The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations released this statement on December 5.
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The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), the umbrella body of the peak Tamil associations in Australia and New Zealand, welcomes the news that the deportation of 56 Tamil refugees was halted after a dramatic hearing at the High Court in Sydney late on Monday.
News
Refugee activists in Melbourne organised a candle lit vigil on November 30 to condemn the federal government's racist policies against refugees.
Mohammed Bakhtiari, a former detainee on Nauru, said: "We need to demonstrate to people that we have rights too".
Photos by Ali Bakhtiarvandi:
The Refugee Action Coalition released this statement on December 3.
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Tamil asylum seekers at Wickham Point detention centre in Darwin staged a 24-hour hunger strike protest on December 3 in response to increasing numbers of Tamils being screened out and returned to Sri Lanka.
A plane-load of 35 mostly Tamil asylum seekers was arrested on Friday, November 30, on return to Sri Lanka and have been taken to Negombo prison, outside Colombo.
Stop CSG Illawarra released this statement on December 4.
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Today the suburbs of Wombarra and Scarborough were declared coal seam gas-free, by a vote of residents.
Local Stop CSG members have been surveying households and an overwhelming majority of respondents in these suburbs want: their suburb to remain CSG-free, a ban on CSG development in the drinking water catchment and a freeze on the industry state-wide to investigate the impacts.
Upcoming rallies for refugees. Save Omid! End offshore processing!
Queensland Uncut held a “people’s parliament” in Brisbane to coincide with the last sitting day of parliament on November 29.
The rally heard from speakers representing unions, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Equal Love, the Queensland Working Women's Service and Sisters Inside.
The groups oppose the cuts the Liberal National Party (LNP) government is making to the community and public sector. Many community services have been downsized or shut down because of funding cuts.
West Papuans and their supporters rallied in Melbourne on December 1.
They raised the Morning Star flag, a symbol of independence, and demanded self-determination and an end to Indonesian occupation of West Papua. The rally was part of an international day of action.
The speakers addressed the brutal human rights violations committed by the Indonesian army and urged the Gillard government to break with over 40 years of successive Australian governments' support for the Indonesian occupation.
ACT Friends of Wikileaks released this statement on December 1.
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ACT Friends of Wikileaks held a candlelight vigil outside Parliament House on November 29 to show the government that there are many Australians who want them to act to protect Julian Assange’s human rights, and who are appalled at the government’s lack of action in the face of extraordinary and unprecedented abuse of the rights of one of its citizens.
Many people from around the country and overseas sent messages of support and messages to the government, including a number of prominent people.
An important trial concerning the right to protest was adjourned on November 28 after it went longer than the single day scheduled for the hearing.
Perth activist Kamala Emanuel was charged with refusing to obey a police direction to leave a legal and peaceful protest against gas "fracking" in April.
Anti-uranium activists staged an action at the Perth headquarters of mining company Toro to coincide with its November 28 annual general meeting in Adelaide.
The company is trying to build WA's first uranium mine (Wiluna) against the wishes of the majority of West Australians.
Activists gave the company a practical demonstration about how hard it is to clean up after a nuclear accident by attempting to clean up yellow cake in the company office.
Two spectacular banner drops on Sydney's Darling Harbour Convention Centre exposed some of the "dirty deeds" of the world's biggest mining company, BHP Billiton.
Environmentalists and Aboriginal rights supporters rallied outside the company’s annual general meeting on November 29 to highlight the billions of dollars profit BHP makes annually from the dirty energy sector, inclduing uranium, coal, oil and coal seam gas.
Some environmentalists have justified their support for the forest peace deal — passed by Tasmania’s Legislative Assembly on November 23 — on the grounds of not letting “perfect” become the “enemy of good”.
But a closer look at the details of the deal, which will allow the logging of native forests for another generation, makes clear it cannot even be called “good”.
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