May 5, 2006 Friday

A GROUP of North Shore Falun Gong practitioners plans to pressure the federal government to expose the trade in human organs in China.

Lane Cove resident Ruby Wong, a practitioner in the meditation and relaxation exercises of Falun Gong, said the group had approached the offices of North Sydney federal MP Joe Hockey and Bradfield federal MP Brendan Nelson with information about Falun Gong [practitioners] being murdered for their organs.

Ms Wong said she wanted to warn North Shore people against signing up for organ transplants in China.

''We believe every minute we waste there are people losing lives,'' Ms Wong said.

''Hospitals in major Chinese cities have performed hundreds of organ transplants since 2000.''

She said tens of thousands of Falun Gong followers had been persecuted by the Chinese government and placed in more than 30 labor camps which independent investigators could not access. [Editor's note: there should be more than 30.]

Ms Wong said Falun Gong followers from Chatswood, Lane Cove and Naremburn would lobby the federal government to set up an inquiry to investigate whether Australians had paid for surgery using transplanted human organs from murdered Falun Gong followers.

''We're the voice of the voiceless,'' she said.

''We think we have only reached the tip of the iceberg.''

The group will present Mr Hockey and Dr Nelson with a petition of more than 2000 signatures calling for a Commonwealth inquiry.