Mullumbimby Community Action Network

Originally published 17Mar2009

mullum-zine

TREES, ORGANICS ILLEGALISED, ESTATE, WWS POKIES

MULLUMBIMBY"S ANNUAL TREE PLANTING DAY: Sunday 22 March
We will be planting 1500 rainforest trees. This event is part of a reconciliation project with the Madhima Gulgan Community Association and other local Aboriginal artists who will give demonstrations of singing, dancing and bush foods. The event is from 9.30 am - 2.30 pm, rain or shine. Follow signs to the creek end of Whian Street, Mullumbimby



GARBAGE WARRIOR: ARCHITECT This is worth checking out. http://www.garbagewarrior.com/trailer.html
http://www.garbagewarrior.com/


EARTH HOUR: switch lights off 8.30 pm Sat 28 March


ORGANIC FOOD ILLEGAL? Yes!! That"s what the USA Government are considering right now with a set of three bills before Congress. See:

USA: growing your own organic food will be illegal
http://www.mathaba.net/rss/?x=618631

I checked it out with Giovanni Ebono of The Generator, and its TRUE!! unbelievable.

See http://www.thegenerator.com.au for their story and analysis of H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 which will outlaw organic food being sold at farmers markets, shops, etc.

Guess who's behind this push to get everyone to buy and use agri-chemicals? Monsanto!!! The fine for non-compliance is $1m. Sounds like an early April Fool"s joke?

Obama"s speech about this http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/14/Food-Safety/

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) "Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." Benito Mussolini - Italian fascist leader (quoted in speechmarks New Internationalist magazine July 2008) http://www.newint.org

I expect there will be some riots about this - that should raise awareness!


TALLOWOOD RIDGE ESTATE: Eric Freeman"s new development (west of Chincogan View Estate) has apparently not yet been approved, despite earthworks and tree removal going on. I"ve been informed that one-third of the area is zoned 2A (Rural Residential) and the rest is 1A. A reader has suggested a community liaison group be formed to lobby for the most ecologically sustainable outcome: say an eco-village, protecting biodiversity as much as possible and which could be a shining example of forward thinking, rather than the same ole brick veneerial estate.

"It is time to find out what exactly is going on. Real Estate agents and
developers love to advertise and sign people up prior to having approvals in
place, it helps them get finance and their cash flowing. Both act like it's
a fait accompli which is part of their game plan." (A. Reader)

If anyone is interested in participating, I am willing to network. I am now committed to studying for a degree so I won"t have much spare time for lobbying myself.

Cheers
Deborah


PS: This from Crikey.com.au


POKIES STATS REVEAL THE 'EXTREME CAPITALISM OF WOOLWORTHS'

9 March 2009 Crikey founder Stephen Mayne writes:
Here's an example of what Kevin Rudd could call "extreme capitalism".
On Friday night, the Victorian Government has commendably released the pokies losses figures for all venues over the past three years.

We know that Woolworths is the 22nd biggest retailer in the world and has mastered the art of cornering key segments of the Australian market, whether it be groceries, grog, petrol, fresh fruit, tobacco or pokies.
But who would ever have thought it would be so efficient at exploiting Victorian pokies addicts in working class suburbs? The figures revealed the 20 most lucrative Victorian pokies venues ripped $926 million out of pokies players in the three years to 30 June, 2008, and Woolworths snaffled a staggering $736 million or 79.5%.

Last October, Crikey asked how Woolworths manages to avoid media mentions when it comes to the damage caused by its vast Australian pokies empire.
The Saturday papers were another classic example. The Age produced this page one story focusing on the $60 million lost at the Skyways Taverner hotel, Victoria's most lucrative.

Surely the owner of such a venue is a relevant fact? By failing to name Woolworths, Fairfax simply reinforces the impression it is protecting its largest advertiser and also covering for its prominent director Roger Corbett, the former Woolies CEO who drove the aggressive push into pokies.
Whilst the Herald Sun did manage to inject the word Woolworths once into its Saturday story, the paper predictably focused most of the attention on billionaire pokies mogul Bruce Mathieson, who is the minority 25% partner in the Woolies joint venture.

This pandering to a major advertiser doesn't just happen with Rupert Murdoch's biggest selling Australian paper.

The City of Manningham has arguably the heaviest concentration of Woolworths pokies venues in the state and featured twice in the top ten losers list through The Shoppingtown Hotel and The Doncaster Inn.
When a Woolworths supermarket manager turned up to speak at our Australian Day function courtesy of the company's $100,000 sponsorship of celebrations across the state, two councillors complained about it at the next council meeting.

I got up and said it was hypocritical of the manager to talk about all the good Woolies does in our community when the company controls a majority of the pokies in our community.

The Manningham Leader, our local weekly Murdoch giveaway, chose not to report any of this, but the next edition featured a colour advertisement for The Shoppingtown Hotel all over the back page.
The most recent edition of The Manningham Leader features another full page ad for Woolworths calling for community groups to apply for $5000 grants that will "help primary school aged children lead healthier more active grants".

Given that Australians are the world's biggest gambling losers in per capita terms, it really is time Woolies was forced to defend its position. How can it keep spouting all this talk about community benefit, whilst brutally operating the world's most lethal poker machines?
*The author is on Manningham Council which is currently reviewing its pokies policy.

(Thanks to Another Reader for this article).