“The Israeli government blockade of Gaza is devastating for the more than 1.5 million people living in Gaza,” said Ms Hale. “Now is an important time to be visiting the Occupied Territories and refugee camps in Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus to see how people are responding.

“I’m keen to see the impact on the nearly 50 per cent of the West Bank population who are being separated from their land or villages or isolated in ghettos as a result of the 650 km long, 8 metre high ‘apartheid wall’ Israel is constructing,” added Ms Hale.

Ms Voltz said the El Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital is the only facility in the Gaza Strip that provides medical support and services for severely disabled Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"At the moment 34,500 Palestinians out of a population of 1.5million people in the Gaza strip suffer from some form of physical disability, " Ms Voltz said. 

"The El Wafa Hospital is the only place where patients can access not only the technical aids needed to live with their disability, but also the social support and community reintegration programs required to help them to live independently back in their communities.” 

APHEDA has provided over $8.1 million to Middle East programs between 1984-2009. These projects have focused on health, with training of Palestinian and Lebanese nurses in Australia. They have since broadened to include many small and large-scale projects for Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and Lebanon.

Media Contact: For Sylvia Hale call Colin Hesse on 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124;  Lynda Voltz 0413 382 474 or Peter Jennings APHEDA 9264 9343

"It is simply unacceptable for Hurstville Council to demolish a building that has been assessed and listed by the Council itself as worthy of heritage protection,” said Ms Hale.

"Most people would be shocked that a building on the Council’s heritage register can be demolished, especially in the face of strong community opposition expressed via petitions, submissions and a packed Council meeting.

"The people of Hurstville municipality must be appalled when, by nine votes to one, Councillors agreed to demolish one of only two heritage-listed buildings in Mortdale in order to build a car park in an area where the existing car park is mostly underutilised.

"I have written to the Minister for Planning asking him to use his powers under Section 32 of the Heritage Act to step in and save the Masonic Temple from demolition. Surely it is the role of the Minister responsible for protecting heritage in NSW to do just that.

"The Government’s repeal of Concurrence and Referral Provisions 2008, which required Councils to seek approval before delisting heritage items, was opposed by both the Greens and the Opposition. The Minister is now relying on that repeal to avoid his responsibilities.

“If the Minister has 'no obligation' to protect this and other buildings on local government heritage lists, as he claims, then heritage protection is meaningless. All the Government is doing is perpetrating a fraud on the people of NSW.

"I believe the community of Mortdale, Hurstville and indeed more broadly expects every level of government to protect our built and natural heritage. By simply washing its hands of the matter the State Government sends out a message that it is indifferent to that heritage.

"The community are very lucky indeed to have Councillor Anne Wagstaff who has spoken up strongly for residents on this and many other issues. It will be a good day indeed when other councillors represent the community as well as Councillor Wagstaff.

"Residents are concerned that the demolition of the former Lodge may simply be a paving of the way for high density housing on the site. Hurstville Council must state emphatically that this is not its intention and back this up by rezoning the land to prevent its use for residential development,” said Ms Hale.

Contact: Colin Hesse on 02 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124

Or Councillor Anne Wagstaff on 9580 7919 or 0434 327 850

The forum will also feature Brami Jegan of the aid organisation APHEDA and Antony Loewenstein, journalist and author of many articles and essays on the Middle East.

"The status quo in the Middle East is unsustainable," Ms Hale said. "The global community has a role to play in helping to seek a solution to a tragedy that has now seen decades of conflict.

"The citizens of Gaza deserve more than an endless cycle of violence and oppression.

"We hope that this forum can provide some insight into the situation and look at potential solutions that provide humane and equitable solutions for the region," Ms Hale said.

The Greens Middle east forum will be held at the AMWU Building, 136 Chalmers St, Surry Hills from 6 pm to 8pm on Tuesday 13 July 2010

The forum is a public event.

Contact: Colin Hesse on 02 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124

"There are instances where it is essential that accurate information about emergency situations is available to the public at the earliest time, and not fed back through a government media advisor seeking to put the best spin on a situation.

"In emergencies such as the terrible bushfires in Victoria last year there were serious problems with both the lack of effective radio communication between and within the various branches of emergency services, and the late notice of emergency situations passed on via official sources to broadcast radio and television networks.

"There is anecdotal information that indicates that twitter and texting were very useful in identifying areas people needed to avoid. Presumably this information came from people scanning emergency services radio. Currently emergency services radio in Victoria is not encrypted.

"The Greens certainly err on the side of making more information available to the public than less, and it is a concern that large amounts of money are being spent to eliminate public monitoring of emergency services radio.

"While there is valid criticism that at times the media focus on minor accidents and events that have nothing to commend them other than a few good pictures, in cases of serious emergencies the role of the media in informing the public can save lives.

"Media organisations scanning emergency services radio could play an important role in helping avert loss of life and serious injury. Attempts by government to stop monitoring would seem to be more about media management than addressing any particular short-comings of the current open radio system. The Government should leave the emergency system the way it is,” said Ms Hale.

Contact: Colin Hesse on 02 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124

‘The Commissioner has advised that after a successful trial period Tasers should be deployed to front line officers’

“This was reiterated on 16 June when the then Minister for Police Tony Kelly said

‘Tasers have been trialled by senior frontline police since October last year …I am satisfied with Commissioner Andrew Scipione’s advice that after a successful trial period, Tasers should be deployed by frontline police’.

“There can only be two possible interpretations of these statements – either Commissioner Scipione misled his Minister and the then Premier about the success of the trial and covered up the ‘litany or abuses and misuses’ that have now been revealed, or the Minister and the Premier were negligently indifferent to the results of the trial because they had already determined that the roll-out should proceed.

“Either way, the public of New South Wales has been misled. It’s time for someone to be accountable.

“It is not as though the parliament has been indifferent to the problems presented by Tasers.

“At Budget Estimates in 2008 and 2009, the Commissioner and the Minister were questioned intensively about Tasers. They wholeheartedly endorsed the proposal to supply the police with Tasers and were at pains to stress the safeguards that would ensure they could never be misused.

“On 14 October 2008, I asked Commissioner Scipione whether ‘In every instance in which they [Tasers] have been used you believe their use has been justified’.

“The Commissioner, who was under oath, answered, ‘Where a Taser has been used, and a person has been tasered, every use to date has been a justified use of the device’.

“In light of what has now been revealed, either the Commissioner or the former Minister for Police should resign or provide very detailed explanations as to how they concluded that it was appropriate to roll-out Tasers.

“We are not talking about toys, but about potentially lethal weapons. A pre-determined decision to introduce Tasers across the board in the face of significant misuse by the NSW police force suggests a not only a failure of process but a manifest indifference to the safety of the public,” said Ms Hale.

*Taser abuse covered up by police, SMH, 6 July 2010.

Contact: Colin Hesse on 02 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124