Category: Womens Rights

Lies & Silence – bias in Australian media

On this sad morning there is no justice in the dawn
So many years of dying where does hope get born
Not over the broken and bloodied bodies of sleeping children
Or the fork tongued lies of the criminals and their defenders
                                          — Phil Monsour
                                       Song for Gaza 2012
                             No More Lies No More Silence

This was broadcast on the Paradigm Shift on 4ZZZ fm 102.1 on Friday 23 Nov 2012.… Go to Article

16 year old boy killed by security forces in Bahrain as crackdown intensifies

10:30PM EST: The Bahrain Australia Youth Movement has received reports that a 16 year old boy, Ali Abbas Rabhi, has been killed by Bahraini security forces on the Al’Baridye highway in West Manama, Bahrain’s capital city.… Go to Article

SPECIAL INVITATION from WILPF – ‘”The Rising Tide of Climate Change”‘

Hello All,
The Qld Branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom are pleased to announce that our special guest at our Sunday November 11 Meeting will be Dr Alice Aruhe’eta Pollard from the Solomon Islands.… Go to Article

Workplace Guilt by Association

[This Paradigm Shift  was broadcast on 19 October 2012 on 4ZZZ fm 102.1]

A derelict house slumps to one side
Poster peels on a bolted gate
Its faded but not forgotten
“An injury to one is an injury to all”

 — ‘View From A Wooden Chair’
Lachlan Hurse and Sue Monk

Contents

Intro
Song – View from a wooden chair
The Long Night
Song – La Guittara
Voices for Victory
Song – Cantombe Mullatto
Wide Awake – the rise of union solidarity
[All songs are sung by Jumping Fences – more details can be found at their website]

***

Intro
Jumping Fences – View From A Wooden Chair Lachlan Hurse and Sue Monk

It is not coincidental that Paradigm Shift address the question of the Politics of Repression (second part in the series).… Go to Article

Politics of Repression

We Have Survived by NO FIXED ADDRESS

Politics of Repression was broadcast on Paradigm Shift on 4ZZZ fm 102.1 Friday at noon on 12 October 2012
“If you fly with the crows, you’ll get shot with the crows.”… Go to Article

Living in the Colonies — What’s Left?

PShift 4zzz  fm 102.1 fridays at noon
Living in the Colonies, What’s Left?
Paradigm Shift Part I 12 Sept 2012

"Whose land is this land
 is it for you and me
who knows, who knows this land
better than you and me.
… Go to Article

Queensland job cuts — edge of darkness?

Everybody knows that Queensland Labor had a Party 
Everybody knows the fight was fixed  so
the poor stay poor, and  the rich stay rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the Bligh’s boat was leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father was a scab or their mother just died.… Go to Article

‘Bahrain is Burning’: nurses union calls for support

“In the month of March / in the year of the uprising / earth told us her blood secrets / In the month of March five girls at the door /of the primary school /Came past the violet / came past the rifle  / burst into flame / With the roses and thyme /they opened /the song of the soil / and entered the earth  / the ultimate embrace / March comes to the land / out of earth’s depth /out of the girls’ dance /The violets leaned over a little / so that the girls’ voices /could cross over / the birds /pointed their beaks /at that song and at my heart.… Go to Article

Brisbane Barrio: ’17 together on a picket line’

Brisbane Barrio
by Lachlan Hurse and Sue Monk

Juan woke up
held Ana in his arms
and whispered to her
“cover my body with kisses
so I may face the day”

The children were still sleeping
when he closed the door
and made his way again
to the production line
assembling steel doors all day
on a concrete floor
he dreamed
he dreamed
surprised to be after
all these years
still so far from home

Hard words rang
across the factory floor
Juan heard the sound of hate
bitter words to injure
a shout that sent the signal
for the war to come
a trigger for intimidation
cruel and hard
a sorry tale of segregation
push and shove
when steel cut flesh
the union man said
“never in my life
have I seen a person
stoop so low”

On the tenth day of November
Nineteen ninety four
seventeen said “no”
to divide and rule
and later stood together
on a picket line
discovering how hard
it can be
to belong

And its flesh and steel
and storm and calm
its simple truth and complex lies
intransigence and fluid lines
unyielding strength
and compromise

Ready now
steady now
ready for a little fight

Rules are made and rules are broken
(oh yes they are)
things are said
other things stay unspoken
(my lips are shut)
the consequences are not
too hard to see
(you don’t need big glasses
or a telescope)
these days a worker
just has to be
ready now
steady now
ready for a little fight

copyright © Lachlan Hurse and Sue Monk 1998… Go to Article

Senator calls for international action to free UN worker

THE SENATE CHAMBER
Australian Parliament, Canberra
As reported in Hansard
Friday, 22 June 2012

Senator Claire Moore (Queensland):

“Two weeks ago in my office I was visited by Khalil Hamdan, an Australian citizen and a good friend of our community over many years.… Go to Article