Evacuate Manus Island now protests sweep Australia in photos

As the Australian government closed Manus Island detention centre in October and November - people on Manus Island resisted. They refused to leave voluntarily and live in 'another prison' on Manus Island where people face violence from PNG locals, a lack of  medical services and forced to live in overcrowded accommodation that lacks consistent running water, electricity and security.Eventually the Australian government sent the PNG police in to break up the protests in Manus Island detention centre and forcibly remove the men after trying to persuade them to leave for weeks by cutting off access to water and food. You can read more about this "day of horror" in an article I wrote here.Across Australia the refugee rights movement intensified with people rallying under the banners of "We are Watching" and "Evacuate Manus".Here are photos I took from these protests.  On November 3 students occupied immigration offices in Sydney and Canberra, days earlier students had occupied the immigration office in Newcastle. Here is an account I wrote of the Sydney occupation.The following week a group of brave activist scaled the Sydney Opera House days after activists in Melbourne disrupted the Melbourne Cup. Unfortunately the police stopped us unfurling the large banner, however the action still gained solid media coverage.A few days later hundreds of people gathered and protested out the front of a fundraiser being addressed by immigration minister Peter Dutton. The police reacted violently, brought in dogs and arrested and strip searched activists.On the weekend hundreds again rallied in the city, one of dozens of protests held across the country during those weeks.