GPJA SPECIAL EVENTS NOTICE, NOVEMBER 5, 2002
Dear friends,
This is a special notice to update the ³What¹s On in Auckland² section of the GPJA Newsletter. Of special importance for
GPJA is a request for people to help organise a mass antiwar picket of the US Consulate on December 14. A meeting to
plan this picket is being held this Thursday, November 6, 7pm at the Auckland Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd. If war
begins before then we will be rallying outside the US Consulate at 5pm the same day.
Other activities to check out that have been added to ³What¹s On² are some events to help publicise the GE Free Rally
on November 16, an STV fundraiser November 15 and a special seminar on Public Private Partnerships November 17. The
regular GPJA Committee meeting is on Sunday, November 24. This is an open committee for people who want to get active.
70 people attended the GPJA forum Monday night on ³The WTO, Gatts and Privatisation² with Jane Kelsey and Penny Bright
speaking. Representatives of the Steven Wallace Trust Fund for Justice were present and gave a moving account of their
struggle. $200 was collected for the fund on the evening but this is a fight that will cost tens of thousands of
dollars. If you can help phone 090058784 to make a $20 donation.
I also failed to put the dates for the Waihope Spybase protest next year in the last newsletter. It is from Friday
January 25 to Sunday January 26 (which happens to be a long weekend for Aucklanders).
WHAT¹S ON IN AUCKLAND
Ongoing to November 16
Join the team holding banners, and leafleting, at road intersections in Auckland to advertise the GE Free March and
Rally on 16 November! If you are interested in joining the Banner Vigil Schedule, please contact Karyn Amoore tel (09)
358 4105 or email mailto:amoorenz@yahoo.com
Wednesday, November 6, 3pm, Carlton Hotel, Mayoral Drive
Picket by the Water Pressure Group of yet another business seminar promoting Public private Partnerships as the way to
privatise public services for profit. Contact Penny Bright Ph 8469825
Wednesday, November 6 & 13, 8.30 pm EARTHWISE Radio - PLAINS FM 96.9
Susan George, a French citizen born in America, living in Paris, has written A Fate Worse Than Debt and other works on
the impacts of globalisation. This Wednesday (6th) Earthwise features a discussion of her work, and the following
Wednesday (13th) a special interview with Susan George, focussing on the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) -
a proposal for worldwide privatisation of public services like water, health, and education. Not to be missed!
Thursday, November 7, 7pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd.
Help organise protest action against the war on Iraq
Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, All Saints Church, Ponsonby
ŒThen and now - the theology of armed violence¹, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship National Conference and Open Day, speakers
include Revd Geoff Haworth, Dr Margaret Bedggood, and Dr Chris Marshall; there is a session on ' Seeking Peace in
Israel-Palestine' with Boris Lubetzky of the Auckland Jewish Community and Tuma Hazou, a Christian Arab and former
Middle East correspondent for BBC, NBC and ABC. From midday Friday to evening Saturday. $25 including lunch, please RSVP
by 2 November if you¹re planning on going.
For more info or to book please contact Chris Barfoot, tel (09) 575 6142, fax (09) 575 4836 or e-mail mailto:barfoots@xtra.co.nz
Saturday, November 9, 9am, Alexandra Park racecourse.
NZ First Conference ³Say No to Racist Scapegoating².
Saturday, November 9, 11am, Entrance Viaduct Basin.
Anti aerial spray protest. For further info email mailto:wasp@xtra.co.nz or phone 8272516
Wednesday, November 13, 8.30 pm EARTHWISE Radio - PLAINS FM 96.9
Second part of Susan George interview (see November 6 entry)
Wednesday, November 13, 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn
³Is Bali our S11?² Public Forum with Tim Behrend on Indonesian Islamic Groups and Scott Hamilton on the real terrorists
in the region. Sponsored by the Anti-Imperialist Coalition.
Thursday, November 14, 7.30pm, Maidment Theatre, University of Auckland
PEACE FOUNDATION¹S 2002 MEDIA PEACE AWARDS. Nga Tohu Rongomau Papaho. In association with the 'Like Minds' Awards
Special Guest Speaker: Tom Scott - Journalist, Cartoonist. MC¹s Carol Hirschfeld and John Campbell. Tickets: $25.00
waged, $15.00 unwaged Tickets at Maidment Theatre. Phone: 09 308 2383. http://www.peace.net.nz/
Friday, November 15, 5.30pm 7.30pm, 7 Bourne St, Mt Eden
Fundraiser for the Auckland STV Poll demand campaign. Evening drinks and Hors d¹oeuvres at the home of former Mayor
Chris Fletcher. $20 inclusive. RSVP¹s appreciated: Ph 3615975 by November 13. STV it¹s not a disease, it¹s the cure.
