Speech by Paul Benedek at Sydney Refugee Action Coalition march and rally on August 7, 2010.
Peter Boyle
The Sydney Stop The War Coalition has been collecting signatures on giant petitions calling on new PM Julia Gillard to withdraw Australian troops from Afghanistan.
In a July 6 speech to the Lowy Institute Gillard announced that her government was pursuing a regional agreement for offshore processing of "unauthorised arrivals".
A wave of rallies and marches commemorating World Refugee Week swept across the country in the past week. On June 20, people rallied in Melbourne, coming from across the city and regional areas. Given the rain, organisers were happy with the turnout of 2000 people. It was the biggest protest in support of refugees for several years. Tamil refugee Arun Mylvaganam described his experiences escaping Sri Lanka and traveling to Australia, where he spent three months in detention. He was only 13 at the time and had no family members with him.
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