joe.toscano's blog

Michael chose the introductory music to Anarchist World This Week (AWTW) over 20 years ago, he was also the producer of AWTW for a number of years. Michael was an indispensable presence at the Reclaim the Radical Spirit of the Eureka Rebellion Celebrations’ live broadcast from Ballarat at 4:00am on the 3rd December, for over a decade.

He also did a number of outside broadcasts for Talkback with Attitude over the years. Michael Smith was an integral part of many of the programs I’ve been involved with at 3CR Community Radio

On behalf of the Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner Commemoration Committee I would like to invite you to attend the annual Commemoration to mark the 179th Anniversary of the execution of the two indigenous freedom fighters Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner. These two men were executed in Melbourne for having the audacity to resist the British colonisation of their lands and the destruction of their people and their way of life.

Why do we have the disability of poverty and inequality in Australia, a resource-rich country of 25 million people whose resources and agricultural land feed hundreds of millions of people around the world?

Australian society is based on divisions. Unlike horse racing, where the best horses are handicapped so an outside horse stands a chance of winning, in Australian society we handicap those with the least amount of resources and chances. This starts from birth and continues through to education where billions of taxpayers’ dollars are poured into private education.

Three years: 1914, 1994 and 2020. They are interlinked. They highlight the stupidity, the ignorance and the dangers associated with the sale of public assets to the private sector.

The Murdoch empire: a degenerative neurological disorder that destroys the mind, body and soul of anybody who comes into prolonged contact with it.

This week we will look at the domination of the Murdoch empire and how it sets the political, social and cultural agenda in Australian society. How does it do it? Why is the legacy media still important? Why is print media still important?

Australia is based on a number of assumptions which have nothing to do with facts and figures. You can think of these assumptions as a form of ‘nation think’ and they stop us from moving forward and developing a different culture, political system and social network which deal with the basic necessities of Australian life.

The first assumption is that indigenous Australians did not resist colonisation of their land. Accompanying this assumption is that they had no form of land ownership, they lived a nomadic lifestyle and they had nothing to offer Australian society.

This week we’re discussing the concept of N.O.W – no other way.

One thing Australians believe about their country is that it is a classless society. Contrary to this belief, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp relief the contemporary class lines which run right through the nation. These class lines are delineated by people’s access to disposable income, for in a capitalist society like Australia disposable income determines what options you are able to pursue. It is the modern determinant of class.

This week, amidst the COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria, we are looking forward. Up until now, we have been in the throes of a reactive response to the pandemic. What is needed is some forward thinking and in this presentation we will put forward a ‘forward defence pandemic strategy’. We propose this because pandemics are likely to increase in a world of ever-increasing population growth, urbanisation, environmental destruction and industrial farming practises. These issues make us more susceptible to viruses crossing the animal-human barrier.

Around 50% of Australia’s workforce (appx. 6 million people) are currently without full-time employment. When changes to Jobkeeper and Jobseeker are adjusted in September, around 40% of Australians will find themselves in exceptionally difficult economic and personal circumstances. We are currently in what could be described as a COVID holiday, due to government economic supports. Once this ends, the situation will deteriorate. How is the state going to manage this?