the West Gate Bridge suddenly groaned (Patreon)

hey hey, i have decided to pause my patreon account for a while, until i can get sum new stuff printed up and posted out, n while i focus on a couple of more formal paid gigs. i will reactivate it when i have made some new stuff to mail u good ppl, prolly after the tighter phases of lockdown end. the support yall have offered has been incredibly meaningful, esp in the last several months. as i wrote in the past, when the pandemic hit i lost the majority of my paid work. my partner also lost his job. he's in australia on an insecure visa without any income or support for like half the year now, so we hav been living off my drawings n sum govt coin i was able to apply for. its meant alot but i hav felt bad that i havent been able to make more shit cos i've been focussing on finishing my longform book, and prioritising paid projects. im hoping to have this small 'No Permanent Victories No Permanent Defeats' book done by the end of the year so hopefully i'll turn this back on and mail out to youse around then! take care til then <3
heres sum recent stuff meanwhile: 

drew the above pic for no reason except being annoyed by the forces demanding a rushed re-opening, in bad faith, cloaked in the language of liberty :-V

drew the below flyer voluntarily for the 'independent and peaceful australia network'. the event will be good i reckon! its an online thing this coming saturday. IPAN do good work, you can get on their mailing list or get involved with them here https://ipan.org.au/ 

i'm really grateful n humbled to be working on a pretty broad body of work about the 50th anniversary of the collapse of the West Gate Bridge over the next month. im making a large commemorative banner for the Memorial Committee to have for their future memorial events, which will be displayed at the CFMEU the rest of the time, and adapting some of Elizabeth Humprhys and Sarah Gregsons excellent academic research about the disaster and its legacy into a comic for The Age, with the help of my friend and editor Jacinda Woodhead. Big thanks to Ben Schneiders and Rosie for helping this all come together.

'Just before lunch on 15 October 1970, the West Gate Bridge suddenly groaned. An eerie pinging noise filled the air. A storm of rust flakes peeled off weathered steel. The girders started to turn blue. The bridge fell away beneath their feet. Minutes later, 35 workers were dead. It remains Australia's worst industrial accident to this day.'

This psychedelic video work about the bridge by Bindi Cole Chocka is amazing, as is this hour long Art and Industry Festival podcast 'The Bridge', which was produced by Overland and Witness Performance a couple of years ago. 

While i've been working on this stuff, I remembered a diary comic i made years ago about working at a warehouse in Spotswood, commuting across the bridge from Richmond, around 2010. warning its a bit intense!!!! prolly one of the most surreal and moving things i've ever seen

I will try to post some of the West Gate artworks around the 15th of October, on the anniversary. You can follow my facebook page for that if u want.

I absolutely adore both Strike Wave and Kim Kelly, both well worth a look-in, in my opinion. Kim is an industrial reporter (one of the finest!?!!) and her recent piece 'Before the ADA, There Was the Freak Show' looks at the historical circus 'freak show' through a lens of labour relations, with a really open and nuanced view.

"Under a capitalist society, one’s worth as a person is tied into one’s ability to work and generate revenue for one’s overlords, so people who aren’t able to do so have been shut out, stigmatized, sterilized, tortured, incarcerated, and institutionalized... The sideshow circuit became a viable and hypervisible career path for disabled people at a  time when we were thought of as pathetic or revolting creatures that  needed to be kept hidden out of sight."

Here is the 'Whats On' section i compiled for the next edition of the Workers Solidarity Bulletin, which you can sign up for here if u like. Including lots of stuff that can be gotten involved with from home / from other countries:

*Climate Solutions Forum: The transport sector*
Online panel discussion hosted by the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU)
and Friends of the Earth
Thursday, 17th September from 18:00-19:30
facebook.com/events/774309326720021

*US Fall 2020 Online Labor Film Series*
12 leftist films screening at set times - free
Organized and sponsored by the DC LaborFest
dclabor.org/dc-laborfest.html
Regular online sessions until 27th October

*Know Your Rights - Law Week Panel Webinar #3: Protest, Repression and the Law*
Hosted by Melbourne Activist Legal Support
Saturday 19th September from 13:00-15:00
facebook.com/events/349530852725194/

