May Day 2010
When : 3pm, Saturday, May 1, 2010
Where : Melbourne Anarchist Resource Centre, 62 St Georges Road, Northcote
May Day is the international workers' day! From 3pm the Melbourne Anarchist Club is hosting a BBQ. Free food (meat and vegetarian) and drinks will be available, or BYO. All are welcome to come and celebrate workers' struggle!
UPDATE: Melbourne Black will also be launching their second issue. A super-deluxe run of 50 with spiffy covers will be there.
Cover of Melbourne Black #2
For more information on the origins of May Day, see The anarchist origins of May Day.
The original Melbourne Anarchist Club was founded on May 1, 1886.
Also on May Day, the RAAF is organising an attention-grabbing direct action around housing issues. For more information, see the RAAF website. There is also a rally in support of refugees at noon at Trades Hall.
On Sunday, May 2, Trades Hall has organised a rally and march. Assemble at noon at Trades Hall, corner Victoria and Lygon Streets, Carlton. (Trades Hall has also organised a gig on May Day. The gig will take place at Trades Hall from 6pm.)
Benefit gig
Chilean Solidarity Benefit Gig : Saturday, April 17, 2010
A benefit gig, organised by the Chilean Popular & Indigenous Solidarity Network, the Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET) and the Melbourne Anarchist Club, is taking place this Saturday, April 17 @ the MUA Hall, 54 Ireland St, West Melbourne, from 7pm ’til late.
Performers include Baka People, Latin/reggae band Madre Monte, hip-hop artist Pataphysics, Us Individuals and more.
Funds raised will be used to support grass-roots and autonomous organisations in Chile: the Sinapsis collective in Santiago and Mapuche (indigenous) peoples, all of whom have been badly-affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami.
Antiracist Rally
Last Friday there was a rally — an "anti-anti-immigration" rally as it was referred to by some — held to counter a proposed anti-immigration and anti-islam gathering that had been advertised on Facebook. The rally was well attended; unions, religious organisations and the usual suspects were there. A half-dozen bewildered racists were spotted at the nearby Young & Jackson's pub and, aside from a young fellow who looked like he might have been celebrating Hitler's birthday a little too early, they kept their distance.
Highlights included Nazeem Hussain from comedy group Fear of a Brown Planet giving the police a fair bit of stick for their own racist antics. Similarly, when the rally's MC implored the crowd to thank the police, it was met by some incredulity and impoliteness. You can see coverage from the media here. Slackbastard also covered this a bit on his blog.
The banner pictured below with "fuck bosses" on it wasn't done by us, but it's still pretty ace. The cops asked the banner-holders to take it down, which they did.
Meanwhile in Sydney on the following Sunday, the far right Australian Protectionist Party bravely held their own Nuremburg-lite out the front of the Villawood Detention Centre. Media reports are scarce, but apparently the racists were outnumbered, although the Sydney rally was more confrontational.
Unfortunately, the racists in Canberra also chose this weekend to announce that all applications by Afghanis and Sri Lankans for asylum will be suspended for six months and that this has absolutely nothing to do with an upcoming election.
Melbourne Black #1 out now.
Some members of MAC are involved in a regular anarchist publication, which is out now.
Check out their site.
You can also download a version to read on-screen.
KP Solidarity
The MAC is proud to support KP Solidarity. Please see the KP Solidarity blog for more information.
MAC statement on neo-Nazi attack on MARC
This statement has been prepared by the 'Melbourne Anarchist Club' (MAC), the owners of the 'Melbourne Anarchist Resource Centre' (62 St Georges Road, Northcote), in response to recent threatening behaviour by local neo-Nazis.
It is intended to explain what has happened, and our response to it.
WHAT HAPPENED
On the afternoon of Monday, September 28, 2009, four neo-Nazi skinheads, believed to belong to or to be closely associated with the neo-Nazi skinhead groups 'Blood & Honour Australia' and the 'Southern Cross Hammerskins', attended the MARC. The neo-Nazis interrupted a meeting of a group which happened to be meeting at the time (a group which campaigns against sexual violence).
The neo-Nazis were highly agitated and very aggressive, confronting those present and preventing their exit by blocking the front door. They screamed and shouted, pushed over book shelves, crowded individuals, and threatened physical violence (including the use of capsicum spray or 'mace'). The neo-Nazis demanded to know if the individuals present were 'antifa' (anti-fascists), and to be provided with the name and location of the blogger 'slackbastard'. After approximately 10 minutes, they left MARC with a final 'Sieg Heil!'.
