Melbourne Social Forum News – January 2007

In This Issue
* Melbourne Social Forum 2007
* Invitation to Participate
* Next MSF Organising Meeting (January 18)
* MSF Community Council
* News, Actions, and Events

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MELBOURNE SOCIAL FORUM 2007

Mark the weekend of April 20-22 in your new 2007 diaries, because this
year’s Melbourne Social Forum promises to be an inspiring and useful
community event!

Social movements, individuals, organisations and socially progressive /
eco-friendly  businesses  are welcome to take part in the festivities by holding
workshops, running stalls, volunteering for logistical support or just turning
up to learn more about how Melbourne fits into the global movement for
social justice and ecological sustainability.

To find out more about how you can participate in this year’s
Melbourne Social Forum, visit www.melbournesocialforum.org, email
info@melbournesocialforum.org, or drop by the organising meeting
(details below).

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INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE

Happy New Year! If you’ve made a resolution to become more involved in
the movement for sustainable social and environmental justice, we have
a suggestion for you: BECOME AN MSF ORGANISER! Joining the MSF crew is
a great way to contribute your wisdom, learn new skills, and use
whatever skills you have already to help Melbourne take a step or two
further on the path to global justice.

The MSF organising process is a collaborative experiment in
participatory democracy, which means:
* Everyone teaches, everyone learns
* Meetings are open and transparent
* Organisers choose their own roles and responsibilities
* Organising roles can be tailored to suit your individual needs and talents

Organisers can choose to take on the following tasks:
* Designing and maintaining the MSF website
* Expanding the network of organisations involved in the MSF
* Inviting people to participate in the MSF as speakers, artists, or
workshop holders
* Event promotion (design and distribution of posters, fliers, etc)
* Media promotion
* Administrative tasks (i.e. budget management, volunteer coordinating, etc)

The MSF Organising team offers a supportive skill-sharing opportunity
that is ideal for:
* People who wish to learn more about global justice networking
* Students and others seeking work experience, particularly in the
fields of community development,      media and communication, event
management, website engineering, and arts management
* People wanting to familiarize themselves with the Melbourne NGO community
* People looking for a creative outlet to express their vision of a better world
[If you know someone who fits this description, feel free to pass this on!!]

If you think you might like to help put together the April 2007
Melbourne Social Forum, then try coming along to the next meeting to
find out first hand about the organising process. If you can’t make it
this time, stay tuned to www.melbournesocialforum.org to find out the
details of future meetings.

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NEXT MSF ORGANISING MEETING

Thursday Jan 18th, 6pm
4 Agnes St, Thornbury
(Chris’s house)

All are welcome!

Keep informed about future meetings by visiting
www.melbournesocialforum.org regularly.

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MELBOURNE SOCIAL FORUM COMMUNITY COUNCIL

The Melbourne Social Forum is embarking on an initiative to build an
MSF Community Council.  It is a great opportunity for representative
organisations and movements to get involved in the future direction of the MSF, and
to network and collaborate more intensively with other organisations involved.

It is envisioned that this Council will add to each organisation a greater capacity
to navigate local to global civil society networks, as well as a greater sense of
solidarity and capacity for collaboration across organisations. It is expected the
Council will represent a diversity of organisations from various areas. The Council
can work together toward developing more effective and dynamic approaches and
strategies for making Another World Possible.

The MSF invites your organisation,  your group, or your movement, to become part
of an MSF Community Council of supporting groups and organisations! Through
2007, together with you, the MSF will collaboratively develop what such a
Community  Council will be.

Interested groups, organisations and movements should contact the MSF at: info@melbournesocialforum.org

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NEWS, ACTIONS, AND EVENTS

[Please take note of the MSF Newsletter Policy detailed below the
event listings.]

