N.B. All Editorials are always "current" Feel free to post responses to any editorial at any time . The pages will be continually maintenanced. Do not feel obliged to agree. The object is to create a forum for intelligent debate on issues of national importance. Editorials will remain posted until I believe that they are no longer relevant .Editorial Archives

* Who Is That Refugee? (2002) (Lyrics)

Pat's new highly controversial new song Recorded Live on Australia Day ( (If you like the song, agree with the sentiment and want to help; make a $5.00 credit card donation at Shoestring's payment page.

Who is that Refugee mp3 Download

I have just finished reading a rather short passage from The New Testament...The Gospel according to Matthew: Chapter Two. Verses 1-28.

It makes immensely relevant and somewhat confronting Christmas reading for all Australians this year.

In the 50 years that I have lived, worked and prospered in Australia I have watched my nation as it has struggled to deal with its place in the world; it's hopes for its own cultural identity and it's battle to come to terms with its proximity to its Asian and Islamic neighbors.

I have watched as it has struggled to maintain the dream of a tolerant, free and progressive society in the face of it's own historical xenophobia. It has not been easy but it has been, at times, spectacularly successful in that struggle.

Its concern for, and it's discharge of, its moral and ethical obligations to East Timor in the last few years ago, for example, grew spontaneously from a sense of outraged urgency; as well as a lingering sense of public shame at decades of inaction and self interest which had resulted in a grovelling policy of appeasement to Indonesia.

In what were dangerous and desperate circumstances this nation managed to stand in solidarity with the suffering and oppression of the East Timorese people. It managed to chart a successful course through dangerous diplomatic waters and, in doing so, it managed to motivate and enlist world support to achieve a just, if tragically belated, outcome.

This concern for the plight of foreign nationals, with very different cultural and racial backgrounds to our own, was a clear demonstration of the capacity of ordinary Australians to engage and empathize with other ethnic groups.

That it grew so spontaneously from a grassroots sense of outrage; that it was strong enough to energise an effective political and military response , made it even more laudable. It showed that the 'average man in the street' still of had some clear notion of the concepts of compassion and a 'fair go'.

This is perhaps why I currently find Australia's appalling response to our recent arrivals ('illegal immigrants'/'refugees'... whichever politically tainted term you prefer), so devastating, disappointing and confusing.

Quite apart from the large number of adults who are currently being held in detention centres in remote locations throughout Australia and on selected offshore islands, there are some 582 children who will spend this Christmas/Hanukkah/Ramadan in custody. The conditions in these Centres range from 'boring but benign' in the city based units... to absolutely soul destroying in the more remote ones.

At the Christmas Island Detention Centre several hundred detainees are reportedly housed in a single tin barn. There are no separate cubicles in this common area where beds are stacked against the wall during the day.

Under restrictions far more draconian than those accorded to even our most hardened convicted criminals, the detainees are not allowed access to news media and are prevented from sending or receiving correspondence. They are given no firm date of release and, if the policies of our present Government persist, will be held without trial, without processing and without hope of release, perhaps for years.

A recent report in as conservative a publication as The Australian Medical Journal has raised grave concerns about the long turn psychological impact of such treatment, particularly upon children held in such conditions. Since previous statistics show that eventually 85 percent of these people will be found to be genuine refugees and released into Australian society, it is clear that there may well be a long term price for our community to pay for such short sighted policies.

The obvious and apparent strategy by the Howard Government of keeping the prisoners in isolated locations, away from the scrutiny of the media, is a bid to minimise public sympathy and eliminate political dissent. It is classic 'concentration camp' politics that even Stalin would have been proud of.

The international response to Australia's reprehensible behavior is both predictable and highly deserved. What is now being said of us is exactly what Australians themselves have been saying about other nations whose disregard for basic human rights has made them international pariahs in recent years.

For the first time in my life I am deeply ashamed of my nation. And that, coming from someone who has spent the last 15 years recording and extolling the virtues of the Australian character in story and song, is no small statement.

I am absolutely staggered by the massive public support (estimated at 70%) the government has had for it's current response. I can only conclude that Australia has either given into completely to the worst side of it's nature or that, as a result of skillful political propaganda, it has been divided, manipulated and deceived.

I would prefer to believe the latter. And in that somewhat optimistic hope, I want to spend a little time dealing with some of the more spectacular examples of 'muddled thinking' to have surfaced around the issue in recent times.

Firstly there is the proposition, ridiculous as it seems, that refugees fleeing the brutal oppression of fundamentalist Islamic regimes such as the Taliban would seek to introduce fundamentalist regimes of oppression in Australia. I say ridiculous because it is no more likely that such a thing would ever occur that it was that the Jews fleeing Hitler would have opened a local chapter of the Nazi Party in their newly adopted countries.

In the 50's and 60's refugees from Eastern Bloc countries were not pro-Communist. They were fanatically anti-totalitarian and, as I observed in "Flicker of an Eye", were more likely to be vigilant about the erosion of our democratic freedoms than their more apathetic Australian cousins.

