CHARGE HOWARD, DOWNER & BRANDIS FOR CONSPIRING TO STEAL TIMOR-LESTE’S RESOURCES

by Andrew (Andy) Alcock
Information Officer
AETFA SA (Australian East Timor Friendship Association - South Australia)

Below is email sent out by Andy Alcock from AETFA. It comprises his letter to the editor of The Australian Financial Review followed by background information based on an abridged commentary from Matthew Aid.

Hi friends

Many are asking why the ALP has been very silent on the issue of the Australian Government’s intention to charge Bernard Collaery and Witness K with conspiracy.

This article in Crikey might give us a clue:
 
https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/06/29/labor-stands-shoulder-to-shoulder-with-turnbull-on-east-timor-cover-up/
 
We should not forget that former ALP (left???) PM Julia Gillard attacked Witness K when news first broke about Timor-Lester going to the International Court of Arbitration at The Hague.

Read more: Drop The Conspiracy Charges Against Witness K & Bernard Collaery!

by Binoy Kampmark

In August 2001, Australia’s dour Prime Minister John Howard demonstrated to the world what his country’s elite soldiers could do. Desperate, close to starvation and having been rescued at sea from the Palapa I in the Indian Ocean, refugees and asylum seekers on the Norwegian vessel, the MV Tampa, were greeted by the “crack” troops of the Special Air Services.  

A bitter, politicised standoff ensued.  The Norwegian vessel had initially made its way to the Indonesian port of Merak, but then turned towards the Australian territory of Christmas Island.  Howard, being the political animal he was, had to concoct a crisis to distract.  The politics of fear had a better convertibility rate than the politics of hope.

Read more: Dark Precedents: Matteo Salvini, the MV Tampa and Refugees

The following is an open letter from Spirit of Eureka to the striking Longford maintenance workers delivered on June 28, 2018 marking one year in their ongoing fight against ExxonMobil and contractor UGL.

For background information on the dispute go to https://www.essouglydispute.com/

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To the Longford maintenance workers,

It was seven months ago when we had the honour of awarding you the annual Spirit of Eureka Award in recognition of the inspirational struggle you are waging. At the time, how many of us could honestly have imagined that you would still be continuing the fight after more than 365 days. It would be a cause for celebration if only it wasn’t also a travesty. Nevertheless, it is an opportunity for some reflection on what is taking place and the legacy that your struggle will leave.

Read more: To the Longford maintenance workers

by Lindy Nolan

‘Sacrifice Zone’, a documentary directed by David Lowe and Eve Jeffery, premiered as the Labor administration opened 51 per cent of the Northern Territory to fracking on First Nations’ lands. More is planned for South Australia and Western Australia.

The film systematically unfolds the reality of fracking and the dignity and determination of those standing against it, especially in the Santos Narrabri Gas Project in north western NSW.

Read more: Unmissable and inspiring struggle against fracking’s ‘Sacrifice Zone’