This statement was released by Billy Gordon on April 8.
***
Last week I resigned from the Australian Labor Party. I will not resign from parliament.
My decision is based on advice from the clerk of parliament, who gave detailed reasons why I did not have to resign over past events and allegations. I am also determined to honour my commitments to my constituents.
During the election campaign I committed to tackling entrenched social and economic problems in Cook and helping communities seize economic development opportunities.
News
Twenty-five-year-old Iranian asylum seeker Saeed Hanssanloo was reportedly improving with medical assistance after ending his hunger strike on April 7. Hanssanloo began refusing food more than 40 days previously when he learnt his asylum claim had been rejected.
Moreland city council in Melbourne unanimously passed a motion opposing the closure of remote Aboriginal communities by the Western Australian government.
The council will write to federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion, WA Premier Colin Barnett and local federal ministers and Victorian senators in protest. It will also send a letter of solidarity to the Aboriginal communities under threat of forced closure.
About 150 people filled the St Kilda Town Hall on April 7 for a public meeting with visiting Israeli journalist, Amira Hass. Hass is a veteran Israeli columnist and reporter, lives in the West Bank among Palestinians and works for Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society organised the forum.
Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) released this statement on April 8.
* * *
On Saturday, Reclaim Australia were held rallies across the country.
These rallies promoted messages of racism, hatred and oppression. Participants were draped in the Australian flag, were covered in swastika tattoos and carried banners with dehumanising messages.
More than 150 people filled the Redfern Community Centre on March 20 to discuss a treaty for Australia’s first people.
Organised by Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS), the event was hosted by veteran journalist Jeff McMullen and televised by National Indigenous TV. As coverage of female Aboriginal voices are rare among mainstream discourses, their retelling of their pasts and hopes for the future captivated the room.
ADELAIDE
Come to a fundraiser for Green Left Weekly on Thursday May 14 at 7pm. Voices of Dissent featuring The Tangled Bank; Kyle Landman, The Young Offenders; Steve O’Malley; Where Was I?; Brendan de Paor. Entry $7. The Jade, 160 Flinders St, Adelaide. Ph Claudia 0435 108 439.
BRISBANE
About 2000 people joined a rally against racism in Federation Square on April 4. The Melbourne rally was the largest counter-mobilisation against the racist, “Reclaim Australia” protests organised across Australia. The Melbourne “Reclaim Australia” event was attended by about 500 people.
Up to 15,000 people joined the Palm Sunday Walk for Refugees in Melbourne on March 29, more than double the numbers from last year refugee advocates said.
Large rallies and marches were also held in 12 other Australian cities, and 19 cities overseas, demanding refugees be released from detention.
Photo: Ali Bakhtiarvandi
About 300 people in detention on Nauru also joined the protest and called for an end to offshore detention centres.
Photo: Ali Bakhtiarvandi
About 300 people in detention on Nauru also joined the protest and called for an end to offshore detention centres.
Activists dropped a banner on cliffs off Sydney’s North Head on March 22 calling for halt to coal and gas mining.
Rallies calling for the closure of refugee detention centres were held across the country on March 29. The Refugee Action Committee Canberra released this statement on March 25 in the lead-up to the rally.
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Activists from Canberra’s Refugee Action Committee (RAC) took to a boat on March 25 to highlight the plight of asylum seekers and refugees.
The RAC activists held up banners advertising the upcoming Palm Sunday Rally for Refugees.
BRISBANE
Join the protest against Wicked Campers’ abusive tourist slogans. Saturday April 11 at 12pm. Reddacliff Place, Brisbane.
MELBOURNE
Come to a rally to stop the forced closures of Aboriginal communities. Voice your outrage at Colin Barnett’s forced closure of First Nations communities in WA. Friday April 10 at 5.30pm. Parliament steps, Spring St, city.
PERTH
Join the counter-protest to the xenophobic “Reclaim Australia” rally. No Pasaran! Saturday April 4 at 11.30am. Solidarity Park, Harvest Tce, Perth.
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