This is a lil demo of a song I have written for a song contest. Its centred around a greek proverb, " A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." It basically means a society will benefit the most by people not being motivated by selfishness.

Plant More Trees

Currents

The Less I Know The Better

A song story describing the meeting in 1835 between Melbourne Wurundjeri elders and the infamous John Batman.

Meeting At Merri Creek

Love In Syria

In 2001, the Manus Regional Processing Centre (MRPC) in PNG was created as part of the Howard Government’s ‘Pacific Solution’ in the wake of the Tampa affair. 
In 2008 Kevin Rudd closed the centre, and in 2012, Julia Gillard re-opened it. 
The centre costs a fortune to run. In 2014, the Abbott govt paid Broadspectrum AUD1.22 billion dollars to run the place for 20 months; that’s 2 million dollars per day (‘Budget Emergency’?). Currently, it costs about $400,00 per year for each refugee. 
However, the real cost of the centre can be measured in human suffering. Refugees in the MRPC have always been at risk. Many local PNG people don’t like the centre being on their island. PNG guards are known to allow locals armed with makeshift weapons to enter the centre and attack asylum seekers.
In 2014, there was a riot during which Reza Barati was bashed to death. He was a 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker. He was killed by a Centre security guard and a local Salvation Army worker. They hit him with lengths of wood and metal poles and stomped on his head and neck. 
Last year, 27-year-old Faysal Ishak Ahmed tried for over 6 months to see a doctor at the centre medical clinic. He was consistently turned away by nurses at the clinic because they didn’t believe he was sick. On Christmas Eve last year he collapsed and died. 
Refugee women who report being raped and sexually abused to Broadspectrum staff are essentially ignored.
Last New Year’s Eve , Medhi and Mohammed were bashed by PNG Immigration officials and PNG police for being outside the Detention Centre, even though they were allowed to be. One has a suspected broken jaw and wrist, the other a suspected broken nose. Graphic photos are available to see on the internet.
In 2015, the UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez reported that conditions on Manus violated the UN Convention Against Torture.  Our then Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, responded by saying Australians are ‘sick of being lectured to by the UN’. 
In 2016, the UN High Commission on Refugees reported that Broadspectrum has created an institutionalised and punitive environment that is wholly inappropriate for asylum-seekers and refugees. They made urgent and confidential recommendations to Malcolm Turnbull  Govt. Turnbull chose to ignore the report’s recommendations. 
So, that’s a short summary of Manus. The same can be said of Nauru. Remember, this is all being done in our name. Both the Coalition and Labour are actually authorising the torture refugees. Why? For votes. They are administering the torture and deaths of people in order to win votes. How can this be our Australia? Obviously in future this will become widely regarded as our national shame and disgrace. But for so many refugees who have suffered and died, that recognition will come all too late. 
So, what can we do? So many things, but at the very, very, very least, don’t vote for the ALP or the Coalition. Don’t vote for parties that will torture people to get votes. Don’t vote for parties that think votes are more important than the death and torture of refugees. 
Vote for a party that will stop the inhumane treatment of vulnerable people who have come to our country needing our help.

Manus

The Desert Feet truck was set up on the Newman oval for the final day of the NAIDOC celebrations. 

The tracks in this playlist were played live by the bands, multitrack recorded and then mixed down!

The bands and artists who performed on stage were:

Yurti Band

Theona Councillor ft. Boyd and Delly Stokes

Wild Dingo Band

Yabu Band

Newman NAIDOC Celebrations 201

Beautiful Girl

Written in 2018 and recorded in 2019 with his band the Norwesterlies, the song is a cry for justice for the refugees detained for too many years in offshore detention.

Demos

Five Years

Songhai, Vol. 2

De la Noche a la Mañana (Remasterizado)

Djamana Djana (Remasterizado)

Dark Emu is a book revealing the truth of what Australia was like before the settlers arrived. A MUST READ! Mind blowing, thank you to Bruce Pascoe for writing this book full of research and references. 
In this piece, I'm reading extracts at his book, the beginning of Dark Emu.
I'm just at the start and wanted to put to music with piano improv. Hope this will spark the desired to read the book.

Dark Emu

An acoustic guitar cover version of AC/DC's classic 'Highway To Hell'. 
I hope you enjoy it.

Highway To Hell (ACDC) Acoustic Cover

Captivating indie singer/songwriter Peter Vadiveloo deftly weaves funk, blues, folk and roots music around a rich seam of critical social justice issues such as First Nations people’s conditions, treatment of refugees, racism, wealth inequity in Western democracies and climate change. Peter will make you think.
You can buy/stream Peter's music on Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon etc

Manus

Peter Vadiveloo

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