LetThemStay

PHOTOS: Melbourne Legends Scale The Art Centre To Share #LETTHEMSTAY

Tell us you love Punkee without telling us you love Punkee. Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. It'll mean the world.

Two protesters have scaled Melbourne’s Art Centre in the early hours of this morning to unfurl a banner with the #LetThemStay message.

The daredevils, Hannah Patchett (video right) and Katherine Woskett (left) are the same duo who stopped Melbourne traffic with a similar banner over the Eastern Freeway a little of a week ago. Following their newsworthy efforts, they posted the following message to Facebook with more detail behind their motivations:

These two amazing activists share their experience on the bridge today and encourage others to take action to end indefinite detention. They stand in solidarity with asylum seekers who await imminent deportation to offshore prisons.#LetThemStay#CloseTheCamps

Posted by Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance on Wednesday, 10 February 2016

 

The protest is targeted at the Federal Governments abusive treatment and processing of asylum seekers at offshore detention facilities, and across the country people are praising these brave women for their action. The #LetThemStay and #CloseTheCamps movements have been gaining huge momentum the past few days, with many members of the Aussie arts community releasing their own political statements.

A spokesperson for Hannah and Katherine told Melbourne’s 3AW that the women were professional climbers and “completely safe”. Talking on the program, Helen War said:

“They’ve definitely taken the message to new heights,” she told 3AW this morning. “The real issue of safety (isn’t for the protesters, it) is the conditions people are going to face when they’re deported back to Nauru.”

Police are currently negotiating with them, and emergency services have taped off the area below.
Yesterday, Violent Soho, Big Scary and The Smith Street Band joined forces with other musical folk including Laneway Festival MC Kirin J Callinan, Japanese Wallpaper, Airling, Ku?ka, and Hermitude to show their support.

Rightly so, people all around the Melbourne are going apeshit bonkers, taking photos and videos of the pair and sharing the message across social media with support.

PHOTOS: People Share The #LetThemStay Protest On Twitter

The women have recently released a statement about their efforts: