Newsletter for 16 October 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Report on Sunday’s RAR event in Valla Beach}

_{Roadside demonstration: TODAY from 2.30 to 4.00 pm}

_{Next market stall: Coffs Harbourside market: Sunday 21st October}

_{Report on Sunday’s RAR event in Valla Beach}

_{Who would have believed that the rain would hold off for our meeting and fundraising event on Sunday? A huge thank you to the 45 people who attended, to all those who donated items for the auction, to Snez and Stewart for their wonderful singing, and to everyone who brought so much delicious food to share. We had a lot of fun, enjoyed one another’s company and confirmed our commitment to keep up the fight to end the brutality of the government’s current asylum policy. In addition, we raised a fantastic sum for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Sydney, to assist them in their great work with asylum seekers in NSW. We made $215 on the raffle, collected $225 in donations and made an amazing $2,285 on the auction, making a grand total of $2,725, all of which will be donated to the ASC. We are fortunate indeed to have so many big-hearted and generous people in our RAR community.}

_{Roadside demonstration: TODAY from 2.30 to 4.00 pm.}

_{A reminder that our roadside demonstration will take place today, 16}^th _{October in Coffs Harbour, by the Pacific Highway, opposite the Base hospital. We advertised the change of date in last week’s newsletter, as we want to show solidarity with RAR members across Australia, many of whom plan to attend the national demonstration in Canberra today.} 

_{The key message of the national campaign is to evacuate the children and their families from Nauru, where their ongoing detention is causing a huge humanitarian crisis. The recent ejection of Médecins Sans Frontières from the island can only make a dire situation worse. Sadly, but predictably, Minister Dutton has sought, by the usual half-truths that are his stock in trade, to absolve the Australian government of any responsibility, whilst continuing to parrot the tired lines about the need to prevent deaths at sea.} 

_{We need to continue to remind our elected representatives, both Coalition and Labor, that evacuating detainees from Manus and Nauru will not “restart the boats”, given that we have a naval armada patrolling our northern seas. In any case, the indefinite, punitive detention of people on offshore islands is both unlawful and utterly cruel and cannot be justified under any circumstances. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that the issue of offshore detention has moved up the political agenda, particularly in the upcoming by election in Wentworth. A well-attended forum in recent days, attended by a number of independent candidates and the Greens candidate, voiced its clear opposition to the bipartisan policy of continuing the indefinite offshore detention regime, and of refusing to contemplate the resettlement of refugees from Manus and Nauru in Australia. Neither the Liberal nor the Labor candidates attended the forum.}

_{Please come and join us if you can this afternoon.}

_{Next market stall: Coffs Harborside market: Sunday 21st October}

_{A reminder that our next market stall will be at the Coffs Harborside market on Sunday 21}^st _{October from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. This is a popular market and we will undoubtedly have a busy time interacting with market goers, collecting signatures on our open letter and handing out leaflets. If you are able to join us to help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.}

_{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.}

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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}