NEWS

A recent talk (in audio format) by Noam Chomsky on ‘Creating Another
World in a Time of War, Empire and Devastation’  (addressing the plans
being discussed by a number of heads of state to create a  unified
South America):
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/01/155215

An article on what we can do to minimize our impact on global climate change:
http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/84/areYouKyoto.shtml

At last!!! Some GOOD news about the hole in the ozone layer:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5276994.stm

Inter Press Service has extensive coverage of the 2007 World Social
Forum in Nairobi:
http://www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/wsf/index.asp

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ACTION

Australia to Host War Games This Year

Operation Talisman Sabre (OTS 07) is scheduled to take place over a 6
week period from May-July 2007. According to the Public Environment
Report released October 2006 it will involve approximately 13,700 US
personnel and 12,400 Australian personnel. Exercise activity will be
located at Australian Defence training areas including the
Australian-US “training facilities”: Shoalwater Bay in Queensland and
Bradshaw and Delamere Range in the Northern Territory. Support sites
including civilian facilities in Australia, offshore and overseas will
also be utilised.
Operation Talisman Sabre will utilise and traverse areas of high
environmental significance, i.e. world heritage areas, such as the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and natural heritage listed sites
which include indigenous sites and Ramsar wetlands. These areas are
habitat to many migratory birds and threatened species such as dugongs
and humpback whales. Environmental impacts identified by the
Department of defence include effects on air quality, fire potential,
noise pollution, waste disposal and spills and erosion from amphibian
craft landings and weapon target zones.
See map of areas affected by OTS07 here:
http://peaceconvergence.com/pdf/ts07map.pdf
There is a wide range of groups and individuals working towards
protests against the Operation Talisman Sabre in 2007.  In most states
there are people working on this, so if you join one of the lists you
will get a sense of who these are and be able to link in with their
activities. If there is no-one in your region, you may want to set up
your own group. There are groups in the communities most directly
affected (Yeppoon and Rockhampton for example) who are organising
towards OTS, and some are developing public websites also.

In the meantime, for some further information on OTS 07 see:

Peace Convergence (Queensland based organisation):
http://www.peaceconvergence.com/
info@peaceconvergence.com PO Box 5829, West End Q 4101

Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition (Sydney based organisation)
http://www.anti-bases.org/

The SHOE plea:
For the OTS 07 protests, Peace Convergence and Brisbane Friends of the
Earth are collecting 655 shoes, each pair representing a thousand
deaths since the Iraq war began. The shoes will be made into an
installation to build awareness on the ongoing war and TS07.
Brisbane Friends of the Earth is the collection point. They are
located at 294 Montague Rd, West End, Brisbane. Call Kim for more info
on 0413 397 839.

Defending Peace E-List:
Defending Peace is an e-list discussion group established in Australia
in 2000. This list was designed to be a discussion list between
activists and some organisations working on peace issues around
Australia and has been helpful in organising a range of activities
over these past six years. Defending Peace is not an organisation,
more a conduit for conversation. This list is not exclusively for
organising towards OTS (the list from Peace Convergence is) so this is
more for people keen to participate in the broader issues of peace
activism in Australia.

If you would like to join Defending Peace, let me know by return
email. I will then send you an invitation from Yahoo Groups, and you
just follow the prompts to join. You can unsubscribe yourself whenever
you want to. If you have any difficulty please contact me via
dimity.hawkins@gmail.com.au

CLICK to JOIN THE INFO LIST ON PEACE CONVERGENCE:
http://lists.peaceconvergence.com/mailman/listinfo/ts-07

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EVENTS

JANUARY 12-16 -  Initiatives of Change International Conference

The role of Australia as a member of the international community has
increasingly come under scrutiny in the last few years, especially as
a neighbour in the Mid-East, Asia and Pacific regions. How do Pacific
Islanders and people of Asia view Australia? How do Australians treat
their own minority groups here in Australia? Do Australian activists,
community organisers and leaders, leading thinkers, senior government
officials and leading business houses genuinely want to build a better
Australia? What is Australia’s bottom line? What visions of Australia
do we want to experience?

“Initiatives of Change” is hosting an International Conference:

Friday 12-16 January, 2007
Melbourne University
International House
241 Royal Parade, Parkville

Theme: “Australia as a Neighbour”

In the Pacific, Australia’s relationship with the people/government of
Timor Leste, PNG, Solomons, Bouganville, Fiji, and Tonga, in
particular Australia’s response to crisis, has raised major questions
of Australia’s role in the Pacific region.

