Public Speak Out: Twelve years too long, Refugees are welcome here!
Saturday 19th July, 2.00pm Bourke Street Mall
Twelve years ago, on 19 July 2013, Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declared that that asylum-seekers arriving by boat would be sent to Nauru or Manus Island, and none would ever be settled in Australia.
Rudd’s announcement opened one of the darkest chapters in Australia’s shameful history of immigration detention.
The Liberals went further when they were elected in September 2013, calling in the military to command Operation Sovereign Borders and adding boat interceptions and turnbacks to the war against refugees.
The policy took an enormous heavy toll on refugees and asylum seekers. Thousands of innocent people were locked up on Nauru and on Manus Island. Some tragically lost their lives, and many suffered severe life-long physical and psychological damage.
Twelve years on, we are gathering to speak out against this racist cruelty and demand of Albanese’s Labor government:
* End mandatory detention and shut the Nauru detention centre
* Permanent visas for all those caught up in this horror, including victims of the flawed Fast Track process and Medevac refugees
* Allow refugees trapped in Indonesia to come to Australia.
For more information, contact Tom Fiebig at 0415118496, or refugeeactioncollective@gmail.com
Weekly organising meetings
Every Monday (except public holidays) at 6.30pm, Kathleen Syme library, Carlton