Musicians perform for free speech

A small group of Bunbury musicians will travel to Fremantle this weekend to perform in a Punk Solidarity gig, organised to musically condemn the Indonesian Government’s disregard for the rights of freedom speech and personal expression.

Enraged by the treatment of a group of punks in Bandah Aceh, who were detained and punished simply for being punks, gigs will be played by Australian bands across the country in a show of support for their Indonesian counterparts.

In Western Australia, that gig will take place at the Swan Basement in Fremantle where bands from Perth, Mandurah, Margaret River and Bunbury will donate their time.

Bunbury band Nighthawker said the decision to be involved was easy.

‘‘Punk rock is generally a style of music which is disliked and misunderstood by people all over the world, so it’s really refreshing to know that there are like-minded people coming together in multiple locations to stick it to the oppressors and raise awareness of the plight of our Indonesian counterparts,’’ vocalist Anthony Steele said.

Bunbury musicians and punk music lovers Elle Driver and Daniel Taylor said it was important for them to help raise awareness of the mistreatment of the youths in Bandah Aceh.

‘‘It’s a form of personal repression and I don’t agree with it,’’ Miss Driver said.

‘‘People in Australia don’t realise how lucky they are when it comes to personal expression and freedom of speech.’’

‘‘When we heard about the gigs we knew we wanted to get involved,’’ Mr Taylor said.