From bobo at enzyme.org.nz Mon Feb 28 12:32:52 2005 From: bobo at enzyme.org.nz (bobo@enzyme.org.nz) Date: Mon Feb 28 12:32:32 2005 Subject: Aotearoa Action Update #3, March 2005 Message-ID: <1161.210.54.19.123.1109554372.squirrel@www.enzyme.org.nz> AOTEAROA ACTION UPDATE #3 December-March 24 February 2005 Website: http://www.aotearoactionupdate.enzyme.org.nz PDF (w/ images): http://www.aotearoaactionupdate.enzyme.org.nz/actionupdate3.pdf Distribution PDF: http://www.aotearoaactionupdate.enzyme.org.nz/a3actionupdate3.pdf The Aotearoa Action Update is an action newssheet containing a summary of the past two months direct action, civil disobedience, creative action and protest news, upcoming activist court dates, important national dates and action group contacts. Subscription and submission information can be found at the bottom of this document. CONTENTS: ===================== A. ACTION NEWS MAORI: The Ruatoki valley blazes as Tuhoe stands tall CLIMATE: No Climate Chaos: No Coal! GE: Four Arrested at Anti G.E. Tree Convergence MAORI: Waitangi Protests CLIMATE: Protesters Dig Coal Company?s Lawn CLIMATE: STOP Indecent Exposure to Vehicle Emissions ANIMAL RIGHTS: Golf Course Damaged in Duck Cull Protest ANIMAL RIGHTS: 113 Chickens Rescued This Year Already GE: GE Free Victory! BYPASS: ?Direct Action Will Stop the Bypass? TRADE: Rebel Rebellion DIVERSITY: Destiny Church Opposed at School NO BORDERS: Two Years Too Long WELFARE: Santa Gives Peanuts to Beneficiaries IN BRIEF (Summaries of other actions) B. IMPORTANT DATES C. CONTACTS D. NEWSSHEET INFORMATION 1. The Ruatoki valley blazes as Tuhoe stands tall ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16/1/05 TUHOE ROHE: At a Waitangi tribunal hearing in the Ruatoki valley, Tuhoe people of the Urewera region recreated a scene reminiscent of their suffering, persecution and illegal land confiscations by the Crown since the 1860?s. The re-enactment was led by a young Tuhoe tribesman with a Tino Rangatiratanga flag in hand, followed by dozens on horses shouting insults and curses at representatives of the crown who were carried by horse drawn cart. The procession passed five burning cars with messages on their sides symbolic of the Crowns scorched earth policy in the area during which saw Tuhoe being killed, exiled and arrested and their villages being razed to the ground. The cart was then met by 600 chanting Tuhoe, guns shots, several booming haka and challenges by mud smeared and naked male warriors and semi-naked warrior womyn adorned with ta-moko. One Tuhoe with a burning flag in his hand yelled ?Haere mail! Kei te hiakai a Tuhoe!? (?Come Here! Tuhoe is hungry!?) Well known Tuhoe activist, Tame Iti, beared his buttocks in defiance before ceremonially shooting a New Zealand flag. ?We wanted them to feel the heat and smoke and Tuhoe outrage and disgust at the way we have been treated for 200 years. (The Crown) destroyed people?s homes and burned their crops and we wanted them to feel that yesterday. We wanted to demonstrate to them what it feels like being powerless. The confiscation and subsequent colonisation have had a devastating effect on Tuhoe over the past 100 years? said Tame Iti. On reflection bystander Iri Akarana-Rewi of Ngapuhi said ?Maori culture has lost something, it has become catalogued and contained on performance stages at kapa haka festivals, Tuhoe have taken it off the stage and used it to challenge the powers that be and here it is where it should be in all its honest intensity, in the valleys, on the roads and streets as a functioning part of everyday life. My uncle once said that the struggle of people against power was the same as the struggle of remembering against forgetting.? http://www.indymedia.org.nz 2. CLIMATE: No Climate Chaos: No Coal! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20/2/05 - MARSDEN POINT: 500 residents of Ruakaka and Whangarei marched on the beach below the dormant Marsden B power station in protest at Mighty River Power?s proposal to convert the station to coal. Residents from the local hapu, fire service, playcentre and schools were joined by 12 members of the grassroots climate justice group, Auckland Rising Tide and other members of the public at the Greenpeace organised ? B-each Day Out?. The participants spelt out ?NO COAL? and ?NO MARSDEN B? on the beach while the three remaining Greenpeace activists occupying the 50m high roof of the power station waved to those below. Earlier in the week Greenpeace NZ joined worldwide Greenpeace actions on the day the Kyoto Protocol became law by scaling the power station and unveiling a giant banner reading ?SAVE THE CLIMATE, STOP COAL? with an image of a burning planet. In the same week, a group of local surfers held a protest with t-shirts spelling ?surfers against sulphur?. Community support and participation in protests is enormous with a number of local action groups forming. Marsden B would be the first coal power station built in New Zealand in 25 years and would produce annually up to 2.17 million tonnes of the climate changing CO2 and also release toxic substances such as arsenic, dioxins and mercury into the air, land and water. On the 9th day of the occupations the remaining trio of the originally four