Hundreds of anti-racist activists gathered at the State Library on September 26 before taking to the streets to protest federal Labor’s new draconian anti-immigration laws, which allow Australia to deport asylum seekers to Nauru, just as the United States Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) is doing.
The Unite Against Racism rally, initiated by Refugee Action Collective, was addressed by several speakers and heard from the Riff Raff Radical Marching Band.
Uncle Robbie Thorpe, speaking on behalf of Camp Sovereignty, criticised the rise of white supremacy and far-right extremism and the hypocrisy of Labor recognising Palestine while supplying weapons to Israel.
Danae Bosler, Assistant Secretary of Victorian Trades Hall Council, reminded the crowd that Naarm was built by unionists before criticising the Liberal Party for giving racist and the extremist far-right a platform.
NSW Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi said Labor must stop demonising pro-Palestine rallies as anti-Semitic. She said Labor’s refuse policies are in part responsible for the more emboldened and violent neo-Nazi thugs who are terrorising rural and metropolitan communities.
Rathy Bartlote from Refugee Women Action for Visa Equality said refugees should not have to live in limbo, without permanent visas, while being scapegoated for the housing crisis and unemployment.
Marg D’Arcy, from Labor Friends of Palestine, called for immediate sanctions against Israel and investigations into Australians who have joined the Israeli Defense Forces for war crimes.
Deepak Joshi from The Humanism Project and Hindus for Human Rights criticised the covert and insidious “polite smile” racism, which is familiar to migrants from all communities.
Speakers emphasised that the housing crisis is not the fault of migrants or asylum seekers, but the state government's failures to invest in affordable and public housing.
