Human rights advocates raise concerns over VP Sara Duterte's visit to Melbourne
Melba Marginson, convenor of the Australians for Philippine Human Rights Network, shares their stand and urges the Australian government to take action.
According to groups such as BAYAN Australia, Gabriela, Migrante, and AnakBayan the visit appears to signal support for impunity and could sow division within the Filipino community in Australia.
As of now, the Australian government has not released an official statement regarding the visa status or travel plans of the visiting officials. SBS Filipino
19/06/2025 10:22 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto to avoid bankruptcy after party agrees to loan him $1.55m
Former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto will avoid bankruptcy after the party agreed to provide him a $1.55 million loan. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay fellow Liberal MP Moira Deeming $2.3 million in legal costs after she successfully sued him for defamation. He was unable to pay the debt but has been seeking donations to avoid bankruptcy and be kicked out of parliament. On Thursday night, the party agreed to pay $1.55 million to Ms Deeming directly, with Mr Pesutto to repay the party under a commercial arrangement. The decision, made by the party's administrative committee, means Mr Pesutto no longer faces expulsion from state parliament for bankruptcy and therefore avoids the need for a by-election in Mr Pesutto's seat of Hawthorn. Mr Pesutto had been under a three-week deadline to come up with the money since Ms Deeming filed bankruptcy proceedings against him on June 2. The legal dispute between the two, resulting in her successfully suing him through the Federal Court, began in March 2023 after she attended an anti-trans rights rally in Melbourne. The event, titled Let Women Speak and described by supporters as a women's rights event, was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Mr Pesutto tried to expel Ms Deeming from the Liberal Party because of her attendance at the rally; however, this ultimately backfired when she successfully sued him for defamation in the Federal Court. The Federal Court ruled Mr Pesutto had defamed Ms Deeming on multiple occasions, including in media interviews, by implying that she associated with neo-Nazis. Last month, the court ordered Mr Pesutto to pay Ms Deeming's legal costs, totalling $2.3 million. After Mr Pesutto failed to pay, her lawyers earlier this month launched bankruptcy proceedings against the Hawthorn MP, giving him three weeks to stump up the money or face expulsion from state parliament. Mr Pesutto has been raising funds via other means, including a public fundraising effort that has raised about $213,000. As part of his efforts to avoid bankruptcy, Mr Pesutto and his backers approached the Liberal Party to provide a loan. Last week, Ms Deeming offered to delay bankruptcy proceedings against Mr Pesutto in exchange for a guarantee from the party that she would be preselected for next year's state election. Mr Pesutto rejected the offer. Ahead of Thursday night's meeting, Mr Pesutto expressed optimism that his party would come to his aid by loaning him the money he needed to pay out Ms Deeming. "I'm hoping that we get an outcome tonight," he said. On her way into parliament on Thursday morning, Ms Deeming expressed frustration about how the ordeal between her and Mr Pesutto was perceived inside the party. "Some of them are very nice, but I really do get treated as though it is my fault and that I'm the aggressor, and that's ridiculous," she said. Asked about her future in the Victorian Liberal Party, she said: "I assume that they will continue with their quest to annihilate me."
SBS Australia
2 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Supporters and critics of Rodrigo Duterte set to rally in Melbourne
Vice President Sara Duterte, along with Senators Imee Marcos and Robin Padilla, is expected to attend the rally, which is projected to draw over 3,000 supporters. The event is also facing opposition from various groups calling on the Australian government to prevent the officials from entering the country. Rado Gatchalian, one of the supporters and organisers of the rally spoke to SBS Filipino to explain the purpose of the event and share their side on the controversy. SBS Filipino 19/06/2025 08:04 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Snubs, subs and Trump: Albanese's NATO dilemma
Between the US review of the AUKUS submarine deal, the imposition of tariffs on Australian exports, and a call from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth for Australia to almost double defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, the Australia-US relationship is in relatively poor state of repair at the leader-to-leader level. Loading There are risks for Albanese in spending just a couple of days in Canberra before getting back on the plane to be in The Hague for next Tuesday's summit, only to potentially be embarrassed by missing out again on a meeting with the unreliable president – though the risk is not as great as it might at first seem. The Australian prime minister will walk straight into a debate about US demands that European NATO members lift their defence spending to as much as 5 per cent – not a conversation Albanese will want to be part of, given Hegseth's comments and the fact that we currently spend about 2 per cent. And while some members of the government (and plenty of Australians) do not like Trump and think chasing a meeting amounts to kowtowing, they are wrong. The United States is Australia's most important security partner, it will be for the foreseeable future, and no matter who is in the White House, the Australian prime minister needs a strong personal relationship with the president. The federal opposition and other government critics sniff an opportunity to damage the prime minister, whether he stays in Australia and avoids a possible cancellation or if he goes and misses out again. This will not guide the prime minister's decision. At the leader-to-leader level, personal relationships are enormously consequential – they can be the 5 per cent extra that secures a tariff concession or a bigger quota of beef exports. Britain's Starmer, Canada's Mark Carney and Italy's Giorgia Meloni, to give just three examples, have all secured benefits for their nations by moving early to meet the 47th president. Albanese is lagging, but the situation is reparable. Loading Even if Trump doesn't turn up, or if he were to cancel on Albanese again, the benefit of being there outweighs the risk. As Trump's sudden departure from the G7 reminded America's allies (as if any reminder were necessary), there are at least another three years of living in an 'America First' world – which only increases the importance of multilateral organisations. US allies have two choices: they can wring their hands about America's absent leadership, or they can get on with the quiet rebuilding of international institutions. Starmer and Macron are two leaders who have signed up to that rebuild. Albanese is another, though he knows the US relationship needs a patch and paint. Two moments at the G7 summit highlighted the benefits of turning up this week, and of going again next week. The first came just after 9am on the final day of the summit when Carney welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In his low, even voice, Zelensky outlined the latest carnage visited on Kyiv by the Russians. The capital had been smashed, he said, with 138 people injured and another 12 killed by murderous drones. But the point was not the death toll. Rather, it was the quiet dignity with which Zelensky spoke and the fact that it was face-to-face, allowing a moment for each leader to look the other in the eye. Upon such moments, friendships are forged and alliances are built. The second moment came a few hours later, during the 'family photo' of world leaders. As Albanese joined world leaders on stage, he walked straight up to Zelensky and, without saying a word, the pair embraced. That gut-instinct moment, more than any words the prime minister spoke at the summit, mattered. One of Albanese's greatest strengths over more than three decades in politics has been his ability to build and maintain a broad web of personal relationships. He's a 'relationships guy' in much the same way that Trump has been throughout his careers. Albanese and Trump will get a chance to look each other in the eye some time soon, whether it is in Holland, at the UN General Assembly in September, or at some other moment in the not-too-distant future. At that point, the questions over the relationship are likely to evaporate. As he landed back in Australia in the early hours of Thursday morning, Albanese had not made up his mind on whether to attend the summit. My tip is that if Albanese travels to Holland he will focus, at least in his public comments, on the importance of the global rules-based order, regardless of what the president does.
