[imc-melbourne-work] Future of Melbourne Indymedia

Tue May 1 12:47:41 UTC 2007

Hi Jem,
You article looked great, but unfortunately we didnt
get to it to make a feature of it in time, as both of
us have been caught up with other personal stuff.
Sorry! Its just the kind of article we need more
of..... Well hopefully we can have a meeting and try
and sort out this situation....
Harry

--- Jem Wilson <jeminakw at hotmail.com> wrote:

---------------------------------
hi everyone,

in response to the news that melbourne indymedia is
struggling i've chucked together an article about the
public meeting in fitzroy tonight (damn, last night, i
need sleep!). I don't know anything about the
moderating side of things but if anyone wants to bump
it up to a feature I've published it to the newswire
and the text is also listed below. 

cheers, jem

ps. thanks for all your good work takver and harry and
i'm sorry that you guys have had to keep the show
running on your own for so long. hopefully we'll get
some more people involved asap.

Public Forum on Anti-terror legislation and the G20
arrests
by K Flat Friday April 27, 2007 at 01:31 AM

Article relating to public forum at Fitzroy Town hall
last night on the G20 arrests.

Last night at the Fitzroy Town Hall a crowd of around
50 people attended a public meeting organised by the
G20 solidarity network and Civil Rights Defence.
Speakers discussed the current political climate in
regards to anti-terror legislation and the charges
facing the G20 arrestees. 

The first speaker, Anita Thompson, discussed the
tactics used in the stop-G20 movement and the media
representations of both the protests and the
subsequent arrests. Forty people have now been
arrested in relation to the G20 protests. 

Thompson said attempts by protesters to breach police
barricades were a challenge to the G20 system - a
system which sustains a world order whereby "twenty
percent of the world's people control eighty percent
of the world wealth". 

Thompson argued that protesters "embraced a diversity
of tactics" and they were far from the "apolitical
thugs" that the media had portrayed them to be. She
stated that "capitalism is inherently violent" and the
police should not be viewed as "a neutral body".
Thompson further stated that the crackdown on those
involved in the G20 protests should be seen as an
attempt by the state to demonise protesters and
delegitimise the right to demonstrate. 

Marcus Banks then spoke regarding his experiences with
Austudy 5. Banks said that like the G20 arrestees,
these protests resulted in dawn raids by the police
and a "cascade of charges". Banks said the police
tended to use militant actions as "an opportunity" to
arrest and repress unpopular groups and individuals.
He said the affect of this was "to make people feel
fearful" causing actions to become less militant.
Colin Mitchell of Civil Rights Defense supported this
sentiment, saying that the charges against the G20
arrestees were symptomatic of the "demonisation for
political purposes" that is a characteristic of the
war on terror. 

Rob Starry, the lawyer who is defending some of the
G20 arrestees, Jack Thomas and the Barwon 13, then
gave an update on these cases and how they can be
viewed in light of recent anti-terror legislation. 

Starry stated that the case against Muslim convert
Jack Thomas is currently being adjourned after a
number of trials and retrials. Thomas is charged with
possessing a falsified passport and receiving funds
from a terrorist organisation. Starry also spoke of
the charges against the so-called Barwon 13, who are
facing multiple charges in relation to allegations
that they attended terrorist training camps. 

Starry said that since July 2002 the Commonwealth
Government has passed forty pieces of anti-terror
legislation almost unanimously. He said that the most
worrying piece of legislation inducted was the
National Security Information Act, which allows court
proceedings to be conducted in secret, in the absence
of the accused or the legal representative. 

In regards to G20 arrests, Starry said that charges
like riot, affray and criminal damage were "an
incredible overreaction" by the police to "a bit of
property damage" and they will "cost the community
literally millions of dollars". 

The case against the G20 protesters is listed for
mention tomorrow. However, Starry told the audience
rather emphatically "we're not pleading guilty." 

There are meetings at Trades Hall on every second
Friday (I think?) in solidarity with the G20
arrestees. 

Thanks to Food not Bombs for supplying the lovely
nibblies. 

---------------------------------
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