This election we call for Human Rights! | Southern Highlands Federal Election Forum

This Election We Call for Human Rights is the Southern Highlands making it clear what we want from politicians at this 2025 Federal election.

Refugee rights. Palestinian rights. Indigenous rights. Everybody's rights.

Join Rural Australians for Refugees - Southern Highlands for a panel discussion and Q&A with expert speakers with extraordinary lived experience.

This forum will explore rights, law, policy and humanity. So far we have two confirmed speakers: 

• Sara Saleh, who will speak on the Palestinian perspective
• Zaki Haidari, who will speak on asylum seeker/refugee rights and his own experience.

Ticket information

This is a free, ticketed event. RSVP by clicking "Get Tickets" and giving your contact details.

Please consider making a donation when you check out, to help us support our speakers to be here.

About the speakers

Sara M Saleh is a writer/poet and human rights lawyer of Palestinian, Egyptian, and Lebanese heritage. Her prose, poetry and non-fiction have been widely published in English and Arabic across dozens of literary platforms, and she has shared her work globally on stages from Brooklyn to Bangalore. Sara made history in Australia as the first poet to win both the prestigious Peter Porter and the Judith Wright Poetry Prizes (2020-21).

Rooted in the belief that literacy is a tool for liberation, Sara has rallied communities of artists across continents to create sustainable, generative, and inclusive spaces for craft, connection, and critical consciousness. From co-founding the Muslim Poetry Project to leading workshops in countless classrooms, community spaces, and festivals around the world, Sara has uplifted hundreds of storytellers

Zaki Haidari has been an Australian Human Rights Commission Human Rights Hero and an Ambassador for leading refugee legal centre Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS). He works at Amnesty International Australia as a Refugee Rights Campaigner. Zaki is also a respected commentator in the media on refugee rights.

Zaki is himself a refugee. He fled Afghanistan after being targeted to be killed by Taliban. He survived a terrifying boat journey and arrived in Australia seeking protection in 2012.

Since then, despite social, legal and financial obstacles, he has thrived. First, he learnt English, then he transformed into a human rights advocate, courageously sharing his experience with schools and the wider community, speaking out about the cruel regime of permanent temporariness faced by people like him who came to Australia by sea seeking safety.