Report received from BASE:
The fundraiser last night went well, good responses to the film.
Raised $300 and there were 7 people who pledged to put in to the account each fortnight.
Great effort! A special thanks to the organisers!
Report received from BASE:
The fundraiser last night went well, good responses to the film.
Raised $300 and there were 7 people who pledged to put in to the account each fortnight.
Great effort! A special thanks to the organisers!
Utopia – Sydney Union screening – Paddy Gibson from STICS on Vimeo.
On 7 Feb 2014 a screening of John Pilger’s documentary “Utopia” specially for Unionists and supporters was held in Sydney at the NSW Trades Hall. This video contains the speech of Paddy Gibson, associated producer of Utopia.
Utopia draws on Pilger’s long association with the first people of Australia. The film is both an epic portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture, and an investigation into a suppressed colonial past and rapacious present. It closely examines the repressive NT Intervention policies introduced by the Howard government in 2007.
Trade unions have played an important role in highlighting and challenging the treatment of Indigenous Australians. In 2010 the Australian Council of Trade Unions sent a delegation to the Utopia region, after unionists had travelled to Ampilatwatja, also featured in the film, to assist with building a ‘Protest House’ at a walk-off camp established by the community.
Since July 2012, Public Service Association of NSW members have refused to refer people to the NSW trials of the ‘Income Management’ system introduced by the NT Intervention. In late 2013, the ban was extended across all of NSW, should the government name further trial sites.
This screening was presented by Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS, stoptheintervention.org) and co-sponsored by Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA (apheda.org.au) and Australian Services Union (NSW/ACT) (asumembers.org.au). Supported by the Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA) (isja.org.au).
Vimeo
Utopia official website: utopiajohnpilger.co.uk
Further information about Utopia: respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia.html
Report received from BASE:
Please contribute if you can
Great effort! A special thanks to the organisers!