Among the hundreds of protesters who converged at the Baxter detention centre over the Easter weekend were a dozen activists from Newcastle University. Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly's Simon Butler spoke to Lucille Palmer, Zane Alcorn and Emma Wasson about the significance of the refugee-rights protest.
On the way to the Baxter convergence Wasson, the activities officer at the Newcastle University Students Association (NUSA), wasn't sure what to expect. This would be her first direct action protest. But the experience has left her inspired and motivated. "There are so many memorable things", said Wasson. "The passion of the people there stood out for me the most — their passion over what is happening to refugees."
For Socialist Alliance activist Alcorn, one of the high points of the weekend was when demonstrators marched close to the compound and made contact with the refugees. "We were chanting in full strident tones 'freedom!' And when we heard the refugees chanting back you could hear the hope in their voices. Until we had made contact we had no way of knowing the impact our protest was having", he said.
Palmer, the organiser of the Newcastle contingent to Baxter and the 2005 NUSA welfare officer, has conflicting emotions over the protest. "While it was depressing and devastating in one sense, it was also hopeful to hear the refugees chant back and know that they haven't given up."
It is this knowledge that has reinforced for Palmer the need to step up the campaign to close the detention centres. "It's important to keep this issue at the forefront. The Howard government is trying harder to hide the realities of the situation. It means that we need to keep working even harder."
The Newcastle contingent to the Baxter protests was sponsored by NUSA, which also held fundraising events to assist demonstrators with travel costs. Alcorn pointed out that the protest would not have been the same without the support of many student organisations around the country. The federal government's plan to implement "voluntary student unionism" is "just another way that the government is trying to silence opposition to its inhumane policies", he argued.
[Refugee-rights activists are planning to screen footage from the Baxter Convergence at an upcoming event in Newcastle. For more information phone Lucille on (02) 4921 6006.]
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, April 6, 2005.
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