Simon Butler, Newcastle
The state of the refugee rights movement and the role local governments can play in strengthening it were the themes of a public meeting hosted by the Newcastle branch of the Socialist Alliance on January 28.
Steve Georgeopolous, a respected campaigner for refugees' rights and social justice, outlined the progress of the "Flotilla of Hope" project. On May 14, a flotilla of watercraft carrying refugees' rights campaigners will begin its journey from Australia to Nauru as a protest against the Australian government's racist refugee policy and in solidarity with the asylum seekers imprisoned on the island.
Georgeopolous told the gathering that the Flotilla of Hope has received support from trade unions, individuals and political parties, including the Socialist Alliance and the Greens. He urged the 35 people present to support the action.
The meeting endorsed the idea that the Newcastle City Council organise a civic reception for the flotilla as it passes through Newcastle.
Three candidates standing in the March 27 city council elections also spoke. Marilyn Eade, a incumbent councillor and the Labor Party candidate for lord mayor, agreed that local council election campaigns should not just focus on the "three R's" — rubbish, rates and roads. She noted that Newcastle City Council has declared itself a "refugee welcome town" and suggested that more council services and amenities could be made available to the refugees' rights movement.
Michael Osborne, Greens candidate for the council's ward two, told the meeting that there were countless ways that the city council could contribute to the refugees' rights movement. The council could provide accurate information about the inhumane treatment of refugees to all ratepayers.
Peter Robson, the Socialist Alliance candidate for ward one, pointed to a January 19 internet poll in the Sydney Morning Herald that showed up to 61% of Australians now support an end to the mandatory detention of refugees. This is an indication, he said, that the refugees' rights movement has made a big difference over the last few years.
Robson maintained that refugees' rights deserved to be part of local election campaigns because, although local councils are not responsible for jailing refugees, local government could become a powerful instrument to help win the refugees their freedom.
The socialist candidate offered a vision of a more democratic and participatory council that would encourage community involvement and provide for grassroots decision making. "When ordinary people completely control their communities, that is when humanitarian and sustainable societies evolve", he declared.
[To get involved in the Socialist Alliance's campaign for the Newcastle council election, phone Peter Robson on 0408 702 996 or email <newcastle@socialist-alliance.org>.]
From Green Left Weekly, February 4, 2004.
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