Secondly, there was the historically insupportable proposition that terrorists would choose too infiltrate Australia by seeking to secrete themselves amongst refugees. Not one of the terrorists who were involved in the recent New York and Washington outrages entered the US illegally. They came in on commercial flights. They all held genuine passports or visas and many of them had been living and working within the U.S. for years. Terrorist groups, particularly the kind of well organized networks capable of planning and executing such vast atrocities, are not so stupid as to draw attention to their operatives by sending them into countries as illegal immigrants; thereby risking their incarceration or exposure. Yes, such infiltration is possible; but it is highly illogical. Refugees are nothing like the security threat that the government has sought to infer.

Thirdly, there is the hypocritical withdrawal of public sympathy from the current refugees on the basis that many had paid substantial sums of money to "People smugglers" to escape their native countries. I say hypocritical because I doubt there would be one Australian parent who would not move Heaven and Earth; who would not sell everything they owned and pay whatever was necessary; to escape a situation which genuinely threatened the lives and wellbeing of their children. The mother of the three Iraqi children who were tragically drowned off the coast of Australia recently had fled Iraq after she watched her own father dragged out and hanged by Saddam Hussein's henchman on the charge of supporting the banned Opposition Party. The lack of concern the Australian government had for this family in the midst of such terrible grief was monstrous. The husband, already in Australia, was told that if he joined his grieving wife in Indonesia he would not be allowed to return; ending forever their hopes of a safe haven in this country.

Yes, it is true that many of the refugees have escaped because they were economically capable of it. That, however, does not make the circumstances of their flight or the brutality of the repression which they have suffered; or the terror under which they and their children may have lived any less deserving of our sympathy. Only the small minded downward-envy of a genuine bigot could suggest it should.

It is a great tragedy is that the truly poor have not also escaped; but it is doubly hypocritical that Australia has not done anything to lessen their plight while seeking to damn the more affluent who have managed to flee.

At a time when Europe is processing nearly half a million refugees per year, Australian officials, under the direction of the Department of Immigration, have managed to process a disgraceful 50 successful Afghan refugee applications. The Government's apologists then pretend to be outraged when people 'jump the queue'. The truth is there is no queue. The window is effectively, and I suspect quite deliberately, shut and locked.

It recently came to light that one recent "illegal immigrant" had been a successful applicant under the Australian Immigration program but had eventually taken the illegal route because he had, after years, finally given up hope of ever seeing his 'successful' status being acted upon. Australia's bureaucratic red tape and 'foot dragging' is either the product of the most massive underfunding and incompetency ever seen in a government department... or it is deliberate international policy.

Lastly, there is the statement of "high principal" made by one Sydney shock jock on talk back radio who said " it is clear that the majority of right minded Australians believe that people arriving in this country illegally, particularly those with suspected criminal backgrounds should never even be allowed to get their foot in the door"

Sadly, he was absolutely correct in assuming that the majority of Australians agreed with him. But it made me wonder why he and his equally paranoid and patriotic listeners ever celebrate Australia Day.

It was, after all, on that day that a fleet of ships bearing illegal British immigrants, (the majority of which had proven criminal backgrounds ) arrived in this country... and took over.

What was that about Matthew: Chapter Two. Verses 1-28?

For those who don't have a New Testament handy, it concerns the section of Christmas Story where Joseph, Mary and Jesus, escape as refugees into Egypt, forced to flee Israel before the mass slaughter of newborns perpetrated by Herod in his attempt to eliminate this percieved new threat to his throne. (It seems that The Three Wise Men weren't all that wise to have consulted with him.)

They lived in Egypt for a considerable time at the mercy of foreigners until their return to Israel became possible after Herod's Death. Even then, however, they were too frightened to return to Judea and settled instead in Galilee, which, according to the story, is why Jesus grew up in Nazareth.

So I wonder... when Australian families who voted for these shameful policies, (policies supported equally by both the Liberal and Labor Parties), sit down after church on Christmas Morning this year; in the safety of their nicely decorated homes; in the presence of own children; and when news reports show them the dark and frightened eyes of refugee Arabic children; eyes which have often seen the saddest of all possible things...whose eyes will they see?

Pat Drummond

Editor

Recommended Website - Children out of Detention at http://www.autositecreator.com.au:80/websites/10439/index.htm

Recommended Reading http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/Mark Day "Decency versus the Spin Doctors"

Related Songs: * Among The Refugees (2002) and Flicker Of An Eye (1987)

PAT
Subject:
RE: Editorial
Date:
Mon, 24 Dec 2001 09:30:30 +1100
From:
"Neale" <neale@parramattamission.org.au>
To:
<patdrum@lisp.com.au>

Dear Pat,

Thank you for sticking your neck out into this new conservative country called Australia. It is a different country that you have been looking at for the past 50 years. I am glad that you are not part of the new landscape.

I share your feelings of shame for Australia. I have travelled widely in Australia and I have lived in South America as an immigrant fro some time. I know many people who hold conservative views on immigration, however I was truly shocked by the number of people who jumped on board the Tampa bandwagon and began to treat people fleeing life trhreatening situations as criminals. I thought that our culture and our history would allow us to still believe that there was a place for those who needed hospitality and rest for the weary. That when all is said and done, there really is enough room for people in this country especially thosewho are in danger. But I was mistaken. Under the leadership of politicians with burning personal ambitions we have had our country changed forever. Our dark side has been exposed and it will take us years to recover if indeed we ever want to recover. I fear that this is the end of the 'fair go'.

