSW; & meeting 'Kangaroo',
right-wing 'outlaw' Leader of paramilitaries, paid to crush the One Big
Union movement in the 1920s. More recent era themed are: Backroads, 1977,
Phil Noyce. A road movie thru rural Aussie racism. Backlash, 1986, Bill
Bennett. A road movie thru racism, sexism & Policauthority. Deadly, 1991,
Esben Storm. Aboriginal death in custody cover-up.

"THE TRACKER"
98 minutes. Director Rolf De Heer.2002
Another South Australian setting but in the 1920s. Like the previous
satirical Bad Boy Bubby, frustrated disability romance Dance Me To Song;
it's again about alienated folks, this time by racism & violence. A tracker
(David Gulpilil) leads three mounted policemen (include. Mr. Macho TV cop
Gary Sweet) through harsh bush land pursuing a rapist. The massacre of
several people forces the tracker to question whether or not to continue
guiding the State paid killers. A melancholic sound track, sung by Archie
Roach & Peter Coad's paintings (used to punctuate the action) make the film.
Aboriginal, traditional Law punishes the rapist instead & ala western happy
endings, the tracker rides off into the sunset.
POLITICS *** ENTERTAINMENT ***

STAMP APPEAL  - We spend over $500.00 on postage stamps per month.  If
youıre writing to us or have any spare stamps floating about stuff them into
the envelope & send them to us.  JOIN our $5.00 a month group & send us a
book of 10 50 cent stamps every month.

EMAIL MADNESS - Have access to cyberspace?  Want to help us save on printing
& postage costs?  Then why donıt you receive the AAWR by email?
INTERESTED??  Then email us at anarchistage@yahoo.com & arrange to have the
weekly emailed to you.


BAYSIDE ANARCHIST GROUP PUBLIC DISCUSSION MEETING
7.30PM WEDNESDAY ­ 16TH JULY
TOPIC: ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS, ANY QUESTIONS
GREEN HOUSE 19, McCOMBE St. ROSEBUD
(Mel Ref:170A1, Approx. 90 kms from Melbourne G.P.O. ­ ALL WELCOME

DEFEND & EXTEND MEDICARE ­ MEETING
DELEGATES METING followed by GENERAL
THURSDAY 10TH JULY  -  7.00PM
EVATT ROOM -  1ST FLOOR)
MELBOURNE TRADES HALL
Cnr. LYGON ST. & VICTORIA RD ­ CARLTON (Entrance 54 Victoria Rd)

RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUYREKA REBELLION
MEDIA CONFERENCE
FEDERATION SQUARE ­ MELBOURNE
WEDNESDAY 16TH JULY 2003
ALL WELCOME

ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK
Has been awarded to those United States administration spin doctors who keep
telling the world that the Iraqi people have been liberated by the coalition
of the "willing".

187 MEMBERS ­ 363 TO GO
BEFORE WE CAN APPLY TO REGISTER AS A FEDERAL POLITICAL PARTY
Politically manipulated and scorned?  Sick of being a peripheral player
every time a Federal election comes around, then join:-  VOTE INFORMAL
TODAY, DIRECT DEMOCRACY TOMORROW - a "political party" that is putting the
boot into the Australian Parliamentary Process.  Send a stamp self-addressed
envelope to
VOTE INFORMAL TODAY DIRECT DEMOCRACY TOMORROW
PO Box 20, Parkville. 3052. Melbourne. Australia Telephone (03) 9828 2856
(24 hour answering service).  We will send information about how to join
this unique 21st century Australian phenomena.  DON'T PUT IT OFF  JOIN THE
PUSH FOR CHANGE NOW.
Written and authorised by Joseph Toscano
(National Convenor 205 Nicholson St Footscray 3012  Melbourne Aust.)
Current membership 187.  We need 550 members to apply for registration as a
political party, so that members can stand at the Federal election in 2004
and show Australianıs that Parliamentary Democracy is nothing more than two
minutes of illusory power.

A DOLLAR A DAY
Increasing financial problems have forced us to review how The Anarchist
Media Instituteıs finances are raised.  Currently subscriptions and
donations only account for about 40% of the income necessary to cover our
costs.  To overcome this problem weıve launched a:-
SAVE THE ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE ~ "A DOLLAR A DAY" CAMPAIGN
We are looking for THIRTY People, interested in our activities, to pledge to
donate
ŒA Dollar A Dayı for twelve months.  You can donate monthly or yearly.  Make
out cheques and money orders to:- Libertarian Workers and send to PO Box 20,
Parkville. 3052. Melbourne. Australia.  Those who pledge will receive a "I
Saved The Anarchist Media Institute" A3 poster which you can frame and put
up at work or home - A great talking point if nothing else.  Weıve got the
ideas and energy but we need your financial assistance to keep going.  Go
on, become one of the Magnificent Thirty that saved the Anarchist Media
Institute.
SIX READERS HAVE JOINED THE "DOLLAR A DAY" CLUB ­ 25 TO GO JOIN TODAY!!
EMPTY YOUR POCKETS OF LOOSE CHANGE & SAVE THE ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE

ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK
Broadcast across Australia on the National Community Radio Satellite.
The Anarchist World This Week is broadcast from 3CR (855khz AM dial) in
Melbourne between 10.00AM TO 11.OOAM every Wednesday.  It is also broadcast
simultaneously across Australia to a number of community radio stations,
some broadcast it live, others later on during the week.  Do you listen to a
community radio station?  Want to listen to the Anarchist World This Week?
Then ask them to download it from the National Community Radio Satellite,
play it live or play it later on in the week.


  If You Like What You Have Read, Photocopy This Publication and Leave It In
Doctors, Dentists,
Vets Waiting Rooms and In Railway Stations, Bus Stops, Libraries and
Restaurants Etc.
The articles in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review reflect the personal
opinions of the authors, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the
publishers, the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist
Media Institute.
All material in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review can be used by anarchists,
anarchist collectives and non-profit organisations as long as the source of
the material is mentioned in the article.  The Anarchist Age Weekly Review
reserves all rights as far as commercial publications are concerned.

ANARCHISM ­ ADVANCING IN DIVERSITY STRIKING IN UNISON ­ YAMAGUCHI KENJI
WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY ­ THE ANARCHIST CENTURY




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