A RALLY calling for freeing of children from immigration detention on Nauru heard a poem recited by a Wodonga refugee and a call for action from an Albury churchman.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Christian Bashimbe, who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo and came to the Border in 2017, voiced his poem outside Canberra’s Parliament House on Tuesday.
Anglican Archdeacon Peter MacLeod-Miller told the Rural Australians for Refugees event that politicians should not think it is a shame to change their minds and do something better for those held on the Pacific island.
Attendees from Benalla and Yackandandah held banners declaring ‘Free kids from detention’ and ‘Kids need freedom now’.
A 24-seat bus from Benalla was taken to the lunchtime rally, which attracted an estimated 800 people.
Melbourne MPs Ged Kearney (Labor) and Adam Bandt (Green) were the only politicians to greet protesters, Mr MacLeod-Miller said.
The rally coincided with reports that Liberal MPs are pressuring Prime Minister Scott Morrison to have asylum-seekers on Nauru released on humanitarian grounds.