Concert for Matagarup - First Nations Refugee Camp

Saturday, May 30, 2015 - 19:00

Saturday May 30 at 7pm
Matagarup First Nations Refugee Camp (Heirisson Island)

Concert for Matargarup – ‘Refugees on our Homelands’
A grassroots concert is being held May 29 to raise awareness and to send a powerful message that the State Government should not countenance any closures to Homelands (remote communities) and nor add to the homelessness that they do ever so little about.

Matargarup (Heirisson Island) refugee camp has become both a safe space for the homeless and symbolic of the potential displacement of thousands of First Nations people in the event Homelands are to be shut down.

Matargarup refugee camp was established on March 1, and despite three raids where police escorted City of Perth council workers to take possession of all the tents and essentials, the camp has been re-established thanks to the goodwill of Perth residents. The camp has become a safe space for the homeless, safer than the condemned squats, traps, alleyways, isolated locations that many homeless shelter in.

Matargarup will continue to re-establish itself in the event the City of Perth continues to take possession of the tents of the homeless. They have nowhere else to go.

The grassroots concert is an opportunity to build solidarity with the homeless and to send a message that we as a civil society cannot sit idly by and watch Homelands shut down or the residents starved out of these communities. There is increasing empathy and resonance with people about what is going on and the Concert will send a powerful message to the City of Perth Council and the State Government of what the people think and who they are standing alongside.

The Concert for Matargarup will commence 7pm, Friday, May 29. Any funds raised from the event will go directly to the basic needs of the Matargarup homeless. There will be security folk on site to ensure safeties. Food and non-alcoholic beverage will be available. First aid responders will be on site. There will be a media presence.

Any queries call Jennifer Kaeshagen on 0449 655 282 or email contact@thestringer.com.au

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