The Justice Project Forum - you may have missed it, but all is not lost!

Last week on October 12th, Melbourne based organisation The Justice Project Inc. organised a forum with the title 'Human Rights in the age of border protection'. It was a hit, and there will be many more such events to come in future.

SBS radio covered the event, and has put excerpts from the speeches made by Julian Burnside and Malcolm Fraser up on its website at http://www9.sbs.com.au/radio/language.php?news=news&language=World%20View

You can go to that page and download 12 minute excerpts from each speech. Here are a couple of lines about their content. ENJOY!...

Human rights being eroded says top QC: 16.10.2006

The unpopular and the powerless are losing their human rights in Australia.
That's the conclusion drawn by human rights and refugee advocate, Julian Burnside Q.C.

Mr Burnside made those comments during a speech he delivered in Melbourne at a forum organised by The Justice Project.

In 2004, the Melbourne Q.C was among 12 individuals who established The Justice Project, which is a human rights lobby group that's particularly concerned about Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.

Here's an edited portion of Julian Burnside's speech where he sets out the ways in which he believes people are losing their human rights.

Fraser rejects citizenship tests: 16.10.2006

An abomination is how the former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser sums up the federal government's plans to introduce citizenship and language tests for new migrants who want to become Australian citizens.
Mr Fraser criticised the proposed tests during a speech he delivered in Melbourne at a forum organised by The Justice Project.

In 2004, Malcolm Fraser was among 12 individuals who established The Justice Project, which is a human rights lobby group that's particularly concerned about Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.

Here's an edited portion of Malcolm Fraser's speech which begins with his thoughts on multiculturalism.