The ailment? The voting system we use to elect our local body representatives. Symptoms include a Mayor with no mandate
(the majority voted for other candidates) and a ³First City of the Pacific² Council that just does not reflect
Auckland¹s diversity. STV stands for Single Transferable Voting and is used throughout the world. STV is a proportional
and preferential voting system where you rank candidates in order of preference (1, 2, 3Š). STV guarantees that mayors
can only be elected with a majority of preferences. If enough electors sign the STV Poll Demand by 12 December, the
Council will be obliged to hold a binding referendum on the voting system. STV let the voters decide. http://www.stvnz.org
Friday, November 15
The final deadline for submissions on the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Genetically Modified Organisms)
Amendment Bill, which allows for open field trials and commercial releases of GE crops. For more information check out http://www.gefree.org.nz (scan down the page until you reach the relevant text); you can download a simple submission as a Word document at http://www.gefree.org.nz/HSNoForm.doc The official Public Discussion Paper 'Improving the Operation of the HSNO Act for New Organisms; Including Proposals in
Response to Recommendations of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification' is available at http://www.mfe.govt.nz/about/publications/hsno/discussion-paper/index.html Saturday, November 16, 12 noon, Aotea Sq, Queen St, City GE-FREE MARCH Demand a GE-Free Aotearoa, in food and
environment. The government is ignoring majority public opinion. Show them that the GE-Free movement is more powerful
than ever. This march has been endorsed by GE-Free coalitions and groups nation-wide, there will be people converging on
Auckland from all over NZ. Contact the Auckland GE-Free Coalition (Karyn 09 3584105 mailto:amoorenz@yahoo.com) or MAdGE (Mothers Against GE) ph 09 3093838 if you can help with distributing leaflets, posters, stalls, marshalling,
fundraising, and the multitude of other tasks vital before and on the day. http://www.madge.net.nz Sunday, November 17, 10am-4pm, Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, Dominion Rd. The Government's secret agenda to involve big
business in Public-Private Partnerships has been exposed Š now the public debate needs to begin! A one-day seminar with
speakers including Jane Kelsey, John Minto, Mered Barrar, Penny Bright and Sue Henry on topics including: what¹s wrong
with Public- Private- Partnerships (PPPs)? Are PPPs the new wave of privatisation? Are PPPs just a mechanism for
corporate welfare? Who are the winners and who are the losers? How are PPPs, the WTO and GATTS interlinked? How do PPPs
affect our community, our country¹s future and us all? Lunch provided, a koha to help cover expenses will be gratefully
received. Supported by Wake Up Auckland, Citizens Against Privatisation, Water Pressure Group (Auckland), Global Peace
and Justice Auckland, and Action Research Education Network Aotearoa (ARENA). For more info contact Penny Bright tel
(09) 846 9825 or email mailto:pennybright@xtra.co.nz Monday, November 18, 8am-11am, Sheraton Hotel, Symonds St, Auckland Protest at 3rd International Pacific Rim
Biotechnology Conference. Take the morning off work to boost numbers at this important protest. Demand our food and
environment remain free of GE, and free from the corporate agenda of the biotech industry to own the food supply, and
our bodies. The last frontier of colonisation! Monday, November 18, 7pm, Glenfield Community Centre, cnr Bentley
Ave/Glenfield Rd.
³Peace, Tolerance and Civil Liberties². Public meeting with Keith Locke, Green party Foreign Affairs spokesperson.
Friday, November 22, 7-30pm, at the The Religious Society of Friends / Te Haahi Tuuhauwiri meeting house, 113 Mt Eden
Road. Tony Maturin speaks about his experiences as Quaker Peace and Service NZ delegate on the Belgium/Iraq Friendship
Society peace delegation to Iraq in April 2002. Friday, November 22, 6pm - Sunday November 24, 3pm, Kotare Education
Centre - 510 Wayby Station Rd, Wellsford. Coalition Building Skills for Social Change Activists: A workshop for key
networkers in different activist groups such as peace and justice, Te Tiriti, women's liberation, anti corporate
globalisation or GE FREE Aotearoa. We invite groups to send a person who is a good networker, plays a facilitator role
and understands both coalitions and the central values of your group. A fundamentalist view of struggle or methods is
not relevant. Enrol early, as numbers are limited to 15. Facilitators Catherine Delahunty and Tim Howard will lead the
process. Email mailto:cdelahunty@clear.net.nz
Sunday, November 24, 10am, 84 Paice Ave, Sandringham
GPJA Committee meeting. All welcome who want to get active.
