July 23, 2012

Native food event in SA

THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN NATIVE FOOD ASSOCIATION
INVITES YOU TO A DUEL BOOK LAUNCH

On: Wednesday 25th July 2012, 6.00pm
At: The Living Kaurna Cultural Centre,
Warriparinga Way, corner of Marion and Sturt Roads.
Cost: Gold Coin Donation


Neville Bonney's Second Edition of
'Knowing Growing and Eating, Edible Wild Native Plants for Southern Australia'. & Linda Hoffmann's
'Wattle Seed, the Kitchen Handbook'.
Special Guest Bruce Guerin from Slow Food Australia will launch the night!
Neville’s passion for native plants and Linda’s passion for food are set to delight gardeners and foodies alike.
Linda will present for your taste-buds an array of Wattle Seed delicacies to indulge in after the official opening.
Both books will be available for purchase on the night as well as a unique educational poster showing the many kitchen uses of these gourmet delights. South Australian grown and produced native food plants and products will also be available.
All welcome!

 

July 14, 2012

Morning





“From the same wilderness, in the same night, 
always my tired eyes waken to the silver star, 
always, although the Kings of life, 
the three magi, the heart, the soul, the mind, are not moved. 
When shall we go, beyond the shores and the mountains, 
to acclaim the birth of the new work, the new wisdom, 
the flight of tyrants and demons, the end of superstition, 
to adore – the first worshippers! – Christmas on earth!”
~ Arthur Rimbaud



“what will prove to be our big mistake?
short sighted arrogance all for what sake?
our families to ashes, our ambition to dust
our progeny in silence thinking "what about us?"

but don't forget the dance of neglect
the march for empowering prosperity
the pain from loss and want for mere lucidity
just maternal residue, and I was there too
and maybe so were you."

~ Bad Religion
(Victims Of The Revolution)

HERE IT HERE

July 10, 2012

Offshore processing mythbuster



February 2011

www.asrc.org.au




MYTH: Nauru is a signatory to the Refugee Convention now, so we can send asylum seekers there.
FACT: The Solicitor General has confirmed that neither Nauru or Papua New Guinea satisfy the High Court’s requirement of having adequate protections in place for asylum seekers. They would need to amend their domestic laws to guarantee asylum seekers’ safety. Alternatively Australia would need to amend our own laws to override the High Court’s decision.9


MYTH: Offshore processing is more cost effective
FACT: Offshore processing is even more expensive than detention on the mainland because of the increased cost of delivering services to remote locations. The Pacific Solution, which saw asylum seekers detained on Manus Island and Nauru, cost more than 1 billion dollars over five years, or $500 000 per person.10 The Christmas Island detention centre will cost almost 1 billion dollars between 2009 and 2014.11


MYTH: Australia needs to protect our borders from asylum seekers
FACT No boat arrival who may have been a potential threat to national security has ever gained entry into Australia. Boat arrivals are subject to the most rigorous security checks of all arrivals into Australia.
FACT: Offshore processing and mandatory detention only apply to boat arrivals, whilst the vast majority of asylum seekers arrive by plane with a valid visa, applying for asylum at a later date while living in the community. None have ever posed a threat to Australia’s national security and many are determined legitimate refugees and granted protection visas.


MYTH: ‘Stopping the boats’ is more humane than letting asylum seekers risk their lives on potentially dangerous journeys.
FACT: Under Operation Relex boats travelling from Indonesia were intercepted before they reached Australian waters. The Australian Navy was ordered to deter and deny entry but generally did not assist people on these boats that were placed in danger. 12. Many drowned as a result, including 353 men women and children in the widely reported SIEVX incident.13.


MYTH: Strong offshore processing policy reduces people smuggling

FACT: The Australian government has in fact contributed to the creation of people smuggling by restricting the legal avenues for asylum seekers to find protection in Australia. As the world’s leading authority on international refugee law, Professor James Hathaway explains:
The whole people-smuggling problem is a false issue. We created the market for human smuggling. If
asylum seekers could lawfully come to Australia and make a refugee claim without the need of
sneaking in by boat, they would do it. But we make it illegal and create the market that smugglers

thrive on.14

9 ‘PNG, Nauru near impossible, government says’, The Age, 4 September 2011, http://www.theage.com.au/national/png-nauru-nearimpossible-
government-says-20110904-1js2a.html.
10 Karlis Salna, ‘Abbott unveils new Pacific Solution,’ The Sydney Morning Herald, http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-newsnational/
abbott-unveils-new-pacific-solution-20100527-wen3.html, 27 May 2010.
11 ‘Cost of Christmas Island blows out to almost $1b,’ The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 May 2010,
http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/cost-of-christmas-island-blows-out-to-almost-1b-20100511-uurg.html.
12‘To Deter and Deny’, Four Corners, 15 April 2002, http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s531993.htm,
13 http://www.sievx.com/
14 http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/asylum-seeker-policy-international-refugee-law/3585712

July 03, 2012

Audry is Secretary of No-State for the Antipodean Martian-Expatriate Collective.

"The Australian self-image of a tolerant, multicultural success story leaves little room for a counter-discourse of a more complex reality, grounded in a historical, de facto apartheid, and there is a resurgence of bipartisan paternalism. This is evident in the reimposition of the Northern Territory “emergency response” for a further 10 years, under the Orwellian “Stronger Futures” label."

"The literature provides solid evidence that racism is a noteworthy determinant and driver of inequities in health ... Racism is not only an everyday occurrence for many Indigenous Australians, but also one that gets under the skin, and “makes us sick”."

- Professor McDermott (Flinders University) in the MJA (Medical Journal of Australia) this week