The Coburg Meddler

Updates on local activism

IMARC

The International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) is an annual event held in Melbourne whereby representatives and decision-makers in the mining sector come together to, among other buzz-wordy things, make deals.

In 2019, IMARC boasted that over $46 million in business increased as a direct result of the conference, and $100.3 million additional investments were made in the mining industry.

Every year, activists from various backgrounds have united to protest IMARC under the banner of Blockade IMARC. The group holds itself out as fighting against extractivism with a non-violent approach, including through blockades and protest.

IMARC was meant to take place on 22 – 24 October 2021, but due to COVID-19 it has been delayed until 31 January – 2 February 2022.
Blockade IMARC is using this time to discuss how to effectively bring attention to the climate justice reasons for protesting the conference.
Contact them through their website: https://blockadeimarc.com/ to get involved.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION FRIDAYS IN COBURG – DRIVERS NEEDED
The Muslim Women’s Council of Victoia have moved to 19 Harding St, Coburg (the Coburg Bowls club). The small group is using the space to cook hot meals for needy families every Friday. They currently supply a variety of healthy meals to over 200 households in the area.

One of the biggest challenges the group is facing is adequate cooking facilities. Whilst they have a roof over their head, they only have a couple of woefully inadequate single-burner portable gas stoves to achieve their task of providing assistance.

The group itself has been operating a food and general goods distribution centre since COVID-19 started, but they have only just moved to Coburg. Afshan, one of the organisers and volunteers, says that the group helps a broad range of needy people; refugees, families who are struggling, people with disabilities who need extra help.

Afshan said that another excellent way to help the centre is by offering to deliver the meals. Drivers who are free on Fridays and are looking for a way to help the community are encouraged to get in contact with the group.

You can also join the group on facebook to see what items they currently need.

Salvaging hard rubbish and repurposing it into a monstrous bedside table is an act of defiance against a number of problematic systems.

The bi-annual hard rubbish collection in Moreland is a dying breed. Many other councils have slowly phased that system out in favour of a ‘booking’ system, whereby households have up to two loads of hard rubbish that they can book to be taken away.

Recently, Moreland Council have proposed to follow suit. This was apparently prompted by a number of issues.

The Council claims that they have had complaints for the community about wanting less dumped rubbish in the streets (inside and outside of hard rubbish collection times).

Additionally, according to the Council, only 14 per cent of hard rubbish earlier this year was recycled. Moreland Council have said that other municipalities have had the amounts of hard rubbish collected reduced overall by adopting the booking system.

The bi-annual hard rubbish collection times are the most exciting events in Moreland’s social calendar. There is nothing quite like the serendipity of finding something you never knew you needed whilst out getting milk, and we would hate to see it go.

By Sam Tubbs

Recently the Moreland Council has taken to inspecting bins. The Council has found extraordinarily high levels of recycling contamination in Moreland. The state average level of contamination is 10 percent, whereas in Moreland, contamination of recycling is at 17 per cent.

In an effort to reduce contamination of the food and garden organics (FOGO) and recycling bins in Moreland, the Council has started conducting random inspections of bins. Bins that have been contaminated receive a new “warning bin tag”. Bins that have a significant level of contamination may be given a “rejection sticker”, which means that the bins are not collected that week.

People may remember back in 2019 when it came to light the extent to which Australia’s recycling system was in shambles. For the 2017-18 financial year, Australia had used around 3.4 million tonnes of plastic, with only 9.4 per cent being recycled.

Given this, it might be hard to support the Council’s decision to publicly shame others for not recycling properly; if the stuff isn’t being recycled anyway, what’s the big deal?

But Moreland Council is making active attempts to improve recycling in the municipality by devoting more resources to ensure it is being done better. No longer will Shakespeare say:
Tremble, thou wretch,
That hast within thee undivulged crimes
Unwhipped of justice.

We shall be whipped.

By ES

A Best Western Hotel in Fawkner has been partially operating as a detention centre, or, an ‘alternative place of detention’ (‘APOD’), since mid-2019.

