Five years after the rescue of 433 refugees by the Norwegian freighter the Tampa, asylum seekers and refugees, prominent and ordinary Australians from all walks of life, musicians, dancers, and other performers will form a ‘human installation’ on the footbridge over the Yarra River (Melbourne CBD-Southbank) at midday this Saturday 26 August.

The community arts event, organised by Victoria’s Refugee Action Collective, will call for a new direction in Australia’s refugee policy — based on an immediate end to mandatory detention, and full rights for all refugees.

Amid the colourful riverside procession will be giant sepia banners featuring the faces and stories of refugees and brightly coloured tall flags. On the footbridge the procession will sit down and pause for five minutes — to mark the five years since Tampa — holding large letters making the words ‘Remember Tampa’. After two minutes of silence the crowd will join together in a song of freedom, led by choirs and drummers, and then move on to a welcome ceremony on the red steps at the south end of the Sandridge Bridge.

In the past, generations of new migrants crossed this bridge on their way from Station Pier. Today, ‘the Travellers’, a group of sculptures, commemorates these voyages and celebrates the contribution made by refugees and immigrants to Australia. The Sandridge Bridge will be decorated with the words, ‘Let Them Land, Let Them Stay’.

Our contemporary travellers will not be vilified and brutalised like the Tampa refugees they symbolise. Instead, they will receive an indigenous welcome before being addressed by prominent refugee advocate, Julian Burnside, QC.

A performance by the Shaking the Tree choir will follow and then a performance piece by well known Melbourne author Arnold Zable and musician Kavisha Mazzella. Members of the public are encouraged to participate — or just watch from the south bank of the Yarra, if they prefer.

Just a few of the individuals and organisations supporting this year’s Tampa commemoration: A Just Australia, Actors For Refugees, Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, Lyn Allison, Democrats leader, Julian Burnside QC, Sharon Burrow, ACTU President, John Butler, Tahir Cambis, Bishop Hilton Deakin, Dr June Factor, Fitzroy Learning Network, Free West Papua, Friends of the Earth, Alice Garner, Max Gillies, Hazara Association, Peter Job, Greens Victoria, Father Peter Nordon, Robin Laurie, Anne Phelan, Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre Inc., Researchers for Asylum Seekers, Brian Walters, SC, Liberty Victoria, Assoc. Prof. Spencer Zifcak, New Matilda Human Rights Campaign.

A full media release, with quotes from our supporters, will be distributed on Friday.

For more information/interviews, contact:
Tim Petterson 0438 399 973
Emma Larking 8344 9468 business hours