Email dated: 16 August 2005
Subject: [resistance] Condoleeza Rice coming to Adelaide

Condoleeza Rice and possibly Donald Rumsfeld in Adelaide

Yes You read it right, Condoleeza Rice will be in Adelaide in November. Possibly Donald Rumsfeld too!

The occasion? The inaugural meeting for the "Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate" (APP-CDC). The six nation group of green house polluters is really a club of the two worst environmental vandals in the world (Australia and the USA) with 4 lesser polluters (China, India, South Korea and Taiwan) to rip up the Kyoto protocol.

Australia in recent years has lead the charge to junk the Kyoto protocol of reducing greenhouse emissions and the US has followed the lead of Australian big polluters. The APP-CDC proposes no limitation on greenhouse pollution, just the vague promise to introduce environmentally friendly technology to the third world but no targets or enforceability for this. APP-CDC is really just a smoke-screen or a stunt to cover up Australia and US corporate and environmental vandalism that is wrecking our planet and killing its people.

It is now universally recognised that the greenhouse effect is a deadly serious and worsening environmental disaster. According to the most comprehensive survey ever carried out on global warming (published in The Australian earlier this year), earth's temperatures are changing much faster than expected. The survey warned London could be under water within 50 years. The future of the world's island nations and agricultural societies will be most dramatically affected. While the rich will always be able to buy up the best land, and make money from any crisis, environmental vandalism is destroying the planet and majority of the people.

The powers that be have picked Adelaide hoping that we are small and passive enough to offer no resistance to there meeting. The polluters want to make this an international media coup for their irresponsible head in the sand approach to out of control climate change. We need to make this an international public relations disaster for them! The challenge is on. if there was ever a time to get active it is now.

Top 6 reasons to make make Rice's visit a PR disaster

1. Green House effect is a dangerous runaway environmental disaster. The corporate poulluters are simply ignoring this fact.
2. Condoleeza Rice was the national security adviser during the Iraq invasion that has lead to death of 100 000 Iraqi civilians in the name of ridding the world of Sadam Hussien's fictional "weapons of mass destruction".
3. Howard will be there, Downer will be there, all the Australian government big wigs willl be trying to soak up some of the "glory" while the whole world will be watching on the international media. We can show the world what we really think.
4. The occupation of Iraq is losing its grip. The opposition to US imperialism in Iraq and all around the world, especially in Latin America, is gaining strength. a show of popular opposition to this meeting of the imperialists in their heartland, the safe tranquil Adelaide, will encourage international Resistance and struggle.
5. This will be the biggest political event for Adelaide since the invasion of Iraq. The chance to trigger greater inviolvement in struggle against our own bankrupt government is massive.
6. There will be a national convergance on Adelaide for the summit with people from accross the country coming to join the protest.
7. We have a world to win. We have nothing to lose. The power lies with the majority of people. We must fight for new world based on humn need not corporate greed.

NOWAR Adelaide (the group that organised the massive demonstrations against the invasion of Iraq) has called for action against Rice's visit. NOWAR has innitiated coalition , open to all groups and individuals who would like to help organise the protest. The first meeting of this coalition will take place on Monday August 29th at 6:30pm. Venue to be anounced. Get involved.

If you would like to help build the protest we have organised poster runs to advertise the campaign to protest Rice's visit. They will be taking place on Tuesday August 16th and Wed August 17th, 4pm- 5:15pm meet at the Resistance Centre, 34a Hindley St and we will poster the City.

We also have campaigning stalls to leaflet and talk about the campaign: Adelaide University - Tues Aug 16, 12noon - 1:30, Flinders University Thursday Aug 18 11am - 2pm and Rundle Mall Friday August 19 3pm -5pm.

If you would like to help with poster runs or stalls or find out other was to help out please contact Resistance on 8231 6982 or Sam on 0403672858

The following is the transcript of an interview with Downer over the phone to Laos by ABC radio 891

Broadcaster Adelaide, in what, a couple of - no in four months time will host some of the world's most powerful people. They will be coming to Adelaide for the inaugural meeting for the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. For instance, among the big names will be Condoleezza Rice, the United States Secretary of State. To tell us about this and how Adelaide managed to get a gig like this, we're joined by Alexander Downer the Foreign Affairs Minister. He's talking to us from Laos. Good morning, Alexander Downer.