This fact was made public by Cnr Sue Bolton in December 2020, who expressed her mortification at the fact that APODs can be set up by the federal government in hotels in Moreland (and likely elsewhere) without needing to notify the local council.

As it stands, under the Migration Act 1954 (Cth), the federal government is empowered to set up detention centres by buying or leasing properties, as long as that land is considered suitable for the purposes of detaining persons without a visa. This means that the ability to set up APODs is excessively easy for the federal government.

Darebin Council faced similar revelations in early 2020 after an APOD was established in Mantra Hotel in Preston. In response to public outcry at refugees being held indefinitely in the hotel, Darebin Council voted to get legal advice regarding whether Mantra Hotel was in breach of their planning permit. The legal advice they received was that there was no breach of the planning permit and therefore no way for Darebin to enact enforcement against Mantra.

Moreland Council is considering a similar approach to using planning laws to stop this practice. Under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) – which Moreland Councillors are compelled to uphold – operators of a hotel must have a permit for utilising the land for ‘accommodation’. These permits only enable hotel operators to use the land for accommodation; they can’t, for example, suddenly decide to operate any other type of business that they want.

The live question up for debate is: what type of land use is running a detention centre? Under the Planning Scheme, there is no definition for detention. As Cnr James Conlan pointed out in the July 2021 Council Meeting, where there is no category under the Planning Scheme for the type of land use taking place, then a person must obtain a permit, which must be approved by Moreland Council. As yet, the Best Western Hotel in Fawkner has not obtained a permit for their changed activities.

Whilst it has been uncovered there are unlikely to be refugees being held in the Best Western Hotel at the moment, we know that creating APODs in the community are increasingly common. With the Afghani refugee crisis unfolding, it’s important that Moreland take action now rather than later, and put a stop to dangerous precedents.

By SAS & BB

During October, Venus, refulgent in the western twilight sky, will keep moving away from the Sun to reach its furthest apparent separation at
the month’s end. On the 9th, the planet will appear to be caught in the claws of the constellation Scorpius, with a New Moon below, and reddish
Antares above. On the next evening these three bodies will form a striking triangle.

Popularly used star names for Western astronomers have generally been taken from Arabic, Greek, and Roman cultures, most stars using the name of their constellation. Prominent stars have their own name as well, e.g., Antares for Alpha Scorpii, the brightest star in Scorpius. However, the International Astronomical Union is aiming to give more stars individual names, drawn from a wider range of cultures, including, for the first time, Australian first nations.

For the Wardaman people of Northern Australia, the stars in the constellation Scorpius have long been important in their tradition of initiation ceremonies, each star representing a significant character. One such is Larawag, the signal watcher, who checks that none but legitimate participants in the ceremony are present, only giving the go-ahead when this is so. Now, the star in Scorpius which was previously known to Western astronomers as Epsilon Scorpii (i.e., fifth brightest star in Scorpius), will be formally and internationally known by its ages-old Wardaman name of Larawag.

The Southern Taurids meteor shower will peak on October 10th, with up to 5 sightings per hour- look near the V-shaped Hyades after midnight.

On the 14th, Saturn, and on the 15th, Jupiter, will each be separated by only a few degrees from the waxing Moon in the western evening sky.

On the 17th, Venus, still moving through Scorpius, will be within two degrees of Antares.

The planet Mercury will make a typically brief and difficult appearance on November 4th. Look low in the east at 6:30 am (DST) to see it lined up between the star Spica and the almost-New Moon, just risen.

On November 8th, in the evening western sky the crescent Moon and Venus will be very close, in the Teapot. This modest asterism in Sagittarius does not stand out in brightness, but to look at the Teapot is to look towards the Galactic Centre of our Milky Way Galaxy, a region so densely populated by massive stars that this area should shine out in our night sky brighter than the Full Moon – if it were not for all the interstellar dust blocking the light from us.

The Moon in its First Quarter phase will pass very close to Saturn on November 10th, and to Jupiter on the 11th.