One of those present at the meeting provides the following account:
At 3pm Monday the 28th of September, several of us were sitting in the Barricade bookshop when four men entered through the front door. One of them, who was carrying a can of mace [pepper spray], yelled for us to sit down and that they had a message to deliver (he also asked who was in charge!). They proceeded to deliver a message that amounted to threatening that the MARC space would be the first point of call if there was any more antifa [anti-fascist] activity in Melbourne. They pushed over two bookshelves and swept some zines off the table as they left… Nobody was hurt, and there was no damage done to the space, just some disorganised books. We were all a bit shaken, but looked after each other.
It is understood that the most vocal neo-Nazi was a man named Justin. Justin is in his mid- to late-30s, and has tattoos on his hands and neck. He is the Victorian organiser for 'Blood & Honour', and is also closely associated with the Hammerskins. It is also understood that Justin works at 'Hold Fast Body Art' tattoo studio in Burwood (13 Burwood Highway).
During the course of their intervention at MARC, Justin informed those present that his business had been graffitied, and demanded that 'antifa' cease all such activity, or that there would be violent repercussions for MARC and its users. It is understood that this was a reference to an alleged incident which took place on Monday, September 14, an account of which, 'Anti-Fascists attack neo-Nazi's business in Burwood', was published anonymously on the Melbourne Indymedia website.
There is no independent confirmation of this incident, but given Justin's subsequent behaviour, we understand it to be true.
In summary: on September 14, unknown parties graffitied a tattoo shop in Burwood with 'anti-fascist' slogans. Two weeks later, on September 28, four neo-Nazi skinheads, including an employee at the tattoo shop in question, attended the MARC in Northcote and assaulted a meeting of a group campaigning against sexual violence, threatening further violence upon the group, MARC, and its users, unless all 'anti-fascist' activity in Melbourne ceased immediately.
OUR RESPONSE
The Melbourne Anarchist Club remains committed to continuing to facilitate anarchist activity in Melbourne.
Thus the Melbourne Anarchist Resource Centre will continue to remain open to the public, and to be used by a variety of groups, including those campaigning for an end to sexual violence, for workers' rights, and for environmental preservation;
as a venue for art, music and film;
as a source of information on contemporary struggles for justice, as well as historical inquiry;
and as a continuing resource for those, like the Melbourne Anarchist Club, who want to advance the cause of revolutionary, class-struggle anarchism.
In addition to reviewing, along with the various groups which make use of MARC, our security and safety procedures, the MAC is organising an Open Day for the general public.
The Open Day will take place on Saturday, November 28, and will include free food, entertainment, and a variety of other activities.
More details will be provided in coming weeks.
All are welcome.
¡No pasarán!
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For more information and enquiries:
Melbourne Anarchist Club
P.O. Box 494
Brunswick
VIC 3056
AUSTRALIA
melbourneanarchistclub@gmail.com
https://mac.anarchobase.com/
===
Daggy Disco!
A benefit for the Melbourne Anarchist Resource Centre (MARC) and the Black Star PA Collective:
DAGGY DISCO
SATURDAY MAY 23RD
Featuring disco classics from the 70s & 80s & brand spanking new tunes.
Your Old Skool DJs: War Bastard 90310 | Grim Sim | Alice
Plus New Kids: Sam & Anna
SATURDAY, MAY 23RD
OCTO BAR
911 HIGH STREET THORNBURY
(opposite loophole)
$10 workers // $8 shirkers
9pm START
May Day
The Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation and Melbourne Anarchist Club are putting on a May Day celebration on Friday, May 1st.
There will be an ASF picnic at the 8 Hour Monument, cnr of Lygon and Victoria St, opposite near Trades Hall, at 12:00 midday.
Bring food to share.
This will be followed by a social gathering at the Melbourne Anarchist Resource Centre, 62 St Georges Rd, Northcote at 7:00pm.
MAC is also using this event to kick off a regular Friday night anarchist meet-up with drinks and discussion.
[The original 'Melbourne Anarchist Club' was launched on May 1, 1886.]
Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation
The Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation (ASF) has announced that it will be opening its new office at the Centre on Saturday, November 1.
Barricade Infoshop
Barricade opened its doors on Saturday September 13, 2008. Check the Barricade website for details of opening times.
NB. Barricade closed its doors in October 2009. It has re-located to Loophole community centre, 670 High Street, Northcote. They are looking for donations. See their post here.