Protest the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement 11 May Martin Pl

Occupy Sydney are fully supporting the Sydney Trans Pacific Partnership Protests …and all global efforts to stop this abomination

Join the Facebook Event here

 Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Protest! 11 May 2013, 12 Noon, Martin Place, Sydney

Ten Reasons Why the TransPacific Partnership Matters…

1. It is only getting bigger by the day: Thailand knocking at the TPP Door . Japan has just been included
2. We have not learned from NAFTA: Mexico ordered to pay Cargill $95 million for attempting to keep out high-fructose corn syrup
3. In Free Trade Agreements, corporate profits always trump the environment: Canada/Quebec sued under NAFTA for its ban on fracking by a US corporation
4. It Doesn’t Matter if you are a sovereign nation with labor and environmental laws: Here is a list of the NAFTA chapter 11 cases
5. Or just trying to survive with a life-threatening illness on a few dollars a day: Public health advocates in Malaysia protest reduced access to generic medicines in trade deals
6. Congress is trying, but those who we elect are not part of negotiating this deal-our democracy is at stake! Take this recent Sign-On letter to President Obama from Senator Al Franken on the labor rights concerns in the TPP and urge Senators Cantwell and Murray to sign it!
7. Sweatshops still exist: Here is a recent report by Right2Work
8. Companies are willing to invest millions of dollars to keep consumers in the dark: Here are the corporations who defeated the GMO labeling initiative in California
9. Only when we connect our issues, and combine our strength can we succeed: Dec. 1st is also world AIDS Day
10. We are not alone, we are the majority, and our voices are needed for trade to ever benefit workers and support healthy communities and a sustainable planet: Sign the Avaaz petition to reach a million who say “Stop the Corporate Death Star”, stop the TPP!

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is a free trade agreement being negotiated between Australia, the US, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

US global corporations are driving the agenda to expand their rights at the expense of peoples’ rights. Pharmaceutical companies want higher prices for medicines, tobacco companies want to sue governments for health regulation, and there is so far no agreement to implement workers’ rights or environmental standards.

On May 11, International Fair Trade Day, AFTINET will join others around the world to say no to corporate rights and yes to workers’ rights and the environment.

We invite you to come with your organisation’s flag or banner from 12-1 pm.

There are similar rallies or events happening in some other TPP countries: US, Canada, Peru , Malaysia, NZ

Hope to see you there

The United States and ten governments from around the Pacific are meeting yet again to hash out the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) on May 15-24 in Lima, Peru. The TPP is one of the worst global threats to the Internet since ACTA. Since the negotiations have been secretive from the beginning, we mainly know what’s in the current version of this trade agreement because of a leaked draft [PDF] from February 2011. Based upon that text, some other leaked notes, and the undemocratic nature of the entire process, we have every reason to be alarmed .

 

 The Electronic Frontiers Foundation have expressed concerns relating to the arbitrary abrogation of Internet Freedoms and extensions of Copyright protections extended under this secretly negotiated compact which Australia has signed up to.

What Else You Can Do (Outside USA)   USA

Monday, 27 February 2012

Like Hyena they came.. Vigil & Peoples Court Feb 27

Feb 27

Vigil &

first sitting of the

Peoples Court

in support of

In solidarity with Occupy Movements around the world and responding to the call for ALL Occupy Movements to reassemble at their original occupation sites,to hold a candlelight vigil then move to a Protest site of choice. Occupy Sydney supporters and Occupiers call on all Occupiers past and present and all Occupy Sydney supporters to assemble at the Occupy site , cnr Martin Pl and Elizabeth St at 6pm Today, 27 February.

Our candlelight vigil will be addressed by an Occupy Wall St participant fresh off the plane from New York City then..

occupy sydney eviction

Riot Police raid & arrest evict Occupy Sydney Oct 23 2011

….. the candlelight vigil will be held commemorating the OCT15 occupation and commiserating the unprovoked unforeshadowed and unwarranted attack on Occupy Sydney peaceful protest participants by approximately 100 armed Riot Squad Police using the pretext of enforcing a City “no camping” ordinance. The Raid commander, Assistant Commisioner Mark Murdoch,issued sleeping protesters an order to “take your property & leave within 10 minutes- a physical impossibility for many.

Our candlelight vigil will march and assemble silently outside NSW Parliament to protest the Politically motivated policing of Occupy Sydney. ……..

Following the Vigil The First Assembly of the Peoples Court will assemble for the trial of a local organisation well known for disregarding the interests of workers and clients in the pursuit of ever increasing profits- or an out of control public service working against the will of the people.

• The charges will be laid on the day by the people.
• The Court will hear the charges immediately.
• The case will be decided by the people.

