THE Morning Star flag flew above Ballarat Trades Hall in a sign of solidarity and defiance once more.
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A small group gathered to show support for West Papuan people on Saturday – a date that marked independence from the Dutch government in 1961, only for the nation to be invaded by Indonesia weeks later.
To raise the Morning Star flag in West Papua now under Indonesian rule would be treason and hold 15 years jail. So, Ballarat Friends of West Papua continued to join in raising the flag in cities and towns across Australia for awareness of the West Papuan’s plight.
Ballarat group member Bernie Constable said as free people, living in a democracy, it was important to support our neighbours who live less than 250 kilometres from Australian shores.
“We (the group) are basically people who believe Australians should do the right thing by our neighbours, people who fought alongside us in fending off the Japanese in World War II and for people suffering under human rights abuse,” Mr Constable said.
“It’s the right thing to do.”
Ballarat Friends hosted a short ceremony at Trades Hall on Saturday morning, raising the West Papua flag alongside the Eureka flag.
The event was attended by West Papuan Adolf Mora and nine-year-old Lamech who live in Melbourne.
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