April 30, 2015
Day of action on Australian clearances
Indigenous people in Australia will march today for the right to continue living on their ancestral land, and many Maori will take to the streets here in support of their plea.
The international day of action was called to protest the Abbott Government’s decision to push responsibility for funding remote Aboriginal communities to the states, with the result that Western Australia has announced it will withdraw services from more than 150 communities.
Maori Party MP Marama Fox, who is in Melbourne to support action here, says the New Zealand government should have spoken out against the policy.
She says parliament condemned the execution of two Australian drug smugglers in Indonesia, but National refuses to allow debate about another clear breach of human rights closer to home.
Maori women's group Te Wharepora Hou is organising a rally this evening at 6pm in Queen Elizabeth Square, next to Britomart.
There is a rally in Wellington at noon in Katherine Mansfield Park.
In Hamilton the protest will take the form of a march from the Claudeland Events Centre at 1pm.
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