In mid-November, there is a good chance of spotting a meteor in the night sky. On the 12th, the Northern Taurids shower peaks, with up to 5 sightings per hour; best viewing after 3am (moonset). On the 18th, the Leonids shower peaks (near ‘The Sickle’ asterism), and on the 21st, the alpha-Monoceratids shower (between Sirius and Procyon) – but the presence of the Full Moon will make it harder to see any but the brightest of these. This Full Moon will be going through a partial, near total, eclipse on November 19th. Catching the mid-eclipse at 8pm as the Moon rises in the twilight will be difficult, but the later stages of the eclipse will be easier viewing as light fades and the Moon ascends.

By Vlack

FIVE POEMS

The reviews for the date were in:
6.1, 7.0, 5.8, 3.4 (!) from the panel.
“No chance of a second, then,” thought Colm.
“Bloody judges.”
He read the feedback from Judge 4,
(the one who’d given him 3.4) –
“Absolutely munted,” it read.
It was his mother’s handwriting.
“The system needs an overhaul,” he grumbled into his toast.

***

“We’re thinking Camphor Tourniquet if a boy,
and Penchbress Narco Golightly
if embodying more ceramics flair,”
I overheard at the cafe.
I grabbed my cup of dog soup and scuttled away, sweating.
Outside I was given a parking ticket
for someone else’s car.
I freedom-kissed the parking inspector, but they were…
unmoved, at best.

***

In 2038,
NASA, with the aid of private capital,
plan to project the 1960 film Some Like It Hot
on the surface of the moon.
The moon is likely to giggle
and break apart in the process,
Destroying Earth.
Please donate to my GoFundMe

***

The world’s ugliest crooner decided
to remove his mask, that night –
it was a mistake.
Everybody spewed.
Tully, the janitor, sighed.
He had a feeling he’d miss the midnight screening of Pink Flamingos now.
He rubbed Vick’s on his top lip,
to help with the smell.
In the shape of a pencil moustache, of couse.

***

Chrissy had a revelation in the desert
Where everything became clear at once.
“Fab!” she shouted, and jumped in her Jetta.

As she got back on the main road, though,
she realised she’d plum forgotten the rev.
So she headed back –
80km, thank you very much –
and re-revelationed herself.
This time she was sure she’d committed it to memory,
but again, back on the highway, it was gone.
The petrol tank was nearing E,
so she figured she’d leave it.
Plus she was famished,
and there was an Oporto at the next offramp.

By B Haughtly

Illustrations by Tyson Kalender (TheDrawingDroid on Etsy)

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And where does the answer leave me?

My life is filled with a lot of comforts; an electric blanket, a good bath, the ability to go to a store and buy a variety of different food that I haven’t needed to grow or process myself, videogames, a decent transport system.
In many ways I live the way monarchs have lived throughout history, only they directly and visibly relied upon – and upheld with physical violence – a system of slavery and serfs. In my case, the things propping up my lifestyle are made to appear ‘out of my hands’. Even so, I have fossil fuels and badly treated workers that sustain my lifestyle (and probably slavery as well). To me, the differences aren’t significant enough to feel okay about how I live my life.

I want to know what has caused this in order to know what to do about it. Is it capitalism that has made my life so comfortable? Capitalism, the socio-economic system that is driven by accumulation of private profit for private wealth? In so many ways I think yes. But these are things I don’t think we would have wanted if we consider the layers of increased ecological destruction, enclosure of commons, slavery, colonisation, inequality, oppression of workers and alienation from life that this system has also brought us.

So, what do I do about it? Ideas I have are to keep resisting and building alternatives, blockading, defending, healing, organising, empowering, working in solidarity and conversing, but all that isn’t very concrete. One concrete thing is thinking through and connecting myself to the life cycle of everything I consume to survive and thrive. I try to do this without shaming myself and others, but as an anti-capitalist project to re-attach myself to my material needs and imagining what true sustainability and interconnectedness could be and can be now. My imagination tells me I’ll have a lot less cool stuff and easy comfort if I actually take the ecology and autonomy of my fellow beings seriously. But also, maybe I’ll have a closer-knit community that works together on achieving things, which will probably make me happier.

