Refugee Action Coalition Says Abbott Wants To Recycle Failed Howard Policies On Asylum-Seekers

The Opposition Leader, Mr Abbott, called yesterday for temporary protection visas to be reintroduced, the Nauru detention centre to be re-opened, and boats carrying asylum-seekers to be turned away from Australian waters. Mr Abbott’s comments came after last week’s shipwreck off Christmas Island, where at least 30 asylum-seekers were killed.

Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition told 4ZZZ News that Mr Abbott’s response was the wrong one. Click on the link above to hear his comment

Herald-Sun columnist Andrew Bolt said last week the Labor Government’s policies on asylum-seekers led to last week’s deaths. This is despite work published on the Crikey.com website in 2009 showing the amount of war and upheaval in the world, not government policies, is what affects the amount of asylum-seekers.

Even though asylum-seeker numbers are not affected by Government policy, the 2010 Mapping Social Cohesion report by Monash University’s Professor Andrew Markus (pdf file) shows a majority of Australians do not support asylum-seekers arriving by boat, and support harsher policies towards them.

Photo: Ian Rintoul by David Jackmanson

101220 Ian Rintoul Zedlines by David Jackmanson  
Download now or listen on posterous

101220 Ian Rintoul RAC Zedlines.mp3 (193 KB)

Brisbane Line Interview: Refugee Action Coalition Responds To Tony Abbott Wanting Old Asylum Policies Back

The Opposition Leader, Mr Abbott, called on Sunday for the asylum-seeker policies of the Howard Government to be restored. His comments came after at least thirty asylum-seekers were killed last week in a shipwreck off Christmas Island.

We spoke to Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition about Mr Abbott’s comments. Click play to listen.

Photo: Ian Rintoul speaks at a pro-Wikileaks rally

Brisbane Line Interview: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Still Won’t Let Transgendered People Serve In US Military

4ZZZ News reported yesterday that the repeal of the US’ Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law will soon allow lesbian, bisexual and gay people to openly serve in the US military. However, the repeal will not affect transgendered people, who are still discharged from service, usually on medical grounds.

We spoke to Denny Meyer from the Transgender American Veterans Association, American Veterans for Equal Rights and gaymilitarysignal.com about the position of transgendered people in the US military. Click play below to listen to the full interview.

Brisbane Line: Report On Sat Dec 18 #Wikileaks Rally: Sound, Video, Photos

Brisbane Wikileaks supporters rallied as planned on Saturday December 18 2010 in Reddacliffe Place in Brisbane Square, Brisbane City on Saturday.

Kieran Salsone, Naomi Bischeno and David Jackmanson prepared this audio report:

Click play to listen.

You can watch 3 videos of the whole rally on YouTube here – thanks to YouTube user GrahamAndFriends who uploaded them.

There are some photos of the rally below, and you can see more on flickr if you click here.

The march after the rally heads up George St towards Reddacliff Place at Brisbane Square, at Elizabeth St.

Mystery photographer who stood far behind everyone else and took pictures with a good quality camera. Hmm….

Ewan Saunders of Socialist Alliance MCs the rally

Academic Garry MacLennan addresses the rally

Libby Connors of the Queensland Greens addresses the rally

Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition addresses the rally

Cape York Australian Aboriginal Academy expands to Hopevale

A new education program in Cape York will be extended to the town of Hopevale, the Queensland Government announced on Friday. The Cape York Australian Aboriginal Academy has been operating in the towns of Coen and Aurukun this year.

The Academy’s program is in three parts, Class, Club and Culture. The Club part has music, sport and art programs, The Culture part of the program teaches indigenous language and culture to students.

The Class part uses a teaching method called Direct Instruction to teach maths, and reading and writing in English. In Direct Instruction, teachers must keep strictly to controlled, scripted lessons. A major study in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s, called Project Follow Through, found Direct Instruction to be the most effective method of raising poor schoolchildren’s scores in standardised tests.  Direct Instruction is opposed to methods of teaching where children seek out and solve problems for themselves.

