AROUND 450 people turned out to join a march in Port Macquarie on the weekend and express their dissatisfaction with the Abbott government.
Bearing placards with slogans like Coalition out now, Abbott sux as PM, asylum seekers are people too, Hands off Aboriginal Land, Science does not need a mandate, Hands off my penalty rates and Your rights at work are worth fighting, marchers represented a cross-section of different interest groups who are unhappy with decisions the new Federal Government has made or just its general direction.
The interest groups included Climate Change Australia, unions, TAFE and school teachers, asylum rights advocates and Country Labor.
The march was part of three days of marches and rallies held around Australia, with around 100,000 people turning out in all.
National organiser Tim Jones said the March in March rallies were a people’s vote of no confidence in government policies and decisions that went against common principles of humanity, decency, fairness, social justice and equity, democratic governance, responsible global citizenship and conserving our natural heritage.
“It is an action which supports the need to maintain a healthy social democracy,” Mr Jones said.
“Many Australians are deeply concerned with the way our country is being governed. Not just at the present moment, but in general. They are concerned over issues which directly affect them, their families, and indeed all Australians.
“They are concerned about the policies and behaviour of all Australian political parties. They are concerned with the direction in which Australia’s great civil society is heading.
“Democracy doesn’t end at the ballot box. It is the right, if not duty, of all Australians to hold our elected representatives to account, to remind them that they are, above all else, public servants.
“We must inform them regularly, daily if need be, of our concerns with the issues that affect all Australians. We must participate directly in our democracy in order for it to be truly representative.”
The marchers gathered in Westport Park and listened to about 15 different speakers from the interest groups represented before marching to Town Green.
Plans are now in the pipeline for another series of marches in May.
For more information go to www.facebook.com/MarchInMarchPMQ. You can also check out footage of the event on the Port Macquarie Independent Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PortMacquarieIndependent
