From the 6th to the 9th of October, the Commonwealth Heads of Government will meet in Brisbane as a prelude to their meeting with the WTO, in Qatar. At CHOGM the notorious neoliberal Commonwealth Governments, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, will discuss various plans to rid the masses of their basic democratic freedom and place gratuitous amounts of power in the hands of multinational corporations. Issues like GATS will no doubt be at the top of the agenda.
Howard's Big Break!
John Howard and other Liberal ministers will be swanning around CHOGM, using it to showcase their slash and burn policies. With the federal election due before the end of the year a huge protest will be a blow against the Liberals just like S11 was. The Liberals have sliced funding to public education while handing billions to elite private schools. While waiting lists on our public hospitals keep growing, Howard has given the private health insurance companies billions of dollars.
Indigenous students head for CHOGM
The Indigenous Students Network is mobilising for CHOGM. Indigenous students want to shame the government in front of the world for its refusal to apologise to the stolen generations, extinguishing native title under the 10 Point Plan and support for racist mandatory sentencing laws. More than that, they will be demanding social justice for Aboriginal people - real land rights, funding for health, education and jobs, and self-determination. That's why Brisbane indigenous activist Sam Watson has endorsed the CHOGM 'call to action'.
Continue the struggle against corporate tyranny on O6!
Contact Resistance or The International Socialist Organisation for more details.
Come to the video screening at the Peace Centre at 102 McDonald Road, Albion on May 19.
Click here to read the 1999 CHOGM 'Fancourt Declaration'.
Next stop: CHOGM!