Melbourne anti-Trump rally: hundreds attend to voice 'unprecedented' anger
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Version 0 of 1. The groundswell of anger created around the world by the actions of the US president is “unprecedented”, Greens leader Richard Di Natale told a few hundred protesters at an anti-Trump rally in Melbourne on Friday evening. Many gathered outside the State Library in the city as a range of speakers including Di Natale addressed the crowd. They chanted “Down Trump down!” and “No hate, no fear, Muslims are welcome here”. Similar protests will follow in Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle and Hobart on Saturday. The Melbourne protesters condemned both Donald Trump and the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, for their respective countries’ treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. They called on Turnbull to “Bring them here” before commencing a march through the city. The protest was sparked by indications this week that Trump might not honour an agreement with the Obama administration to send 1,250 refugees from Australian-run detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru to the US for resettlement. The White House gave reassurances earlier in the week that the deal would go ahead. However – after the Washington Post revealed a transcript of an explosive conversation between the US president and Malcolm Turnbull regarding the deal – Trump tweeted on Thursday that it was a “dumb deal” and labelled those affected as “illegal immigrants”. Continuing uncertainty brought calls for the federal government to let them resettle in Australia to end the political back-and-forth. Speaking to Guardian Australia after addressing the crowd, Di Natale said: “I think, like many Australians right now, people are feeling shocked and angry and they are realising the political establishment has let them down.” “Now’s the time to make it very clear to all those people who are the target of Donald Trump’s vile attack that we stand with them, because I think many of those people feel abandoned right now. They feel ignored.” Melbourne city was brought to a standstill at peak hour as people walked over tram lines and down main roads towards Flinders Street station. People finishing work in the city joined the crowd, which swelled as it passed through the city. Tiffany Harkins, who moved to Melbourne a few months ago from New York, said she had come to the protest in a show of solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers, and also with her friends and family at home. “With everything that’s going on in the states we need to stand up and to show we love everyone and that you shouldn’t promote fear-mongering or hatred to people of a certain religion, colour or class, just because certain things happened,” she said. “I don’t normally protest, but I felt compelled.” Another protester, Headvig Söderhielm, attended with friends holding placards, one of which read: “For those who’ve come across the seas we’ve boundless plains to share”. She said: “When we are old, we don’t want to say to ourselves that when all of this was going on, we stayed at home and did nothing.” On Friday, despite US press secretary Sean Spicer’s latest reassurances, more than 70 organisations called for the camps on Nauru and Manus Island to immediately close, with all refugees and asylum seekers brought to Australia. Charities, aid groups, unions and thinktanks urged immediate action to address what they called a “humanitarian crisis” as refugees spoke of the torment created by the uncertainty. A joint letter from the 70 organisations said: “Beyond the reports of physical and sexual abuse, including of children; inadequate medical attention; suicides and attempted suicides; even a murder; the extinguishment of hope has pushed people to the edge. “Many of these people have been recognised as refugees. We owe them protection and safety now. “With the US resettlement deal in serious doubt, the most obvious and humane solution is to clear the camps and bring these people to Australia until a safe long-term, appropriate outcome for them can be guaranteed. Phil Glendenning, the president of the Refugee Council of Australia, used a Sydney media conference to note the country’s history of leadership in accepting refugees. “Forty years ago when Australia faced a serious crisis with regards to refugees, we had a prime minister named Malcolm – Malcolm Fraser – and a leader of the opposition named Bill – Bill Hayden. Together they formed a bipartisan partnership to bring refugees to this country,” he said. Glendenning told Guardian Australia he worried that even if the US agreed to honour the deal, the policy of extreme vetting might mean it was worthless anyway. “If extreme vetting means more cruelty, more waiting , more limbo, more uncertainty, then that’s not tolerable,” Glendenning said. “The thing that worries me about President Trump is he’s using extreme vetting as a way of doing what he really wants to do, and that’s scupper the deal.” Paul Ronalds, CEO of Save the Children, said in a statement: “We know from our time providing services on Nauru that uncertainty and a lack of hope has a devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers. “The Australian government’s focus on finding viable third-country options for resettlement have been welcome, but those attempts have not resulted in an outcome that ends the uncertainty and provides a safe and secure home. Turnbull maintained his composure on Friday as the fallout from his phone call with the president continued. Asked on 2SM Radio in Sydney if Trump was a brash character, Turnbull replied: “I’ll leave others to comment on him but he’s clearly a very big personality.” Turnbull again denied that Trump had hung up on him during the pair’s 25-minute weekend phone call, saying it was a “frank discussion” that had ended “courteously”. Efforts to smooth tensions are underway, with Joe Hockey, the Australian ambassador in Washington, called to the White House to meet Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and chief of staff, Reince Preibus, for what was described as a “productive meeting”. A White House spokesman said: “They conveyed the president’s deep admiration for the Australian people.” Refugees on Nauru and Manus Island spoke of the torture of the ongoing uncertainty. One man, who is on Nauru with his wife and young daughter, told Guardian Australia at the time the US refugee deal was revealed in November that it was the “best news” they had received after four years in detention. Their time in Nauru included alleged assaults and an incident of alleged sexual assault against their daughter. The family has already met US officials and were scheduled for a second meeting this month. That meeting has now been downgraded to a standing unscheduled request. Now, he told Guardian Australia, “when they don’t like us we don’t like to go”. “We were happy – but not now,” he said. “Nobody knows what is [Trump’s] plan. We just want freedom from here and Trump has a plan after four months. Maybe after one or two years he’ll tell us if he wants us or no. We all have stress about this and we are tired and sad.” Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian journalist detained on Manus Island, said the ongoing questions around the deal had been “torturing people”, and Trump’s tweet left them sure that “nothing will happen”. “This policy has been defeated and it’s time to solve the problem by taking people to Australia or to accept New Zealand’s offer,” he said. |