From the wall of Nor Trbojevic

Paul Abad, Director en Earth Frequency Festival wrote at VIP meeting in Amaroo :

"As a city and region, Ipswich does carry some cultural stigma, and certainly one of the reasons for this is the rise, and rise again of Pauline Hanson as an MP and now Senator, originally from Ipswich, who seems to embody some the worst attributes of Australian culture - racism, social insularity, climate denial, you name it.

However my experience working with local councillors, council employees, the local community and the awesome Ivory's Rock venue has always been totally positive. As an outsider coming in and bringing something new to the area, I have felt totally welcome and definitely sensed that there are many people in the region very supportive of culture and progress and with very open minds.

This all just went up a massive level yesterday, as Ivory's Rock is currently hosting their annual Peace Event, with the venue founder Prem Rawat visiting Australia. I was lucky enough to get an invite not only to the public presentation on peace, but also a VIP meet and greet before hand.

I found myself in a small group with Prem Rawat, his daughter Daya, the Mayor of Ipswich, the Mayor of Scenic Rim, various other elected councillors and guests. I was given the opportunity to explain what Earth Frequency was all about in front of this esteemed group of people (definitely felt nervous!) but it was warmly received, with acknowledgement that the common themes of peace, community and sustainability are relevant to everyone, and I had a chance to personally thank Prem Rawat for being able to hold EFF at this awesome venue.

What really impressed me was following that, Prem Rawat and Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale talked for some time about what is happening in Australia. In the small group setting, Mayor Pisasale candidly unpacked the Pauline Hanson phenomenon in a couple of sentances... (slight paraphrasing here):
"The reason Pauline Hanson exists is because politicians have forgotten about the regular Australian. And we have a situation here in Australia, and around the world, where politicians have realised they can get elected by dividing people and dividing communities". He went on to speak how this has to shift and that Australia is a very multicultural nation and we need to work harder for social cohesion. The idea of a multicultural pride event at Ivory's Rock was touched on.

The following discussion touched on indigenous culture in Australia, the need for a strong push for multicultural pride once again in Australia, green energy projects, various humanitarian projects that the people present are involved in. Wow. Have to also say that the new Scenic Rim Mayor Greg Christensen has a great vision for his region - everything from bioenergy innovation in the region, to projects happening around his area to get traditional indigenous stories developed in to plays to tour around QLD schools, and he says his mission is push forward about 40 years in cultural progress in his region.

The larger presentation was also very positive, with the Yuggera dancers performing a welcome to country, various speakers sharing their perspectives on peace, and Prem Rawat and Paul Pisasale raising the peace flag for the International Day of Peace.

At a time where I see a lot going wrong in the political and social consciousness of Australia, this day filled me with a lot of pride and hope and reminded me that the grass roots level of community and local government is incredibly potent and very accessible for anyone who wants to be part of the shift."

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