Let's enjoy some of Andrew's favourite things: bicycles, Asian culture and tofu. Andrew has long been on the case that there's too much Asian immigration and he despises cyclists because they all eat tofu.

Celebrate Andrew's dickheadness on these great contributors to our culture with a ride from the city to Marrickville where we can have a beer in Vietnamese staffed pub and go over the road and and have some excellent Vietnamese or Chinese tucker. Tofu is on the menu for those that want go the whole Andrew hog!

Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=374930252229&ref=ts

The ‘Camp for Climate Action’ 2010 with Rising Tide Newcastle and Friends of the Earth (FoE) Sydney are hosting Non-violent Direct Action (NVDA) skillshares:

When
SYDNEY – Saturday 22nd May 10.30 – 4.30

Or, let us know your interest for future workshops. We hope to hold them regularly in the lead up to Climate Camp at Bayswater Power Station, Dec 1st – 5th.

RSVP to crystalgnomes@gmail.com or 0434641662

Where?
in Sydney – at 19 Eve Street Erskineville

Who should come?
We need a diversity of people from all backgrounds to convince Government’s to take necessary action on climate change. We need you. If NVDA is something you wouldn’t usually consider appropriate for you, then you’re especially the type we need!

If you’re already involved it’s still a good thing to come to a workshop to deepen your understanding and preparedness and to share your experiences and thoughts.

What will happen at the workshop?
Through facilitated discussion, small group work and some games and activities we’ll together learn more about how and why to take non-violent direct action.

- philosophy and various perspectives of non-violence
- historical success of NVDA
- an overview of the up-coming ‘Camp for Climate Action’ and ‘affinity
group’ organising
- legal implications of engaging in NVDA
- quick decision making
- do’s and don’ts
- getting ready to take direct action – what do you need, identifying and
overcoming your fear
- next steps – how can we build the movement?

- lunch and snacks provided by donation*

Why get involved in climate NVDA?
The message from scientists about the seriousness and urgency of the climate crisis could not be more clear and unequivocal. It’s terrifying. Yet State and Federal Government’s approve more coal mines, power stations and export facilities, as well as oil and gas extraction projects, freeways and forest destruction. Powerful vested interests continue to exert much more influence over Government decisions than community pressure or the urgency of the scientific reality.

Time to turn the climate crisis around is slipping through our fingers. It’s obvious that petitions, rallies and even the most logical arguments are not enough to change the Government’s position when it comes to short term profit versus medium and long term social, ecological and economic sustainability. The NSW Government recently approved plans to build two new coal or gas fired power stations which would increase the state’s emissions by up to 15%. Plans are afoot to triple coal exports from the state, while we already export more emissions through our coal than all our domestic emissions from every source combined.

All around the world recent years have seen a burgeoning and fast growing movement of non-violent direct action on climate change. These actions have been sharpening the debate and bringing the urgency of the situation to light. They demonstrate a response that is somehow commensurate to the crisis. ‘So perhaps this is really serious?’ punters may think when watching the 6 0′clock news. Business as usual is interrupted, commentators speculate that civil unrest is brewing, and politicians are forced to take notice.

This movement needs to grow on an unprecedented scale. We need you to be one more helping that to happen.

What is ‘Camp for Climate Action’?
‘Climate Camp’ is a non-violent direct action camp to be held, December 1st – 5th, at Lake Liddell Recreation Area near Bayswater Power Station, Muswellbrook, the Hunter Valley.

Bayswater is the site of one of the planned new coal-fired power stations – ‘Bayswater B’ – and is the equal largest source of emissions in Australia. Over 120 countries in the world emit less CO2 than Bayswater. The planned expansion would double Bayswater’s current emissions.

As in previous years, the camp will be fun and family-friendly with a sustainable village atmosphere. There will be a program on climate change issues and solutions, non-violent direct action and organising, and music and entertainment. The finale will be a creative and bold peaceful mass action aimed at shutting down Bayswater Power Station for the day.

It’s a community event, and local groups will be organising ‘Neighbourhoods’ from their areas – so get in touch, or come to an NVDA workshop to get involved. The next big organising meeting is Saturday 5th June, 2-5.
* Fruit and energy snacks and a simple vegetarian lunch will be available.
$5 suggested donation for food.

For info check out http://www.risingtide.org.au/

What's happening

Hundreds of people will
peacefully occupy Newcastle Harbour, and prevent the passage of coal
ships. This will be the fifth action of its kind in Newcastle. No one
has ever been arrested. At the last, in March 2009, we successfully
stopped all ship movements in the harbour for the day.

There'll
be plenty happening on the shore too, so please come along and show
your support even if you can't get out on the water. Good food will be
available by donation, and there will be a couple of performances and
engaging speakers. The Australia Institute's Richard Denniss will kick things off.

The
protest takes place at Horseshoe Beach, in the mouth of Newcastle
Harbour. It will start at 10am, and go for the rest of the day.

What about boats?

Bring
your canoe, kayak, tinnie, surfboard, (yacht?), whatever pleasure craft
you like. Don't have your own boat? Don't fancy yourself a raft-maker?
That's fine. Rising Tide is organising as many kayaks as we can, and
making them available for general use. If you have access to a
multitude of kayaks, please get in touch!

There'll be a ceremony of home made rafts! Check out the funky floating masterpieces, and enter your own creation!

What about safety?

There
will be fast rescue boats, generously provided and operated by
Greenpeace. If you get into trouble, someone will save you. We will
also have a first aid tent on shore.

 If you haven't used a kayak before, and want to use one of the kayaks we're organising for the day, then get in touch. If enough people are interested we will put on a kayak safety workshop before the big day.

Why should we blockade the coal port?

Now,
more than ever, we need to be turning up the heat on the coal industry,
and their friends in government. The export coal industry is
Australia's single biggest, and fastest growing contribution to the
global climate crisis.

Newcastle, already
the world's biggest coal port, is set to open a massive new coal
terminal this year, bringing the export capacity of the Hunter Valley
coal chain to an incredible 178 million tonnes of coal per annum.
That's the climate change equivalent of 30 Bayswater Power Stations.
Within ten years, the coal corporations plan on exporting more than 300
million tonnes of coal per annum - a tripling of current export
capacity.

Tripling coal exports means
tripling coal mining. As Newcastle coal exports boom, more precious
bushland will be razed, more waterways polluted, more communities
ripped apart as the transnational coal companies carve their way
westwards into the Liverpool Plains. The profits will be exported, but
the devastation will stay here in the Hunter. The catastrophic effects
of climate change will hurt all around the world.

This
madness has to stop. The climate crisis is deepening, and time is fast
running out. Politicians are failing to take action against the rampant
coal companies, so we have to do it ourselves.

Hundreds
of people will be doing just that in Newcastle on 28th March, and we'd
love you to join us. We'll be taking to the harbour in a big way,
occupying the world's biggest coal port with a mass of people, and
demanding:

• an immediate ban on the expansion of the coal industry in Australia,
• a swift phase out of coal, replacing all coal industry jobs with jobs in renewable energy and other sustainable industries

Want posters and flyers?

If you can help distribute posters and flyers for the Blockade, that's fantastic. If you want to print your own off, the files are here.

If you want us to post you some, send an email to risingtide at risingtide dot org dot au,
with your name, address, what sort of material you want (flyers,
posters, both), and how many you want, and we'll see what we can do.

Thanks very much.