Another concrete action is to continue being grateful, a nice tradition my family passed onto me, though I’m separating it from its religious roots (my grandpa always said ‘we are so blessed’). This helps with the other concrete action I’ll mention, which is looking after myself so that I can put most of my waking hours and energy into working out how to change the current system, and doing that with (mostly) a big smile, a sense of humour, patience and openness, which is creating the world I want to see.

By Anisa Rogers

In June’s 2021 Moreland Council meeting Councillor Oscar Yildiz triggered a debate that divided councillors. The issue revolved around the deputy mayor’s allowance during the time which Mayor Annalivia Carli-Hannan will be on maternity leave.

The night before the meeting, Yildiz had taken to social media to question Carli-Hannan taking just enough time off to trigger a clause within the Local Government Act 2020 (Vic) that allows the deputy mayor, Councillor Mark Riley, to be paid the mayoral allowance for the time that he will be acting as mayor. Yildiz suggested that this was an orchestrated attempt to cheat rate-payers in Moreland during a time in which residents are struggling to pay their rates. Yildiz wrote: “The sense of entitlement and arrogance makes me sick and it’s no wonder the average person has no confidence in politics and politicians”.

As it stands, if a mayor takes more than 50 continuous days of leave for whatever reason, then the deputy mayor will be entitled to claim the mayoral allowance for the period they are acting as mayor. This rule no longer forms part of the current legislation, however the repealed law still operates until the new Wage Inspectorate issues a determination on Mayoral allowances. This has yet to happen, however one would expect that it is only a matter of time before the rule no longer operates.

The rule is thankfully being phased out, as it is uncontroversial that performing extra duties should be compensated accordingly. In Victoria, the mayoral position role is seen as a full-time job. The role of the councillor, on the other hand, is seen as a part-time position. There is a significant difference in the annual allowance for the two roles; councillors get roughly $31k per annum and mayors get roughly $100k.

It is worth noting here that the mayor and the councillors are not employees; they are democratically elected representatives. This means that they are not entitled to ‘wages’ or ‘leave’ in the same way that employees generally are. They are instead given ‘allowances’ and can seek approval from the other councillors to be uncontactable when they want to go on ‘leave’.

Regardless, parental leave is acknowledged as something to which councillors and the mayor are entitled to (without literally being entitled to it).

In the aforementioned Council meeting, Yildiz asked for clarification on the rules around the mayor taking an extended leave of absence, and whether a new election technically needed to be conducted. This provided an opportunity for the councillors to raise the controversial social media posts that Yildiz had published before the meeting.

However, councillors were appalled when Yildiz started reiterating the content of his facebook posts – Yildiz adamantly repeated that he did not have an issue with maternity leave, but that he felt it was suspect that the Mayor would be taking 52 days instead of 49 days. He wanted an explanation.

Yildiz claimed that he was mainly frustrated by the fact that Deputy Mayor Riley will end up receiving roughly $10k extra for acting as mayor for 52 days (and potentially longer). Yildiz stated that he believed it was immoral for ratepayers to be forced to pay for another person’s mayoral wage over this period of maternity leave during a pandemic.

People may be surprised, given Yildiz’ supposed concerns, that he mounted an attack on the Mayor rather than focusing on Riley’s acceptance of the increased allowance. It is well-known that all councillors have the freedom to waive their right to the allowance.

The explanation for this baffling approach may be explained, in part, by Yildiz’ long standing gripe against Carli-Hannan.

In November 2020, the recently sworn in councillors were tasked with voting for a mayor and deputy mayor. According to Yildiz, he had secured the mayoral position with five councillors (including Carli-Hannan) promising to vote for him. Minutes before the councillors were to vote, Carli-Hannan sent Yildiz a message letting him know that she was withdrawing her support as she had been able to secure herself the requisite votes to become Mayor.

