Monthly Archives: May 2014

West Papua Film and Cultural Night 14 June 2014

Showing a film made from footage taken during the journey by land and boat from Lake Eyre to West Papua.
AWPA SA has arranged for a community bus with Melbourne based West Papuan activists to come and show this film; Talk about the impact of this successful and inventive public mass action that had Indonesia asking Australia to stop the boats and mobilizing its Navy and Army to stop them arriving. This action galvanized massive rallies to be held in West Papua in support.
Speakers will talk about more recent events and future campaigns.
Arabunna aboriginal elder, Uncle Kevin Buzzacott, who accompanied the West Papuans the entire way, will be present with Jacob Rumbiak, West Papua Foreign Affairs spokesperson. West Papuan performers from TABURA who have performed at Womadelaide and other international festivals will provide a cultural performance of singing and dancing.

Saturday 14th June from 7pm
Bowden Brompton Community Centre 19 Green St, Brompton

Entry $15/10 to cover cost of bus travel and raise funds for West Papuan Human Rights Campaigns
Please bring a plate for supper and let us know you are coming for seating arrangements.
Email info@awpa-sa.org.au or phone Dave on 83454480

AETFA promotes a lecture on Timor Leste

 

AETFA_LectureFlindersHosgelen21.5.14.pdf

Environment Matters!
A Research Colloquium and Workshop Series
School of the Environment

presents
Merve Hosgelen (Flinders University):

Population Growth, Forests and Sustainable Livelihoods in Timor-Leste:
The role of traditional governance systems in a fragile state context

All welcome.

Wednesday, 21st May 2014 at 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Teletheatre, Information Science and Technology (IST) Building 47, off
Physical Sciences Road, Car park 15 – parking fees apply
(See campus map) Continue reading

West Papua: My people need Australia’s help before it is too late

Benny Wenda theguardian.com, Monday 28 April 2014

Tony Abbott said that West Papuan activists were not welcome in Australia. With our first office opening in Perth, I hope Australians will disagree

This Anzac Day weekend, we opened the first ever Free West Papua campaign office in Australia.

For more than 50 years, my people have suffered what I considered to be a slow-moving genocide under the repressive military occupation of Indonesia. During the second world war, the “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” of West Papua came to the aid of Australian soldiers. Now it is the West Papuans that need Australia’s help in order to end human rights abuses so that my people can be free to live in peace.

Indonesia’s response to West Papua advocacy abroad has been frighteningly vehement. After the opening of our UK office in 2013, Indonesia made a diplomatic complaint to the British government. Foreign minister Natelegawa said he could not understand why the British government was “unwilling to take steps against the Free West Papua office”, and the president even tweeted about it. The British ambassador in Jakarta was summoned and had to remind Indonesia of the protections enjoyed in democracies, pointing out that no steps would be taken against our office, since it “does not require [government] permission to open”.

Bob Carr revealed in his recent memoir that he had discussed the prospect of us opening an Australian office with Indonesia’s foreign minister at that time, and was told that Indonesia would “prefer [Australia] not to allow an office to open”. During his state visit to Indonesia last year, prime minister Abbott said last year that West Papuan activists were not welcome in Australia, and that Australia would not tolerate West Papuans’ demonstrations against Indonesian control. Continue reading