Several student organisations have come behind the campaign to build the August 25 national day of solidarity with East Timor.
Protest actions against the Australian government's lone international recognition of Jakarta's illegal and brutal annexation will take place in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Newcastle, Wollongong, Forster (NSW north coast), Lismore, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The day, initiated by Jose Ramos Horta, Fretilin, Timorese Democratic Union, Australia East Timor Association (NSW), Christians in Solidarity with East Timor (CISET) and Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET), now has more than 100 sponsors, with more coming in every day.
The National Union of Students (NSW) and the socialist youth organisation Resistance are organising a speaking tour of campuses in Lismore, Coffs Harbour, Armidale, Wollongong, Newcastle, Canberra and Sydney for People's Democratic Party (PRD) leader Nico Wahid and a Fretilin youth leader.
Other progressive student groups such as Non-Aligned Left and Left Alliance are also promoting the day. In NSW these groups have combined to form Students in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (SSIET). Griffith University Nathan Students Representative Council in Brisbane has also joined.
New support for the day has also come from the Maritime Union of Australia (national office) as well as central NSW branch, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (NSW), the NSW Construction, Forestry, Mining and Engineering Union, the NSW Teachers Federation and the Queensland branch of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU). In Queensland new sponsors include 4ZZZ radio, Australian Democrats, Queensland Greens, Democratic Socialist Party and the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission.