The Preston Market, in the heart of Melbourne’s northern suburbs, is the focus of a heated battle between the local community and greedy corporations with powerful political backers.
The refugee campaign won a major victory this week, as Tamil refugees Priya and Nades Nadesalingam and their two young children finally arrived home to the Queensland town of Biloela.
Millionaire anti-vaxxer Novak Djokovic recently drew global attention to Melbourne’s Park Hotel, which is currently used as an immigration detention centre by the Australian government. While Djokovic got to fly home to one of his mansions, 32 refugees remain imprisoned in torturous conditions, an ordeal that has been going on for more than nine years.
As the media floods with stories and images of people attempting to flee Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover, the Australian government’s refugee policy is once again highlighting how little those who run our society value ordinary people.
As governments and the press around Australia remind us each day about the terrible health effects of lockdowns, we should remember the lockdown that refugees have been subjected to for years, with the full support of politicians from both the Liberal and Labor parties.
The brutal logic of capitalist politics is turning suburban hotels into torture chambers.