CANC2: Karratha, the night before the meeting, July 25

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When we arrive at the Post Office Beth explains the new plan for the evening, and her and Jonas take off to get Chris from the river.

Half the group have decided to camp in town and have our meeting in a camp ground. The group in theory operates by consensus - we all have to agree before the plan is accepted, and it can't be changed without the same agreement. But this doesn't always happen, like today. We have a big process meeting...

• We need to have rules. Currently "rules" are honored in the breech more often than not.
• Make decisions and commit to carrying them out.
• Stop favouring victory by delay - meetings continue until dissent stops, rather than actively reaching agreement.
• Keep things brief - right now a few people talk a lot, and to have a point heard requires repetition.
• Once we reach agreement it's up to each person to keep to it. Especially times, it's up to the individual to agree to reasonable times then to organise themselves to meet the commitment.
• At the moment a core group dominate, but by manipulation rather than overt stomping. Neither is acceptable.
• We preach false consensus - it's called consensus, but it works by selectively not hearing certain dissents, and by making certain types of dissent illegal.
• Some people are silenced, and silencing (or yourself or others) is accepted by the group.
• Our inability to keep commitments, and our willingness of abandon people who have made commitments on behalf of the group is not good.

Tomorrow is "big group meeting". We will discuss process, then from there move to set the route for the rest of the ride.

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