Bellingen market report
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 24th January
from 2.30 to 4.00 pm
Medical Treatment Bill: is Cathy McGowan wavering?
Nauru doctors wins award
Bellingen market report
The first thing to say about the market in Bellingen
on Saturday is that it was very hot! The number of market-goers was inevitably
somewhat lower than usual because of the heat, but we nonetheless had a very
positive time interacting with visitors to our stall and collecting well over
100 signatures on our new open letter to Minister Dutton. We were pleased to
welcome Rob Oakeshot, the Independent candidate for Cowper in the upcoming
Federal election, to our stall. Rob was happy to sign our letter to Minister
Dutton, which calls on the government to evacuate the remaining 1000+ detainees
from Manus and Nauru, many of who have been languishing in these distant places
for almost six years. The final paragraph of the letter states: “We therefore
call on you to finally show some humanity and compassion. These detainees
should be brought to Australia without further delay, pending their
resettlement in Australia, New Zealand, the US, or other safe countries prepared
to accept them. They pose no threat to our border security. This shameful
treatment of asylum seekers and refugees must end as a matter of urgency.”
A big thank you to our usual loyal band of supporters
for working so hard in the heat to make our morning successful. Our
next market stall will be at Valla Beach market on Saturday 2nd February from
9.00 am until 1.30 pm. If you can help out for an hour or two, then
please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 24th January
from 2.30 to 4.00 pm
Our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday on
Hogbin Drive in Toormina from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. You will find us in our
usual spot about 150 metres down the hill from the fire station, in the
direction of the airport. We have lots of banners and placards to share, so
please come and join us if you can, and help us to keep the issue of our
treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in the public eye. This is especially
important as the Federal election approaches. It would be great to welcome some
new people to these events.
Medical Treatment Bill: is Cathy McGowan wavering?
You may recall that, before the Christmas
parliamentary break, Dr Kerryn Phelps, the Independent MP for Wentworth,
introduced a Bill to Parliament which aims to facilitate the evacuation from
Nauru or Manus of asylum seekers needing urgent medical attention. The
intention of the Bill is to put the medical needs of the patients front and
centre, rather than the political calculation of bureaucrats and politicians.
The Bill was passed by the Senate and was to be debated in the House, but the
government succeeded in avoiding a vote, as it feared that it didn’t have the
numbers, given that it (the Bill) had the support of Labor, the Greens and the
cross-bench, which includes the Independent MP for Indi, Cathy McGowan. Cathy,
who has been a great supporter of RAR and of asylum seekers and refugees
throughout her time in Parliament, now seems to be wavering, and has announced
that she has not yet decided whether or not she will support the Bill when it
returns to Parliament in February. She is currently seeking the views of her
electorate on which way she should vote.
Could you please consider emailing Cathy McGowan’s
office to urge her to support the Bill when it returns to Parliament? The worst
that can happen to the government is an embarrassing loss of a vote on the
floor of the house. For refugees and asylum seekers, however, the passage of
the Bill could well be a life-or-death issue. Please acknowledge Cathy’s
steadfast and principled support for the asylum seeker cause to date, and urge
here to remain steadfast in the face of the enormous pressure on her to support
the government. Her email address is: cathy.mcgowan.mp@aph.gov.au.
Nauru doctors wins award
Last
week, Dr Nick Martin was awarded a prestigious international award for free
speech at a ceremony in London, in recognition of his courage in speaking out
against the cruel treatment of asylum seekers on Nauru. Dr Martin, the former
senior medical officer for International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) on
Nauru, spoke out publicly against what he described as Australia’s “inflexible,
unswerving, and shameless” offshore detention regime, that deliberately harmed
asylum seekers and ignored doctors’ recommendations to treat dangerously ill
people. Unsurprisingly, his principled stand on behalf of his patients cost him
his job with IHMS at the insistence of Australia’s Border Force.
Speaking at London’s Frontline Club, where he received
the award, Dr Martin said that when he saw the extent of the damage being done
to refugees and asylum seekers held in Australia’s offshore regime on Nauru, he
felt compelled to speak out, quoting the retired Australian army lieutenant
general David Morrison: “The standard you walk past is the standard you
accept.”
Congratulations to Dr Martin for his courage in
speaking out. Let us hope that his actions will encourage others, especially
our politicians, to recognise the harm that is being done, and to take decisive
action to bring this cruelty to an end.
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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