Writing again

The more and more I hear about the asylum seekers, this week about people smugglers getting paid by two connective Government to stop coming, I just have the First Dog on the Moon's amazed face!

So I decided I had to write again.

I must state, my local member has responded to my previous letters with a phone call and/or a phone message and asked to meet. I am a busy working mum and have no idea how I have time to meet, though I probably should. However, at the moment, I think I will have to rely on the form of communication I have available, which is email.

To the XXXX

I know that we have tried to contact each other in the past, beyond email and letter correspondence. However, with the current government’s position on asylum seekers, I do not think I could speak to you in a reasonable fashion. It is awful, inhumane and torturous what is being done to those seeking refuge here, all “lawfully” by the Australian government. It’s not lawful.

I don’t care which government started off shore processing. And I don’t care which government started paying people smugglers to turn boats back to Indonesia. But a good, right and just government would stand up and say, enough is enough. A good government would put an end to the secrecy, the hiding and the ugly acts of violence and torture that is detaining any human, especially children, in desolated and disgusting conditions as those on Nauru island. A good government would seek to stop the issue without torture, or illegal bribes but take a leadership position with our neighbouring countries to look at a regional solution to the asylum seekers. 

There are awful accounts coming out of the offshore detentions centres that even if 1% of it is true, it is still awful. As an Australian, I cannot stand by and let my government feel this is a right response to asylum seekers. It is not! I do not want my country’s  government torturing people in my name. I do not want my country’s government treating asylum seekers as less than human. I especially do not want my country’s government hurting children the same age or younger than my own children for the sake of national security.

This is not right. And there must be a better way.

Regards

Just how I feel

Hello blog world! It has been a while.

I will blame busyness again  but I will also blame the fact that it appears that the current government seems to be trying to destroy each of the three (only three) policy issues I have like I am some rorting double dipping mother. (which I am).

I am not that eloquent so I will let this cartoon from First Dog on the moon sum up my current feelings....



Amazed face! (needs an emoticon)

STOP

 March 2015 - children telling us to stop

Yesterday, this beautifully written piece by Australian author Tim Winton on Palm Sunday eloquently expressed all I feel on the issue of asylum seekers in Australia. My favourite section (and there were so many to choose from) was:

To those in power who say they're exiling and caging children for their own good, I say we've heard that nonsense before. So, don't do it in my name.

To those who say they're prolonging misery to save life, I say I've heard that nonsense before. You don't speak for me; I don't recognise your perverse accountancy. 

To those in power who say the means will justify the end, I say I've heard that nonsense before. It's the tyrant's lie. Don't you dare utter it in my name. [my emphasis]

To those who say this matter is resolved, I say no. For pity's sake, no. For the love of God, no. A settlement built on suffering will never be settled. An economy built on cruelty is a swindle. A sense of comfort built upon the crushed spirits of children is but a delusion that feeds ghosts and unleashes fresh terrors.

If current refugee policy is common sense, then I refuse to accept it. I dissent. And many of my countrymen and women dissent alongside me. I don't pretend to have a geopolitical answer to the worldwide problem of asylum seekers. Fifty million people are currently displaced by war and famine and persecution. I don't envy those who make the decisions in these matters, those who've sought and gained the power to make decisions in this matter. I'm no expert, no politician. But I know when something's wrong. And what my country is doing is wrong. [my emphasis]

And just like above, I really don't have any idea what the best political solution is but I really want this inhumane, unjust, foul, brutal and dishonest treatment of vulnerable people to stop NOW!

NSW election funny

Tomorrow is election day. Not sure about you but I have really struggled to have time for this election. With work to do, sick kids, Easter to plan and life in general, an election, particularly an election where the government hasn't really annoyed me much, or more that the opposition seems rather invisible, feels like a nuisance.

But participating in the democratic right to vote is still something we all should but some thought into!

(said with a very mummy voice!)

One of the biggest issues I can glean in my brief moments reading news, is that sale of electricity infrastructure.  The current Liberal government is planning to LEASE them with the promise of the money going into more infrastructure, like what they have been doing already. The opposition are opposed to it. Energy infrastructure isn't one of my biggest priorities but public transport is. So, with that in mind, I thought this image was particularly funny.

