2011-04-16 Children Detention

2010-06-08 OPERATION AB-KATYN

Australia and in particular Sydney is something of a microcosm of  the World andreally illustrates how the interaction between many different cultures makesfor a wonderful place to live and work. As you would be aware, we are currently in the month ofRamadan, which commenced on 20 July and concludes on or around 19 August. Thisis a time of spiritual and social rejuvenation for many Muslims in Australia. Ramadan involves fasting during daylight hours, andbreaking the fast with an evening meal after sunset. During this month, thoseparticipating in Ramadan may spend more time praying, worshipping, reciting theQur’an and giving to charity. I am pleased to say that  Mr Ahmet Keskin, President,  Affinity Intercultural Foundationhas invited me and my wife to a Ramadan evening meal hosted by a family of Mustafa and Hatice Gokdemir in their beautiful home in Prestons – see the photo.  The initiative taken by the Affinity Intercultural Foundation to host Ramadan Iftar dinners for non-Muslims in homes of  Muslim families needs to be applauded as it builds bridges between our communities and contributes to better understanding of our cultural and religious diversity. I have also participated in the Ramadan  Iftar dinners at Parliament house on Wednesday 1 August and at the University of Western Sydney on  Saturday 4 November.

See my recent article on racism published in  FECCA’s Australian Mosaic magazine.

The July issue is now online at:  http://www.fecca.org.au/mosaic

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Regional Office for the Pacific  has just published Human Rights in the Pacific, Country Outlines 2012.  The document provides information on the human rights situation for 16 countries of the Pacific region and lists information about the human rights treaties and agreements that countries have been signed or ratified. It is intended that this document will be updated periodically and can act as a regional resource for human rights information.

The report is also available online here: http://pacific.ohchr.org/docs/HR_Pacific_v7_July_25.pdf

A document I submitted to an Expert Panel  on Asylum Seekers on the 16 July 2012

2012-07-16 Submission to Refugee Panel-1

Here is a document that I write titled “Fighting Racism and Discrimination in Multicultural Australia” written for FECCA’s Mosaic.

Fighting Racism and Discrimination in Multicultural Australia, published on 14 June 2012

Radio Australia
29 May 2012

Students are being taught maths, literature, science to name a few but what about human rights?

Human rights education aims to provide knowledge about fundamental rights to students and the mechanisms to protect them.

There has been much talk about human rights being taught as a subject in schools. What will this achieve and what will it mean to students?

Presenter: Richard Ewart.

Speaker: Associate Professor Paula Gerbe, Monash University Law School and a Deputy Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights; Dr Annie Pettitt, Australian Human Rights Commission’s expert on human rights education; David Butler, Vice Captian, Parade College
Listen at: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/onairhighlights/putting-human-rights-on-the-curriculum-in-australian-schools/951686

Here are some documents that I have written regarding the Queensland election that took place on the 2nd of April 2012 and a document about Children in Immigration Detention.

2012-04-02 Qld elections opinion piece

2012-05-16 OP Children in Immigration Detention 

2011-12-26 Australian Refugee Policy – possible solutions