Mr Downer Good morning.

Question Alexander Downer, can you explain what this meeting is all about and then can you explain, how did we get it?

Mr Downer Well, we got it because I live in Adelaide, and I hope people aren't going to email and phone my office and complain, but I thought it would be nice to have an international meeting that Australia is going to host and to have it in Adelaide itself. I mean, I do host meetings from time to time of foreign ministers and I take a lot of them to my electorate, actually, but to have a major meeting like this in Adelaide I think would be a good thing for Adelaide. It will put Adelaide on the international map for a few days. It will get world TV news coverage. So I think it becomes exciting for Adelaide. But it's a meeting to talk about, with these other five countries, to talk about ways that we can address the climate change issue in a - well, I hope in quite a dramatic way and that is to ensure that there's substantial investment in technologies which will lead to cleaner energy and, in the end, substantial reductions in emissions and it includes India and China which are two of the world's largest emissers who have no obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

Question This is a gathering even though the conference is called the Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, these - many would regard them as the world's most polluting nations: China, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea and the USA.

Mr Downer It's exactly right. So they're countries - well, Japan is there, Japan has ratified the Kyoto Protocol and is endeavouring to meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol, I don't remember what their target is. But the others don't have any targets under the Kyoto Protocol and they, you know, they are countries that are fundamental to addressing climate change. If you take all of the countries under the Kyoto Protocol that have targets, they emit less than the six countries that will be participating here in Adelaide in our climate change meeting.

Question So what are you hoping to get out of this meeting? Will it just be a talkfest? Will it just be a discussion or will there be something signed at the end of it which could be binding?

Mr Downer Yes, it won't be like the Kyoto Protocol. The problem with the targets under the Kyoto Protocol, frankly, is that an awful lot of countries won't come near to meeting those targets but it will be about - the focus of it will be on technology, that will be how we're going to collaborate in extending research. It will be about pricing mechanisms in the market, whether those pricing mechanisms can be adjusted to encourage more investment and more take-up of different kinds of technologies, of new technologies in energy. The other side of it is that, part of the same argument, is that countries like India and China, particularly those two countries, are increasing their demand for energy almost exponentially and we need to address that issue. Of course they will be need increasing access to energy resources. What sort of energy resources are they going to have in the years ahead and what are the implications of them using those energy resources for the environment?

Question In terms of resources in Adelaide, I imagine just the presence of Condoleezza Rice here is going to mean a security operation, the likes of which we have not seen before; would that be right?

Mr Downer Well, yes, it will be in terms of - assuming Condoleezza Rice comes, and we're optimistic she will, yes, it will involve a fair bit of security for her, although the Americans do provide some of their own security. But the others won't need enormous amounts of security: they'll need some, but they won't need an enormous amount. I mean, I don't envisage us closing off great swathes of the centre of the city for the meeting. But it will involve a lot of security, yeah.

Question When do you hope to get confirmation of whether or not Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, will be visiting Adelaide for this meeting?

Mr Downer Well, it will be in the next few weeks. We're also hoping to hold what we call Ausmin, the Australia US Ministerial meeting, in Adelaide, and the best thing to do would be to have that around the same time, and she's part of that and Robert Hill and I are the Australian side. Donald Rumsfeld is part of that as well. So we are looking at getting Condy Rice and Donald Rumsfeld in Adelaide for that meeting, which will pretty much coincide with the climate change meeting.

Question You couldn't put in a good word for us, could you, so we can get an interview?

Mr Downer I might be able to. There'll be a bit of competition from other stations though.

Question Yeah, but we've asked first now -

Mr Downer - very carefully -- listen very carefully to your program.

Question The other stations do. Alexander Downer, thank you for taking our call this morning.

Mr Downer It's a pleasure.

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"When Injustice becomes law resistance becomes duty"

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