24 hours to decide who to vote for! Thank God for the internet (and hopefully kids who will sleep so I can read up)

Election happening in NSW soon!!

A lot of this blog has been about Federal politics.  Issues of immigration, environment and parental leave are federal issues.

State and Federal politics are two very different beasts.  Each state have their unique cultural, environmental, demographic and financial situations.  There are some states, like QLD, that have favoured one side of government more than the other.  State politics use to be considered less volatile to change, however the recent QLD election shows that anything can happen. I was amazingly fascinated with the results in QLD because they were so close and the result was surprising. I strangely started getting a little bit excited about the NSW election.

I have been thinking about this post for over a month, but struggled to have time to think and read.

It's important to realise that State Politics has very different issues they can control and to be wise about which ones you will vote about. State government control a lot of things that we touch, see and have to deal with each day.  Transport. Healthcare. Schools. The main ones that I am interested in are:

• Infrastructure- namely transport and the increase of public transport;
• Education - namely provision of public education in my area (not many co-ed comprehensive public high schools around here);
• Healthcare - namely funding for hospitals and area healthcare services; and
• Environment - mainly mining and mining licences.

I live in an electorate that has been historically Labour, by a slim margin. In the last election, it had a swing of over 20% against Labour to give the Liberal Party victory for the first time in over 20 years.  I don't think it was the candidate. I think it was more the perception of the party at the time.

In this election period, I have not see hardly ANY poster boards for anyone else except my sitting Liberal MP. Are there any other options? I have seen a few posters for these guys. Not sure if I am all for one-issue parties. I have received one hand out in the post for Labour and just received a letter, addressed to me, with my current MPs "plan".

To try to find out what options I have, since neighborhood light posts are not helping, I have gone to this electoral NSW website, which tells me what my other options are. Appears I have 5 other options (which is nice).

Even though my seat has been a swinging seat, I suspect that it will stay Liberal as the local member is very popular. I also think, that on the issues above, all bar one favour the current government than the the one who is challenging.

But I haven't read enough.

What you are thinking about in regards to this State election? Thoughts on one-issue parties? Or other minor parties?

Keep writing!!

(Instagram March 2014)

Not just leaving it to one MP this time, I also decided to write to the two closest Opposition MPs, form the Labour Party, in regards to the Australian Human Rights Commission's investigation into children in detention. I wanted them to realise that this was an important issue for my electorate so maybe theirs as well. These other electorates are only 1 - 2 suburbs away from mine.

See below....

To the Honourable XXXX and the XXXX,

I am writing to you as the closest Labour MPs to my suburb in XXX. I write to ask that the Labour Party please response to the Government’s appalling response to the Australian Human Rights Commission into children in detention centres.

Their views do not represent my views nor, I am sure, many in my electorate or in yours.  This issue is not an attack on any particular government but about how sequential Australian governments are institutionally torturing children who have not had the chance to gain justice in their situation. As an Australian citizen,  I feel the guilt and the weight of the system that I have indirectly supported by voting in governments like yours and the current one. The blood of these children’s lives are in our hands.

I believe that the treatment of refugees, especially children, has to change.  These children are the same like mine and yours.  The only difference is that they were born in a different country.  They have human rights, and the right to justice and a real childhood. It can change! And last week, the Coalition government could of responded with more compassion, more empathy, more humility and more openness.

But it appears Prime Minister Tony Abbott, decided to respond with a misinformed, heartless and callous response to the Commission’s findings. His views do not represent mine, nor, I believe, many other Australians on these children in detention.

I have written to my local MP about this.  I am writing to you because I, as well as many other Australians, are wanting to hear an alternative, compassionate voice to this Government’s opinion.

I look forward to your response.  

Regards

Cannot NOT do something

There has been a lot going on this last week. There was a glimmer of hope of change in a government that appears to be systematically attacking the political issues I am most interested in.

But it didn't happen. 

