Let's Take Over

Politics, Activism, Culture and Fun in Brisbane, Australia.
How will we take over the world and run it ourselves
instead of having to work for the bosses who own everything?
One thing's for sure - we'll need exciting, powerful,
curious and free people on our side, not the boring pseudo-left

Pro-Choice Labour Day march, and anti-abortion counter-protest - planning meeting Mon Apr 11 - Trades Hall, South Brisbane

The Pro Choice Action Collective is planning both to march on Labour Day, and a counter-protest against an anti-abortion rally. They're having a planning meeting on Monday April 11.

The meeting will also discuss sending a group to a feminist conference in Melbourne in late May, and plans to organise a big rally sometime before the State election. 

If you can't get to the meeting but you'd like to help, you can email prochoiceaction@gmail.com

The meeting is on Monday April 11 at 6.30pm at the Trades and Labor Council bulding at 16 Peel St, South Brisbane, on the corner of Merivale St - click here for a Google Map with public transport details.There's a Facebook event for the meeting, and the Pro-Choice Action Collective also has a FB group.

 

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Public Meeting Tonight - Will Thousands of Refugees be Sent Back to Afghanistan?

The Refugee Action Collective is holding a public meeting tonight about the risk that thousands of refugees will be sent back to Afghanistan from Australia. The risk comes after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Australia, Afghanistan, and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in January. A media release issued by the Australian Government in January said the Memorandum "paved the way for the return from Australia to Afghanistan of unsuccessful Afghan asylum seekers".

Speakers at the meeting will be immigration lawyer Sonia Caton, Dr Sarah Davies from Griffith University, and Hassan Ghulam, an Afghan community worker at the Romero Centre in Dutton Park.

Hassan Ghulam (with microphone)

 

The meeting is on the second floor at the Trades and Labour Council building at 16 Peel St, South Brisbane. Click here for a Google Map with public transport details.

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Photos and Speeches from Pro-Choice Rally, Brisbane, October 9 2010

  The rally was organised by the Pro-Choice Action Collective (PCAC) to protest the upcoming trial of Tegan Simone Leach in Cairns. Ms Leach is charged with aborting her pregnancy, under Section 225 of the Queensland Criminal Code.

Press “play” on the audio players under each photo to hear what that speaker said.

Click here to see a set of 30 photos from the rally.

Panorama, Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009-1

Panorama of the audience. Click on this photo (and all the other photos) to see larger versions at Flickr.

 

Susan Shaw of the Pro-Choice Action Collective speaks at the Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009

101009 Pro Choice Rally - Susan Shaw of PCAC

 

Helen Speaks at the Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009

101009 Pro Choice Rally - Helen of PCAC reads message from Margaret Kirkby of Womens Abortion Action Campaign

 

Anti-abortion counter protesters get counter-counter-protested, Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009

Anti-abortion protesters are countered.

 

Kate Calcutt of Children by Choice speaks at Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009-1

101009 Pro Choice Rally - Kate Calcutt of Children By Choice

 

Sarah from the Pro Choice Action Collective speaks at the Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009

101009 Pro Choice Rally - Sarah of PCAC reads message from Debbie Brenner of Radical Women in Melbourne

 

Mararet Lee of the National Tertiary Education Union speaks at the Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009

101009 Pro Choice Rally - Margaret Lee, Secretary, Queensland Division of the National Tertiary Education Union, speaks at Brisbane Pro-Choice rally 101009

 

Kathy Newnham of the Pro-Choice Action Collective - Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009

101009 Pro Choice Rally - Kathy Newnham of Pro-Choice Action Collective

 

Ellen of the Pro-Choice Action Collective speaks at the Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009 101009 Pro Choice Rally - Ellen from PCAC reads out message from pro-choice activists in Perth

 

Priya of the Pro-Choice Action Collective speaks at the Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009

101009 Pro Choice Rally - Priya from PCAC reads a message from Tanya Roberts of the Womens Global Network for Reproductive Rights

 

Greens' Senator-Elect for Queensland, Larissa Waters, at Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009-4

101009 Pro Choice Rally - Queensland Greens Senator-Elect Larissa Waters

 

 

Giant Coathanger Pro Choice Rally, Queens Park, George and Elizabeth Sts, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 101009-1

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Liberals preferencing Family First in Qld Senate; FF think gay marriage is like child abuse

In the race for the Queensland Senate, the Liberal National party is giving its preferences in the Senate to Family First, led by Wendy Francis. Francis said today on Twitter that legalising gay marriage is like legitimising child abuse. Even though she appears to have deleted her tweet, quick action by Twitter user Toby Nieboer means we have a copy of what she said:

Click here to see the original Twitpic by Toby Nieboer


So, what does it mean when I say the Liberals (actually the Liberal National Party, the Queensland branch of the Liberal Party, led federally by Tony Abbott) are giving their preferences to Family First?