I'll stop before I get into sermon mode. But this year I read Henry Reynolds book "This Whispering in our Hearts" and I commend it to you. However it is the quote from the title that I think is appropriate. In the late 1800's after giving a 2 hour lecture on why Aboriginal people had no legal claim on the land and why they had no legal status in the new country, the lecturer (whose name alludes me) stopped his argument against Aboriginal people and said. If all this is true and we know it to be true then "Why are our minds not satisfied? What speaks this whispering in our Hearts?"

We may have taken a hard line on refugees but as your editorial indicates, something is wrong. "What speaks this whispering in the bottom of our hearts?"

Neale Roberts

Subject: Refugees

Joels Web Services <joel@jweb.com.au>

I do not wish to listen to Pat Drummond, and I respectfully request that you remove me from your mailing list.

I have absolutely no interest in any of the topics you discuss, nor am I interested in attending any of your performances.

I especially DO NOT sympathise with anyone who supports ILLEGAL refuges attempting to enter our peaceful society at the expense of the common
taxpayer. There is a legal process that all immigrants must follow should they wish to become Australian citizens. The practise of entering the country illegally via the backdoor is not acceptable.

Would you let a complete stranger enter your household???

I think not.

If these so called "refuges" are disappointed with their treatment by the Australian government then there is always the option to return to whence they came. The masochistic practice o sowing ones mouth closed is both deplorable and ridiculous. If they are wishing to obtain the support of the Australian public, then sadistic abuse of their children is not the answer.

I ask that you please think twice and review the circumstances before mounting the political bandwagon and embarking on the latest publicity "trend".

Signed,

A Dedicated Australian

Pat Drummond wrote:

Well G'day, Joel

It's certainly nice to talk to another 'dedicated Australian' like myself.

Joels Web Services wrote: I have absolutely no interest in any of the topics you discuss.

Well, clearly that's not true. You have a very great interest in the topic or otherwise you would not have replied so fully :) for which I thank you. Let me, therefore, reply to your concerns.

Joels Web Services wrote: I especially DO NOT sympathise with anyone who supports ILLEGAL refuges

Actually that's refugees, and they are not illegal. Under Australian and International Law (The Convention on Refugees) ratified by The Liberal Party in the 1950's under Robert Menzies, anyone has the right to land in Australia without application and without the appropriate papers if they claim they are fleeing persecution and are 'at risk'. That makes all these people LEGAL immigrants until a court finds that they are not. Since, statistically, 85% of them have to date been found by the courts to be genuine refugees and are therefore LEGAL immigrants, the issue is not whether they will be released. The great majority of them will be, albeit somewhat psychologically damaged and resentful. The real issue is how long we will hold them in prison before they are given access to processing. Some of them have now been held for periods of up to three years which is suspension of Habeus Corpus and a vast breach of human rights.

Joels Web Services wrote: attempting to enter our peaceful society at the expense of the common taxpayer

Since you are concerned about the common taxpayer perhaps you should be aware that the cost of paying the American private prison contractors, Wackenhut PTY LTD, to imprison these men women and children without charge and for unspecified periods is estimated (by the Government, not me) to be about $50,000 dollars per year, per person (not to mention the millions we are now pouring into Naurau and New Guinea to take them under John Howard's Pacific Solution.)

Releasing them into the community (as we have standardly done for decades,) even if we were paying them the full dole would cost less than half of this.

If these so called "refuges" are disappointed with their treatment by the Australian government then there is always the option to return to whence they came.

Sure there is, Joel. Read this. Case study 3

Joels Web Services wrote: There is a legal process that all immigrants must follow should they wish to become Australian citizens. The practice of entering the country illegally via the backdoor is not acceptable.

Mmmm Clearly you've never read Catch 22. The legal process you refer to involves these people making application for immigration to the very people who want to harm them. It would be like the Jews asking the Gestapo for permission to flee Germany in World War 2. You can't surely be that naive. And that's just one side of it.

At a time when Europe is processing nearly half a million refugees per year, Australian officials, under the direction of the Department of Immigration, have managed to process a disgraceful 50 successful Afghan refugee applications. The Government's apologists then pretend to be outraged when people 'jump the queue'. The truth is there is no queue. The window is effectively, and I suspect quite deliberately, shut and locked.

Joels Web Services wrote: Would you let a complete stranger enter your household???

I think not.

If they were in genuine and present danger from people who wished to harm them (as the Australian courts have ruled that some 85% of these people are), I would certainly do so. I would be morally and, possibly, legally obliged to; and, as a dedicated Australian, (which means that you believe in decency and compassion) I suspect you would too.

Joels Web Services wrote: The masochistic practice o sowing ones mouth closed is bothdeplorable and ridiculous. If they are wishing to obtain the support of the Australian public, then sadistic abuse of their children is not the answer.

