Monday 23rd June, 2003, hundreds of Falun Dafa practitioners from all over
Australia gathered to celebrate National Falun Dafa day in front of Australia’s
Parliament House.
The crisp Canberra fog cleared to reveal a beautiful clear blue sky as practitioners
began to practice the Falun Dafa exercises in Federation Mall. All major media was present to cover the day’s events.
In spite of the fact that Parliament was sitting, several MPs and Senators took time out of their busy schedules to personally attend and spoke in support of the event and of the continuing efforts made by Falun Dafa practitioners to help stop the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. Also voicing his strong support was Mr John Greenwell, a member of the Amnesty International Australia Government Liaison Group:
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Parade and mock trial of Jiang in the city centre
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| Falun Dafa practitioner gave persecution experience speech at the “World Refugee Day” gathering |
Beautiful National Falun Dafa Day celebration |
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| Peaceful Exercise Demonstration in front of the Parliament House |
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| Tang Dynasty Parade inside the Parliament House attracted many visitors |
Mr Anthony Albanese, federal MP for Grayndler, also the shadow minister for Aging and Seniors, receives the petitions |
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| Senator Trish Crossin, for Northern Territory | Mr John Greenwell, representative of Amnesty International |
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| Ms Kerrie Tucker, Greens member, ACT legislative assembly | Dr Carmen Lawrence, federal MP for Fremantle (WA), |
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| Senator Andrew Bartlett, Leader of the Australian Democrates | |
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| Tang Dynasty dance in front of the Parliament House |
Queensland western practitioners singing the self-composed song “Call to the Hearts” |
Apologies and letters of support were sent from: Senator Kerry Nettle for NSW; Ms Topsy Tetchey, councillor from Melbourne; Ms Peta Seaton, NSW state MP; Senator Helen Coonan for NSW and Senator Bill Heffernan for NSW.
Mr Anthony Albanese gratefully accepted more than 5,000 additional petitions from the Australian
public to be added to the 125,000 signatures already tabled in parliament against
the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. This is the largest number of petition signatures ever tabled in the House of Representatives.
Senator Andrew Barlett officially launched the Global Family Rescue Campaign
in Australia:
“The Global Family Rescue Campaign has already produced good results,
which is a testimony to the commitment of people such as yourselves [who practice]
a peaceful, non-political, meditation movement.“I want to congratulate you on your efforts for today, the colourful
display, and for standing up to those who force persecution upon others. It
is not easy to stand up against those who persecute. It requires persistence,
commitment and dedication, which I have seen very much from practitioners
of Falun Gong.“I encourage you to continue your struggle, which is not just helping
practitioners in China, but also on behalf of others… reinforcing the
basic principles of freedom of belief, freedom of expression that all of us
deserve.”All of the speeches reflected the positive nature of the day and the efforts
made within Australia to end the persecution of Falun Dafa in China:“The calm and peace which comes from your practice is a model for all
of us and I thank you for that.” Ms Kerrie Tucker.“We cannot stand by and see injustice being done to the practitioners
of Falun Dafa in China… it is simply not acceptable.” Dr Carmen
Lawrence.“My congratulations for all the hard work you have done on behalf of
others who do not have the freedoms that we have here.” Ms Peta Seaton.“My best wishes to all Falun Dafa practitioners for the success of National
Falun Dafa day.” Senator Bill Heffernan.
All of the speakers were presented with a traditional Chinese painting by Australian
artist Zhang Cui Ying, flowers and a scarf with Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness,
Compassion, Forbearance) embroidered on it.
A politician came over to the two security police in front of the group practice
and was overheard by a practitioner making a comment of saying ” How
can we say we have freedom of expression when these people can’t even practice
such a harmless exercise in the open in their own country – we have a long way
to go yet”. He then walked among the practitioners and admired the peaceful
and serene atmosphere of 300 Falun Dafa practitioners doing the meditation exercises.
Later, Falun Dafa practitioners performed an ancient Chinese cultural display
from the Tang Dynasty and also a practitioner’s own composition for five voices
called “Vocal Symphony” was performed. [The Tang Dynasty was a golden
era in Chinese history. It was a time when the principles of Falun Dafa were
adhered to by the people of China, making it a very prosperous period for the
country.]
At the conclusion of the ceremony, practitioners paraded from Parliament House
to the Chinese Embassy, where a Public Trial of Chinese Dictator Jiang took
place, and the events were successfully concluded for the day.
Posting date: 24/June/2003
Original article date: 24/June/2003
Category: Australian News
