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After the 2004 ALP National
Conference, I wrote a discussion paper comparing the decisions on asylum
seekers with those made at ALP State Conferences over the preceding
2 years.
Discussion Paper
- ALP National Conference 2004 (by Robin Rothfield)
The paper recognized
improvements in ALP policy compared to that of the Government but explained
that it did not go as far as State Branches had sought.
Article
submitted The Age for 5th anniversaryTampa
26 August 2006
Labor
for Refugees (Victoria) proposed amendments to chapter 7 of the ALP
Platform on asylum seekers, adopted by the ALP (Vic) Commonwealth and
Federal Relations Policy Committee
CAFR_NPC_Amendments_23NOV05
Age
article published 26 August 2006
(with some editing)
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/australias-great-shame-on-refugees/2006/08/25/1156012737432.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
product reviews and internet shopping.
The SMH today 19.8.06 published
this article on the Tampa. Another excellent piece by David Marr. what
a contrast New Zealand is with the meanness of the Australian approach.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/the-luck-of-the-draw/2006/08/18/1155408025317.html
What the PM owes to Hansonism
Emma Dawson, The Age, 8 September
2006
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/what-the-pm-owes-to-hansonism/2006/09/07/1157222261242.html
Rights reduced
to rhetoric
Waleed Aly, The
Age, 6 July 2006
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/rights-reduced-to-rhetoric/2006/07/05/1151779010195.html
From Rights Australia:
INQUIRY LAUNCH: PEOPLES INQUIRY INTO
IMMIGRATION DETENTION 19 Nov, 2005
http://www.rightsaustralia.org.au/calendar.php?id=49
Human Rights in the Age of Terror 02 Dec, 2005
http://www.rightsaustralia.org.au/calendar.php?id=50
Tampa Day media
release 26 August 2005
( includes the
open letter to Prime Minister John Howard and the
list of signatories to the letter)
Tampa Rally speech
26 August 2005
(speech given
at the Tampa Day Rally, State Library, Melbourne, by
Robin Rothfield
13 January 2005
WE ARE SORRY!
We are sorry that the Howard
Government was re-elected on 9 October 2004 .
The Howard Government has
placed the interests of the wealthy before those of
the poor and the disadvantaged by policies of:
- undermining
public education
- undermining the
universal health system
- undermining
workers' rights
as well as:
- failing to
adequately address the needs of indigenous
Australians
- neglecting the
environment
- surrendering
Australia 's sovereignty through the
Australia US Free Trade Agreement
The Howard Government has no
respect for human rights and international laws
and conventions.
The Howard Government has
brought international shame and disgrace on Australia
by its treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.
On behalf of all caring Australians we
say:-
- sorry to those
still languishing in detention for many years
for no crime other than that of wishing to
escape persecution from regimes such as that
of Saddam Hussein.
- sorry to
the Bakhtiari family for the mean
spiritedness of Immigration Minister Amanda
Vanstone, who with approval from John Howard,
deported this hapless family after giving
them hell for 5 years.
- sorry to
the families of the 353 asylum seekers who
drowned tragically while trying to reach
Australia on board the SIEV X in October 2001
and whose memory the Howard Government has
done its best to ignore.
- sorry to those
countless thousands of Iraqis who have
suffered grievously from the invasion of the
“Coalition of the Willing” in which
Australia took part thanks to the blind
obedience of John Howard to the whims of
George W Bush.
- sorry to those
millions of Americans who looked to Australia
for change as an inspiration for their own need for change
- sorry to
those millions of people throughout the world
who hoped to see a more caring, just and
independent Australia emerge from the
election of 9 October 2004 .
This did not happen and we are
deeply sorry for these failings.
But sorrow is not enough.
We will continue the fight and not rest until
the Howard/Costello Coalition Government is defeated.
And this website is committed to doing just that.
....................................................................................................................................
To the
disappointment of the election loss, including the
loss of the Senate as a House of Review, must now be
added the disappointment at the statement by Laurie
Ferguson, newly appointed Shadow Minister for
Immigration.
Lev
Lafayette, labor4refugees
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Links
to other sites:
Bridge
for Asylum Seekers Foundation
www.asylumseekersfoundation.com
Medicare
under threat
http://defendmedicare.info/
Dear
John
http://www.dearjohn.org
Not Happy John
http://www.nothappyjohn.com/default.cfm#top
http://www.thejusticeproject.com.au
http://www.tonykevin.com/Bali-Senate-Report.html
(The
Senate Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee report
on "Security of Australians in South East Asia
(Bali 2002)")
http://www.sievx.com/
click onto this homepage
and hear the song by Those Bloody McKennas ..
http://203.147.191.19/declaration.htm
http://www.votehowardout.com/
http://www.roddavies.com/frameset.htm?never_ever_lie/index.htm~mainFrame
http://www.getridofhoward.org.au/
http://www.andrewwilkie.org.au/
http://www.johnnybackflip.com/
http://www.australiaatthecrossroads.org
http://www.timetogojohn.com/
http://www.muacampaign.org.au
http://www.105reasons.org
http://www.justnotjohn.com
http://www.endthelies.net
http://www.ihatejohnhoward.com./
http://www.manbitesgod.com./
http://www.newmatilda.com/home/default.asp
http://www.freespaces.com/no_war_in_iraq/index.html