I suppose you also believed, the now exposed slanderous lie that those children were thrown into the water by their parents. Don't you know when you are being lied to and manipulated? And how can you possibly cross check the goivernment's propoganda when Australian journalists are now being arrested for simply going too near the detainees.?

It is completely illogical to believe that Parents who have risked everything to gain a better future for their children; who have begged borrowed and sold everything they own to pay a bunch of lowlife smugglers to save their families from death and torture would then recklessly endanger them. Think about it.

Joels Web Services wrote: I ask that you please think twice and review the circumstances before mounting the political bandwagon and embarking on the latest publicity "trend".

Hey, musicians belong on 'bandwagons' :) but if, by that, you mean I am doing this because it's popular; you should think twice also. Standing up for these vilified, slandered, brutalised children and their parents is the loneliest corner of Australia at the moment, and will be for some time to come, or at least until good and decent folks like yourself, work out that this is a issue of morality, not politics.

It is never acceptable to imprison people for long periods of time without charge or trial. Never. It is not acceptable to deliberately delay their 'day in court' for years as a politically motivated deterrent to the arrival of other unfortunates; all in the hope of making them more terrified of us than their current oppressors. Or in the hope that they will all be foisted onto another country, such as New Zealand, with enough moral courage to accept them.

If it happened to you, or your children, how long would it be before you started rioting? Six months? Eight months? Two years?

Such violations of Freedom are against every law that Australia is built on, and against everything that a 'dedicated Australian' like yourself holds dear.

The international response to Australia's current reprehensible behaviour is both predictable and highly deserved. What is now being said of us is exactly what Australians themselves has said about other nations whose disregard for basic human rights has made them international pariahs in previous years

You now have a personal problem, Joel. It's this. Before you wrote to me you could have claimed that you didn't know what was going on in the camps,

You could have comfortably claimed that you didn't know what the conditions were...what the issues were. You can't claim that anymore.

Here is a link. http://www.julianburnside.com/ (if this link is overloaded try this edited one)

Julian Burnside is prominent QC and one of the few people able to gain access to the camps since he was representing the refugees in the Tampa case in the high court. You can read his report at this site.

It's entitled Refugees, The Tampa Case. Read Section 10 The early sections are about the legal background of the case. Section 10 concerns the actual way we have, and are still, treating these people.

You will either read Julian Burnside's report and respond; or like the German civilian population in World War 2, you will turn your back.

Refuse to read it, or read it and fail to respond, and you will become personally complicit in what is being done in your name.

Remember that I said this was a issue of morality, not politics. This is not just about what you will allow your government to do.

It is also about what kind of people we will choose to be.

All The Best

Pat

Subject: Refugees
From:
"Dobe Newton" <adobe@netspace.au>
To:
<patdrum@lisp.com.au>

Good on you Pat!
Dobe

I've just read your deliberations post September Eleventh in editorial #6. Like you I've become painfully aware in recent months of the pressure to choose sides. It began prior to the Trade Centre tradgedy with Tampa. I've been out of step with mainstream media opinion on occasions, but with Tampa I was the odd one out with many friends, neighbours and work coleagues.

Back when the asylum seekers where still on board the Tampa the topic came up at a backyard barbeque. I called them asylum seekers but the main terms in that backyard were 'queue jumpers', 'illegal immigrants' and even'terrorists'. It was a local, backyard get together and the people there were all neighbours, some good friends among them.

I knew what was being presented about the issue on TV, radio and the papers was all negative but it was still a surprise to find I was the only one who didn't think the people on the should be "sent back to where they came from" or even "left to drown".

I began to put my argument by telling the assembled group I thought they were all racist or hard hearted. A lack of judgement I put down to the either the heat or the amount of wine I'd drunk. Either way name calling proved not to be the way to change their opinions. I just got a few names, like "wimp" and "soft touch" thrown back at me.

The level of debate did improve after that and I learnt that my friends were mainly against allowing the people on the Tampa into Australia because they feared thousands of others would follow and they would take Aussie places in our schools and hospitals, with our kids, our elderly and our sick having to take second place in line.

I'm don't rely on the Telegraph and the Channel 9 news for all my info on current affairs, I also tune in to ABC radio, so I was able to point out that their fears about possible numbers were exaggerated. However, we also got into debate about most of the asylum seekers/illegal imigrants were Moslems or Hindis. This made me aware of my own lack of knowledge about these religions and I have spent the last few months reading about them.

After a lot of reading I'm of the opinion that they have more similarities to Christian beliefs than they do differences. That, like like Christianity, they have been practiced in varying forms over the centuries in different parts of the world and that even now they find expression in diverse ways. However, reading about these other theocracies has only strengthened my own atheism.

Seven paragraphs and seven main thoughts is what the human mind is able to process in one session so I'll stop there for today and finish by saying I enjoyed the show at the Carrington last night. It again struck me how similar in phrasing and expression

Your reference to Piaget made me suspect a background in teaching. My friend Jan, who introduced me to your song writing, tells me you did a bit of teacher training before opting for the vagaries of life as a musician. I'd like to see your opinions on the current state of Australian educational institutions posted on the website.

Take care,

Gary!

