Some friends took me today to a demonstration at the SLV against fracking in the Kimberley, and then to the launch of a film about the freedom struggle in Western Papua at the Northcote Social Club. At both predictable speeches but good music (especially the Black Orchid String Band, below). I confess that I knew nothing of the situation in West Papua, occupied by Indonesia since a Treaty of New York in 1962 and now suffering ethnic cleansing. One friend said it reminded him of similar gatherings twenty years ago for East Timor. So there's hope!
