(Clearwisdom.net)On May 17, 2008, Falun Gong practitioners in Brisbane, Australia, participated in the annual Zillmere Multicultural Festival. Many visitors stopped at the Falun Dafa booth to learn more about the practice. Practitioners introduced the visitors to the beauty of Falun Dafa and exposed the relentless persecution of Falun Gong in China.

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Mayor of Brisbane Campbell Newman (middle)

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Participants signed a petition to call for an end to the persecution.

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Signing a petition in support of Falun Gong

One woman, after learning about the persecution, said, "What you are doing is very important. Most people don't know about the persecution and through this activity people will learn about it. What's going on is terrible and needs to be stopped."

A young couple brought their child to the practitioners' booth. The man said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) not only killed Chinese people but connives with the government of Sudan to conduct the genocide over there. "We are Sudanese. We have a lot of problems. I know that China persecutes Falun Gong and the Chinese people. China does the same thing in Sudan, selling guns to the government and letting them kill people."

A little after 10:00 a.m., Campbell Newman, Mayor of Brisbane, came to the booth to support the practitioners. He said, "I learned about Falun Gong three years ago through the activities you held and I have been very supportive of what you do. I saw that your candlelight vigil last evening downtown attracted many people."

The festival continued to 5:00 p.m. Throughout the day, over 1,000 people came to the booth and signed the petition to call for a stop to the persecution. The petition was initiated by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG). The organization hopes to collect a million signatures before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It will deliver the signatures to the International Olympics Committee, presidents and government offices around the world, hoping they will call on the CCP to stop persecuting Falun Gong.