On 24 January 2001, at about 3.30 pm, in the middle of a violent thunderstorm, a group of activists scaled the roof of the detention centre at Maribyrnong and unfurled banners calling for the closure of what former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser rightly named "hell-holes":
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(Click on thumbnails for larger view)
The group issued a media release setting out their reason for taking this action:
We wish to highlight the treatment of asylum seekers at the hands of both the Australian government and Australasian Correctional Management.
Asylum seekers held in Australian Detention Centres are existing largely in a climate of fear. In recent times detainees at Maribyrnong Detention Centre have been subjected to intimidation, physical abuse and unsubstantiated charges. Friends from the broader community have been refused visiting rights for speaking out against Detention Centre conditions and lawyers collecting evidence in relation to Viliami Tanginoa�s death have been unable to adequately access witnesses. It is out of serious concern for the rights of these people, and in defense of Australia�s broader human rights that we have decided to act.
There is no public mandate for the incarceration, forced sedation and abuse of defenceless men, women and children.
We make the following demands in support of all asylum seekers in this country:
Over the last two hundred years this country�s history has largely been shaped by the hundreds and thousands of migrants and refugees who have reached its shores with the hope of building a new life in a land of freedom and justice. In light of our Australia Day and Federation celebrations this Howard Government policy is a shameful attack on our traditions.
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