After organising a very successful rally of 5000 people on November 2, the Brisbane Anti-Racist Campaign (ARC) has called for a national day of action against racism on November 23.
Roberto Jorquera told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that the call came from ARC's November 4 meeting which heard that other actions had been organised throughout the country and that there were plans for more. The November 2 rally, also, had revealed how much community anger there was around the racism issue, Jorquera said.
ARC has decided to hold the November 23 anti-racist rally in Ipswich, in Pauline Hanson's electorate of Oxley. The rally has been called under the banner of "Fight Racism: Pauline Hanson does not speak for us" and the Ipswich Trades and Labour Council will be asked to co-sponsor it.
It was also suggested that some actions could be held around World Human Rights Day on December 10.
ARC has not yet finalised a complete list of demands for the action, but they will likely include those raised by the November 2 rally which were broadly supported. They were:
- Increased funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- Real Land Rights and self-determination for Aboriginal Australia.
- No cuts to immigration levels, migrants are welcome here.
- No deportation of refugees.
- Implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Black deaths in custody.
- No discrimination against migrants in work, welfare payments or where they are allowed to live and Pauline Hanson should apologise to those in the community she has offended and resign.
On November 7, a public meeting on the issue sponsored by the Democratic Socialist Party was addressed by Aboriginal author, film maker and activist Sam Watson; coordinator of the Asylum Seekers' Centre, Mercedes Sepulveda; Brisbane Migrant Workers' Centre coordinator, Jorge Rodriquez, and Roberto Jorquera from the DSP.
Watson said that Hanson and Co were "attempting to strip back some of the protective barriers that have helped Aborigines to some extent in the past". "It is necessary to work towards more Aboriginal representation in politics", he said.
Rodriquez talked about the discrimination facing migrants and argued that Pauline Hanson's comments "are not just off the cuff, they are planned ... the real issue is that of the budget cuts". He also condemned the hypocrisy of the two major parties and their use of "the racism issue to score political points".
Jorquera agreed saying that,"Since white colonisation, Australian capitalism has been built on the systematic oppression of the Aboriginal people and various racial groups, and has had a racially-based immigration policy. We must be clear that the ALP has been and still is a racist party because it is a capitalist party. We must not feed any illusions that it can be reformed".
For more information about the Ipswich rally, telephone ARC on (07) 3254 0565 or 3871 1446.