“Hands off our Senate” Protest Rally draws hundreds of Minor Party supporters

The “Hands Off Our Senate” Rally held in Sydney’s Martin Place from 2pm to 3.30pm today drew 30 minor parties and over 300 people.

The rally was held in support of two High Court challenges to the government’s new Senate voting law which will be examined in the High Court on Monday May 2 and Tuesday May 3.

The theme of the rally was to send a message to the government that:

· NO! You cannot deceive the people with this tricky electoral law !

· NO! You cannot silence the people!

· And NO! You cannot control for your own ends the Senate which is meant to be a House of review

One of the speakers, Malcolm Mackerras (an election expert and chairman of the 3 Million voices campaign) called the new law an “abominable snowman” because it is both an abomination and a ‘snow’ job on the Australian people.

Another speaker, Warwick Marsh of the Fatherhood Foundation, likened the new law to the ACDC song “dirty deeds, done dirt cheap.”

One of the highlights of the rally was Senator Bob Day when he took a guitar after speaking, and he sang Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall.” – see photo attached

3 Million Voices coordinator Peter Madden said, “We were very pleased with the great support from both the community and the varied minor parties in standing together to oppose this government treachery.”

For further information please contact 3 Million Voices Coordinator Peter Madden: 0413 765291

BRUMBIES Monday 2 May 2016 Grant Goldman Editorial Radio 2SM 1269 & Super RadioThe New South Wales Government is once again ignoring public opinion for the sake of pursuing its own obscure objectives. Perhaps the release during the weekend of the draft Wild Horse Management plan for Kosciusko National Park was timed in the hope that it might pass unnoticed on the eve of the Federal Budget.The plan to reduce the wild horse population by 90% over 20 years will be on public exhibition until the eighth of July, and I will be reminding my listeners about how to make comment. Peter Cochrane is a former Member for Monaro and is the president of the Snowy Mountains Bush Users group. He has called the planned cull a “massacre”. He says that brumby numbers can easily be managed by the locals through roping and trapping, methods which the government now intends to ban.On 15 January 2016 I warned my listeners about the phenomenon of manipulated community consultation. The New South Wales government relies far too much on the new breed of political bottom feeder, the Consultation Engineers. These are public opinion manipulators hired to conduct surveys, focus groups and purported exchanges of views for a wide variety of government clients and some non-government clients. Their brief is simple, to justify proceeding with a particular scheme which is already known to be unpalatable to the citizenry.Recently managed consent techniques have been undertaken to engineer community consensus for issues like climate change, closing Manly Hospital, selling off the Seaforth TAFE, enlarging national parks, creating marine parks, boosting refugee intake, marriage equality, local government amalgamations and now the proposed brutal murdering of our wild heritage brumbies which inhabit the world famous Snowy Mountains.Environmentalist zealots seek the green light for a cowardly massacre of horses. The Brumbies’ crime? They, not unlike extremist green agitators are an introduced species. We may be forgiven for wondering how the Snowy Mountains survived the past 200 years.The government now prefers ground shooting to aerial shooting. That makes the bullets no less painful. If the Faction controlling the Liberal Party is obsessed with putting bullets into living creatures, they would be well advised to leave brumbies alone and concentrate on feral cats and wild dogs.In the latter part of October 2000, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) decided to cull the wild horses of the Guy Fawkes National Park. The brave animals whose ancestors carried pioneers across the deserts, or who provided the motive power for the coaches which opened up the nation, or who were proudly ridden by the finest soldiers in history, were brutally mown down by gunmen in helicopters. More than six hundred horses died, many after hours or even days of agony. Australia’s poets understand these things. This is what Michael Darby wrote in November 2000.A storm came over the mountain, a storm of fright and fear As brumbies wheeled and scattered and I felt my mother near It swept across the gullies where greenest grew the grass It raced along the ridgelines and through each mountain passA deadly hail amongst us, with never a place to hide From flying things with roaring wings as horses fell or died. I saw my mother stagger as she whinnied loud with pain Then she slumped against a boulder beneath the fatal rain There’s a smell of death in my nostrils and the night feels fearful cold I’m lying here with a shattered limb, and I’m nearly six weeks old.If Premier Bambi Baird takes aim at our Snowy brumby heritage then he can expect to feel significant voter pain. If you agree with me, back me up. If you disagree, prove me wrong.

