2021-01-20 11:35:34 GMT2021-01-20 19:35:34(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
CANBERRA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) Australia s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on Wednesday rejected a proposal to hold a minute s silence for indigenous peoples on Australia Day.
Independent Member of Parliament Zali Steggall on Tuesday asked for Australia Day celebrations in her electorate to include a minute s silence to acknowledge the discrimination and hardship indigenous Australians have faced as a result of the British settlement of the country.
In response, Hawke said on Wednesday that the proposal played negative politics with our history. It is disappointing to see an ill-considered proposal. that plays negative politics with our history and can only perpetuate divisions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, he said in a statement. The truth is Australia Day unifies us all, because of our shared history the good and the bad.
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Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has rejected a proposal from Independent MP Zali Steggall to hold one minute s silence on Australia Day to recognise Indigenous Australians.
Ms Steggall had written to mayors in her Sydney electorate asking they consider observing the silence to acknowledge the “discrimination and hardship” Indigenous Australians have faced since British occupation.
Australia Day marks the anniversary of the arrival of the first fleet of British ships into Port Jackson in 1788. A growing movement has sought to label the occasion Invasion Day .
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Mr Hawke called Ms Steggall s proposal “ill-considered” saying it played “negative politics with our history .
The Australian Border Force issued hundreds of formal warnings, eight visa cancellations and deported several foreign nationals for breaching Covid restrictions.
Student visa holders working in the agriculture sector can work for more than 40 hours a fortnight
It will also be easier for temporary visa holders to access the COVID-19 Pandemic Event visa
The temporary changes arrangements have been made to address the labour shortage in the sector
Minister Littleproud said the changes will allow student visa holders to work more than the usual 40 hours per fortnight limit during semesters if they are working in the agriculture sector.
“This builds on changes earlier this year for international students working in the health and aged care sector, and demonstrates the government s commitment to supporting Australian farmers and visa holders wishing to take on more work while they live and study here, he said.
Christmas Day and New Year s Eve are done with and so is 2020, a year just about all of us would rather forget. Not out of the woods yet, Victoria and NSW are on edge as COVID-19 threatens to lock us all down again. I m sure no one wants to go back to those dreadful days of constant mask wearing, five-kilometre travel limits and self-isolation. What a dreadful few months it was, especially in Victoria, made much worse for people who have lost jobs, businesses and loved ones struck down by the virus. As death rates skyrocket in places like the UK and USA it s perhaps only natural that Australia starts talking about erecting hard borders and turning our backs on foreigners.