The �Wednesday� group evolved from a group of people who picketed the Melbourne office of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) after Joseph Toscano was removed from a political commentary position he shared with the conservative National Party Senator Julian McGuaran on ABC Local radio in 1999. The program examined from radical and conservative viewpoints the news of the week. It was heard across the country at 2.00am every Friday morning. The people who came to the pickets formed the group � �IT�S OUR ABC�. The formation of �IT�S OUR ABC� forced the more conservative �FRIENDS OF THE ABC� � Victorian branch to review and change their tactics.
�IT�S OUR ABC� was involved in activities for about 2 years. The group held vigils around Melbourne to encourage people to become involved in activities to protect the editorial independence of the ABC. �IT�S OUR ABC� went into hibernation in 2002, when the group decided the ABC was not worth defending as it had become a propaganda arm of the Howard government.
The people involved in �IT�S OUR ABC� then formed the group �PEOPLE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS�. This group was formed to highlight how the few human rights Australians enjoyed, had been legislated away in the post 9/11 era. The group held vigils every Wednesday around Melbourne handing out leaflets to encourage Australians to campaign for the inclusion of human rights in the Australian Constitution. In 2005, the people involved in this group decided to form a new group �PEOPLE FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION�. This group was formed to demand that a Royal Commission be asked to examine institutionalised corruption in Victoria. For 2 years participants were involved in campaigns calling for the holding of a Royal Commission into corruption in Victoria. It held vigils around Melbourne to shame Victoria�s State government into holding a Royal Commission into government, police and business corruption.
In May 2006, the participants in the weekly vigils decided to form �SEDITIONCHARTER.ORG�. This group poses a direct challenge to the hundreds of laws that have been passed in Australia since 9/11 that have removed what few freedoms and liberties people enjoy in this country. The group has been holding vigils around Melbourne every Wednesday highlighting the repressive nature of these laws and encouraging people � Australians � to defy the government and sign the sedition charter they have drawn up.
For the last 8 years, a small group of people (varying from 10 up to 20) has been holding Wednesday vigils every week to highlight to their fellow citizens issues that the fourth estate and the government gelded ABC are no longer willing to tackle. This small group has had, and continues to have, a community influence that is far greater than its size would suggest.