Falun Gong needs focus
As a resident of Yass for more than 10 years, I was very pleased to hear of the establishment of a friendship-city relationship between our small town and the city of Wuzhou in Guanxi.
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I hope this relationship improves trade and cross-cultural exchanges between our two communities.
In Yass, and more broadly in Australia, we enjoy freedom and opportunities. Two of our greatest freedoms are belief and assembly.
Since 1998, I have been doing Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa, a simple and effective Chinese form of yoga/meditation) for my own personal physical health.
Later, I began to teach the exercises freely. I ran the local exercise group in Canberra from 2001 until I moved to Yass in 2006 where I have taught it freely.
I find it tragic that these beneficial exercises are still banned in China where many of the millions of practitioners have been forced into hiding, imprisoned or executed simply because of their practice.
Ms Lu Huibi, a citizen of Wuzhou, was arrested for her practice on April 6, 2017 and may still be detained in the Wuzhou Detention Centre. Our records indicate that in broader Guangxi, one person has been killed (Ms Wang Zhuen), 21 illegally imprisoned and 30 forcibly taken from their homes and detained.
I have found Falun Gong to be a positive influence on my life and many hundreds of other people I know. It is a wonderful example of how the ancient traditions of China universally benefit people today.
I look forward to sharing my experiences with the community when YVC welcomes the Wuzhou Government to formalise the friendship-city agreement.
Daniel Clark, Yass
Unaffordable: cut to penalty rates
My take home pay is less than $350 per week. I live with chronic sinusitis and mouth pain, and have been saving for more than two years to afford the surgeries necessary for me to be able to breathe properly and not shred my mouth on a daily basis.
Losing my penalty rates will leave me in chronic pain and discomfort even longer than necessary.
I am not alone in this type of situation. Retail workers do not enjoy a good wage as it is, and any pay cut will devastate us further. Please do not introduce pay cuts – none of us can afford this.
Claire Lawson, Canberra
People just like us
They're people just like us – asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. Except they're separated from caring, humane contact with us, people just like them.
We must provide safe settlement for everyone detained on Manus Island and Nauru. Repeatedly, we've witnessed violence between PNG citizens and asylum seekers on Manus Island where we sent them; medical care on Manus Island and Nauru are inappropriate and insufficient for their physical and mental issues.
Australia's policies reduced people smuggling in our area; it's unlikely those policies would be changed; it's extremely unlikely people smuggling would re-start.
Thus, there's no good reason not to bring refugees from Manus Island and Nauru to Australia. Based on testimony from MPs and communities themselves, there are many excellent reasons to sponsor and embrace refugees.
June 7 was a day of advocacy for these asylum seekers. I rang my MP and senators, and Opposition Leader Shorten, Shadow Immigration Minister Neumann, PM Turnbull, and Immigration Minister Dutton.
Each office willingly took a message, except for the office of Immigration Minister. To Dutton and staff: love overcomes hate; respect supplants fear; it's never too late to give others a chance at what we take for granted.
Judy Bamberger, O'Connor ACT