activists came down from the roof of the dormant power station. http://www.greenpeace.org.nz | http://www.marsdenbad.org.nz | http://auckland.risingtide.org.nz 3. GE: Four Arrested at Anti G.E. Tree Convergence ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Four people were arrested at the site of a field trial of genetically engineered trees at the government owned Forest Research Institute on 8 Sala Street in Rotorua. People from Northland to Christchurch gathered at the site demanding an end to the trials of GE pine and GE spruce trees claiming a lack of evidence that they would not contaminate the environment or be a risk to human and animal health. Scientists at FRI claim that the trial is to assess these very risks but Felicity Perry pointed out that ?Using a field trial to evaluate the environmental risks is akin to starting a bushfire to find out how badly it burns.? ?This is not just about Rotorua. Once genetically engineered organisms contaminate the environment it affects all of New Zealand with irreversible damage. There is no going back,? she said. Activists were arrested for alleged trespass, disorderly behaviour, resisting arrest and obstructing an officer in the act of an arrest. http://www.pmea.org.nz | http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/29085/index.php 4. Waitangi Protests ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Despite the mainstream media representation of Waitangi Day this year as being calm and largely unmarred by protest, it was anything but. With the latest theft of Maori land in the form of the Seabed and Foreshore bill, Maori have yet another blow against them to add to over 200 years of colonisation. More than 3,000 Maori and Pakeha made the journey to Waitangi to protest the Crown?s continuing war against Maori, and this opposition was repeated in various places around the country. The Foreshore and Seabed bill came into effect in January. The bill has stolen seabed and foreshore areas, guaranteed to Maori in the Treaty of Waitangi, and placed them into Crown ownership. This year?s protests were preceded by a 25,000 strong hikoi in Wellington, a number of occupations of beaches and various other protests. In comparison, the government did its best to pretend all was well and organised celebrations that included a 21-gun salute and bouncy castles. This year was certainly quieter, however, with only one arrest being made of a young pakeha man who, it is claimed, launched himself onto Don Brash?s car. In a large part this was due to the new Maori Party, which called for restraint at Waitangi in an effort to increase its credibility. Even so, a significant portion of those at Waitangi consider the Maori Party to be too soft. They claim the party is getting too involved in the system that has been attacking them since its inception, and all sides agree that it is the Maori people, not the party, from whom change will come. http://www.snap.enzyme.org.nz Otautahi pier occupation: http://indymedia.org.nz/feature/display/23397/index.php 5. CLIMATE: Protesters Dig Coal Company?s Lawn ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/12/04 - OTAUTAHI/CHRISTCHURCH: Environmental demonstrators dug up Solid Energy?s front lawn in protest against the planned Happy Valley coal mine. Other protesters, dressed as kiwi, served Solid Energy staff relocation notices in a parody of Solid Energy?s plans to mine the West Coast?s Happy Valley and relocate threatened indigenous species. Kiwi attempted to move Solid Energy staff after ?discovering? coal on the premises. A spokesperson for the group said, ?Solid Energy plans to destroy over 250 hectares of native habitat and poison the surrounding ecosystem. This is ecoterrorism. This is not just a West Coast issue; it?s a national and international issue. Climate change is already happening; coal mining must stop now.? A kiwi spokesperson (translated) stated, ?You dig our home, we?ll dig yours!? Police were heard to remark, ?they are running like chickens?, when it was quite clearly the case that the protesters were kiwi. savehappyvalley@enzyme.org.nz | http://www.happyvalley.enzyme.org.nz | http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/23539/index.php 6. CLIMATE: STOP Indecent Exposure to Vehicle Emissions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13/2/05 - AUCKLAND, GOLDEN BAY, LAKE TEKAPO: As a part of the southern hemisphere World Naked Bike Ride, 21 cyclists from Auckland, 100 from Golden Bay and a dozen from Lake Tekapo went as bare as they dared in protest against oil dependency. Golden Bay and Lake Tekapo rides were enjoyable, fun and well received. In Auckland, one organiser was arrested for alleged ?indecent exposure? for failing to cover his lower-half when asked by a police officer. The rest of the cyclists were then forced to cover their lower halves and directed on a new route to the one planned. The womyn involved were allowed to remain topless. Regardless of the over-the-top police presence, the ride was enjoyable and brought smiles to walkers, people in cafes and drivers on Karangahape Rd. At court on Thursday morning, the arrested cyclist arrived at court without clothes and was supported by three other naked activists. Wrapped in a