[Indigsol] Stop Australian Racism - Rally Friday July 13 @ Australian High Commission

[Ben Powless]

hey all - this is the write up Kateri created - please pass it on, use it as
you see fit...

RALLY – STANDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS


In a show of Indigenous solidarity, a rally is being held Friday July 13,
2007 at 12 noon outside the Australian High Commission at 50 O'Connor to
express opposition to the extreme measures implemented by the Howard
government against Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory.
Organized by a diverse, ad-hoc group of concerned Aboriginal people, the
rally will support other rallies being held on July 13 and 14 in Sydney,
Brisbane, Canberra, and Perth Australia, and in Wellington and Auckland,
Aoteaoroa/New Zealand.

The paternalistic, culturally insensitive, racist and short-sighted measures
announced by the Howard government include:

·        widespread bans on alcohol and pornography,

·        forcing all indigenous children under the age of 16 in the
territory to submit to  medical examinations,

·        putting a quarantine on 50 per cent of welfare payments to parents
of children in affected areas,

·        linking welfare payments to school attendance for all people living
on Aboriginal land.

·        and enforcing unilaterally imposed land reforms on Aboriginal
lands.

The plan shifts the overall control of communities away from Aboriginal land
councils to the federal government, which will be given five-year leases of
the townships.

These measures only affect Aboriginal Australians in these areas. Police and
military troops have been deployed in the area to enforce these measures.

The goals of the rally are to:

 - Send a message of solidarity to Aboriginal Australians who are suffering
from Howard's racist attacks on human rights;

- Raise awareness of this issue and related issues of colonization, racism,
family violence, and human rights;

- Garner public support for a boycott of Australia and a petition denouncing
the actions of the Howard government and demanding they enter into
meaningful discussions with the Aboriginal community;

- Express to the Australian High Commission our opposition and outrage to
the attack on the human rights of Aboriginal peoples in Australia.


Please lend your support. Circulate this message. Attend the Rally. Sign the
petition. Join the Boycott. Show your Support. Stand in Solidarity with our
Indigenous Brothers and Sisters.
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