Legal Challenge to Australia's Bid to Deport Activist

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The Australian Government is facing a legal challenge to its decision to revoke the six-month visitors visa of Scott Parkin, an environmental and peace activist from the Houston Global Awareness Collective. On Saturday Parkin was arrested, six weeks after he arrived in the country, on "character grounds" and imprisoned pending deportation. Government officials have refused to explain the basis for re-assessing his status. Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown suspects Parkin was arrested because of his campaigning against the military contractor Halliburton. Two weeks ago Parkin spoke at a protest outside the Sydney office of KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary. A barrister representing Parkin, Julian Burnside, has indicated he will lodge an appeal against his re-classification with the Migration Review Tribunal. "If all Mr Parkin has done to be assessed a security risk is to peacefully protest his opinions, then we are in serious trouble," Burnside said.