Dear Pat

It 's sad to see you bringing Politics into your songs in such a big way. We have all agreed with your songs on people losing there jobs through
progress at any cost...and the rights of people to speak their mind and I respect that, but sometimes things get blurred by fiction,

For the most part real refugees are released within 3 months if they prove who they are. The children who are in these centres are looked after better than many children are in the outback of Australia and in the Sydney not so good areas we all know .Many parents choose not to have their children fostered out because like any parent they are unsure what or where they are going. I take offence to the camps being called concentration camps in respect to the many Jews who died in true concentration camps of death not these ones where they are educated fed and housed in conditions not perfect but better than a lot of our own Australians.

Your song Spirit Of The Southern Shore speaks of a land where all people of all races are welcome; and that will always be true but you and I do not leave
our front doors open to let anyone in and we have a right to decide who comes to our country for we must never forget Sept 11th and we must always strive to welcome those who are truly needy but never welcome those who do not respect us or our country.Take some time to sit down and listen to the people who have migrated here and hear what they are saying ,Listen to the prison guards and see what they say about the minority in the camps who cause all the trouble not the true refugees who are grateful for a chance to settle hear and wait the 3 months without complaining and are eager to contribute to our great country.

Mate, I will always love your songs and will hope to catch up with you soon but do not get carried away with all the crap that is being printed and broadcasted by people only interested in a story not the truth.Things sometimes could be done better but they could be allot worse.

Rob Elliott

Reply:

Rob Elliott wrote:

Dear Pat it sad to see you bringing Politics into your songs in such a big
way. We have all agreed with your songs on people loosing there jobs through
progress at any cost and the rights of people to speak their mind and I
respect that but..

Hi Rob,

Mate I think you know me better than that. My songs have always had a political dimension. Desperation in the Promised Land. (1987) The Kelly Option (1996), Who are these people (2001), The Ballad of Robert Askin (1983) The Police Brutality Black and Blues (1971), not to mention all the songs I wrote during the Moratorium days.

But as someone who actually has so many of my albums, I think you would agree that essentially the thrust of my writing was always to struggle with the ethical issues far more than the political ones. Make no mistake, Rob, I believe this is an ethical, not a political issue.

It is primarily about whether or not it is just to imprison people, for indefinite periods without charge. It is about whether it is just to imprison children for long periods because their parents are being held. It is about whether we should claim rights and freedoms for ourselves which we are prepared to ruthlessly deny to others., And I mean the most important and basic of those freedoms. Habeus Corpus, the right to recourse for violent behaviour committed against us, the right to have our children protected from abuse, the right of Free speech, the capacity to have our grievances heard in the media and in parliament, the right to redress for wrongful slander. Even, it seems, the right to an apology when we have been lied about.

What I think is sad, Rob, is that something, which is considered an ethical statement when an audience agrees with you, suddenly becomes a political one when they don't. You know from my public statements over the years that I was merciless in my criticisms of The Keating government in much of it's agenda on globalisation. How come that wasn't 'political' by your standards? Could it be that it was because you agreed with me?

Given that both major parties supported the fundamentally evil policy of indefinite detention for refugees at the last election, I can hardly see that it was a political issue when I first took up the cudgel. No matter which brand of politician prevailed, the outcome for these poor souls would have been the same.

What you are not truly coming to terms with, mate, is the fact that these people have been subjected to this treatment, treatment condemned by the United Nations and the world at large, as a means of discouraging others from coming here. Their suffering is a weapon that this government wields against the true criminals, the people smugglers. The more acute that suffering and the longer it's duration; the greater it's effect is, in strategic terms. But such a tactic is morally corrupt under all circumstances. Good people simply cannot endure the suffering of a child under our jurisdiction in order that the government be able to frustrate or intimidate a criminal elsewhere....no matter how effective that strategy is. In very simplistic terms it would be like the police imprisoning your neighbour's child to serve as a warning to you. It is morally reprehensible in all circumstances.

The "It's Working" Headline in the Telegraph headlines last Month, and the political capital that Howard and Ruddock sought to make from the falling number of refugee arrivals, underlined the fact that the government is quite open in it's pursuit of the 'deterrent ' effect that it is doubtlessly gaining from it's it's appalling treatment of it's most recent detainees.

Rob Elliott wrote:

..but sometimes things get blurred by fiction,

I can only agree Rob. The trouble is that the emergence of anything but fiction in this debate has been massively difficult because the government has deliberately and knowingly withheld or distorted the truth for political purposes. It is very difficult to hear the actual stories that might humanise these people because the are deliberately held separate from the community; and access to the media has been seriously restricted for them. Given that all the information, until recently, was emanating from the governments own propaganda machine, if there was fiction abroad it had only one source from which to grow.

Rob Elliott wrote:

I take offence to the camps being called concentration camps in

respect to the many Jews who died in true concentration camps of death not

these ones where they are educated fed and housed in conditions not perfect

but better than al lot of our own Australians.

Firstly Rob I did not call them extermination camps. They are not. I called them concentration camps which they literally are.

The fact that the term makes you uncomfortable is because it should.

Look at the editorial, however. I do not suggest anywhere that these camps were meant to cause anyone's death, but inevitably they will.

