Oct 26

2017-10-26 FECCA 2017 National Biennial Conference 8-10 October 2017

I have attended the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) 2017 National Biennial Conference that was held in Darwin on the 8-10 October 2017 at the Darwin Convention and delivered a paper titled: Importance of Heritage Languages to Australia’s Social and Economic Future.

The paper could be accessed here  2017-10-20 HERITAGE LANGUAGES – speech for FECCA

 

Oct 15

2017-10-14 Australia contests UN Human Rights Council Seat

Australia expects to be elected uncontested to the powerful United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday in New York . Australia was competing for one of two ‘Western Europe and others’ group seats against Spain and France, but France’s withdrawal made Australia’s elevation almost certain.
Election is not a formality: a majority of votes cast is needed for election, and a country could be denied a spot if half of the member countries voting refuse to cast a vote for it. However, elections to the 47-member council will be almost entirely uncompetitive, except for seats among Asia-Pacific states, where six states are competing for four seats.
Australia has campaigned globally for its position on the Human Rights Council, arguing it will promote gender equality; good governance; freedom of expression; indigenous rights; and strong national human rights institutions. It has also said it will advocate for the global abolition of the death penalty. “Australia will bring a principled and pragmatic approach to our term on the Human Rights Council,” foreign minister Julie Bishop said, launching Australia’s bid.

Oct 05

2017-10-04 Daniel Webb wins Global Pluralism Award for refugee rights work

Daniel Webb

Daniel Webb

My best congratulations go to Daniel Webb,  Director of Legal Advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, for winning the inaugural Global Pluralism Award for his refugee rights work. It was awarded by the Canadian-based Global Centre for Pluralism. The citation reads:

By protecting asylum seekers from horrendous detention and changing the public conversation about refugees from deterrence to opportunity, Daniel Webb is paving a way for other global leaders,” – Canada’s former Prime Minister and Chair of the Jury the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark.

This award is worthy recognition of Daniel’s work, the gravity of the cruelty he and his team are working to support clients facing deportation to offshore detention. He has travelled to Manus three times and works closely with the men detained there to amplify their voices. He has run High Court challenges against the secretive detention of people on the high seas and led our work on the #LetThemStay campaign, which prevented the deportation of more than 267 men, women and children to offshore processing centres.

You can read more about the Global Pluralism Award here.