Media Releases

2008

28 July 2008 Minister's changes don't go far enough.

16 July 2008 The fight is on again, and RAC is raising the necessary funds.

28 June 2008 RAC members and supporters participate in an attention-grabbing, traffic-stopping, visually dramatic stunt, framed by Melbourne's most notable landmarks.

6 June 2008 Are We There Yet? Refugee Action Collective holds a public forum to discuss how much remains to be achieved with regard to refugee rights.

2007

17 June 2007 A large turnout expected at World Refugee Day rally to oppose multi-million dollar detention centre due to open later this year on remote Christmas Island.

13 June 2007 MPs from major parties receive Christmas Island detention centre petition

26 March 2007 Objections to the new immigration detention centre, currently being built on Christmas Island will be voiced on Wednesday March 28, at a public meeting hosted by refugee advocates.

2006

22 August 2006 Tampa Day River Spectacle to steer a new course in refugee policy. Five years after the rescue of 433 refugees by the Norwegian freighter the Tampa - midday this Saturday 26 August.

16 June 2006 A Fortress or a Fair Go? Refugee activists, church groups, trade unions, students, and community members urge Members of Parliament to oppose the Migration Amendment (Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill.

2005

15 December 2005 Refugee activists to support SMS-promoted rally against race hate

9 December 2005 International Human Rights Day Rally. Groups Unite 2 Say: Stop the War on Human Rights, Mr Howard

28 October 2005 No More Years In Exile: Nationwide Protests To Demand Asylum Seekers on Lombok Be Resettled To Australia.

10 October 2005 Howard's forgotten people: Ninety-two asylum seekers left to rot on Lombok .

6 September 2005 Nationwide protests to call for justice for Vivian Solon and no more forced deportations

26 August 2005 Tampa Anniversary Rally to blow the whistle on four years of Coalition persecution of refugees .

14 July 2005 RAC comment on Palmer Report into wrongful detention of two Australian citizens.

16 June 2005 World Refugee Day 2005 - Nationwide rallies call for an end to mandatory detention

May 2005 The Melbourne-based family of a frail 74 year old Vietnamese Asylum seeker great-grandmother, Mrs Thi Tu Nguyen, held in detention since July 2003, say they want her out of detention "alive not dead".

12 May 2005 Demonstration at DIMIA to demand Royal Commission on mandatory detention.

23 April 2005 Despair in detention but union movement calls for release of Baxter Asylum Seeker.

30 March 2005 Refugee advocates vow to be back at the gates of Baxter Detention Centre next Easter if the South Australian camp is still operating in 2006.

23 March 2005 People from around Australia travel to protest on Good Friday at Senator Amanda Vanstone's house. They will then move to the Baxter Detention Centre to commence a weekend of continuous protest against the government's immigration polices.

21 March 2005 Refugee advocates say proposals being considered by Cabinet at the moment leave the worst aspects of the Government's detention regime in place.

18 February 2005 Launching Emirates Airlines' 'Deportation Class'. VIP Guests: Prime Minister John Howard, Emirates Area Manager for Australia Eddie Lim, an asylum-seeker (shackled and gaffer-taped) and master of ceremonies Rod Quantock.

8 February 2005 The frightening experiences of Australian woman Cornelia Rau, locked up in Baxter detention centre for nearly a year, have led RAC(Vic) to call for a full Royal Commission into management of the conditions under which all detainees are held inside the centre.

1 February 2005 National day of action against Emirates Airlines. Refugee supporters in Melbourne will rally outside Emirates Airlines offices at 12.30 today (257 Collins St, City), joining other refugee groups in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth for a National Day of Action to condemn the carrier for allowing the Department of Immigration Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) to use their flights to forcibly deport asylum seekers. Download this comprehensive fact sheet. (200 Kb) Print it out. Pass it around.

17 January 2005 Ardeshir Gholipour is an Iranian asylum seeker who spent almost five years in the Australian Government's immigration detention centres since fleeing Iran in early 2000 was released from detention on 6 May 2005. Read a media release by RAC, a letter from PEN to Senator Vanstone, and Arnold Zable's article published in the Age.

12 January 2005 Refugee supporters warn Emirates that assisting the government with deportations will result in a national campaign to boycott their services.

2004

17 December 2004 Response to Baxter hunger strikers plea for a weekend of protest. Amid grave fears for the lives of the Iranian asylum seekers currently on hunger-strike at Baxter detention centre, refugee supporters around Australia will hold a weekend of protest, demanding justice for asylum seekers and an end to mandatory detention.

28 September 2004 Bob Brown to address pre-election refugee rally in Melbourne. Thousands expected to take to Melbourne’s streets to demand justice for refugees and remind voters of the "children overboard"lies that helped the Coalition win government in the 2001 election.

2003

14 April 2003 In response to concerns that punishment of detainees will be used to discourage protesters from highlighting the inhumanity of detention, RAC launches this call for independent legal observers to be allowed inside Baxter detention center during the Easter 03 protests.