Don't go on hearsay ;read Julian Burnside's accounts of the actual conditions at Woomera

Here is a link. http://www.julianburnside.com/ if this link is overloaded try this edited one

Rob Elliott wrote

For the most part real refugees are released within 3 months if they prove
who they are, The children who are in these centres are looked after better
than many children are in the outback of Australia and in the Sydney not so
good areas we all know.

Mate., I know you are a good and decent bloke so I think you deserve to have some of the information that has been withheld from you about these places and the effect they are having or their inhabitants.

I'm also going send it in the accompanying email, but I can't make you read it. That will take a little effort of will. Some of it was procured courageously in circumstances last month which made the prison officials and the government furious and led early this week to a fiery interchange between the Immigration Dept's chief of Staff Anne Duffield and our group. I have included that correspondence for your perusal as well. Under very real fears of retribution against the family themselves, the doctors who worked so hard to obtain this material asked me to remove it from the WEBSite early this week.

For the general public, here is what you can read Case Study 1 (currently non operational at families request)

Case study 2

The point of all this Rob is that these people are not some some faceless threat, taking our country by stealth, taking us all for a ride. They are desperate human beings whose stories are heartbreaking beyond belief; but those stories will never be allowed to be told to the general public because it undermines the governments appalling strategy.

Rob Elliott wrote:

Your song The Spirit Of The Southern Shore speaks of a land where all people of all races are welcome and that will always be true but you and I don not leave
our front doors open to let anyone in and we have a right to decide who comes to our country for we must never forget Sept 11th

Mmmmm. Rob, that comment leads me to suspect that you never did read the Editorial. I dealt with that matter specifically. Let me refresh your memory...

"Secondly , there was the historically insupportable proposition that terrorists would choose to infiltrate Australia by seeking to secrete themselves amongst refugees. Not one of the terrorists who were involved in the recent New York and Washington outrages entered the US illegally. They came in on commercial flights. They all held genuine passports or visas and many of them had been living and working within the U.S. for years. Terrorist groups, particularly the kind of well organized networks capable of planning and executing such vast atrocities, are not so stupid as to draw attention to their operatives by sending them into countries as illegal immigrants; thereby risking their incarceration or exposure. Yes, such infiltration is possible; but it is highly illogical. Refugees are nothing like the security threat that the government has sought to infer."

Rob Elliott wrote:

and we must always strive to welcome those who are truly needy but never welcome those who do
not respect us or our country.

Ah Rob... how can you make such a sweeping statement? We are talking about thousands of different individuals here for God's sake. That such stereotypical generalisations can pass so easily among us is a fundamental error. I'm sorry, mate but it is. Those refugees that do not respect us are more than likely reacting to how we have behaved, not from any genaralisations of their own. And to tell the truth I am finding it increasingly difficult to respect us or our country at the moment.

Rob Elliott wrote:

Take some time to sit down and listen to the
people who have migrated here and hear what they are saying ,Listen to the
prison guards and see what they say about the minority in the camps who
cause all the trouble not the true refugees who are grateful for a chance
to settle hear and wait the 3 months without complaining and are eager to
contribute to our great country.

What is most significant Rob is that we are hearing those voices, the voices of older immigrants (like Joel) and the voices of the Wakenhut/US employed prison guards who make their living from these places; they are on the media every day; on Allan Jones and in the letters to the editor columns. But when was the last time you heard from the detainees.? It was when they rioted. That is the only way they can talk to you. You can't expect to have anything like a balanced view of the truth while that situation persists. I urge you to read all the links attached to this email. It will certainly give you different side of the story.

Oh ands that three month processing statement is patently untrue, Rob. I don't know what your source is but even were it to have some foundation in truth, it would only apply to a tiny minority of detainees. Those with full documentation. As I pointed out to Joel the other night the prospect that genuine refugees would have any sort of papers is nothing short of laughable. Read the account of the Jizan family's interaction with their home authority. (Seperate confidential email marked :supplementary reading)

As I said above "Clearly, the legal process you refer to involves these people making application for immigration to the very people who want to harm them. It would be like the Jews asking the Gestapo for permission to flee Germany in World War 2. You can't surely be that naive. And that's just one side of it.

At a time when Europe is processing nearly half a million refugees per year, Australian officials, under the direction of the Department of Immigration, have managed to process a disgraceful 50 successful Afghan refugee applications. The Government's apologists then pretend to be outraged when people 'jump the queue'. The truth is there is no queue. The window is effectively, and I suspect quite deliberately, shut and locked."

Rob Elliott wrote:

Mate I will always love your songs and will hope to catch up with you soon
but do not get carried away with all the crap that is being printed and
broadcasted by people only interested in a story not the truth. Things
sometimes could be done better but they could be allot worse

And I value your friendship and support too, Rob, but don't you be caught up with the vilification and the lies that are being told to you about these people; so that you might feel easy in accepting the unacceptable.

It's frightening but the mongrel that Germany called it's Fuhrer once said

"The size of a lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed,
for the vast masses of a nation are in the depths of their hearts more
easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The
primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie
than a small one, for they themselves tell little lies but would be ashamed
to tell big ones."

Adolf Hitler - "Mein Kampf"

Consider this. You are well aware of the names and the faces of Reith and Barrie and the others who lied to you in the 'children overboard' scandal; you have heard them tell their version of the story on TV. They have access to you. You have heard from Howard and Ruddoch and Beazley and the parade of politicians whose version of the facts you also seem to willingly accept. You are shown them every day. They also have access to you.

Think for a minute ....can you see in your mind's eye the face of one detainee? Before tonight, did you even know one of them by name? Had you ever heard one of their stories? If not, why?

My bullshit detector is very sharply tuned and I have always found one rule of thumb to be faultless in determining who is lying to me in any situation. Look always to the one who is working the hardest to restrict the flow of information, to suppress investigation, to threaten legal or financial retribution for 'whistle blowers'; to argue that the national interest doesn't allow the nation to be trusted with the truth.

Inevitably that is the one who is lying. And often for very dangerous reasons.

Remember that scene in A Few good Men ?

"The Truth? You can't handle the truth!"

I think we can. But when we do, the consequences for those who were complicit in all of this will be extensive.

Pat

Subject: Re- Refugees
From:
"Rob Elliott" <soap@lightstorm.com.au wrote:>
To:
<patdrum@lisp.com.au>

Dear Pat

I have no problem with your point of view and respect it, Pat, even though I would have to agree to disagree on some issues.

I was concerned that due to this issue being so emotional and people having such strong views about it, you would alienate many of your long time fans.

While I have always known your music to touch many a raw nerve (and sometimes rightfully so and yes, mostly I agreed with what you had to say) this issue, I suppose, strikes a cord far deeper with me than many of your past efforts.

It would be good if the true refugees in these camps were processed quicker to get them away from the trouble makers that do their cause no good. I have read the attached mail you sent me... and it is very sad state.

I would like to know why they have been there so long. There surely must be some reason.

I hope its not just because they didn't have their papers. I do know any refugee who has papers gets processed quickly so there must be more to it than that surely. I hope that for the children's sake that something is resolved quickly.

I believe that we may be seeing you on Friday night at Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL

Regards

Rob

Pat Drummond Wrote

I agree, Rob

It is surely the issue of processing speed that is central to this whole debate. It is the time factor, and how it is manipulated or neglected , that marks the difference between a sane screening policy and a policy of unjustifiable incarceration. As to my fans, well I think they have always expected me to follow my own heart. I don't think they would want me to change now. Some things are such that you can't afford to count the cost. You have do what you think is right.

See you soon

Pat

Helen Osborn

Hamilton Victoria

Subject Refugees

Hi Pat,

Being a musical person, do you know the words to the second verse of Advance Australia Fair? (Actually it's the third verse, but it is always accepted as the second verse). It has a wonderful 'migrant theme'. Maybe those of us supporting the Asylum Seekers should have as a war cry "Second Verse First"!
Here 'tis

Beneath our radiant southern Cross,
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

And here's where I got it from
http://www.hamilton.net.au/advance.html

Very best wishes
Helen Osborn
Strahan
Tasmania

Mark Blofield <blowy1@lisp.com.au>
Re: Who is that refugee? - Terrific song
Mark Blofield wrote:
That song is really terrific, Pat. Stirred the emotions in me.

I hope you have sent a copy to Howard and Ruddock.

Regards,
Mark.

Dear Pat,

Quite impressed by your fervour re the asylum-seeker issues, and
by the way, I've never before received such an email from a musician on a
current issue. I'll put your email here into my what's new page (for free,
by the way).

Enjoy the year!

Kind regards, Dan Byrnes

Dear Pat,

Voltaire once said and I paraphrase "I disagree with some of what you say but would defend to the death your right to say it"

Our borders are being breached by a new element not forseen by our forbears. Those of us who serve to defend our culture, rights and priviliedges are just as concerned as those who seek to dismantle the refugee mangement process.

What we need is a workable solution to the way in which we process illegal refugees. If every person seekeing refugee status was a victim of war, terror and violence then we could have an open and more free approach to their management. The reality is that we need to make sure those who are part of the process of war, are active participants in promoting and using terror and violence are identified and removed from our soil before they can promote their style of behaviour with the vivtims being our inocent members of society.

We are not used to terrorism and the use of violence against our citizens as a means of achieving a cause. Some of those who seek to enter our country have lived all their life in such a regime and some are active promotors of the process - see children sewing their lips and other people jumping off fences onto barbed wire. These things scare the average Australian. Not just because of the barbarism, but because of the state of mind of those who promote and encourage such actions.

I wish you and all the others at the rally my best and hope you raise the need for a more effective way to manage the refugee problem. It is not however in the disbandment of a process of illegal refugee control but I would hope be seen and promoted as a need to speed the review/acceptance or refusal of the refugees far more quickly.

My fear is that the likely outcome of any public rally will be the process being sped up by simply deciding that if you don't fit the information we have by a certain date you will be sent back. The likleyhood of sending people back to further repression and violence can not be underestimated if such action is taken.

So where do we finish up. Keep them behind the wire until we are certain? - this may take years. Process them faster on the basis of "if in doubt throw them out" or is there a workable solution somewhere in between?

