CONVERGE ON MELBOURNE:
12pm Saturday, July 25, Outside ALP National Conference.
RALLY FOR REFUGEE RIGHTS, CHANGE ALP POLICY
CLOSE MANUS ISLAND, CLOSE NAURU
12pm Saturday, July 25, Outside ALP National Conference
Melbourne Convention Centre (1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf VIC 3006)
10am-3pm Sunday July 26, National refugee activists conference
Get on the RAC bus: cost will be about $110 + $50Â accommodation
Please email us to indicate interest as we need 35 bookings to confirm.
RAC is hoping to organise a bus to make travel costs as cheap as possible. It would leave Sydney Friday night 24 July and return by early Monday morning 27 July. The bus trip takes about 12 hours each way. But we need bookings from at least 35 people to make this affordable.
Or book your own flight: return tickets on Tiger and Jetstar still available for around $170.
Why we are going to the ALP conference:
After cheering on the turn back of Rohingya asylum boats by Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, Tony Abbott’s “nope, nope, nope” response to requests to resettle some of them in Australia has shown the depths to which he will sink.
Abbott’s refugee bashing is not working for him at the polls, but if the Coalition is kicked out what policies will replace him? The Rohingya crisis has also confirmed the hopeless alternative on offer from Labor, with Bill Shorten backing up the refusal to resettle any of the Rohingya, despite the fact they are clearly fleeing ethnic cleansing.
Labor says it will scrap temporary protection visas and re-introduce permanent protection for refugees but tragically the ALP leaders continue to support both offshore processing and mandatory detention of asylum seekers. Labor for Refugees, with the backing of many unions will be proposing a resolution to change Labor policy at this year’s ALP national conference in July. State Labor conferences in WA, Victoria and Queensland have all passed Labor for Refugees initiated motions since the national conference.
Breaking the bipartisan consensus of cruelty towards refugees has long been a strategic goal of the refugee movement. Our demonstration outside will help increase pressure on Labor and make it clear that whatever happens inside there is a movement outside that will keep fighting until we see the end of offshore processing and refugee detention. There will be speakers from Labor for Refugees and the union movement at the Melbourne rally, and the organisers are encouraging people to bring union and Labor branch banners.
Even a strong dissenting vote at the conference will strengthen the push for change if Labor takes government, and help make it clear that this issue is not going away.
Recent news on the lead up to Labor conference
MP Melissa Parke and others in the Left faction have spoken out to oppose any move to support Abbott’s turnback policy
The Saturday Paper reports on the motion the Labor leadership will put to the conference
