Join us in Coffs Harbour to show your compassion for Refugees and
protest agains the brutality of the Federal Government.
11.30am Friday 4 July meeting opposite
Coffs Central Shopping Complex Harbour Drive
1.7.14
"utterly dismayed..." letter to Scott Morrison
27 June 2014
Dear Scott Morrison,
I was utterly dismayed to learn yesterday that you now plan to make life even more difficult for asylum seekers looking for a safe haven in Australia. To suggest that asylum seekers will in future have to demonstrate that they face at least a 50% chance of persecution if they return to their country of origin before their claims for asylum will be considered is both impractical and morally reprehensible. It seems that your government is more interested in political posturing than in meeting its obligations under the international Conventions to which Australia is a signatory. At a time when there are more refugees in the world than ever, you are insisting that these people are not welcome here and instead are to be pilloried and demonised by our political leaders. We may be “open for business”, but we are clearly not willing to share the international burden of taking care of some of the most vulnerable and desperate people on the planet.
The damage that your populist political posturing is inflicting on Australia’s international reputation is immense.
Be assured that you do not act in my name.
Yours sincerely,
Mike
Valla Beach,
23.6.14
Bellingen Community Markets Saturday 21 June 2014
Our stall at the Bellingen Community Markets on Saturday 21 June 2014.
The
market experience on Saturday was heartening in that a number of people
visiting the stall were sympathetic to our views and very willing to sign the
petitions . We had several visitors who work directly with refugees or who are
teachers or social workers . During the morning we collected a
substantial sum in donations .
There
were a few bystanders passing who may have taken messages away via the publicity
materials on view and it is possible that some visitors to the stall had their
support for asylum seekers reinforced by the message that there are others who
feel the same way as them.
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17.6.14
8.6.14
Question - how to engage a wider audience to change attitudes on Asylum Seekers?
Lowy Institute survey on asylum seeker policy
John comments
If the questions had asked whether one supported the illegal detetion of people including children in substandard accommodation, after surviving torture and trauma in their own countries, fleeing with few possessions and legally appealing for Asylum one would hope the response might have been more sympathetic.
David Comments
This chart shows a bell curve which shows that attention to the middle ground could move attitudes from disagree to agree.
Steve Biddulph has said "Don't fight your enemies ( there are no enemies) - grow your friends
Doug has made the following comment.
We heard the results of a survey recently of Australian's attitude to refugees and it was suggested that way more than half of us had no sympathy for these people and agreed with the governments policy. It appears we have a lot of work to do in the community to turn that attitude around. To my mind market stalls mostly only appeal to the converted minority and we need to find a way to engage with a wider audience.
John comments
If the questions had asked whether one supported the illegal detetion of people including children in substandard accommodation, after surviving torture and trauma in their own countries, fleeing with few possessions and legally appealing for Asylum one would hope the response might have been more sympathetic.
David Comments
This chart shows a bell curve which shows that attention to the middle ground could move attitudes from disagree to agree.
Steve Biddulph has said "Don't fight your enemies ( there are no enemies) - grow your friends
..."Concentrate on the middle, the larger number of people who are merely less involved...When the middle moves everything changes. Aim for that"
Does anyone have any ideas to change opinions? Please email bellingen.rar@gmail.com with your ideas
5.6.14
Send a poem to your politicians
Judy sent poems to 150 Members of Parliament.
One of these follows
One of these follows
Some Politicians by Judith Rodriguez
To have preached even for a moment
that money matters
more than the good it buys
to have proclaimed the end of caring;
to have unmothered the State
and left orphans to the wind;
to have waged phony battle
on the homeless and fugitive,
the needy come to our door;
to have danced on a tally of the drowned
to have pursued the desperate
for electoral triumph;
these are your names
on the sea-bed at our shore gate
behind razor wire
among the fatherless
the trapped and the destitute
and among the separated families.
Please use this poem to bring pressure on your politician
to be more compassionate and stop the cruelty to asylum seekers.
to be more compassionate and stop the cruelty to asylum seekers.
However it was reported at the meeting held on 1 June 2014 that six handwritten letters are more powerful than templates and emails,and will be read by the recipient.
Phone calls are also more likely to get the message to the intended recipient.
Click on the button above "Ideas for letters and emails sent to"
31.5.14
Letter to Nambucca Guardian - Hartsuyker reply
Letter to Nambucca Guardian following reply by Luke Hartsuyker
Dear Editor
Dear Editor
Some readers may recall my open letter to Luke Hartsuyker about our Government's cruel treatment of asylum seekers. I quote his reply in full:
"I note receipt of your correspondence dated 23 April regarding immigration detention.
As a member of the Government and the Ministry, I support the current Government policy."
Next election, you may consider voting for someone who answers the questions and considers the concerns of the constituents he is supposed to represent.
