Please accept our apologies if you receive this emailed message more than once
The second tabling round for the petition
Dear all
Tony Burke MP
This week Mr Tony Burke MP, Federal ALP spokesman for Immigration, confirmed that he will table the second batch of petition sheets in Federal Parliament and present them to the Speaker of the House, which will probably happen some time during the second week of September (starting 5/9) because Parliament does not sit for 2 weeks following this weekend. So we sent two parcels to Mr Burke's Parliament House office - a total of about 8,200 signatures are included in the mailout. Today's level of our website thermometer stands at 12,611 signatures. Since we started this project in May, not one single day has gone by without completed petition sheets arriving in our mailbox - many, many people around Australia are doing an absolutely superb job - a BIG thank-you to you all!
Today's tally: 12,611 signatures
The page for the petition:
https://www.safecom.org.au/royal-commission.htm
Tampa Day: the weekend following August 26
Don't forget the petition for your event(s) during the Tampa commemoration and the nationwide events and rallies as called by Labor for Refugees. The Royal Commission petition demand initiative needs to live a long-term life. The incredible "pressure-point work" by Mr Petro Georgiou and Hon Judi Moylan MP may have dramatically changed the policy praxis, but it has barely changed any of the policies or the determination by the PM John Howard to maintain the draconian treatment of 'unannounced boat arrivals'. Two things happened during the last month to confirm this:
"...on July 21 Australia's Governor-General signed off on changes to the excision regulations [approving the excision from 'the migration zone' of more than a thousand islands off the coast of Australia] and two detention centres are currently being built in the Northern Territory at Gove, and on Horn Island - outside the migration zone - and it shows that Howard has no intention of changing any of his policies..."
See https://www.safecom.org.au/life-after-baxter.htm
Ever stood in a shopping mall or university café?
Here's a recipe for success with the petition. It works - because I tried. Believe me, since Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez the absolute majority of people you meet with your petition sheets will sign it happily.
So, park yourself in a shopping mall or, as I did, at a University café with a clip-board and your petition sheets, while you make sure to have a stack of leafets about your refugee group or organisation handy. And, tell people that if they also enter their email address in the optional column, your group will send a thank-you email - and as an option, an invitation to an event or a meeting. It works!
Repeating a paragraph from the first email round about the Royal Commission petition:
This is one of the simplest initiatives you can help to carry right around the country simply by printing and copying sheets and distributing them. Please download the petition sheet from our website, please print out multiple copies, distribute them throughout your office, the staffroom at your school or hospital or your workplace, leave the petition in coffeeshops, café's, community centres and other places as you find suitable; and if you hold a stall, don't forget to print copies, because the time has now come to start collecting signatures for the future.
Download the sheet from here:
https://www.safecom.org.au/royal-commission.htm
Senate Inquiry into the Migration Act
With 175 submissions submitted to this recently announced Senate Inquiry, we can safely conclude that the Inquiry will be central to the push for changes to the Migration Act, and whether or not any lasting changes will be implemented will depend on whether or not Senators and MP's choose to stick with government or follow their conscience. We demanded changes to the structure of primary assessments and the Refugee Review Tribunal and changes to 'deportations'. See our two submissions on the website here:
https://www.safecom.org.au/senate-inquiry.htm
How does Project SafeCom survive?
Once again I need to ask you to think of us at Project SafeCom. We survive from donations, the sale of some items through our website 'shop', memberships and fundraisers. We do not pay salaries from this income. And when I look at the bills in the in-tray today, something knots up - a serious problem is again about to emerge. Project SafeCom can only survive if it is supported by you. Please help us - the link to the website below leads you to the page where you can make a donation.
See https://www.safecom.org.au/donate.htm
Best wishes,
Jack H Smit
Project SafeCom Inc.
https://www.safecom.org.au/
P.O. Box 364
Narrogin WA 6312
phone: 041 70 90 130