Anti-racist initiatives launched
BY RANI SINGH
MELBOURNE — Anti-racist activists here hope to build on an AC Nielson March 28 poll which indicated that Victorians are more likely to disagree with mandatory sentencing and reject One Nation than their interstate counterparts, by taking a range of campaign initiatives over the next month.
Following a small but vocal protest outside a national meeting of state government attorney-generals on March 24, activists have called a rally against mandatory sentencing, at noon on April 9 outside the state library. The rally will demand that the federal government intervene against the NT and WA laws.
The rally has been endorsed by dozens of groups, including community legal centres, the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee and the Uniting Church.
In a separate initiative, plans are under way for a public meeting entitled "Fighting Fortress Australia: refugees, migrants and racism". The meeting, sponsored by Green Left Weekly, will take place in Brunswick on April 19.
Speakers will include: Pamela Curr, coordinator of the Fairwear campaign, a coalition opposing the exploitation of outworkers; Arun Pradhan, an experienced anti-racism activist and the organiser of the Democratic Socialist Party's Melbourne North branch; and Randa Abdel-Fattah, a former media liaison officer for the Islamic Council of Victoria and an activist in a range of Arabic and Islamic organisations.
Organisers hope that the meeting will help unite a range of existing campaigns around migrant, refugee and racism issues in Australia. For more information, contact Green Left Weekly's Melbourne office on (03) 9639 8622.