Next Roadside Demo -
Big Banana Coffs Thursday September 7th 2:30pm
Next Market Stall -
Bellingen Sat 16th September
RAR blog
Travelling Film
Festival Sawtell
Manus Island update
The government sinks
to a new low
Roadside
demonstration report
Although we were just
a group of four for the roadside demonstration in Toormina last week, we all
agreed that it was very well worthwhile. We had lots of positive reaction from
passing motorists, which clearly demonstrates that there are many Australians who
are not happy with the current punitive policies of the government and the
opposition, and who want to see a more humane response to the treatment of
asylum seekers and refugees.
The dates and
locations for our demos in September and October are:
Thursday 7th
September : The Big Banana, Coffs Harbour
Thursday 21st
September: Nambucca Heads, near the Plaza shopping centre
Thursday 12th October :
Coffs Harbour, opposite the Base hospital
Thursday 26th October:
Bellingen, adjacent to the playing fields, and opposite the golf course.
All the demos run
from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. Please try to join us if you can.
Please note the
three-week gap between the Nambucca Heads and Coffs Harbour demos, owing to
another RAR commitment involving a number of supporters.
Coffs Harbourside
market report
A great market under
sunny skies on Sunday, with a terrific group of supporters turning up to
help on our stall. We collected almost 100 signatures on our petition,
distributed lots of leaflets, sold a good number of bumper stickers, bags, T
shirts and tea towels, and had many positive interactions with market-goers.
All profits from sales are donated to the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown, who
do amazing work supporting refugees in Sydney.
Our markets for
September and October are as follows:
Saturday 16th
September : Bellingen
Saturday 7th October:
Valla Beach
Sunday 22nd October :
Coffs Harbour
Why not put the dates
in your diary and come along to lend a hand for a while between 9.00 am
and 1.30 pm? If you are able to help, then please let Mike know by emailing him
at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Our RAR blog
A reminder that we
have a very active blog, which you can access by clicking on the link at the
bottom of this newsletter. It is a very popular source of information, with 400
visits over a ten-day period recently. When you send an email or a letter
to a politician, or have a letter about asylum seekers published in the press,
it would be greatly appreciated if you could forward your piece
to: bellingen.rar@gmail.com. for inclusion on the blog. We know that
many of you do write to politicians, but don’t then forward your message for
inclusion on the blog, which can make it look as though we have only one or two
writers!
The Travelling
Film Festival: Nambucca Heads and Sawtell
The TFF will be in
Nambucca Heads on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th September, and in
Sawtell from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th September. Several of the
films have refugee/immigrant themes, which might be of interest to RAR members.
They include Ali’s Wedding (Sawtell, Friday 8th at 7.00 pm),
Hope Road (Sawtell, Saturday 9th at 12.00 pm) and The Other Side
of Hope ((Sawtell, Sunday 10th at 3.15 pm). If anyone
would like a lift from Valla Beach, then please email Georgette Allen at: georgetteallen@bigpond.com.
Manus Island. What
is going on?
Things continue to
get worse by the day for refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island. In a new
twist, the PNG government’s attorney general, Davis Steven, has told
Australia’s high commissioner that his government has not agreed to a 31st
October closure. The PNG government understandably fears that the
Australian government will close the centre and simply walk away from its
responsibility for the 900 men who it sent there. These 900 men are no more
than pawns in a political game. They have no idea how many, if any of them,
will be resettled at some point in the US, and they have no idea what will
happen to them when the centre closes. If our government has a Plan B, we have
no idea what it consists of.
Our government
sinks to a new low
In recent days, the
government has decided to target those refugees and asylum seekers who were
brought to Australia for medical treatment from Nauru or Manus island.
There are almost 400 people involved, including many children. The first
batch of this cohort, comprising approximately 100 people, have been told that
their welfare support, currently just $200 a fortnight, will cease as of 28th
August, and that they must now find their own place to live within the next
three weeks. They will be issued with a new visa, ominously entitled “final
departure Bridging E Visa”. Up to now, they have now been allowed to work. Now
they are being told that they must find work to support themselves or be
returned forcibly to Nauru, Manus island, or return to the danger from which
they originally fled. We have to ask: Who is going to offer employment to
someone who is in possession of a “Final Departure” visa?
In a chilling threat
to the children involved, the government states : “Please remind your children
that they will also be required to abide by Australian values and laws.
Breaking Australian laws may result in their removal from the community.”
A Labor spokesperson,
Richard Marles, stated: “It is very important that these people are not
resettled in Australia.” Alan Tudge, the human services
minister, stated: “They will be settled elsewhere. That’s what this is
about.”
Please consider
writing to Alan Tudge to protest about this latest act of
cruelty. Alan.Tudge.MP@aph.gov.au
Check out the
index of subjects on our blog http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au
It includes
articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers.
This newsletter is
sent to >500 recipients
Our Face book
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Twitter
Account @RARBellingenNam
Email address bellingen.rar@gmail.com
The National RAR
web site is at www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au
The National RAR
facebook site is at RAR Facebook
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