“This is what Justice looks like.”

http://occupysydney.net occupysydney.org.au

o

 Twitter :

@occupysydney

@occupysydmedia

56a Martin Pl

Sydney NSW 2000

Writing a witness Statement

Layout and headings

• Use white A4 paper
• Type if possible, or use neat, clear handwriting in black or blue pen
• Use only one side of the paper
• Write the case name, court and case number at the top of the page
  Meena Vishwana v Fiona Frame trading as Fantastic Florists
  In the Local Court at Blacktown
  Case Number SC2009/766
• Write the name of the person making the statement
  Statement of Meena Vishwana

Content

• The statement should be written by the witness using their own words
• Start with the name, address and occupation of the witness
  I, Meena Vishwana, of 12/32 Campbell St Blacktown NSW 2148, self employed IT consultant, state:
• Next, the role of the witness or the relationship of the witness to a party to the case
  1. I am the plaintiff OR
  I am employed by the plaintiff OR
  I was asked by the plaintiff to prepare this statement OR
  I am the plaintiff’s mother/father/sister/brother/friend
• Then, the details of what the witness saw, heard, said and did. The content of the statement should be in short, numbered paragraphs. It should refer to all the relevant events, people, places and dates in a logical way.
• Your own statement will usually be the most detailed statement. For example,If your case is about a contract or agreement you should describe:

  a. how, when and where the contract or agreement was made

  b. what was in the contract or agreement

  c. how and when the contract was carried out or breached

  d. when payments were made or failed to be made

  e.any financial loss you have suffered.

  If your case is about a car accident you should describe:
  a. where, when and how the accident happened

  b. why the other driver was at fault

  c. the damage to your car and the other driver’s car

  d. the cost of repairing your car.

• Witness statements should not include opinions or beliefs, or arguments about the law. For example, you should not write ‘the defendant signed the contract, so they must have understood its conditions’. You would just write, “I saw the defendant sign the contract”.
• If the witness writes about a conversation that is important for the case, it should be set out in speech marks as accurately as possible. If you cannot remember exactly what was said you can say “words to the effect of”.
  2.On 14 April 2009 I got a telephone call from Fiona Frame. She said “I am looking for someone to build and maintain a website for my shop, and also to do general computer maintenance and troubleshooting”. I said “We should have a meeting to discuss what you want in more detail and then I can give you a quote”.OR

  2. On 14 April 2009 I got a telephone call from Fiona Frame and she said words to the effect of “I am looking for someone to build a website and do IT work for me”. I replied with words to the effect of ” We should meet and talk about what you want and then I can give you a quote”.

• If the witness refers to a document it should be attached to the statement. Each document attached should be given a letter of the alphabet.
  3. A copy of my letter to Fiona Frame dated 23 April 2009 confirming our agreement is attached and marked with the letter A.
• The witness should sign and date the statement at the end.

For examples of witness statements see Sample witness statements – Plaintiff and Sample witness statements – Defendant.

Police continue to misdefine camping to harass Occupy Sydney

At about 5am this morning (Sat 14th January) NSW Police again launched a surprise raid on the Occupy Sydney occupation in Martin Place.

On the 10th of January the Local Court determined in an identical case Police v Priestley that sleeping in a public place did not constitute camping.

Seemingly oblivious to the 43 unsolved drive by shootings in Sydney reported in the media yesterday, NSW Police seem inordinately fixated on the vexing issue of their continued attack on Occupy Sydney.12 Police officers from the Rocks command again attended at Occupy Sydney again attempting to redefine camping . Amused awakened protesters were treated to another display of Police subversion of simple City “No Camping” and “No Staying overnight” ordinances in a further vain attempt to intimidate protesters.

A young woman under the age of 18 who was present was summarily ordered to leave the protest site after Police used their usual vaguely defined veiled threats to obtain her details. Police neither cared where she went nor showed a scintilla of concern for her safety, her ability to relocate safely to another safe place, or to return home- their sole concern was that she leave the protest site. Luckily responsible Occupy Sydney participants were able to ensure her continued safety and security.

A mattress donated by a supporter was deemed “camping equipment” and ordered removed from the site. Mattresses are used for sleeping in many circumstances (sometimes including camping) and we look forward to discussing this distortion of regulation in court.

Further infringement notices were issued for “illegal camping” .The inspector concerned used the definition that Occupy Sydney Protest Signage is in fact “windbreaks” ( which by police definition are “structures”.

Since October 15th NSW Police have spent well in excess of $3million harassing Occupy Sydney, a declared peaceful protest movement. In the absence of laws which Occupy Sydney may clearly be breaking it seems that NSW Police consider us such a threat that they resort to linguistic nuances & creative use of truth in their efforts to stifle effective peaceful protest.

The misuse by police of their authority and the law is an area of grave concern for many Australians and Occupy Sydney participants. We strongly oppose all abuse of power

For your own amusement here is the Macquarie Dictionary definition of Camping:

noun 1. the activity of living temporarily in a tent or similar accommodation, especially as a form of recreation or holiday-making.
–adjective 2. of, relating to, or designed for camping.

Please use our comments to tell us whether you think we are camping.

 

Occupy Sydney Rally 5th November

Occupy Sydney

5^th November

Rally -March

Assembly

Live Tweeting follow @occupySYDNEY

Livestream www.livestream.com/occupysydneyGA

Rally at Sydney Town Hall sq Sq 12 noon – 1pm

<cnr George St & Druitt St >

March Town Hall to Martin Pl via George St & King St

from 1pm 

March will be declared over at Martin Place

and a General Assembly

will follow immediately

Priority issue

Will we occupy?

