2017 | Refugee Action Collective (Vic)

DATE	LOCATION	EVENT TITLE	SPEAKERS
Tuesday January 3^rd, 6pm	Princes Bridge, Swanston St	Vigil for Faysal Ahmed	Pamela Curr (Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project) Arnold Zable (human rights advocate
Thursday February 9^th, 4:30pm-6pm	Department of Immigration and Citizenship	Don’t Silence Refugees; Oppose the mobile phone ban	Pamela Curr Aran Mylvaganam (Tamil Refugee Council and FSU Organiser) Abdul-Hadi Matar (Sudanese community leader from Dafur)
Saturday February 18^th, 2pm-4pm	State Library	Rally: No to Trump, No to Turnbull – Let the Refugees In!	Adam Bandt (Greens MP) Corine Grant (Comedian, Media & Arts Entertainment Alliance) Abdul-Hadi Matar Miream Salameh (Syrian refugee and artist)
Monday February 27^th, 6:30pm-8:30pm	Multicultural Hub (506 Elizabeth Street)	Bring Them Here – Why the “US Refugee Deal” is No Solution	Graham Thom (Refugee Coordinator, Amnesty International) Chris Breen (RAC)
Tuesday-Wednesday March 21^st-22^nd, 6:30pm-9am	Broadmeadows Detention Centre (150 Camp Road Broadmeadows)	Emergency Protest – Don’t Deport Saeed to Danger	Pamela Curr Aran Mylvaganam Heba Bendak (refugee advocate)
Saturday-Sunday April 1^st-2^nd, all day	Coburg Mall Footscray Train Station Princess Bridge Arts Centre Kingsbury Drive Community Market Sydney Road Savers Corner Bridge and Church St, Richmond	Super Stalls Weekend
Monday April 17^th, 1pm-3pm	State Library	Protest Manus Shooting – Bring Them Here	Aran Mylvaganam Abdul-Hadi Matar
Saturday April 22^nd, 3pm-5pm	ANMF Vic Branch, 540 Elizabeth Street	Nurse & Refugees Speak Out: Close the Camps & Bring Them Here	Lynne Elworthy (mental health nurse who worked on Manus for four years; defied gag clause and lost her job) Aziz (from Manus via Skype; Sudanese refugee and activist) S Nagaveeran (also known as Ravi; Tamil refugee and activist who spent over 2 years on Nauru)
Tuesday June 20^th, 6pm-7:30	State Library	Tonight! World Refugee Day Rally – Bring Them Here, Sack Dutton!	Aziz Akram Abo Hamdan (Syrian Refugee and Activist) Katie Shafar (Nurse who worked on Nauru)
Thursday July 6^th, 4:30pm-7:30pm	Bourke St Mall	Speak Out: No to forced relocations on Manus – Bring Them Here!
Monday July 24^th, 6:30-8:30pm	Trades Hall	How Can We Break the Bipartisan Support for Offshore Processing?	Ged Kearney (President ACTU) Michele O’Neil (State Secretary TCFUA and Labor 4 Refugees) Aran Mylvaganam Lucy Honan (RAC and Teachers 4 Refugees)
Friday August 4^th, 5:30-8pm	State Library	Manus is not safe: #BringThemHere now: Urgent sit-in action	Voice recordings from Abdul Aziz and Amir Taghinia (refugees on Manus) Aran Mylvaganam
Thursday August 10^th, 6pm-7pm	Federation Square	Vigil for Hamed – Stop the Deaths, Bring Them Here	Pamela Curr Naz (Iranian refugee) Voice recording from Manus refugee
Saturday September 2^nd, 12pm-3pm	Parliament House	Let Them Stay – Make Them Welcome – Bring Them Here	Aran Mylvaganam Andrew Giles (ALP MP) Dr Helen Driscoll (trauma psychiatrist) Father Bob Maguire (priest and community worker) Shawfikul Islam (Rohingyan refugee)
Saturday-Sunday September 23^rd-24^th, all day	Northcote Plaza Queen Victoria Market Footscray Station Sydney Road, near Savers Corner Bridge and Church St, Richmond	Super Stalls Weekend!
