#4
Migrant forum supports refugee rights
BRISBANE — Strong support for refugee rights was the overwhelming sentiment of a forum sponsored by the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland in the Brisbane Town Hall on September 30.
Election candidates and MPs addressed the 100-strong meeting, including Queensland Democrats Senator John Cherry, Greens Senate candidate Drew Hutton, Liberal Senator George Brandis, Labor Senator Claire Moore and independent refugee-rights candidate Hassan Ghulam.
Brandis vainly tried to defend the Coalition government's migration and refugee record. Refugees in the audience from Afghanistan, Sudan, Ethiopia and Bosnia strongly condemned Brandis' description of boat people as "illegal" arrivals. Hassan Ghulam, who linked refugee policy to the war on Iraq, received loud applause when he said, "Why do we have a ministry for defence, but not a ministry for peace?"
Jim McIlroy
Peace activist arrested
MELBOURNE — On October 1, well-known Byron Bay peace activist Gareth Smith was apprehended by Victorian police when he attempted to perform a "citizen's arrest" of foreign minister Alexander Downer.
The minister was scheduled to speak at Deakin University on Australia's role in the invasion of Iraq. Outside, about 70 protesters had assembled with signs reading "Free the 57 Iraqis on Nauru" and other slogans.
Maxine Caron
Footballers don purple armbands
The Footy Fans Against Sexual Assault purple armband campaign took on a life of its own when more than 1700 rugby league players from across NSW wore armbands during games at the NSW Aboriginal Knockout in Sydney, along with more than 400 AFL players from across the Northern Territory during games at the 2004 Perkins Shipping Umpires Carnival in Darwin.
The NSW Aboriginal Knockout extended the meaning of the purple armbands to include other forms of violence. They also organised educational material, Koori community support workers and a giant banner for players and supporters to make hand prints on signifying their opposition to domestic violence and sexual assault.
Candidates discuss environmental issues
DARWIN — On September 28, 100 people attended an election forum on the environment organised by the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory.
Speakers included candidates or their representatives for the seat of Solomon, the most marginal seat in the country. Concerns about the proposal for a nuclear waste dump in the NT and the ongoing problems at Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu National Park featured strongly throughout the meeting.
All the speakers, including Country Liberal Party Senator Nigel Scullion, expressed opposition to the placement of a nuclear waste dump in the NT.
ALP candidate Jim Davidson said that it was impractical to have Ranger closed because "the reality is, it is too far gone to cease production" and that Ranger was simply a "fact of life". Greens candidate Ilana Eldridge condemned the operations of Ranger and called for the closure of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney, as did Democrats spokesperson Faye Lawerance.
At the close of the meeting, a member of the audience for the candidates to endorse four key environmental issues — opposition to a nuclear dump in the NT, ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, preservation of the Daly River basin as a heritage area and a ban on shark finning. This was meet with a clear "no" from Davidson and Scullion.
Jon Lamb
Your Voice holds campaign launch
MELBOURNE — Your Voice's campaign to put an independent Indigenous person into the Senate was formally launched at Federation Square on September 30.
Richard Frankland, Your Voice's candidate, was introduced by journalist Jeff McMullen and accompanied on stage by Olympian Kyle van der Kuyp and actor Peter Phelps, as well as Senator Sid Spindler.
Frankland gave a very broad-ranging policy speech, answering criticism from those who declared that he was a single-issue candidate. He declared himself in staunch opposition to the war on Iraq and the detention of refugees. He also publicly welcomed representatives from the Democrats, the Socialist Alliance and the Greens, all parties that are directing preferences to the Your Voice group.
Frankland made a plea for unity among the smaller opposition parties, looking forward to an alliance of Your Voice with the Greens and the Socialist Alliance in opposition to the major parties.
Your Voice is not yet a registered political party. It will appear as group "S" on the Senate ballot paper for Victoria. The Socialist Alliance is giving Your Voice its second preference in the Senate and in the seat of Batman, where Your Voice is running motor mechanic Craig Bishop.
Graham Matthews
Pro-choice challenge to Abbott
Dr Patricia Petersen, who boasts a karate black belt and lectures in politics at the University of New South Wales, is contesting the Sydney seat of Warringah, currently held by health minister Tony Abbott.
Petersen, an independent candidate, also works in Manly, on a voluntary basis, teaching self-defence to women who are at risk of domestic violence. While she wishes to see a Labor government elected, she claims that she's more closely aligned with the Greens.
Comparing herself to Tony Abbott, Peterson says: "We are polarised. I'm pro-choice, he's anti-abortion. I
support a paid maternity leave scheme, he's against it. I'm a republican, he's a monarchist. I support gay marriage and adoption, he's against it. I'm against the war, he's for it."
From Green Left Weekly, October 6, 2004.
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