banner reading: ?STOP indecent exposure to vehicle emissions? the protesters highlighted the irony that an activist was charged with ?Indecent Exposure? when transport causes 40% of our climate changing CO2 emissions aswell as 94 accident related deaths and 250 vehicle emissions related deaths in Auckland last year alone. The charged activist then entered the court building fully naked but got dressed before entering court where he pleaded not guilty. aucklandnakedbikeride@enzyme.org.nz | http://www.wnbr.enzyme.org.nz/auckland.html | http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org 7. ANIMAL RIGHTS: Golf Course Damaged in Duck Cull Protest ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the eve of the New Zealand Open (9/2/05), three golf greens at the Gulf Harbour Country Club were damaged in protest to the clubs unnecessary killing of 18 ducks in preparation for the $1.5 million event, expected to be viewed in 200 million homes around the world. Two of the victims of the clubs massacre were tame ducks, dubbed by locals ?Daphne? (pictured above) and ?Sir Francis Drake?. Holes the size of dinnerplates were dug into three greens. The word ?MURDERS? was also left on the greens written with petrol or oil. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/29493/index.php 8. ANIMAL RIGHTS: 113 Chickens Rescued This Year Already ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AUCKLAND: 113 chickens have been rescued this year in Auckland alone, including 22 that were liberated on the early hours of New Years Day. De-beaked and anaemic chickens were rescued from crammed cages that don?t allow chickens to move and that rub them raw causing featherlessness. Video footage and photographs given to Auckland Animal Action will be used to further expose the atrocity that is battery farming. ?We are fed up with the pathetic legal system which allows the immense suffering and exploitation of over 2.8 million battery hens in New Zealand. The recently reviewed codes of welfare released by Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton are nothing more than a cruel joke for the animals. We have had enough of waiting for compassionate change within the legal system. We will continue to take the law into our own hands as long as these laws are unjust.?- ALF. All the birds have been placed into new and safe homes. http://www.aucklandanimalaction.org.nz | aucklandanimalaction@yahoo.co.nz 9. GE: GE Free Victory! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NATIONWIDE: After constant pressure by grassroots G.E. free activists throughout the country, several national days of action, weekly noisy protests by Auckland GenetiX Action (AGA), online sit-ins, constant stickering by the Ge Free Sticker Brigade, nightime actions (that included the locking shut of 10 KFC outlets in one night) and almost daily pickets by Greenpeace ? Inghams and KFC finally committed to sourcing GE Free soy chicken feed. ?This is a major step towards a GE Free Aotearoa. It sends a clear message to companies and other activists that action gets the goods. Even by simply standing outside a KFC outlet every week and deterring customers has been much more successful than hours wasted letter or submission writing? a member of AGA said. ?Tens of thousands of New Zealanders have protested against GE and thousands of submissions have been written ? but in the end the government and business listen to one thing only ? money. The only way to get heard is if you hit them directly where it hurts ? their public image and most importantly in the pocket? he concluded. http://www.stop-inghams-ge.org | http://www.pmea.org.nz | http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/23761/index.php 10. BYPASS: ?Direct Action Will Stop the Bypass? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WELLINGTON: After being stalled since the sixties, the Wellington bypass started with a 40 million dollar contract being awarded to Fulton Hogan and immediate community resistance. In January, ten people were arrested for chaining themselves to the steps, roof and storage room of a building due to be demolished. The protesters had sneaked into the building at 5am with enough food and water for five days as well as buckets for toilets. Most of the protesters were removed by 10am but it took another three hours to cut the d-lock attached to the remaining two womyn, including one who was pregnant. Other recent actions included a local who locked herself to the track of a moving digger in the process of demolishing a building, several remembrance vigils, a soccer game with 30 people that closed down a Shell Petrol Station that highlighted Shell?s 37% holding in Fulton Hogan and a peaceful protest where two protesters were arrested for attempting to stop a project manager from removing banners from a work site. ?Direct Action works and we?ll make them use all of the $2 million allocated to security!? aba@enzyme.org.nz | http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/25971/index.php 11. TRADE: Rebel Rebellion ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WELLINGTON: Around 20 people rebelled against Rebel Sports at their store on Cuba/Manners street to show their solidarity with sacked workers of a Thai Nike factory. A Thai clothing worker may earn only $NZ2 for making a Nike jacket which sells for $NZ160 in Rebel Sports. Last October three workers at a NIKE factory in Thailand were dismissed after recruiting members for their union. The New Zealand government is about to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Thailand which will have a huge negative impact on Thai dairy farmers and the New Zealand manufacturing industry. With an FTA New Zealand will profit even more from the exploitation of Thai workers. http://www.snap.enzyme.org.nz 12. DIVERSITY: Destiny Church Opposed at School ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31/1/05 - WELLINGTON: 50 queer, Left and student activists protested at Wellington High School in opposition to the use of school facilities by the cult-like Destiny Church. In August 2004 a petition was signed by over half the students at the school calling for the end of the use of its hall by Destiny. An agreement was reached with the Principal to have the religious zealots relocate their activities. They are still there and the students feel insulted by the lack of action. Anne Moar spoke for the student-based ?Not In Our Schools? group, saying ?Our school administration have ignored our pleas, ignored our emails and our letters. They have ignored letters from prominent members of our community. We will not be ignored.? The demonstration ended after about an hour, with participants enthusiastic to continue calling for the school to be a hate-free zone. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/29269/index.php 13. NO BORDERS: Two Years Too Long ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solidarity protests where held throughout the country for political refugee Ahmed Zaoui until his release on bail into the care of Dominican priests in Auckland. He had been in jail for 2 years. http://www.freezaoui.org.nz 14. WELFARE: Santa Gives Peanuts to Beneficiaries ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14/12/04 AUCKLAND: Santa handed out peanuts to beneficiaries at WINZ last christmas to show what he said beneficiaries were going to get from the Labour led Government. Members of UNITE! Waitemata branch and supporters were protesting core benefit cuts such as the disabilities allowance and special benefit as well as discrimination against beneficiaries in this year?s budget. Vice-president Janet Bogle pointed out that that Christmas is an especially hard time for beneficiaries, as they struggle to afford things that most New Zealanders take for granted such as presents for their children, visits to grandparents, and trips to the beach. ?The In Work Payment in this year?s ?family friendly budget is only for non- beneficiaries?, she said.? This is discrimination. ?Children of beneficiaries need support just as much as children of non-beneficiaries.? Ms Bogle said that the Disability Allowance was also being eroded. One example is that people who received the Disability Allowance for Counselling, were being made to re-apply after ten sessions. ?This causes stress and hardship for beneficiaries with long term difficulties?, she said. A mother on the DPB at the WINZ said she was very pleased that beneficiaries were getting organised. The same branch of Unite! also confronted Don Brash at his Orewa speech on January 25. http://www.unite.org.nz | http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/23607/index.php 15. IN BRIEF ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wellington Anti-GE Action sent a delegation of peasant farmers to visit Marian Hobbs and spread sterile seed all over her office in protest of the proposal to legitimise terminator technology. The proposal has been put off for another year but they urge us to keep up the pressure. 11/12/04 - WELLINGTON: ?Colonist? protesters satirically declared the Australian commissions grounds ?Terra Nullius?, apprehended and silenced a kangaroo, dyed a fountain red and plastered bloodied hands over the front of the building as a symbolic protest of the ongoing deaths of indigenous Australians in their struggle for self-determination. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/23542/index.php Auckland Animal Action held a noisy home demo outside the house of the CEO of Wet Seal, an international company involved in the bloody fur trade and have held other anti-fur demos at ?All At Sea?, ?Orange Girl? and ?Girl Line?. AAA have also held ?Kiwi For Cruelty?/anti-factory farming demos at KFC. http://www.aucklandanimalaction.org.nz PORIRUA: Maori picketers forced two dollar shops and emporiums throughout the country to remove Tino Rangatiratanga and other paraphernalia adorned with popular Maori symbols that the protesters claim shop breaches copyright. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/23610/index.php 30/12/04 The ?objective? political website, NZPolitics, was defaced by AussieBoy who made their private forums publicly viewable to highlight its hidden extreme right wing politics. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/23831/index.php 15 Feb 2005 WELLINGTON: The ?Hysterical Terrorists? held an anti-consumerism performance outside of two jewellery stores on valentines day in protest against our ?desire and devotion? to expensive gifts at the expense of the environment. They also protested womyns pleasure and fulfilment being reduced to earning these rewards as girlfriends, wives and lovers. They proposed masturbation as a healthy and environmentally sustainable alternative. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/29554/index.php AUCKLAND: Two recent Critical Mass bicycle rides have seen over twenty participants each and have stopped traffic and temporarily reclaimed the streets for cyclists. No nudity was involved. Join or start a critical mass at 5:30 every last friday of the month in your area. http://criticalmass.enzyme.org.nz | http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/29401/index.php B. IMPORTANT DATES: ===================== 8/3/05 - International Womyns Day 19/3/05 - 2nd Year of Iraq War 21/3/05 - Naked Cyclist Court (AK) (aucklandnakedbikeride@enzyme.org.nz) 31/3/05 - Anti GE-Tree Activist Court (Rotorua) (peoplesmoratorium@riseup.net) 1/5/05 - May Day C. CONTACTS: ===================== ECO-ACTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AKL Earth First! - auckland@earthfirst.org.nz Save Happy Valley Campaign - http://happyvalley.enzyme.org.nz Critical Mass Alert! - http://criticalmass.enzyme.org.nz CLIMATE JUSTICE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auckland Rising Tide - auckland@risingtide.org.nz | http://auckland.risingtide.org.nz Rising Tide NZ - contact@enzyme.org.nz | http://www.risingtide.org.nz Marsden Bad - http://www.marsdenbad.org.nz Transport Action Group - tag@enzyme.org.nz ANTI-GE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peoples Moratorium Enforcement Agency (PMEA) ? peoplesmoratorium@riseup.net | http://www.pmea.org.nz Stop Inghams GE - http://www.stop-inghams-ge.org ANARCHISM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anarchist Round Table (ChCh) - http://art.anarchism.org.nz Aotearoa Anarchist Portal - http://www.anarchism.org.nz SOCIAL JUSTICE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Global Peace & Justice Auckland - http://www.gpja.pl.net Anti-Bypass Action (Wellington) - aba@enzyme.org.nz PEACE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peace Action Wellington - http://paw.randomstatic.net MAORI ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tino Rangatiratanga - http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz/ ANIMAL RIGHTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auckland Animal Action ? aucklandanimalaction@yahoo.co.nz | http://www.aucklandanimalaction.org.nz Campaign Against Factory Farming ? http://www.caff.org.nz Wellington Animal Action - http://waa.enzyme.org.nz Animal Liberation - http://www.animal-liberation.org.nz Meat Free Media - http://www.meatfreemedia.org UNION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maritime Union - http://www.munz.org.nz Unite - http://www.unite.org.nz MEDIA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aotearoa Indymedia - http://www.indymedia.org.nz Aotearoa Caf? (Maori) - http://www.aocafe.com Dissident Voice! - http://www.dissidentvoice.org.nz Enzyme (Radical Web Hosting) - http://www.enzyme.org.nz Snap! (Community Broadsheet) - http://snap.enzyme.org.nz INFOSHOPS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Freedom Shop - P.O. Box 9263, Wellington - Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 12-4pm | the_freedom_shop@yahoo.com Blackstar Books - Info@blackstar.dystopia.net.nz | PO Box 812, Dunedin, +64 3 470 1966, 24 Stafford St, Dunedin | http://blackstar.dystopia.net.nz/ INDYMEDIA RADIO ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Chomsky (Ak) - 107.1fm, Grey Lynn - aaron@llamatech.co.nz The Station (Ham) - 88.5 FM - info@station.org.nz - http://www.station.org.nz Matrix (Wel) - 107.5 FM, Central - matrix1075fm@yahoo.com D. INFORMATION ===================== Please send anything you'd like put up on our website or included in this news sheet to Bobo: bobo@enzyme.org.nz The news sheet is a tight short format so if your info is too long we might put it up on the web page and just refer to it in the update. To view previous editions of the Aotearoa Action Update, or if you have problems reading this html format on email, visit the Action Update Archive at http://aotearoactionupdate.enzyme.org.nz This action update was brought to you by http://www.enzyme.org.nz. This document aims to help build a non-sectarian left action orientated movement. For more information... email: bobo@enzyme.org.nz Phone: +64 (9) 361 6990 Address: PO BOX 7523, Wellesley St, Auckland, Aotearoa/ New Zealand Web site: http://aotearoaactionupdate.enzyme.org.nz PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO A FRIEND AND INVITE THEM TO JOIN THE LIST To subscribe to this list send a blank e-mail to actionupdate-subscribe@lists.enzyme.org.nz To unsubscribe from this list send a blank e-mail to actionupdate-ussubscribe@lists.enzyme.org.nz Please support http://www.indymedia.org.nz! END -- Bobo Enzyme Co-Ordinator http://www.enzyme.org.nz Enymze provides koha web services for activists engaged in non-authoritarian struggles for human liberation, workers self-management, indigenous rights, the ethical treatment of animals, and ecological sustainability.