Perth

Gerry Georgatos - nit.com.au
In June, the National Indigenous Times broke the story of two brothers attempting suicide within 12 hours at Geraldton’s Greenough Prison and how the Aboriginal Visitors Scheme had been made defunct in the region by the Department of Corrective Services and how both the suicide attempts and the loss of the AVS had been kept from the news media.

"Aboriginal people are not sent to prison to die, or are they?" said Aboriginal Visitors Scheme (AVS) Officer, Joyce Capewell.

WA’s mining boom, its growth and reports of its looming demise, whether true or not make front page news media and are picked up as the news of the day off the newswire by the majority of the news media however the record homelessness rates in the Kimberley and the Pilbara – the heart of the mining boom – barely rate a mention.

As part of the 20th year anniversary of mandatory detention, Refugees Rights Action Network Perth hosted a special forum examining the history of mandatory detention of refugees, the case against it and the role activism has played in challenging it. Guest speakers included activists who have been involved in the campaign for 20 years, who have seen the political and public landscape surrounding refugees transform into what it is today. The growth and change of the campaign against it was also examined.

Gerry Georgatos
(This is the first time Rex Jnr has given an interview)

Rex Bellotti Jnr was fifteen years old when a police-four-wheel-drive struck him grievously near midnight on a March night in 2006. In an unfettered debacle since the tragic event the Western Australian police have refused to admit adequate culpability and the now 18 year old is still waiting for the State Insurer's payout.

I have written over 70,000 words on this young man and of the incident that wrecked many of his dreams.