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Men against men's violence

Last week was White Ribbon Week, a worldwide campaign organised in Australia by MASA (Men Against Sexual Assault), a national network of men working to end men's violence. White Ribbon Week began in Canada in 1991 when a group of men decided to wear white ribbons to mark the massacre of 14 women at the University of Montreal. Since then the week has become an international awareness raising project.
The main campaign activity, the distribution of white ribbons at $2 each, raises funds for MASA's ongoing work. Half of the money raised from the sales goes directly to women's groups and support services. The remainder will be used to establish community education programs for boys and men in schools, workplaces, trade unions and prisons.

Privatisation opposed

ADELAIDE — About 200 people attended a meeting on September 6 to kick off a campaign to oppose moves towards the privatisation of Adelaide's water supply. Speakers highlighted the environmental and social costs which would result. A motion was passed condemning the Brown government and endorsing a range of actions. Further meetings are planned around metropolitan Adelaide. The campaign is being coordinated by the Community Water Action Coalition, which can be contacted on 223 5405.

Evans protest

CANBERRA — Senator Gareth Evans, Australia's minister for propping up dictatorships and blowing up the Pacific, was confronted by a small but noisy group of anti-nuclear activists after attending a conference at the ANU on September 8. The protesters chanted "Export Evans, Not Uranium" and "Evans is a butcher! Free East Timor!" as the smirking senator was whisked away.

Hemp picket

BRISBANE — Fifty HEMP members and supporters gathered outside parliament on September 6 to remind the Labor government of its failure to decriminalise marijuana, despite party policy favouring such a move. For a government all but annihilated at the polls it was a timely reminder that its broken promises will haunt it.

Moruroa fallout in schools

CANBERRA — Student Underground, a newspaper initiated by Resistance, is campaigning against threats by ACT schools to take disciplinary action against students who took part in a September 1 walkout against nuclear testing. Some secondary schools and colleges allowed students to take part in the action, but Students Against Nuclear Testing, who organised the walkout, have received reports of other students facing punishment.
At some schools students were physically prevented from entering, while Canberra High has put its students on daily report cards. To get involved in Student Underground, call (06) 247 2424.

Garner book debated

SYDNEY — Seventy people packed the Resistance Centre on September 8 to discuss the implications of Helen Garner's controversial book, The First Stone. Issues touched on in the lively and wide-ranging discussion included separatism, the need for political independence and the urgency of building broader campaigns around women's right to freedom from sexual harassment, equal pay and education access and abortion.
Providing detailed critiques of the book's contents, guest speakers Vivienne Porzsolt and Karen Fletcher pointed out that one indication of the reactionary nature of The First Stone is that it has been able to be used by the mass media and other conservative interests to discredit the women's movement as a whole.