*Will the US Alliance drag Australia into another war?*
Online forum hosted by the Indepeneant Peaceful Australia Network
Saturday 19 September at 2pm
Information and Registration ipan.vic1@gmail.com

*Raising Peace: 100 Years of Peacemaking (Sydney)*
‘International Volunteers for Peace’ and ‘The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom’ both celebrate their centenaries this year. They have joined Independent and Peaceful Australia Network to celebrate.
Sunday 20 Sept: ‘Peace Fair’ 2pm to 8pm, 107 Redfern Street, Redfern
Monday 21 Sept:  Celebration of United Nations International Day of Peace
20 Sept to 4 Oct:  Peace Exhibition at 107 Project.
ivp.org.au/raising-peace for more information

*Between War and Peace - Australias past and Future. A conversation we need to have* Online event for International Day of Peace
Monday 21 September from 19:30 – 21.15 pm
Register by emailing j.camilleri@latrobe.edu.au

*Media Spokesperson Training*
Four-day training program combining theory and practical media interview simulations
Organised by ‘Australian Progress’
21-22 September
australianprogress.org.au/event/media-spokesperson-training

*Body Count: How climate change is killing us*
Author Paddy Manning talks about his new book, live over Zoom
Hosted by the New International Bookstore
Wednesday, September 23
facebook.com/events/318352779242088

*Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice, & Resistance: A conversation with Leila Khaled*
Roundtable discussion with Palestinian feminist, militant, and leader Leila Khaled, followed by Q&A discussion.
Wednesday 23rd September from 15:30-17:30 EDT (NOTE: EDT not AEST)
Register in advance: sfsu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ycpMqzqcReO3HCQJKShi5g

*Build Our Future: Climate Justice & Jobs National Day of Action.*
First Nations communities, School Strikers and young people, workers and unions are coming together to demand that our Government funds our future not gas.
25 September - Nation wide
Over 100 Actions across the country.
More information: schoolstrike4climate.com/buildourfuture

*Upholding the Right to Protest during the Pandemic*
An event co-hosted by Refugee Action Collective, Justice for David Dungay campaign, and Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS)
Saturday 26th Sept 14:00 - 15:00
eventbrite.com.au/e/upholding-the-right-to-protest-during-the-pandemic-tickets-119961340599

*Online Rally: Defend the Right to Protest, Free the Refugees*
Timed to coincide with landmark court case’s contest mention
Refugee Action Collective (Victoria)
Tuesday 29th September 08:30am
facebook.com/events/1160358304302556/

*#Phones are a Life Life #Freetherefugees*
Socially distanced (two-at-a-time relay protest) protest hosted by Refugee Action Collective
10:00 - 16:00 3rd and 4th October
Mantra Bell City, 215 Bell st Preston
Hologram projected protest option available too
Call 0404728104 for more information

*Starting a Worker Cooperative*
Formal short online course hosted by Earthworker Cooperative.
9:30am - 12:30pm
Every Wednesday starting October 7th til December 9th.
03 94158700 for more info and enrolment.

*Voice. Treaty. Truth. Advocacy Course*
Two day Online Course
Organised by the First Nations Workers Alliance and the ACTU
Running regularly from now until November
atui.org.au/voice-treaty-truth-advocacy-course

*2021 ‘Australian Progress’ National Fellowship - Applications now open*
Leadership course for advocates, campaigners, activists and changemakers.
19 February - 5 June 2021
fellowship.australianprogress.org.au/national-fellowship

*Dangerous Goods Advisory Group - OHS (Online)*
Bimonthly general networking & discussion update meeting, open to all, to discuss Dangerous Goods and Chemical Regulation campaigns.
Wednesday 21 October
17.30-19.30
Jeff.Simpson@haztech.com.au

*Health and Saftey Rep Conference 2020 - Risks to Psychosocial Health*
Victoria wide online conference for elected HSRs
October 27th 2020
Free Event
ohsrep.org.au/conference

*Blockade IMARC 27-29 October 2020*
27th - 29th October
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC)
Blockadeimarc.com

*Virtual Organising Conference*
Australian Trade Union Institute
16 – 20 November
voc2020.atui.org.au

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If ur stuck at home w the pandemic, this 'Window Swap' website is a nice thing to sit down with, cuppa in hand: