Roadside demonstration: Thursday 3rd October, Coffs Harbour
Our next roadside demonstration will take place on Thursday 3rd October from 2.30 to 4.00 pm by the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour. Please
come and join us if you can, as these demonstrations are a great way to
remind the public that the cruel policy of offshore detention
continues, and with no end in sight for the hundreds of refugees held
against their will for more than six years on Nauru and in PNG. We have
lots of banners and placards to share, and we would love to welcome some
new volunteers to our activities.
Valla Beach market: Saturday 5th October
A reminder that our next market stall will be at the Valla Beach Market on Saturday 5th October from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm. As usual, we will be engaging
with market-goers, collecting signatures on our new open letter to the
Prime Minister and selling merchandise to raise funds for the Asylum
Seekers Centre (ASC). If you can help out for and hour or two at the
market, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Thank you letter from the ASC
Last
week, following our most recent donation of $500 to the Asylum Seekers
Centre, we received this thank you letter from Frances Rush, the CEO. “Thank
you very much to the Bellingen and Nambucca District RAR for raising an
amazing $500. Your ongoing efforts and support for the ASC is really
appreciated.
ASC currently provides practical and personal support for over 4,000 people from 95 countries, many of whom are children.
With
your support, we are able to address their immediate needs by offering a
range of services under one roof, including health care, legal advice,
emergency housing, financial relief, food, social support, and
employment. With the right support at crucial times, women, men and
children can improve their health and wellbeing, regain independence and
find community connections.
Once again, thank you”.
Frances
Rush’s letter underlines the importance of our fundraising efforts,
which so far this year have enabled us to donate $9,200 to the ASC.
National RAR campaign to revive the NZ offer
We
wrote two weeks ago about the national campaign to persuade our
government to accept New Zealand’s generous offer to accept 150 refugees
annually from Nauru and PNG. Many of you will have contacted some or
all of the Senators on the list provided. If you received any responses,
please let us know by emailing us at: bellingen.rar@gmail.com
National
RAR committee are now requesting that, if you have not received any
response, then would you please consider a follow-up email to the people
listed below, reminding them of your earlier email, and stressing the
importance of them responding to your original questions.
MP: Pat Conaghan: Pat.Conaghan.MP@aph.gov.au
Coalition Senators in NSW:
In
addition, National RAR tells us that the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese
will be travelling to New Zealand shortly. It would be really helpful
if we could send him lots of emails, or phone his office, to urge him to
raise the matter with Jacinda Adern and to ask her to reissue her
government’s offer to the Australian and PNG governments to resettle
refugees in New Zealand.
In case you missed the previous email the request to the local member was to be simply:
“Dear……
I have two questions for you, and I would appreciate your response as soon as possible.
1. What would it take to get the refugees currently in PNG to New Zealand?
2. What is the government’s plan for refugees and asylum seekers in PNG who do not go to the United States?
Yours sincerely……”
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Twitter Account @RARBellingenNam
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