Yours faithfully
27.5.14
Scott Morrison has released the official "review into Manus Island riot"
The following article will convince you that the detention centre must be closed
click on review into manus island riot
write to your local member and the Minister for Immigration
Letters to Luke Hartsuyker MP at 39 Little Street, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450
E-mail: Luke.Hartsuyker.MP@aph.gov.au
address for Scott Morrison
Suite 102, Level 1 (PO Box 1306), 30 The Kingsway, Cronulla NSW 2230
Tel : (02) 9523 0339, Fax : (02) 9523 8959
E-mail: Scott.Morrison.MP@aph.gov.au
25.5.14
Book and Quarterly Essay
Article with video of book by Mark Isaacs
Quarterly Essay 53
"That sinking Feeling - Paul Toohey
23.5.14
Campaign to pressure Labor Caucus
Labor MP for Fremantle, Melissa Parke, plans to table a motion in Labor caucus on asylum policy.
She is saying that conditions on Manus and Nauru are “unsafe, inhumane and insanitary” and claims that current policy is in breach of Labor’s platform and international law.
We could urge our members to send a brief email to our 5 NSW Labor senators along the lines of :
“ I am greatly heartened to learn that Labor caucus is planning to discuss the current party policy on the treatment of asylum seekers. I agree with Melissa Parkes that the conditions on Manus and Nauru are inhumane, unsafe and insanitary, and that they are in breach of international law. I urge you, in the interests of common humanity, justice and compliance with the International Convention on Refugees, to change current Labor policy, to campaign for the closure of Manus and Nauru detention centres and to support a return to onshore, speedy processing of asylum seeker claims”.
Senators’ details:
Doug Cameron : www.aph.gov.au/Senator_Cameron contact - ask aquestion
Sam Dastyari: senator.dastyari@aph.gov.au
John Faulkner: senator.faulkner@aph.gov.au
Ursula Stephens: senator.stephens@aph.gov.au
Senators decide how they can be contacted. Some like Senator Faulkner offers an email address, others like Doug Cameron allows contact through "www.aph.gov.au" which provides a form to allow you to ask a question of the senator.
Sam Dastyari does not offer a facility to contact him, so we have created an email address for him., but do not know if he will receive the email.
This is an interesting reflection on the way the system works!
Senators decide how they can be contacted. Some like Senator Faulkner offers an email address, others like Doug Cameron allows contact through "www.aph.gov.au" which provides a form to allow you to ask a question of the senator.
Sam Dastyari does not offer a facility to contact him, so we have created an email address for him., but do not know if he will receive the email.
This is an interesting reflection on the way the system works!
click on "Federal Opposition" Button for letters already sent to the Labor NSW senators and replies.
18.5.14
Bellingen Community Market 17 May 2014 - huge support
signed petitions for Chilout
wrote letters and cards
took away fact sheets
bought products to raise funds
donated to Chilout
Many people were shocked when they read the facts about the off shore detention centres and wondered why the problem is being ignored by the mainstream media.
Scroll down to see Chilout Free the Children Register
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| close Manus Island Detention Centre |
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| sign the petition to get children out of detention |
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| read the fact sheets |
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| Boat People? |
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| "unlock your heart" |
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| "what heart?" |
Cards to be sent to Asylum Seekers via Julian Burnside QC
16.5.14
FREETHECHILDRENREGISTER
Free The Children
ChilOut is part of the Australian Coalition to end the immigration detention of children and we are hosting an incredible installation / social action in Sydney from June 11 - 15.
Essentially it's a representation* of the 1,023 children locked up by Australia today and we are asking the public to come along and 'free the children'. People need to enter a 'cage' in order to remove a doll who is wearing an ID tag (kids in detention have to wear one every day, they are each allocated a number). The tag is removed, the person keeps part as a reminder of their action and tears off half as a card to their MP completed on the spot.
You can host your own version of this action, anywhere, anytime.
We are putting together a DIY kit which will include tips for creating your own cage to hold the dolls, a checklist of what's needed to make it happen, pdf's of an info flyer and posters to use on the day, FAQ for chatting to the public, ideas for getting local media interested and examples of how it's been done on a teeny budget and on a bigger one! If you give us enough time we can mail you enough doll ID cards, or you can print your own (pdf supplied).
Kits available by 8 June
15.5.14
Rural Australians for Refugees will have a stall at the Bellingen Community markets on Saturday 17 May 2014
see you there on Saturday 17 May 2014
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| Were you there on this day? |
14.5.14
Coffs Coast Advocate 14 May 2014
Bellingen rural refugee group active again
THE controversy surrounding the Manus Island Detention Centre has led to the rebirth of Rural Australians for Refugees (RAFR) in Bellingen.
The Bellingen RAFR group was formed in 2001 following an exhibition of refugee art and a forum at the Bellingen Global Carnival, with 20 local residents meeting to discuss what they could do to change what they overwhelmingly believed to be a moral problem driven by party politics and politicians.
The group met on a weekly basis and adhered to a four-point strategy consisting of education, support/fundraising, networking and political lobbying as the foundation of all their activities.
Two Bellingen representatives went on to join the Freedom Bus on its first journey to Australia's detention centres at Villawood, Maribyrnong, Woomera, Perth, Port Hedland and Curtin.
A spokesperson said with many people now alarmed by the death of Reza Berati on Manus Island while seeking asylum, the group was meeting again with renewed energy and new members.
The group will be attending local markets to present the facts to the local community.
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