Protesters have sent a message to Bendigo politicians that their push for change at offshore detention centres is far from over, even as months of activism culminated in a march on Tuesday.
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The campaign has run since August and seen local groups Grandmothers Against the Detention of Refugee Children and Rural Australians for Refugees become a weekly presence on Bendigo’s streets, collecting signatures for petitions and handing out information to members of the public.
Their efforts have also included several rallies as they campaigned to get children off of Nauru.
Campaigners had hoped Universal Children’s Day would see all children brought back to Australia for medical treatment, RAR Bendigo’s Melissa Abel said.
“We are yet to see that happen, and so we plan to show that we will not be silent on this issue,” Mrs Abel said ahead of Tuesday’s march through the streets of Bendigo.
Kate Olliver from GADRC said when campaigning started there were 120 children on Nauru.
On Monday, five more children were flown off the island as part of two families, according to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. Now only 17 remain.
“We want all those people, including the parents, off Manus and Nauru,” Ms Olliver said.
Campaigners rang bells and beat pots and pans as they marched from the Bendigo Library to Bridget McKenzie’s Hargreaves Mall office, before moving on to Lisa Chester’s Myers Street premises.
It coincided with action elsewhere, including on the steps of state parliament, where teachers rallied.
Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
