Action updates
ADELAIDE — A Public Transport Community Coalition public meeting here on June 24 called on the State Transport Authority to extend rather than cut services. The meeting was told 14 bus routes as well as train services were threatened. The STA wants to cut train services by about 25% and eliminate them entirely after 7 p.m. on some lines. The committee will hold a demonstration on July 4, at 11 a.m. in Victoria Square.
BRISBANE — The Democratic Socialist Party held a well-attended forum on lesbian and gay liberation and socialism on June 25. Philippa Skinner of the DSP and Darrell O'Donnell from ACT UP spoke on the origins and history of homosexual oppression.
- "As long as there is a Timorese person in this world, Timor will always belong to the Timorese", Alexandrino Corte-Real, representing the East Timorese community, told a cultural night here on June 27. More than 100 people heard speeches calling for an end to Australian government backing for the Indonesian government's repression in East Timor.
- Breakfast at the bus stop, armchairs on roundabouts, poetry booths and mobile phone lines are just some of the activities happening around Brisbane until July 4 as part of the Livable Streets project. Initiated by Street Arts Community Theatre Company and Citizens Advocating Responsible Transport it will culminate on July 4 with the Livable Streets Festival Day at Dath Street, Teneriffe.
MELBOURNE — The Environmental Youth Alliance, Aksi and Resistance organised a June 23 forum, "Inside Indonesia: the struggle for Human Rights and the Environment". Helmi Fauzi from the National Youth Front in Indonesia described the political and economic situation in Indonesia, the student movement and prospects for solidarity work in Australia. Efraime Paulo from the League of Filipino Students spoke of the appalling situation for the people of the Philippines and the potential for organising a broad fight for the transformation of society.
- A June 24 rally was billed by organisers as the last chance to get funding for the North West One Stop Welfare Centre (NOW) in Brunswick. The centre, which provides a rooming house service for single people, accessible housing for disabled people and a safe house for women, faces loss of federal and state funding. Phil Cleary, the recently elected member for Wills, spoke to the rally by phone from Canberra. Support was also received from local state MP Tom Roper.