Date: Sun, 1 May 2016 12:26:32 +0000 To: mrmichaeldarby@hotmail.com

One thought on ““Hands off our Senate” Protest Rally draws hundreds of Minor Party supporters”

Michael Darby says:

May 2, 2016 at 11:00 am

BRUMBIES Monday 2 May 2016 Grant Goldman Editorial Radio 2SM 1269 & Super RadioThe New South Wales Government is once again ignoring public opinion for the sake of pursuing its own obscure objectives. Perhaps the release during the weekend of the draft Wild Horse Management plan for Kosciusko National Park was timed in the hope that it might pass unnoticed on the eve of the Federal Budget.The plan to reduce the wild horse population by 90% over 20 years will be on public exhibition until the eighth of July, and I will be reminding my listeners about how to make comment. Peter Cochrane is a former Member for Monaro and is the president of the Snowy Mountains Bush Users group. He has called the planned cull a “massacre”. He says that brumby numbers can easily be managed by the locals through roping and trapping, methods which the government now intends to ban.On 15 January 2016 I warned my listeners about the phenomenon of manipulated community consultation. The New South Wales government relies far too much on the new breed of political bottom feeder, the Consultation Engineers. These are public opinion manipulators hired to conduct surveys, focus groups and purported exchanges of views for a wide variety of government clients and some non-government clients. Their brief is simple, to justify proceeding with a particular scheme which is already known to be unpalatable to the citizenry.Recently managed consent techniques have been undertaken to engineer community consensus for issues like climate change, closing Manly Hospital, selling off the Seaforth TAFE, enlarging national parks, creating marine parks, boosting refugee intake, marriage equality, local government amalgamations and now the proposed brutal murdering of our wild heritage brumbies which inhabit the world famous Snowy Mountains.Environmentalist zealots seek the green light for a cowardly massacre of horses. The Brumbies’ crime? They, not unlike extremist green agitators are an introduced species. We may be forgiven for wondering how the Snowy Mountains survived the past 200 years.The government now prefers ground shooting to aerial shooting. That makes the bullets no less painful. If the Faction controlling the Liberal Party is obsessed with putting bullets into living creatures, they would be well advised to leave brumbies alone and concentrate on feral cats and wild dogs.In the latter part of October 2000, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) decided to cull the wild horses of the Guy Fawkes National Park. The brave animals whose ancestors carried pioneers across the deserts, or who provided the motive power for the coaches which opened up the nation, or who were proudly ridden by the finest soldiers in history, were brutally mown down by gunmen in helicopters. More than six hundred horses died, many after hours or even days of agony. Australia’s poets understand these things. This is what Michael Darby wrote in November 2000.A storm came over the mountain, a storm of fright and fear As brumbies wheeled and scattered and I felt my mother near It swept across the gullies where greenest grew the grass It raced along the ridgelines and through each mountain passA deadly hail amongst us, with never a place to hide From flying things with roaring wings as horses fell or died. I saw my mother stagger as she whinnied loud with pain Then she slumped against a boulder beneath the fatal rain There’s a smell of death in my nostrils and the night feels fearful cold I’m lying here with a shattered limb, and I’m nearly six weeks old.If Premier Bambi Baird takes aim at our Snowy brumby heritage then he can expect to feel significant voter pain. If you agree with me, back me up. If you disagree, prove me wrong.

Date: Sun, 1 May 2016 12:26:32 +0000 To: mrmichaeldarby@hotmail.com

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