In this conference, our neighbours from the Pacific Islands and Asia
will present their views on how they see and experience Australia as a
neighbour. In addition, leaders of local minority community groups
(eg., indigenous Australian and Muslim communities) will also share
their collective experience.

The conference will also address the “bottom line” of Australia’s
engine room of economic growth in corporate Australia and the work
place which is at the core of the ‘new Australia’ that has evolved as
a result of the so called economic success story in the last decade.
Within this context, Australia’s sustainability as a community living
within the contraints of its physical envinronment will be questioned
with options shared and discussed. This international gathering comes
with a difference because it not only encourages the meeting of the
minds, but also genuinely attempts at providing the opportunity for
people to share their personal stories.

You too may have a story to share.

Official invitation and registration form available at www.au.iofc.org
or from Conference Coordinator, 226 Kooyong Road, Toorak, VIC 3142
(Tel: 03 9822 1218, e-mail: melbourne.conference@au.iofc.org)

To view the conference program, visit:
http://www.au.iofc.org/conferences/melbconf/
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FEBRUARY 8 – John Pilger: Freedom Next Time

John Pilger will speak to the themes of his latest book about the
enduring struggle of ordinary people for justice and freedom in the
face of empire and its deceits. For more info about John Pilger go to
http://www.greenleft.org.au

John Pilger speaks: Freedom Next Time.
Central Conference Centre
Cnr Swanston & Little Lonsdale Sts
Melbourne CBD
8 Feb 2007 – 7:00pm

Presented by Green Left Weekly (in association with Readings Bookshops).
Tickets $18/$12.
For info ph 9639 8622.

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FEBRUARY 16-18  -  Sustainable Living Festival

The Sustainable Living Festival is a celebration and showcase of
leading examples of sustainable living in Australia, drawing together
a wide variety of displays, exhibits, artworks, performances,
demonstrations and workshops to inspire a sustainable culture.
Federation Square – Free Entry
http://www.slf.org.au/festival/

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MARCH 1-2:  Interdisciplinary Forum

The Future of the WTO

An interdisciplinary forum to discuss the future of the WTO is being
organised by postgraduate students. Academics, postgraduate students,
and representatives from NGOs are invited to attend.

Organized by: Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne
For more information, visit the website:
http://www.politics.unimelb.edu.au/news/wto.html
Or e-mail: politics-wto@unimelb.edu.au

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WANTED

The Stick Together Show  (a nationally syndicated union and industrial
affairs program) is looking  for creative people to help with
producing the show, making documentaries,  organising public meetings,
creating and maintaining a website/blog  etc.

Experience is not necessary!

If you are interested please  contact Colm:

Mobile: 0432 504 531

Email: hayduke@optusnet.com.au

Contact (03) 9029-4714

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MSF Newsletter Policy

The Melbourne Social Forum invites all groups and individuals who
have participated in social forums in Melbourne to give us information
about upcoming protests / direct action, discussion / debates
forums,seminars, fundraisers, workshops, educational opportunities,
celebrations and other events. As well relevant news stories (links)
pertaining to the global justice / global democracy /
alter-globalisation movements are also welcome. We will then send
this information through our newsletter on a monthly basis.

While the Melbourne Social Forum (like most social forums) will not
endorse the activity and agenda of one group over another, we aim to
facilitate the interlinking of progressive activism, networking
between groups, and cross fertilisation of ideas among a diversity of
perspectives, in making another, better world, possible. In this
spirit we invite all to send us information that can be sent out to
our wider network, which promotes common cause / common ground
issues, as opposed to the promotion of a particular group, or a particular
group’s agenda.

For events:
Please provide a concise paragra
h about the event, who it is being
organised by and contact information.

For news items:
Please provide a summary with author and source plus a link to the
story (not the whole story).

Information will be vetted based on the MSF charter of principles.
See:
http://melbournesocialforum.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=55

Please try to submit your information to us at least 30 days in
advance of the event, as we will only send out one newsletter per
month.

Direct any questions or submissions for the newsletter to:
news@melbournesocialforum.org