Freedom for Öcalan: A Political Solution for the Kurdish Question

Abigail spoke in Parliament about the Federation of Democratic Kurdish Society Australia's launch of their global campaign, "Freedom for Öcalan: A Political Solution for the Kurdish Question".

Abigail gave notice of the following motion:

(1) That this House notes that:

(a) on 11 October 2023 the Federation of Democratic Kurdish Society Australia launched the international campaign "Freedom for Öcalan, A Political Solution for the Kurdish Question" outside of NSW Parliament House, which was attended among others by:

(i) the Federation of Democratic Kurdish Society Australia,

(ii) the Democratic Kurdish Community Centre of NSW,

(iii) the Sydney Kurdish Youth Association,

(iv) many members of the Kurdish diaspora,

(v) Abigail Boyd, Greens MLC,

(vi) Kobi Shetty, Greens MP for Balmain,

(vii) Nathan Hagarty, Labor MP for Leppington,

(viii) Lee Rhiannon, former Greens Senator,

(ix) Reverend Bill Crews,

(x) Socialist Alliance,

(b) Abdullah Öcalan has been held in near-complete isolation in solitary confinement for almost three years, and has been banned from any communication with his family, lawyers or the rest of the world,

(c) Öcalan’s last meeting with his lawyers occurred in August 2019, and his last contact with his family, a short phone call with his brother, occurred in March 2021,

(d) the recent treatment of Öcalan is in violation of Turkish law and international law,

(e) Öcalan and the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) have been key players in fighting for justice for Kurdish people through decades of political and violent conflict inflicted by the Turkish government,

(f) Öcalan is a beacon of hope for Kurdish people across the globe including the Kurdish diaspora in Australia, and a symbol of 100 years of Kurdish resistance against an oppressive Turkish state, and

(g) the campaign calls for Öcalan to be allowed to meet with his lawyers and family, and to ultimately be freed under conditions that allow him to play a role in finding a just and democratic solution to the Turkish-Kurdish conflict.

(2) That this House calls on the Government to stand in solidarity with the Kurdish community and support the calls for freedom of Abdullah Öcalan.

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NSW is missing out on tens of billions of dollars. By introducing a progressive coal royalty structure similar to the one in Queensland, we would have raised an extra $20 billion last year.

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Huge fossil fuel companies are only able to extract and sell these commodities with the consent of the State. It’s time they paid a fair price for that privilege.

The fossil fuel industry has made hundreds of billions of dollars out of their cosy relationship with governments. Granted permission to extract and sell coal, these large multinational fossil fuel corporations pay just over 7% in royalties back to the people of NSW – keeping the rest as mega-profits for themselves. These companies have a track record of taking more than their fair share and leaving communities suffering and stranded with poisoned groundwater, devastated landscapes and a stranded workforce when it suits their business models.

Globally, the hyper-inflation of fossil fuel prices driven by price-gouging opportunism and war profiteering from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered record windfall profits to these already obscenely wealthy corporations. In the last year, NSW coal exports totaled over $70 billion dollars, but the people of NSW will only see about 7 cents in every dollar, or about $6 billion dollars of that amount.

Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

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Freedom for Öcalan: A Political Solution for the Kurdish Question

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