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!

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

What I am going to do

Hi there... Yes... This blog hasn't completely died. It has been nearly 6 months since the last Australian election. I have really tried to stay as engaged as before. But I lost a bit of steam. It is really time-consuming to stay politically engaged! And when one is balancing work, family, housework, friends etc keeping up with the news and trying to read outside news and reading between the headlines takes effort that sometimes just isn't there at the end of the day. I like to think I am not unlike other Australians, so I wonder if some of this busy-apathy (as I call it) is norm for Australians in general.

I hope that this is one of the major reasons for the amazing ability that one of my main policy issues (see old post here for all of them) feels like it is getting smashed all over the park! (To put it nicely!)

Apart from busyness, the other reason I haven't stayed engaged is that when I read about the current government's policies on refugees and the environment I am appalled/dismayed/sad/angry/cranky/overwhelmed.

This picture really describes it best...

George in Jan 2014

I cannot believe how "firm" means "will dehumanise others" physically, emotionally & psychologically in a squandering tent city of a third world country. That's not punishing human traffickers. That's punishing the desperate people who are so desperate they enter into the hardship of asylum to escape the hardship of their homeland!!!!!! (to still from the mindblowing article on the boat people here.) 

But I digress...

I struggle to see how I should allow my government to reflect views and values I do not share. Of course there will be points of difference with all governments but I feel overwhelmed and powerless to do anything. 

This is not democracy.

What can I do?

I don't really have time to work with refugees in Sydney and or fund-raise for them or other lobby groups. I have signed various getup campaigns and shared FB articles with my friends, but the cynical part of me thinks "what does that really achieve?" Do I wait for the next election and use the power of my one vote to change (too many years away!!)?

There is one thing I can do

I can write. Not on this blog (which no one reads) but to my local Federal member and Federal Senator. They are technically speaking on behalf of me when they vote for policies in Parliament. I should tell them what I, one voting member in their electorate values. I am going to get involved in the political process beyond the once-in-4-year vote. 

So, I am going to write to one of my member once a month. And, I am going to post the letters (actually emails) on this blog. If I get a response, that's will be good.  And hopefully I can post about that here too. (Though of course, probably not their actual response as I will try to respect their confidentiality)

This may well be an interesting political experiment.

And, would love any help I can get! So if you have any suggestions on what to write, what to read, what other things I can do, let me know in the comments. 

Maybe it's not a massive move. But it's something I can do. It's better than nothing. And it might help change something. 

Foreign aid

(From World Vision Facebook 5.9.13)

Though foreign aid is not specifically one of my election policies of interest, this just had to be shared.

http://www.worldvision.com.au/resources/media/13-09-05/Coalition_aid_cuts_leave_Australians_broken-hearted_World_Vision.aspx

$4.5 million cut from the budget to fund inhumane refugee treatment, exorbitant parental leave scheme and a climate change policy that doesn't work.

If you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back, food on your table and a bed to sleep in, you are richer than 75% of the world's population. Please vote for the poor and not for your back pocket!

I think foreign aid should be one of the many instruments used to reduce refugees seeking asylum in Australia and elsewhere.

(and I confess the thing that makes me most angry is that this is announced less than 48 hours before the election.)

Asylum seekers #3

Unlike the environment issues, it appears the two main parties are similar on this issue.

This very helpful article compared Labour, Liberal and the Greens asylum seeker policy, showing that not much is different between the two major parties.

Both major parties will have mandatory detention, offshore processing and a inflexibility with bridging visas. The Greens support increasing Australia's refugee quota, onshore processing and increase rights to refugees settling into Australia.

It seems like it is really a vote between Labour/Liberal hardline asylum stance vs Greens softer approach to refugees.  After this, it seems like the main difference is the choice between our current set up and using extra money for the military (Liberal's policy) for maintaining border control and buying boats in Indonesia (to stop them coming here).

I guess the most disappointing part of this election issue is that there isn't much "thinking out of the box" with a possible solution to deterring asylum seekers to Australia via leaky Indonesian boats.

This sponsorship option is something I would of liked to have seen more. Or something like Sweden?

It is articles like this that remind me how inhumane the current refugee/asylum seeker process is in Australia. It is good it is a big election issue.  Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any really good options by the major parties. It seems it may have to go to a Senate vote. The below graphic just shows how small a number we are talking about.

Asylum seekers week 2

For another week asylum seekers who arrive by boat have been front and centre of the political talk this week.

The more I read and engage with the issues, the more complex and difficult it seems. The intricacy of the "problem" (for want of a better word) actually makes me dislike our main media news outlets even more as they seem to paint the problem as black and white. The propaganda is quite unbearable.