Yildiz mounted a scathing attack on Carli-Hannan over social media. He claimed that Carli-Hannan had lied, deceived and stabbed him in the back. Yildiz used the event as an example of the moral turpitude of Carli-Hannan. Paradoxically, Yildiz then claimed that “politics should not be a dirty game”.

In the context of Yildiz’ own political aspirations, his response to losing the mayorship makes more sense. In his eagerness to cast a shadow over Carli-Hannan, Yildiz adopted a scatter-shot approach. There were multiple arguments fired, paying little regard to who was injured (it’s starting to seem like a party at Milad El-Halabi’s house – see photo).

As a consequence, Carli-Hannan was forced to engage in an archaic defense of her maternity leave, explaining in careful detail her expected delivery and recovery dates. Because of this, Yildiz has been accused of being anti-maternity leave. Which he isn’t. Yildiz has laboured the point that he supports a person’s right to maternity leave. However, because of his grudge, Yildiz decided to question the specific amount of days taken instead of criticising Riley for taking the extra allowance. If he was more principled and careful instead of interested in smearing the character of Carli-Hannan, who he vehemently claimed had backstabbed him, this might have been avoided.

By SAS & BB

An advice column

Good morning dear reader, for the morning is the best time to read the news (the first piece of advice).

This author is a notorious meddler and while this has caused many problems in her close interpersonal relationships, she has also developed an aptitude for the instructive. This author can offer a wide variety of advice, from “what is the best type of toothpaste?” (Marvis), to “I am embarrassed by my partner – should I end it?” (Almost certainly
yes).

This is a call out for your anonymous questions and conundrums. Send them all to thecoburgmeddler@gmail.com

This author will do her utmost to help you navigate the choppy waters of life and love with pithy one liners.

Telling people what to do is her only (ad)vice.

Early in 2020 I was standing at the intersection of Sydney and Moreland Roads. I sensed a lockdown was inevitable. The Western skyline was raging red with the setting sun, an ominous totem due to the smoke haze from the catastrophic fires that were still burning. My stomach tightened with an unwelcomed feeling of dread; I felt I was watching the world as I knew it disappear.

These last couple of years have been tough and disruptive, creating deep uncertainty about the future. This was not how our lives were meant to be. Perhaps with the vaccination roll out we can see a path back to normal. Yet, many of us are less confident now in the ‘return-to-normal’ story.
The catastrophic bushfires may have died out, but with a hotter world they will return, even larger, if that is imaginable. This heating planet changes everything we expect about the future.

What can we do? It is very tempting to act as if nothing will change. And why not? Covid tested us all but the climate and ecological crises are far more daunting and dangerous, and I for one would much rather not have to think about it.

But think we must, so I offer some reflections from a reluctant observer.
First, a reality check: It is now too late to stop climate change. We are now heading into uncharted territory of unprecedented fire, heat, storms and rising oceans. This means disruption will become normal. Our hotter world is producing longer droughts, more destructive storms, deadlier heat waves and it will change the ways we live. There is no escaping this.

Yet, this does not need to be the end of the world. Not yet anyway. We can still create a future worth living for. We will need to urgently (and I mean urgently) reinvent the way we live, lower the pressure on our ecosystems and create new stories that are fit for this future.

New stories mean new ways of thinking and talking about this future. That is why we created Music for a Warming World, a multimedia live music concert using the immersive experience of art to help us get inside this changing world. Music is powerful, but not in the same way as science or politics. It can’t take carbon out of the atmosphere and it can’t create policy.

Music has a different language; what musicologist Alan Harvey calls the harmony of souls.

In a world of profound and increasing disruption, we need more than ever art that provides safe spaces to connect emotionally with these disruptions, in the safety of a community of common souls where we have the best chance of inventing new ways to live with the predicament of climate change.

Music for a Warming World are launching their new album, Only One Way to Head, at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute, on Sunday 1 st of August, at 4pm. Bookings are essential: https://events.humanitix.com/music-for-a-warming-world-album-launch

By Simon Kerr
(simonkerrnz@gmail.com)