(Clearwisdom.net)
On Friday, 21 February 2003 - The discrimination complaint lodged by Dr. Michael
Pearson-Smith on behalf of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia, following the exclusion of
Falun Dafa from the Chinese New Year Festival of 2002, was resolved at the
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The hearing, which began on Tuesday, concluded with a
settlement that guarantees Falun Dafa participation in future festivals up to the year 2008.
The case of Australian Falun Gong practitioners vs. Federation Of Chinese Associations on
discrimination, which was originally scheduledáfor a five-day hearing, concluded early on
February 20 when the parties reached an out of court settlement. The defendant made a written
pledge that the settlement guaranteed Falun Dafa's participation in future festivals for the next five
years. The attorney for the plaintiff pointed out that this conciliation settlement clearly
indicated it was not acceptable in Australia to discriminate against Falun Gong.
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| Plaintiff's Attorney (front row, first from left) and some practitioners from Melbourne. | Mr. Brown, Attorney from Holding Redlich Law Firm, accepting an
interview |
On the first day of the public hearing, the plaintiff's attorney Mark
Irvineápointed out to the court the reason that the event organizer refused Falun Gong to
participate in the celebration was their fear of offending "influential friends," referring to
Beijing's influence reaching into Australia.
Plaintiff's witness Dr.áMichael Pearson-Smith pointed out to the court that in the past several
years, Falun Gong had participated in over 50 community celebrations in Australia and had not ever had any
security problem. In another testimony, Mr. Pearson-Smith also stated that a staff member of the
sponsor once said, "Should we give you a stall, next year we would not get the sponsor's
contract...We are just merchants and we have to support the family."
Before testifying,áthe witness foráthe defendants first made some corrections to the
written testimony he gave, including changing the date he first knew of the Falun Gong's application
from February 14, 2003 to February 1st. When being questioned about his views on Falun Gong, the
witness replied that he had no opinions on the matter. Then the plaintiff's attorney exhibited a
document to the courtroom that stated that the Chinese Associations supported Chinese government's
ban of Falun Gong.
The defendant's witness also stated that the decision of not giving Falun Gong a stall was made at
an emergency meetingáof Chinese Association Presidium on the afternoon of February 14th.
However, the plaintiff's attorney exhibited one electronic mail, which demonstrated to the courtroom
that before the meeting was convened, this witness had informed the sponsor to not give a stall to
Falun Gong.
When the public hearing carried on to noon of the second day, the judge called the attorneys
from both sides and expressed thatáalthough he cannot be certain that he would make a ruling
advantageous for Falun Gong, from the testimony already submitted,áhe had enough reason to
believe that political discrimination indeed existed. He suggested both sides achieve
reconciliation.
On the afternoon of February 19th, attorneys of both sides separately consulted their respective
litigant. The next morning, the two sides reached an out of court settlement.
The defendant provided a written letter to the plaintiff. Included in the terms of settlement are
guarantees that:
The Federation Of Chinese Associations (Vic.) Inc. as an incorporated community organization in Victoria will always abide by the requirements of the Equal Opportunity Act, including the requirement not to discriminate on the grounds of religious and political beliefs and activities.
The FCA agrees to provide Falun Dafa Association of Victoria access to a stall at the FCA Chinese
New Year Festival in 2004 and in 2005-2008 if festivals are held in those years, and to permit Falun
Dafa Assoc. of Vic. to participate at this above-mentioned
festival under the same terms and conditions as other participants of the festival.
Dr. Pearson-Smith stated that: "This settlement is a positive outcome for all concerned. It
means that Falun Dafa can take its rightful place in next year's Chinese New Year Festival. It shows
that discrimination is not acceptable in Australia and that the system is working. I also feel that
the Federation of Chinese Associations, as fellow Australians, will eventually realize that this
result is actually in their interests as well."
Barrister Luck Brown stated to the media after the case closed, "The case clearly indicated that
the Falun Gong is discriminated against because it criticized the Chinese
government's persecution policy, but the discrimination was very dangerous."
Category: April 25 Events
