Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Green MPs to raise banned flag at Parliament

Oct 17, 2000

Green MPs to raise banned flag at Parliament

Green MPs Keith Locke, Jeanette Fitzsimons, Nandor Tanczos and Rod Donald plan to raise full-sized banned "Morning Star" flags of West Papua on the steps of Parliament tomorrow, to mark the visit of West Papuan exile John Ondawame.

Mr Ondawame is being welcomed at Parliament at 8.30am tomorrow. MPs from other parties have been invited also to meet Mr Ondawame on Parliament steps.

The Speaker will not allow the flag to be flown on an official flag-pole, for protocol reasons.

Hundreds of West Papuan people have died raising the flag in support of self determination, or in protest at the repressive regime of the Indonesian military.

Indonesian police ordered the removal of all flags in the Papuan capital Jayapura by this Thursday, as part of a clamp-down on pro-independence activities.

Last year the Indonesian administration promised greater autonomy for the province, allowed a change of name to West Papua, and flying of the flag but only if it was raised alongside the national Indonesian flag and on a shorter flagpole.

In July 1998 in Biak, West Papua, demonstrators raised the outlawed flag in peaceful protests. Human rights groups estimate up to 300 people died in the police response, with bodies dumped at sea.

In another flag raising demonstration in Wamena earlier this month police tore down the flags and shot two pro-independence supporters dead, leading to further violence.

"In some respects West Papua - formerly called Irian Jaya by the Indonesians - is in the position East Timor was a few years ago," Mr Locke said. "I am very concerned that New Zealand does not make the same errors with West Papua as we did on East Timor so many years ago - taking a pro Indonesian line that failed to address both the extent of human rights abuses by Indonesia, and the legitimate call for independence from local people."

Keith Locke MP 4706710.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More


 
 
ACT: Call To Abolish Human Rights Commission

“The Human Rights Commission’s appointment of a second Chief Executive is just the latest example of a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy serving itself at the expense of delivery for New Zealanders,” says ACT MP Todd Stephenson. More


Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.