Thanks to a friend who works in international policy, I see there are three main issues working in tension that make the "problem" of boat people hard.
1) The need to deter human traffickers;
2) The need to maintain border security; and
3) The need to have compassion for people desperate enough to try to come to Australia by boat.

The stories from the people on these boats are heart breaking. As a mother particularly, I find the stories about the children and the babies drowning just plain awful. Yet, the solution is not to just let everyone come to Australia if they want. This article opened my eyes to see the current asylum seeker policy in a positive light. I still do not think it's ideal but it is trying to find a happy medium between the three tensions that pull at this issue.

Any solution that has a strong emphasis on compassion for the boat people needs to also appeal to the residents in Australia and (selfishly or sadly) needs to appear as a benefit to Australia (not a negative). Stories like this are heart-warming and exciting but we need larger figures of the benefits of increase immigration (including asylum seekers that come by boat).

One piece of writing that challenged me this week is this article about the "why" of Australian's aversion to boat people particularly (not asylum seekers in general). It is easy to use the compassion card to get away from racism but to be challenged about why we need to "defend" our lifestyle when we have actually not done much to deserve it is confronting in a good way. It aligns with how I feel that as Australians we have a life and a lifestyle that is the envy of probably at least 75% of the world's 7 billion population. Us lucky 20 million who live in the land down under.

Lucky Country, Austinmer Jan 2013

A funny

The news this week has continued to be about asylum seekers who come to Australia via boat. I have not had a chance to read enough articles to recommend, but I did see this come through my FB newsfeed and had to share.

Asylum seekers - Asylum seekers - Asylum seekers

(Looking at boats October 2012)

In the news this week, if you missed it (which may not be surprising if you are anything like me and between work, kids, cooking and cleaning are lucky to catch the news of the day let alone read an article) has been about ASYLUM SEEKERS, or the term used by the media BOAT PEOPLE.

At the beginning this blog I raised one of the key policies I was interested in was Australia's treatment of refugees. In my naivety, I thought that onshore detention was better than offshore. I confess I am still trying to get my head about all the issues involved with asylum seekers who come to Australia by boat. The most common sense, human feeling is to think that people who are so desperate to flee their own country to come to us via a dingy boat must need help. So, when Labour released their Refugee policy this week, and brought this to the forefront, it has provided a lot of fodder for me (honestly, maybe too much).

I haven't worked out what I think yet, but this is what I am thinking at the moment:
* Separating child from family should not be allowed, no matter how the child arrived in Australia;
* Mandatory detention seems wrong. Should this not be on a case by case basis?
* Not allowing asylum seekers to work reduces their existence even further.
* What happened to the the words in the Australia anthem that says "From those who come across the seas, we've boundless plains to share"? (Yes, I have seen the memes.)

Here are some articles that some of you might be interested. Please let me know how they make you think:

Highly informative and huge article (ie, need time to read this) http://m.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/youve-been-misled-on-boat-people-here-are-the-facts-20130718-2q5rv.html

Poignant, first hand, personal challenge point of view: http://christinemead.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/so-you-think-its-a-good-idea-to-welcome-refugees-excuse-me-while-i-burst-your-bubble/

A Christan take on things: http://markrglanville.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/australian-refugee-policy-for-dummies-1-disingenuous-rhetoric/

Slightly sad/realistic viewpoint: http://theimmigrationblog.com/2013/07/19/so-what-should-we-think-of-the-rra/#more-430

Let me know your thoughts!!

The start of something

Today is Thursday 27 June 2013. Australia just lost another Prime Minister by a bloodless coup and we are looking at another election in next than 100 days time. In light of the strange political environment that Australia appears to be in, plus also the even stranger, superficial, skew-iff media coverage politics in Australia is currently getting, I thought i would start this blog; to help process my thoughts as I try to decide who to vote for. I do it so that others can interact, because my FB feed isn't big enough and also, that these discussions might help others.

 So, who am I? (said just like Lizzie Bennett) I am a woman, in my mid-thirties, who balances a part time corporate job with loving a husband (The Man) and two little children (Peppa and George). I live in a main city of Australia; in an electorate that Labour holds with a small margin. I am not very educated in politics (often confusing the left and the right) but I try to keep abreast of what is going on, even in the toddler-hazy phase that I am in. As I start thinking about this federal election, my three big policy issues currently stand as:

1) Maintain paid parental leave, because it helped our family a lot;
2) Processing boat people onshore, providing some form of compassion; and
3) Maintaining a carbon tax, as an effective (though small) way of seeking to combat climate change.

I hope to post anything I find helpful on this blog, so happy for people to post links as well. However, since this is my blog, I also maintain editorial rights. Enjoy.

(all these random pieces of coloured playdough & thoughts. What will they become?!)