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Website

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My blog /website

Why I occupy

Submit

Δ

Occupy Sydney Proactive

For the past few weeks a group has been quietly organising independently of the Occupy Sydney General Assembly. The group has adopted ” the system has failed us – we need change” as its sole defining platform.

Known as Occupy Sydney Proactive, the group is associated with the well known  @occupysydney  Twitter group. While some attend the General Assembly and Protest activities others prefer to deliver the Occupy Wall St message via the positive dynamic of pro-activism. Pro-activists plan to identify ways of preventing social and community damage.

Already plans are advanced to help a group of local Sydney retail small business owners to ward off crippling and unaffordable 30% rent increases.

Assistance for mortgage stressed home owners in danger of foreclosure is planned and the group seek more professionals to carry out pro-bono mitigation work on an ongoing basis.

Contact us on Twitter for further info…

Facebook warning page

While Facebook is an excellent means for business and social networking, we ask people to consider the following before linking to the facebook based groups listed below.
We do not advise against joining Facebook based groups – we empower you to make an informed decision to do so or not.

You cannot delete from cyberspace: multiple web archiving orgs preserve info you post FOREVER- its there even when you delete your FB account. Privacy settings don’ t block your participation in groups. Facebook history archives are a favorite tool for human resource businesses in profiling job applicants.

FB invites: work well because the recipient usually has some familiarity with you & trusts you. However,the invited person will never see this warning page and may unintentionally disclose publicly information they consider private. From an ethical perspective we consider the concept as wilful entrapment.

Facebook & Activism Facebook has been known to shut down Facebook based activist groups without warning, at critical stages of the campaign. – An example was the nosamsclub campaign opposing Walmart brand building on a native american sacred site. If Facebook shuts YOUR occupy group down whats your backup contact & communication strategy?

Facebook & Law Enforcement: As a USA based entity FB have obligations to allow authorities such as FBI CIA or Interpol access to Any info they require. Most if not all western countries police & sexret police have access via reciprocity agreements. The speed with which some test info has been identified in posession of gov security leads some researchers to believe that state security elements work permanently within Facebook.

Should you choose to join a facebook group or open a FB account we advise you to pay attention to the privacy settings.

Known Facebook #occupy groups in solidarity with #occupywallst

Link here to OccupySydney   Facebook group ( The Facebook Occupy Sydney Group we’re working with 🙂

Occupy Adelaide Facebook link 

Walk for Empathy

 

The @occupySydney Framework

Proposing 24/7 Occupation of  Martin Pl ( Outside Reserve Bank ) from 15 October & ongoing 

cnr Martin Pl & MacQuarie St Sydney 2000 ( a peaceful “bring family” Camp Protest )

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT::  ” We acknowledge the Traditional indigenous Eora peoples custodianship of the land upon which we now live and work – the place the world knows as Sydney – and the genocide perpetrated against that people by the colonists from whose occupation the current governments claimed right to govern descends. We also acknowledge that such #humanrights crimes of genocide continue to be committed against aboriginal peoples across Australia today- in particular the Northern Territory Intervention, a racist bilaterally supported denial of #humanrights and cultural genocide which continues today. “

Targets ::

1)Reserve Bank  2) MacQuarie Bank (the Bank that swallowed Sydney).  3) Federal Labor  54) NSW Liberal Govt for its Anti Worker Laws.

Local issues:

Affordable Living:                       Australia is the place where Governments regulate against the people while suggesting market reform to I suspect bemused Corporate Directors. (more)  

Affordable Housing                     Affordable property ownership where people need to live. Mortgage Strike? Rent Strike? Tent City?

Workers Rights                               In solidarity with cleaners (Vic) Public Sector Union members & #FairPay 

Wage Justice                                     Minimum Wages & incomes providing sustainable living outcomes in postcodes where income is earned. 

Human Rights:                                Asylum Seekers , aboriginal , children. 

In solidarity with #occupywallst & mirror protest movements worldwide.

The @OccupySYDNEY Peoples Movement is represented the facilitators as an un-retouched emu shell. It is empty and fragile, yet with the capacity to radiate power beauty and strength through creativity and unity. What will make the emu egg a symbol of empowerment and unity is YOU. For now the egg is empty, unsculpted, an unpolished jewel. Your role is to bring your skills your creativity your voice your courage -and your frustration,your rage to Occupy Sydney .

The Leadership is You – Us – the people.. if the people deem there should be a leadership group then there should -if not, not.

  This is the window of opportunity to Unite on the things we agree on -not divide on those which keep us apart. Such windows do not remain open forever so we must build quickly and act quickly.  With unity we flourish, without it we fail.

We do not act as nor wish to be your leaders – we are simply facilitators . Our role is to ensure that Occupy Sydney is a genuine peoples movement not controlled by any single or alliance of organisations -a peoples movement led by the people.

follow  & enquiries @occupySydney  on Twitter . You will receive communications via that & other associated channels.

 We ask groups schools organisations unions and all supporters to establish & run their own blog / website / social media – there is no need to sing the same song or tune -but there is a need to sing together… your facilitator servants.