Blockade Australia Part 3, Sector Support for Drug Checking, Understanding ME/CFS and Long Covid, Merri-bek Council Against Public Housing Demolition, Palestinian Sovereignty and Indigeneity

Thursday Breakfast

Acknowledgement of Country// Headlines// We listen to the final of a three part conversation between Spike and climate activist James from Blockade Australia. Blockade Australia is an organising network established in response to Australia's political and economic systems, and others like it globally, who are facilitating the collapse of the ecosystems that support all human and non human life. Last week we learnt from James that Direct action is synonymous with Blockade Australia and that it is aimed directly at industrial polluters and extractors. He also shared that he believes the major obstacles to achieving a socially and environmentally just world are systemic, connected to how information (scientific data) is produced and disseminated and "catastrophe fatigue" or trauma. Spike and James agreed that primary industry corporations have succeeded in convincing the public that climate degradation is due to individual consumption. Jamess also indicated that he believes that the promotion of activism on social media is a positive and effective way to promote the efforts of the activist community. Listen back to part one here and part two here.// Scott Drummond, Program Manager at the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association, joined us to discuss a statement produced in collaboration with RMIT and supported by 77 health and community agencies highlighting the dire need for a drug checking and enhanced public alert system to be implemented in Victoria. The statement was published on Monday the 23rd of October, and you can read it here. VAADA is the peak body representing Alcohol and Other Drug services in Victoria.// This morning we will be speaking to Anne Wilson, CEO of Emerge Australia - the leading national patient organisation for ME/CFS in Australia. Emerge Australia works to drive policy change and is committed to ensuring that the needs and concerns of Australians living with ME/CFS and Long COVID are heard and addressed. Emerge Australia is currently recruiting people with post-infection diseases to join collaborative research efforts with universities to find a cure for complex illnesses. To learn more about ME/CFS, and hear people with lived experience of illness share their stories, listen to Emerge Australia’s Imagine Podcast.// Approximately a month ago the state government announced its plan to demolish all 44 public housing towers in Naarm/Melbourne, stating that the leasing of the public land to developers and proposed rebuild of "social housing" will improve housing availability. In reality, this will lead to the major dislocation of the lives of around 10,000 people from marginalised communities, who learnt about the life changing policy change only 24 hours prior to the announcement through a letter that was shoved underneath their door. To discuss the successful passing of a Merri-bek Council motion to oppose the demolition we spoke with Socialist Alliance activist and Merri-bek Councillor Sue Bolton.// Jamal Nabulsi, a diaspora Palestinian writer and scholar living on unceded Jagera and Turrbal Country, joins us to speak about his writing on Palestinian sovereignty and Indigeneity. This conversation builds on some of Jamal's published work, situating these political claims about Palestinian identity in relation to the present genocidal siege of Gaza by Israel and exploring the importance of Palestinian scholar-activism and the long history of solidarity between Palestinians and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. You can read Jamal's paper 'Reclaiming Palestinian Indigenous Sovereignty', published open access in the Journal of Palestine Studies, here. Jamal will be in conversation with a brilliant selection of scholar activists in the November Symposium on Blackfulla Palestinian Solidarity.//