Australia: UN Human Rights Day 2002 Activities in Brisbane

By Dafa Practitioners from Australia

Over 70 practitioners from southeast Queensland gathered together in Brisbane, Australia in recognition of United Nations Human Rights Day 2002. Although UN Human Rights Day is officially on 10th December, we held it on Saturday 7th December to enable the maximum number of practitioners to participate. This year's theme was "Help Rescue Our Family Members" to bring awareness to the public of the family members of Australian citizens who are being detained and mistreated in labour camps in China. Just this past week, the mother of a Sydney practitioner died in a Shanghai hospital after being released from incarceration due to her extremely critical physical condition. Labour camp officials were afraid she would die in the labour camp.

From 9:00 am until 11:30 am, practitioners demonstrated the exercises and handed out materials that clarified the facts of the persecution in front of Town Hall on King George Square. This is a popular stop for Mainland Chinese tourists and there were hundreds present during this time. Many were overheard saying things like, "So many Westerners practise Falun Gong." This always seems to surprise the Chinese tourists and they are often very receptive to Western practitioners handing out materials. Many Westerners also accepted brochures with our "Help Rescue Our Family Members" flyer inside. Both Chinese tourists and Westerners are becoming more and more receptive to Dafa materials.

Stop State Terrorism	Family members detained in China

At 11:30 am, we assembled at Suncorp Park to begin the parade. Due to our extremely good reputation with the Brisbane police department from our many past events, this year's permits were approved within half an hour of applying. The police are always most helpful and gracious, as they know we will obey all the details of our permits and because of the peaceful nature of our activities, particularly our parades. Half of our parade was a street parade through Brisbane City, with the second half being a sidewalk parade through the City Botanic Gardens and then the busiest part of Brisbane's shopping district. By combining both types of parades, we were able to gain the greatest exposure and reach the maximum number of people.

Sidewalk parade through City Botanic gardens	Sidewalk parade through Brisbane

This year, we decided to tell a story with our banners and poster boards. Our first banner told people about UN Human Rights Day. Then came banners and poster boards about the goodness of Dafa, followed by banners and poster boards about the persecution and "Help Rescue Our Family Members" At the end were banners and photos of the practitioners who have died during this brutal persecution. This was a very effective way for the public to gain a clear understanding of the entire story of Falun Gong, from the peacefulness and goodness of Dafa to the persecution, detention of Australians' family members and deaths of Dafa practitioners in China. It is also most important during such solemn and righteous activities to maintain righteous thoughts the entire time. This created a powerful energy field that truly touched people's hearts. The only sounds heard were the melodious and stirring strains of Pudu [Dafa music played by traditional Chinese instrument. For a free download, please visit www.falundafa.org] playing in the background.

We are always allowed to hand out materials during our parades and many hundreds of brochures were handed out to people eager to learn more about Dafa and the persecution of Dafa in China. AFP, the main newswire that Queensland newspapers get their information and story lines from, did a phone interview the night before and sent out a photographer to cover our parade. ABC radio is also doing an interview this coming week.

Following the parade, sending forth righteous thoughts [this can be understood as a type of meditation] and lunch, the practitioners gathered together for some experience sharing under the trees at King George Square. One of the Chinese practitioners, who had just returned from attending the Philadelphia Fa-Conference, shared Teacher Li's messages to practitioners. These words were very encouraging and gave us clear direction for the times ahead. In conjunction with this, we discussed the next stage in our "Help Rescue Our Family Members" campaign in Queensland and how to deal with the Article 23 situation in Hong Kong before 24th December. These are our main projects over the next two weeks.

At 6:30 pm, practitioners began a walking candlelight vigil through the heart of Brisbane. There were many outdoor cafes still open and people walking around in the downtown area this time of night. There were also many vehicles on the road whose passengers got a clear view of us. We find the walking candlelight vigils very effective and they always attract a lot of attention. This allows us to pass out many flyers, as well as people are usually very receptive at these times.

During these events, thousands of people witnessed the peacefulness and goodness of Dafa and learned more about the persecution against Dafa in China. From the feedback we received, these solemn activities have a profound impact on people and help to position them well. People are becoming more and more receptive and open to Dafa every day.