About 20 people gathered in the rain outside the Indonesian Embassy in central London to celebrate West Papua independence day. December 1 marks the 45th anniversary of the date on which the newly formed West New Guinea Council voted to rename their territory West Papua and affirmed their own flag (Morning Star) and national anthem.
Present was Derek Wall, Green Party Male Principal speaker, he said, "I think we are all aware that on this planet we are not paying the rent. I think we are all aware that this planet is in crisis whether you look at injustice, whether you look at climate change, whether you look at forests, whether you look at biodiversity. But, there is little realisation of the causes of this, the causes of this are our unsustainable economic system, and we have carbon set aside, we have bills and laws, we have excuses, we have Lord Brown as 85 out of 100 top environmentalists… What we have to recognise, that the green movement has been very poor at recognising is those who live the most ecological lifestyles, those who maintain a balance with the planet, those who meet their basic needs in a sustainable way, are being enclosed, are being raped, are being murdered, are thrown of the land.. .We have to realise the people who live in the forests, maintain the forests as the people in West Papua do, are the people who are faced with endless pressure, endless enclosure, kicked of the land.. We have to support your struggle. And green politics, not about laws, not about politicians, not about consumerism, its about supporting your struggle, struggles of liberation. Greens believe in non-violence, in negotiated solutions, that’s what we are campaigning for. We proclaim loudly that self-defence is no offence…What we have seen in Latin America is not leaders, not charismatic demagogues, but feisty dynamic red radicals social movements of the people, sweeping across Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Your movement is part of that global movement, for justice, respect, to bring the real prosperity to people, not the forced poverty of capitalism…We must salute the Morning Star. "
