Today NSW Greens Aboriginal Justice and Police Spokesperson, David Shoebridge MP, and Member for Newtown and NSW Greens Human Rights spokesperson, Jenny Leong MP, expressed serious concern at actions taken by the police in an attempt to shut down a peaceful protest marking the tragic death of Aboriginal boy TJ Hickey in Redfern.

The matter is in the NSW Supreme Court this morning at 10am.

Newtown MP Jenny Leong joined community residents and activists at Tempe Reserve this morning who had stopped preparatory drilling by WestConnex. 

Ms Leong said, “If the Baird government is going to arrogantly ignore the planning process - signing billions in contracts and commencing exploratory drilling before approval has even been granted - then the community has no choice but to engage in nonviolent direct action to stop them.

Media Release

As Aboriginal and social justice campaigners gather in Sydney's CBD today, very positive news has been delivered that the Aboriginal Custody Notification Service will be funded until June 2019. The funding grant was due to expire at the end of this year but the Federal Government has committed to completely fund the service.   

The Custody Notification Service was a recommendation from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and since its implementation there has not been a single Aboriginal death in a police cell or paddy wagon in NSW.

This is an important win for the Indigenous Social Justice Association, Aboriginal Legal Service and other social justice campaigners who have been demanding that this important service is retained.

Media Release – 17 September 2015

Today the Daily Telegraph published sensationalist coverage of the emergency resettlement of Syrian refugees in Sydney. Greens Member for Newtown and Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Leong said:

“Australians have responded with compassion to the heart wrenching images of Syrian refugees left with nothing after escaping war and destruction in their country. We have shown that we are ready to welcome refugees and offer safety to some of the 4 million Syrian men, women and children now displaced by the conflict.

“I am dismayed by the Daily Telegraph’s sensationalist coverage of the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Sydney.

While many people think that human rights are a federal or even international issue, there are many decisions made in NSW that affect our rights and civil liberties.

Unlike Victoria and the ACT, NSW does not have a Human Rights Act. Such an Act would stop the government from making laws that undermine your rights.

There are many laws in NSW that are imposing on our human rights and the Greens are fighting to fix them.

We will continue to advocate for a Human Rights Act in NSW.

The Greens will:

• Protect access to housing, education and health care as basic human rights.
• Address violence against women as a human rights violation immediately through adequate funding, education programs and support services.
• Defend the right to protest and the right to strike, recognising that they are essential tools for social change and for the protection of our environment.
• Ensure that government funding is not be given to organisations that discriminate because of gender, sexuality or any other reason.
• Commit to decriminalising abortion, as we have consistently voted in parliament to protect a woman’s right to choose.
• Ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the right to self-determination, and hold distinct cultural rights that must be respected.
• End the police sniffer dog program and its intrusive public searches.