(Clearwisdom.net) On June 24, upon learning that Alexander Downer, the Australian Foreign Affairs minister, had signed another two documents restraining practitioners from using any amplifiers or banners or displaying any other information in front of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, Falun Dafa practitioners held an appeal outside the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Brisbane. Practitioners set up an anti-torture exhibit and displayed banners and posters to tell the public about Mr. Downer's actions.

Anti-torture exhibition

Anti-torture exhibition

Though practitioners had little time to prepare for this event, everything moved along very smoothly. Within one hour, we received a permit from the police. To let people coming out over their lunch break see the exhibit, the event was held between 11am and 2pm. Although it was Friday, many practitioners participated in this activity. While some stayed at the site for the whole 3 hours, others came to help during their lunch break.

The empty lot in front of the department is very spacious, and we set up our exhibition, posters and banners without disturbing pedestrians. As a train station is located across the street, there were many pedestrians during the exhibit hours.

The banner reads: Mr. Downer: Don't help the Chinese Communist Party persecute Falun Gong in Australia

Don't Trade at the expense of human rights

Don't restrict Falun Gong practitioners' freedom of expression in Australia

The response from the public was very positive. Many people couldn't believe that such a peaceful group could be persecuted so brutally in this modern age. They can't understand why the Australian government has bowed to the CCP regime which has a notorious human rights record and has murdered 80 million Chinese citizens. As soon as people learned about the truth of Falun Gong and the persecution, they came to understand what is wrong and who is evil right away.

The public was also shocked by the death of Gao Rongrong and the appalling torture that was inflicted upon her. Many passersby signed our petition, requested truth-clarifying materials, and expressed their best wishes to practitioners.

Practitioners also delivered a set of materials to the Ministry of Foreign Affair and Trade to explain why we were holding such an event outside their building.

Many passersby signed practitioners' petition

As the courageous defectors have recently made headlines in the newspapers and TV programs, more people have learned about Falun Gong. Many have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Australian government's actions in dealing with these defectors. Regarding China's spying on and harassment of Australian practitioners, they were not happy with government's attitude toward the CCP, either. They were even more upset by the Foreign Minister's unreasonable restriction on practitioners' freedom of expression.

Apparently, the overall situation is changing quickly, as the people are awakening to the truth of the persecution and starting to clearly denounce it.