Sunday, November 24, 1pm, Waipapa Marae, Auckland University (behind St Andrews Church. Symposium on the Palestinian
struggle with speakers, documentary films, and action workshops, concludes with Palestinian dinner, followed by
Palestinian traditional dance performance (Dabkah). There will be a focus on four main issues: the NZ government's trade
and commercial links to Israel; NZ companies that trade with Israel; NZ universities links with Israel; and ways to
highlight NZ wide the struggles of the Palestinian people - any advance research on these topics would be appreciated.
Starts at 1pm, will end around 8pm. free entry, a small koha (donation) would be appreciated. Hosted by Auckland
University Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), supported by Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC), Auckland, for
more info contact Zaeem email mailto:zeebee001@hotmail.com or Suzy tel (09) 520 0201.
Monday November 25 to Sunday December 1 (in Auckland)
'Courageous Women in Dangerous Times: Women Working for Peace', the Gertrud Baer Seminar 2002, ³from banners, blockades
and bolt cutters to interventions at the United Nations, women working for peace use a variety of ways and means to get
the message
across²; an opportunity for young women to be part of the first International WILPF meeting to be held in Aotearoa/NZ.
The seminar weaves in and out of the WILPF meeting - a chance to learn from each other and from peace women from around
the world; includes a two-day seminar ŒThe Impact of Colonisation on Indigenous Women and the Environment¹, with
workshops with indigenous women from Aotearoa/New Zealand and other parts of the Pacific. $250 / $100 (subsidised), cost
includes seminars, workshops, meals and accommodation. Restricted to 25 young women, registration deadline is 25
October. For more information or a registration form, contact < mailto:pma@xtra.co.nz > (please put GB Seminar in subject line) or Gertrud Baer Seminar, c/o PMA, PO Box 9314, Wellington.
Tuesday, November 26 and Wednesday, November 27 (in Auckland)
ŒThe Effects of Colonisation on Indigenous Women and the Environment¹, a two day seminar with indigenous women from
Aotearoa/New Zealand and other parts of the Pacific, begins at 9am on the Tuesday with a pöwhiri, closes with a
poroporoakï at 4-30pm on the Wednesday, includes a bus tour showing the effects of colonisation on the environment in
the Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland area, hangi, workshops and discussion groups; $112 all inclusive cost, overnight
accommodation available at $10 or $59 - all women welcome. Part of the International WILPF 2002 meeting; for more
information or a registration form, contact mailto:pma@xtra.co.nz (please put Colonisation Seminar in subject line) or WILPF Aotearoa, PO Box 47-189, Ponsonby, Auckland.
Monday, December 2, 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn.
GPJA FORUM: ³The state of democracy in Auckland City² with a panel of speakers.
OTHER NEWS/EVENTS
IRAQ PEACE DELEGATION. Dharmacharini Navachitta has asked to circulate a proposal for a delegation of Zealanders to join
an international effort to send ³human shields² to Iraq to deter a US/British attack. Although GPJA hasn¹t endorsed the
project we are happy to pass on her contact email for people who may be interested. mailto:navachitta@compuserve.com
OCEANIA SOCIAL FORUM - Bringing together the peoples of Oceania to renew the vision of the world we share, Nelson,
Aotearoa/New Zealand, 21st 24th April 2003. A social forum inspired by the 2001 and 2002 World Social Forums that have
been held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, is to be held in Nelson, from Monday 21st to Thursday 24th April 2003. For further
information:
- Re the Oceania Social Forum: mailto:info@oceaniasocialforum.org.nz ph 0064 (0)3 548 7284.
- Re the World Social Forum: http:www.forumsocialmundial.org.br
- To subscribe to the WSF¹s weekly bulletin: http:www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/cadastro.asp
TRUSTEES SOUGHT FOR PONSONBY TRADE AID STORE. Trade Aid has recently opened a new store in Ponsonby Road, dedicated to
selling handcrafts, tea and coffee produced by partners in developing countries. Through regular orders, fair trading
terms, and services such as product development, Trade Aid supports the efforts of producer groups to attain
self-reliance, and to strengthen community enterprises. The store also carries material promoting fair trade, and
examining the causes of the poverty suffered by handcraft producers. A group of trustees is needed to make policy
decisions, act in support of staff, and liase with Trade Aid Importers in Christchurch, and support education
initiatives. We are looking for a mix of business, human resource, marketing and development skills, or just a belief in
Fair Trade and a desire to help. The time commitment is usually two hours a month plus any extra projects. If you are
interested, or can nominate someone else, please call Vi Cottrell on 0508 872332, or email mailto:vic@tradeaid.co.nz
FRI, 8 TO SUN, 10 NOVEMBER (IN WELLINGTON) - AOTEAROA PEOPLE'S GLOBAL ACTION CONVERGENCE! Peoples Global Action is a
worldwide network that works towards a durable, peaceful, social, borderless and directly democratic alternative to
capitalism and all systems of oppression. The Convergence is for everyone who has an affinity with the PGA hallmarks and
the PGA Organisational Principles, for more info check out http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz/mayday/converge.htm Hosted by Te Mana Akonga and Ngai Tauira, Wellington collectives and groups including Aotearoa Educators, Windymedia,
Anti-Bypass Action, Committee for the Establishment of Civilisation (CEC) ... the PGA Convergence will be in the Student
Union Building, Victoria University, Kelburn Parade.
WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST JANUARY 24-26, 2003
NZ is one of George Bush¹s most enthusiastic allies in his apparently endless and borderless 'war on terror' - the
public face of that is the involvement of the SAS in the war in Afghanistan; but New Zealand¹s most significant
contribution to that war, and any other wars waged by our Western allies, is the Waihopai spybase. Even though the
Government is not so keen on following the US in its plans to wage war on Iraq, Waihopai will play a key role in that
too, because it is controlled by the US, with NZ (including Parliament) having little or no idea what goes on there (let
alone any control). Waihopai does not operate in the national interests of New Zealand or our neighbours. Basically it
is a foreign spybase on NZ soil and directly involves us in America¹s wars. Waihopai must be closed! We invite people
from around the country to join us for the weekend of anti-war protest at this spybase. Come prepared for roughing it
and camping out. For more info contact the Anti-Bases Campaign, Box 2258, Christchurch; email mailto:cafca@chch.planet.org.nz or check out http://www.converge.org.nz/abc
MAKING IT HAPPEN" - NGOS LOBBY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOVERNMENT'S AGENDA FOR CHILDREN
Fourteen non-governmental organisations have produced "Making it Happen" about what the Government needs to do to
implement its June 2002 strategy document, "Agenda for Children". The key message is that the Government must act now.
"Making it Happen" focuses on the seven "action areas" in the Agenda for Children and makes practical recommendations
such as: * ending child poverty with a balanced set of tax and benefit provisions to be introduced in the short and
medium term * making changes to government structures and processes to accommodate children's interests, including
representation at the Cabinet table, child impact reporting, and an all party select committee * addressing violence in
children's lives by promoting whole community initiatives, developing early intervention programmes and putting
resources into evaluating what works
The organisations behind "Making It Happen" are ACYA, the AUT Institute of Public Policy, Barnardos, Child Poverty
Action Group, Children's Agenda, Children Issues Centre, Children's Television Foundation, National Collective of
Independent Women's Refuges, National Council of Women, the Paediatric Society, Plunket, Public Health Association, Save
the Children, and UNICEF.
You can get the report and further information, and join the Making It Happen mailing list, by going to http:www.makingithappen.info Or you can contact Beth Wood at UNICEF New Zealand, PO Box 10 978, Wellington, ph 04 473 0879; or Emma Davies at the
Institute of Public Policy, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1020, ph (09) 917 9999 ext.
8408.
THE STEVEN WALLACE TRUST FUND FOR JUSTICE 0900 JUSTICE (0900 58784) number is working again. You can ring the number to
make an automatic donation of $20 to the Fund. Donations would be particularly appreciated at this time because of the
high costs of bringing the private prosecution against Constable Keith Abbott who shot and killed Steven in Waitara on
30 April 2000. The private prosecution began in September 2001, more than sixteen months after Steven's death, because
no progress had been made towards justice by the official bodies whose duty it is to investigate the actions of police
officers which result in harm or death.
TV One News revealed on 15 June that Cabinet had decided to pay around $130,000 to the Police Association for the cost
of Constable Abbott¹s defence to date. The Wallace family are not receiving any legal aid for the court case. Helen
Clark was reported as explaining this with: ³This is a private prosecution and there is no legal aid for private
prosecutions.² ³If there was, you would lift the lid off and you would never get the lid back on. It would be fair game
for anyone to lodge a private prosecution.² (ŒClark hears of Taranaki issues¹, Lyn Humphreys, INL News, 20 June 2002).
As we commented at the time ³Given that this is the first private prosecution brought against a serving police officer,
it is hardly a question of lifting the lid off. There is a disturbing implication in these comments that a private
prosecution is something, which is determined by the ability to pay for it - surely a private prosecution should proceed
on the merits of the case, rather than whether or not a complainant has the financial resources to fund it. One law for
the rich and another for the poor?² (ŒA step towards justice? The Chief Justice¹s judgment on the shooting of Steven
Wallace¹, PMA, 25 June 2002). The trial will begin in the Wellington High Court on 18 November 2002. Where you can get
more information:
Send notices for ³What¹s On in Auckland² to mailto:miketreen@yahoo.co.nz