MARITIME UNION PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR WEST PAPUA

The Northern Territory branch of the  Maritime Union of Australia in a unanimous decision on January  27  voted   to  speak out against the  atrocities  being perpetrated   against  the  West Papuan people by  Indonesia . It also intends to support the  West Papuan struggle   for independence, both morally and publicly, beginning  with  a message of  solidarity. An  ABC  TV report  recently  showed refugees  from  West  Papua  living in a  makeshift village over  a drain  near Port  Moresby, in PNG, who struggle to  survive,  forced to move on by  authorities . There is a West Papua group in Darwin but  it  receives scant attention  from  the  local  media  despite the fact that  the city has had a long  link  with  the  American  Freeport  mining company  in  West  Papua involved in massive  gold  and copper  mining  ventures along with Rio Tinto  and  the Indonesian  government .