That wasn't the big thing for me this week.  The big thing was the findings of the Australian Human Rights Commission and, more importantly, the awful response that the government provided to it.

It made my blood boil.

I actually struggled to sleep as I thought about children, just like my Peppa and George, behind bars, wishing for another life outside of confinement and fear of death. I've even blogged about this before!

So, I wrote. I wrote again to my local MP. Who, by the way, I have been playing phone tag with. One day we will meet. 

Here is my next letter:

Hi XXX

Happy New Year! I know you have called me and I have tried to call you back but I am guessing you might be in Canberra at this time of year. The media makes it look like it was a busy week in Canberra.

I am writing to say that that Government’s response to the Australian Human Rights Commission into children in detention centres is appalling and does not represent my views nor, I am sure, many in your electorate.  This issue is not an attack on the Coalition but about how sequential Australian governments are institutionally torturing children who have not had the chance to gain justice in their situation. As an Australian citizen,  I feel the guilt and the weight of the system that I have indirectly supported by voting in governments like yours.

I believe that the treatment of refugees, especially children, has to change.  These children are the same like mine and yours.  The only difference is that they were born in a different country.  They have human rights, and the right to justice and a real childhood. It can change! And last week, the Coalition government could of responded with more compassion, more empathy, more humility and more openness.

But it appears your leader, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, decided to respond with a misinformed, heartless and callous response to the Commission’s findings.

I do not mean to complain every time I write to you XXX.  I haven’t actually written this much to my local MP before.  But, I am not going to keep living in your electorate without letting you know that I do not hold the views your party is portraying.  You are misrepresenting me! And if you keep this up, I will look to someone who will represent me appropriately and encourage others to do the same.

Regards

The only type of detention children should have

New leader's game

In light of the leadership performance that occurred this week, I just had to share this funny image.  From here:

I want this as a real game!!

A hiatus explained

Ok, so it has been a near 7 month hiatus from blogging.  I confess it has been a bit of hiatus from keeping up with things in the political realm because:

a) I just got too busy; and

b) I was finding it all too depressing.

It felt like every second news story was a tale of how my current government is making actions that I just cannot agree with. And I try not to believe the headlines. I try to dig deeper, do some research, thinking "they can't honestly mean THAT, can they?" Trying to get a more rounded opinion takes time, which I don't have. But, even sadder, when I have tried to dig below the surface, the answer has been "Yes, that IS what they meant." And THAT has been even more depressing!! It has actually been kind of paralyzing. 

I have fallen behind in my challenge of a letter a month to my member.  As in my previous post, time to be politically engaged is hard. But I confess, I also stopped writing because I got a response from my local Federal MP. Shock!

I GOT A RESPONSE!!

And the response was actually a missed call on my mobile and a voice message. A voice message! The message was very gracious and very apologetic about not replying sooner. The member asked if we could meet for coffee to discuss education. MEET FOR COFFEE!!

My first reaction was to feel little scared being so directly contacted.  There is definitely a nice anonymity about writing a letter or email. And to meet for coffee, face to face, could be quite unnerving; requiring me to be totally on-the-ball with the facts and the issues at hand, and maybe also feeling social obligation to be nicer than I actual felt. 

My second reaction however was to feel annoyed at the suggestion. I am struggling to have time to manage a family, a part time professional job, have meaningful relationships with friends and family plus stay engaged with what the rest of the world is doing and is heading, let alone have time to have coffee with my local MP. I am not sure if they are really on my highest priority of my time! And I don't think I am the only one in my electorate who is like that.  

I get that if I believe the issues are so important, I should invest in the time. It is definitely a case of priorities and the immediate well being of my family and friends is more important to me. But also challenging these issues will help with their long term well being. 

But it's January and things have been quieter and I've had more brain space to look at the issues again. I also note that the fear that "no one else cares" is subsiding as the polling shows that other. I note the QLD election results tonight as well as Victoria's a few months ago. NSW state election is just around the corner. It's time to get fired up again!!! 

Post script: this has been incorrectly dated as February when I originally posted this in January. Weird.