Well, if people voting for the Senate in Queensland just put “1” in the box for the Liberal National Party, they give the LNP control of where their vote goes if the LNP has any votes left over after all their candidates have been elected, or have been knocked out of the race. And the LNP have made a decision that Family First will be the very first party with a chance to use any of their left-over votes. Makes you wonder just what sort of ignorant bigotry the LNP leadership is comfortable with.

So, if you’re voting for the Senate in Queensland (or anywhere else in Australia), you should vote “below the line” instead. This means you control where your vote goes, not some party boss you’ve never heard of. In Queensland this means you need to fill out all 60 boxes in the Senate, from 1 to 60, in order, with your favourite candidate at number 1 and the one you hate the most at number 60.

There’s a site called “Below the Line” which helps you – you still have to work out which parties you like, but once you’ve done that, it lets you print out a personalised How to Vote card reminding you how to fill out your Senate voting paper. You can take that card into the polling booth with you.

Update: Over on the Brisneyland community on LiveJournal, GreenGlowGrrl has done some research into the Queensland Independent Senate candidates - well worth a read if you are voting below the line in Qld

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Pro Choice rally on Saturday March 13 outside Parliament House, Brisbane

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Racist Bigot sets up "Boong Drunk" Facebook page for people to become fans of - Please RT

Some racist bigot on Facebook has set up a page where people can become a fan of being "Boong Drunk". A counter-page has been set up calling for the first page to be banned.



The delightful picture used as the logo for the page


If you'd like to report this page to Facebook as being inappropriate because it's bigoted and racist, click on the link above to go to the page and hit the "Report" button, shown in this screenshot with a big red circle around it:

201103 0715 Boong Drunk Facebook page screenshot

Just in case you're unaware, "Boong" is a highly offensive term for Aboriginal Australians. You may want to click on the "thumbs up icon there for the non-offensive definitions and the "thumbs down" icon there for the offensive ones.

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Sound and pictures: Black Deaths in Custody Rally

This article has a recording of the rally held today at Police Headquarters, Roma St, Brisbane City. There are also photos of the rally.

To listen to the recording of the rally, click on the link and press "play" on the audio player at the Let's Take Over Posterous blog.

There will be another community rally to discuss what to do about police violence against Aboriginal people this Saturday, at 11am outside Parliament House. There's also a forum about Indigenous people and Queensland's legal system at All Hallows School in Fortitude Valley at 3pm on Sunday.

Posted via email from Let's Take Over

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Rally against black deaths in custody - Mon Feb 8 2010, Roma St, Outside police HQ

There's a rally on Monday February 8th 2010 to protest black deaths in custody. It's at 1pm outside the Queensland Police HQ at 200 Roma St in town - click here for a Google Map.

The rally will call for an end to bashings and deaths of black deaths in custody, and for justice for black prisoners who have already been killed in custody. Rally organisers state that no Queensland police officer has ever been convicted of any Aboriginal death in custody, despite Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley changing his story before giving evidence into the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee in Palm Island in 2006.

The rally will also demand another Royal Commission into black deaths in custody.

The best way to get to the rally by public transport is to catch a train or a bus to the Roma St Transit Centre - the Google Map shows the Roma St transit centre and the police HQ. The Translink journey planner will help you find bus or train timetables.


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Australia Bans Small Breasts? No, these reports are UNCONFIRMED! #nocleanfeed

NOTE: I am a member of an anti-censorship group in Brisbane. This article is my own opinion, not the opinion of that group, and has not been shown to or approved by any members of that group.