Friday October 6^th, 7pm-8:30pm	Bourke St Mall, corner Swanston and Bourke St	Speak Out: No More Manus Deaths – Vigil for Rajeev	Aran Mylvaganam
Sunday October 8^th, 2pm-4pm	State Library	Rally for Refugees – Bring Them Here! End Offshore Processing	Richard di Natale (Leader of Australian Greens) Taqi Azra (Hazara refugee and NUW organiser) Yasmin and Shawfikul (Australian Burmese Rohingyan Organisation) Craig McGregor (Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association) David Johns (Ex Manus teacher) Max Costello (Member of Labor 4 Refugees and Workplace Health and Safety Lawyer)
Wednesday October 11^th, 9am-10am	Broadmeadows Magistrates Court	Helping Refugees is not a crime!
Monday October 23^rd, 6:30-9:30pm	535 Elizabeth Street	Eyewitness Report of Offshore Detention and Introduction to RAC	Mohammad Salamat (refugee detained on Nauru) Keiran Magee (RAC)
Thursday October 26^th, 5:30pm-6:30pm	Athenaeum Theatre, 188 Collins Street	Protest Rudd – His Legacy is Manus and Nauru
Friday October 27^th, 4:30-6:30pm	Department of Immigration and Border Protection	Urgent Action: Stop Threats to Manus Refugees	Natasha Blucher (ASRC) Mohammad Salamat
Saturday November 4^th, 2pm-5pm	State Library	Rally + Occupy for Manus: End the Siege, Bring Them Here	Recorded message from Behrouz Boochani on Manus Adam Bandt Aran Mylvaganam Music from Kathryn Clements as people arrive
Monday November 6^th, 6:30pm-8pm	RMIT University	RAC Meeting – Next Steps for Manus Solidarity
Friday November 10^th, from 5:30pm	State Library	Rally for Manus: End the Siege – Bring Them Here	Aziz and Walid from Manus Aran Mylvaganam
Friday November 17^th, 5:30pm-8:30pm	State Library	Friday Rally for Manus: End the Siege – Bring Them Here	Aziz live from Manus Hoda Kazemi (Iranian refugee) Sandra Bartlett (ex-case worker on Nauru, now with ASRC) Laura McLean (Indigenous FSU delegate at National Australia Bank)
Thursday November 23^rd, 5:30pm-8:30pm	State Library	Emergency Speak Out: Manus men under attack	Pamela Curr Samatha Ratnam (Parliamentary Leader of the Victorian Greens) Aran Mylvaganam Matt Kunkel (Victorian Trades Hall Council projects officer) Zellanach (Indigenous Speaker and Human Rights Defender)
Friday November 24^th, 5:30pm-8:30pm	State Library	Emergency Rally for Manus: Stop the Attacks, Bring Them Here	Aziz and Walid Zazai (live from Manus) Adnan Abdulkarim (Ahwaz refugee from Iran who was detained on Christmas Island) Darren Turner (Zellanach) David Johns (ex-Manus teacher)
Friday December 8, 5:30pm-8:30pm	State Library	Evacuate Manus and Nauru: Paint the Town Refugee
Sunday December 10, 2pm-4pm	State Library	Human Rights Day Rally: Bring the Refugees Here	Imran Mohammad Fazal Hoque, Abdul Aziz Adam and Walid Zazai (live from Manus) Andrew Giles Mohammad Mohideen (President Islamic Council of Victoria) Shawfikul Islam (Australia Burmese Rohingya Association) Music from Les Thomsa
Sunday December 10, 4pm-onwards	Bourke and Elizabeth street intersection (after the initial rally)	MOVEment for Human Rights (Blockade)
Monday December 11, 6:30pm-8pm	ANMF House	No Pride in Detention at Pride March: Open Organising Meeting
Tuesday December 12, 6:30-9:30	ACMI, Federation Square	Manus Doco, followed by Q&A	(Co-hosted by ACMI) RAC introduces Chauka Followed by a Q&A with Behrouz Boochani (circumstances permitting)