US gets rid of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but transgendered people still banned from military service

The United States Senate voted on Saturday to get rid of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law. The law meant that non-heterosexual members of the US military could be discharged if they revealed their sexual preferences. The US House of Representatives had already voted last week to get rid of the law, meaning it will now go to President Obama who has said he will give his final approval to removing the law. However the law will remain in force until the President, Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify the policies required to bring in the change will not harm the US military.

The US National Center for Transgender Equality noted last month that getting rid Don’t Ask Don’t Tell will have no effect on transgendered members of the US military, who may still be discharged if they reveal their gender identity.

Denny Meyer of the Transgender American Veterans’ Association, American Veterans for Equal Rights and gaymilitarysignal.com told 4ZZZ News about the situation for transgendered members of the military in the USA. Click on the player below to hear what he said:

Refugee Action Coalition Says Abbott Wants To Recycle Failed Howard Policies On Asylum-Seekers

The Opposition Leader, Mr Abbott, called yesterday for temporary protection visas to be reintroduced, the Nauru detention centre to be re-opened, and boats carrying asylum-seekers to be turned away from Australian waters. Mr Abbott’s comments came after last week’s shipwreck off Christmas Island, where at least 30 asylum-seekers were killed.

Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition told 4ZZZ News that Mr Abbott’s response was the wrong one. Click on the link below to hear his comment

Herald-Sun columnist Andrew Bolt said last week the Labor Government’s policies on asylum-seekers led to last week’s deaths. This is despite work published on the Crikey.com website in 2009 showing the amount of war and upheaval in the world, not government policies, is what affects the amount of asylum-seekers.

Even though asylum-seeker numbers are not affected by Government policy, the 2010 Mapping Social Cohesion report by Monash University’s Professor Andrew Markus (pdf file) shows a majority of Australians do not support asylum-seekers arriving by boat, and support harsher policies towards them.

Photo: Ian Rintoul by David Jackmanson

101220 Ian Rintoul Zedlines by David Jackmanson  
Download now or listen on posterous

101220 Ian Rintoul RAC Zedlines.mp3 (193 KB)

Brisbane Wikileaks Campaigners to Meet Tue Dec 21 To Plan January Rally

Brisbane’s pro-Wikileaks campaigners will meet tomorrow night to plan a rally in January in support of the website which has been releasing confidential US Government diplomatic messages. After a rally last Saturday, tomorrow night’s meeting will be at 6.30pm in Room 224 of B Block in the Gardens Point campus of the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane City. Click here for a Google Map.

Wikileaks’ spokesman Julian Assange was released from a British prison last week after being granted bail. Assange is facing extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on allegations of sexual assault, including using his body to hold down one woman and having sex with another while she slept. The allegations have divided many people. US filmmaker Michael Moore who has called them “strange”, but US blogger Kate Harding has said that while the vigour with which they have been followed up is unusual, the allegations should be taken seriously and being dismissive of them is dangerous precedent.

Some cables recently released by Wikileaks include revelations that Colombian officials fear Venezuela’s growing strength and think the USA has not done enough to support Columbia against Venezuela, reports on the German state of Hamburg’s conflicts with the Scientology organisation, and an analysis of the weaknesses of anti-regime forces in Cuba.

Watch our recording of Sat 18 Dec #Wikileaks rally in Brisbane

Click on the links below to see our recording of the Saturday December 18 2010 Wikileaks rally in Brisbane

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Watch Today’s Brisbane Wikileaks Rally Live On 4ZZZ News’ Ustream Channel

There’s a Wikileaks rally today at midday in Brisbane. If you can’t make the rally, you can watch it live on 4ZZZ News’ Ustream channel. The rally is scheduled to begin at midday Brisbane time, which is 1pm Hobart/Melbourne/Sydney, 12.30pm Adelaide, 11.30am Darwin and 10am Perth.

You can also hear a live report from the rally if you listen to Brisbane Line between 12 and 1pm today on 4ZZZ, 102.1FM in Brisbane – or you can listen online if you click here.