There has been anger and much head-shaking over a report claiming that "Australia bans small breasts", published on the Somebody Think of the Children blog. The report is based on a media release from the Australian Sex Party, in which the Party's Fiona Patten says:

The Board has also started to ban depictions of small-breasted women in adult publications and films. This is in response to a campaign led by Kids Free 2 B Kids and promoted by Barnaby Joyce and Guy Barnett in Senate Estimates late last year. Mainstream companies such as Larry Flint’s Hustler produce some of the publications that have been banned. These companies are regulated by the FBI to ensure that only adult performers are featured in their publications. “We are starting to see depictions of women in their late 20s being banned because they have an A cup size”
However, the original media release contained no more detail than that. One publishing  company mentioned, no specific decisions cited, no basis for the story other than the an unconfirmed statement by a leading figure of a political party. I happen to support the broad aims of the Australian Sex Party, but they have taken a side in public debate which means their words must not be taken at face value, but checked.

The original story spread quickly throughout the Internet, as this Google search shows. It wasn't until 18 hours after publication that an update was published on the STOTC blog. There is no information from the Classification Board on any specific ban, only a general statement that publications with depictions of persons who appear to be under 18 must be refused classification (that is, banned).

The second article also says Ms Patten attended a training session at the Censorship Board where she was shown material that had been refused classificiation due to the size of women's breasts in the material. The article says Ms Patten says some of the banned titles include "Barely Legal", Finally Legal" and "Purely 18" - the links go to the Classification Board's database showing the bans on each of those publications.

However, one of these bans was made in 2008, one in 2003, and the rest in 2001 or before. [EDIT: April 21 2012 - there are now more banned publications under the Barely Legal search - but still no evidence to back up Ms Patten's original claims].

Reasons for these bans are not given in the database. Ms Patten says:

That information [details of why a publication is banned] is not provided to the applicant when their publication is Refused Classification.
However, the Classification Board's website says:

What if I disagree with the Classification Board's decision?

You can ask a Classification Applications Officer for a copy of the
Classification Board's reasons for decision. You can also apply for a
review to the Classification Review Board, an independent review body.


Reasons why a publication is banned can be seen by the publisher. Not a single one of the classification decisions so far alluded to by Ms Patten took place after "Senate Estimates late last year". And yet this media release, and the reporting of it by a leading anti-censorship blog, has led to the impression that small breasts are to be automatically banned by Australia's censorship board. Well, I call bullshit.

For what it's worth, it may well be true that moral conservatives are trying to pressure the Classification Board to clamp down on depictions of "barely legal" type pornographic magazines which usually try to imply that their models are only a few days or weeks older than 18. Australia seems to be a pretty dirty-minded country which likes to hide it's dirty-mindedness behind rage at even slight sexual deviancy. But there's no proof of that in anything the Australian Sex Party has said in their media release. When we fight against censorship we need to have our facts clear and make sure they can't be easily shown to be wrong. We shouldn't whip up a moral panic by claiming that others are trying to whip up a moral panic. We certainly shouldn't upset people (and I've seen quite a few people upset about this today) without knowing our facts are correct.

And if someone has a barrow to push - even if (especially if) we agree with them - we need to make sure we don't take what they say at face value, but carefully check everything they claim before getting people angry about something that might turn out to be not true.

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Pro-Choice Action Collective Working Bee, Wed Jan 13




The Pro-Choice Action Collective is having a working bee at QUT's Kelvin Grove campus on Wednesday January 13 to prepare for their stall at the Big Day Out.

The meeting is in the Queer space on Level 1 of C Block (the Student Services building) - click here for a Google Map.

The current campaign is because a young woman in Cairns, and her partner, were charged with allegedly importing a drug so she could have an abortion. If you're on Facebook, there is a FB event here, and you can join the Pro-Choice Action Collective's FB group here.

The working bee is from 2pm till 8pm. The best way to get there is to catch a bus to the QUT Kelvin Grove Busway station - click here to use Translink's journey planner to find bus timetables.


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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia License.

This means that you may use any work by me, David Jackmanson, that you find on this site for any purpose at all, as long as you give credit to Let's Take Over and include the site's web address.

It's your responsibility to check that the work is created by me and not somebody else. Accounts on sites like flickr or Odeo that are listed as belonging to 'Let's Take Over' or 'djackmanson' will probably be mine.

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