Protesters, who insist the detainees be brought to Australia, included students and teachers, activists, concerned individuals and organisations including the CFMEU (Construction, Forestry Mining and Energy Union), the NTEU (National Tertiary Education Union), the Greens and Young Labor.
Fundraiser attendees in formal dress included constitutional monarchist David Flint and Christine Forster, Liberal Councillor for the City of Sydney.
Rebecca Semaan, who attended the protest with her husband and two young children, said: “It’s really important that we send the message that this is not acceptable … that even though our government is doing these things, it’s not in our name.”
Margaret Hayes, who has attended protests for a number of years, said: “We are Australians and we are ashamed. We are afraid that we are breaching human rights agreements, international human rights agreements. These people are human beings. They have done nothing wrong and they deserve to be somewhere safe where they can live their lives.”
Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition said: “Unless the policy changes there will be demonstrations, there will be further protests. We will be calling on the unions and every member of the Labor Party to join us outside their fundraisers …”
When asked about the effectiveness of protests, he said the rallies had seen more Labor politicians speak out against what was happening to refugees and asylum seekers.
Labor’s Anthony Albanese, Federal Member for Grayndler, points out that Manus Island is meant to be a processing centre and not a centre for indefinite detention, and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Tanya Plibersek, has expressed concern for the mental health of the men on Manus (and on Nauru, another processing centre).
However, Labor policy continues to support offshore processing with resettlement in a third country.
Ian Rintoul said: “The unions are a very important part of the Labor movement, and hold a position contrary to Labor policy at the moment. We will change their policy in the same way that we fight to change the Turnbull policy. There are very few organisations in civil society that support offshore detention. You can talk to the churches, you can talk to the unions, you can talk to the lawyers, you can talk to the doctors, you can talk to anyone.”
