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March 28, 2024

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Latest News

Iconic Lennox beach shed upgraded –  not demolished

Lennox Park and the shelter shed has now been upgraded and reopened.

Other News

Murwillumbah’s Rebecca Whan recognised for tireless work post 2022 floods

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Got a creative theatre idea?

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Premier yet to respond to Albo’s offer of disaster recovery funds

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Big week in Byron Bay for adaptive surfers

Australia’s first-ever international adaptive surfing contest held in Byron Bay last week was an overwhelming success according to organiser Mark ‘mono’ Stewart.

The Pottsville Refugee Support Group welcomes the Albanese government’s announcement that over 19,000 people who have been living on inhumane temporary protection visas will now have the opportunity to apply for permanent visas and rebuild their lives.

The abolition of the temporary protection visa policy is a triumph of compassion and humanity over the politics of fear and division that have dominated refugee and asylum seeker policy in Australia for over a decade.

This is a great first step in working towards real change for refugees and people seeking asylum. There is still a lot to be done with over 70,000 people continuing to live in our communities without security or a safety net to meet their basic human rights.

The Albanese government has an opportunity to make further changes to immigration policy that will return Australia to a compassionate and fair society. We will continue to work with the large network of refugee and asylum seeker support groups around the country to make sure people seeking asylum are treated fairly and humanely.

Ian Hamilton, Pottsville Refugee Support Group


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7 COMMENTS

  1. Your agenda is not humanitarian. Not to us, or them. But you would have to think it all the way through to the end. You are either ignorant or malicious. History will not view you kindly.

  2. Punishing people – refugees and asylum seekers – who have committed no crime, seems to be a national government past time.
    Shame on Australia, the big talker to other national governments when it suits, about ‘human rights’.
    Lets hear again what wonderful digs are the island hell hole detention centres, that PM Albotross thinks so good that he has renewed ‘our arrangement ‘ with Nauru.

    • Joachim FYI ..hell hole detection centres?
      Seriously go travel Joachim look at the big wide world beyond the best country in the world..
      Name ONLY BUT ONE JOACHIM detection centres
      That have better conditions than what Australia
      Has ? Oh Joachim it might take a while to circumnavigate the globe .. so i might expect a response sometime next year.. newsflash Joachim
      They dont exist.. all those absolute nonsense
      Regarding our appalling conditions in those hell holes ..where probably 20% of the population
      Would be more than happy to enter into such
      Arrangements if given the opportunity.. no rent
      No food bills , no medical bills, no nothing
      Joachim.. any takers ..your welcome!!

  3. Joachim… just a friendly reminder…those so called
    Hell holes “detection centres ” are the most up to date in the world ” period ” and to suggest any
    Different is false… they are 4 star hotels
    Overall… i mean who can have highly paid law firms on call when your application for citizenship
    Has been refused ? Mostly all have passed through
    Other countries” how many” whom were willing
    To settle those refugees.. but chose to risk life’s
    To come to Australia why ? Apart from the best
    Country in the World .. it’s generous social
    System is two good to refuse .. of the 50.000
    That were resettled into Australia ..thanks to that
    Enept labor government with Mr Bowen presiding
    Cost taxpayers “billions ” research suggests 80 %
    Of those 50.000 were still on welfare after 5 years ..
    Now would i take advantage of such opportunities
    To come to Australia if i were a refugee ?
    Absolutely 💯… facts are not fiction Joachim…
    Uh how good is” Australia “

    • Barrow, if those offshore island hell hole detention centres, “are the most up to date in the world ” period ” as you wrote, then it doesn’t say much about the rest of the world does it and even less so for Australia to use it as some sort of high fiveing, back slapping, celebration of affairs.

      Again, “Punishing people – refugees and asylum seekers – who have committed no crime, seems to be a national government past time.”
      The deterioration in the mental and physical of the asylum seekers / prisoners has been widely reported.
      But worse still, the 17 deaths in offshore detention – Monash University, “AUSTRALIAN BORDER DEATHS DATABASE”, Annual report on border-related deaths, 2020. Border Crossing Research Brief No. 18. March, 2021
      But hey, we’ve got “the most up to date in the world” period”, “they are 4 star hotels.”

      • News Flash: People from third world s#it holes have mental problems. Who da thunk it.
        And yes, it does say a lot for the non-western world, and since the people make the place, you should have a good hard think about where you are ‘involuntarily rescuing’ people from, while displacing our own people into shortages and homelessness for these financial refugees

        • Christian I think you are the one with issues. Best to keep quiet rather than post comments like above.
          it is more economic to let these people get off these debilitating visas. Detention centres like Christmas Island rebuilt at the cost of many millions to punish one family while Nauru is used to sure up a corrupt government. Manus island we just washed our hands of.

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