Pat, I would love to see them processed faster on a 'fair go basis' but how would we stand if it is your neighbour or relative that becomes the victim of a person who enters this country though a slip shod refugee processing system?

Am I a pesimist, no, I am an idealist and in an ideal world only true refugees would be at our door. I hope you find a way

regards

Glenn

Subject: Refugees
From:
"Craig Dawson" <craigdaws@yahoo.com.au>
To:
<patdrum@lisp.com.au>Hello Pat.

Extremely well done. Great song and great editorial. I
wish you all the best and hopefully we will catch up
at the National.

Cheers,
Craig

28/7/02 1:45 PM
Subject: Welcome your editorial on asylum seekers
John launder <hiway8@netconnect.com.au>

Hi Pat,

I have just discovered your page.

I am a 61 year old 4th generation Australian of basically conservative views as far as society and moral values go, but I am absolutely dismayed at the type of intolerant society our pollies (especially Howard and co.) are helping to create with their shameful approach to the issue of asylum seekers.

Keep exposing the bastardries of self-seeking, selfish pollies and the harm that is been done to our Australian society. I have had a long commitment to helping refugees to Australia for over 25 years and I see the efforts of so many thousands of Australians over those years to create a wonderful caring multi-cultural society being destroyed by the meanness, deceit and divisive group of people that lead this country.

Best wishes

John Launder

Subject: Refugees

Pat,

You're a champ! The song is brilliant and I couldn't agree more with your editorial......I hope Mr Howard and Mr Ruddock are listening.

~Jessica~

Thanks Jessica

I suggest your check in at chilout from time to time and see what you can do in your hometown to raise awareness. They are at

http://www.autositecreator.com.au:80/websites/10439/index.htm

Along human rights lines, you might also like to sign the letter urgeing amnesty for this poor Nigerian Woman.

All the Best

4/7/02 12:41 PM
Geoff Mooney <canyon2000@iprimus.com.au>
Subject : Re: Refugees
Hi Pat,

Hope all is well and hope to catch another concert some time soon.

I read the editorial page and couldn't believe even some of your fans fall into the hysterically paranoid populace who find this issue so threatening. And I notice this is not just an Australian response. All over Europe centre-right governments are legislating to prevent the acceptance of refugees. Only this week the once socially progressive Denmark joined the list.

Without debating this in detail I simply ask people reading this to sit back and try and IMAGINE (in the John Lennon sense). If there is a God surely he sees us as one. And what must He think when he sees we who are relatively safe and comfortable turn our backs on those who suffer oppression, depravity and lack of opportunity. When they knock on our door for help and we turn them away, what could God possibly feel but shame.

If you don't belive in God try to imagine a visitor from outer space sending home a report card on human beings. If you can't imagine either of these things then I am sorry, you obviously only see the trees. It's really all about the forest.

And on the matter of strangers knocking on your door - in response to Joels Web Services which wrote: Would you let a complete stranger enter your household??? I think not. - I say, most definitely. I believe it's really what life is all about, giving and sharing and making a difference, for this is the only way a society can properly function. No man is an island, we simply cannot survive without each other. Try talking to a stranger in the street (or train, or whatever). The more you do it the greater the satisfaction and the brighter the light that is shed.

I submit the following quotes for consideration:

"Each of us has a spark of life inside us, and our highest endeavor ought to be to set off that spark in one another."
- Kenny Ausubel

In about the same degree as you are selfless, you will be happy.
-- Karl Reiland

And finally one of mine.

Every choice we make is motivated by fear or love. Choose love every time.

Geoff Mooney.

16/6/02 10:06 AM

Dear Pat
Some time ago you wrote 'Coming Home', inspired by my story of trying to find roots back in England, and then returning here to the realisation of what a fantastic place Australia really is. I have been right around this planet, not to every country, but to every continent, and I can say without any fear of contradiction that this truly is the best place to be. I served in the RAN in Vietnam, and between my father my brother and myself we chalked up over seventy years of Naval service. Our patriotism could not be questioned.
This issue of refugees , or "bomb- throwers" as my local RSL compatriots term them, is a vexed one.There is seemingly no room for intelligent debate, as the proponents from both sides apparently wish to emotionalise every discussion. We are either under threat from a new terrorist invasion, or we are behaving like the Nazis in their repression and persecution of the Jews.
While it is acknowledged that the political spin doctors have the capacity to control the dissemination of information to a large degree - the truth will out, and they will be accountable. If it be the will of the people, based on that truth, to have the pariahs continue to administer the unfortunate individuals at the centre of the debate, then so be it. That is democracy, and I fear the alternative.

Restriction of access, which may inform us of the 'truth' is probably the biggest threat to democracy that we face, and I will take up arms once again, to defend the right to not only have freedom of thought and speech, but also freedom of information about what my elected government is actually up to.

Lest We Forget!
Kind Regards
Duncan Cole.

Hi Duncan

Thank you for such a thoughtful reply. I too fear any alternative to Democracy but, like you I fear a world where, in the guise of security considerations or the so called National interest, information is so suppressed that the decisions the electorate makes are so massively uninformed that they become distorted to the point where they can not be really construed as having been democratically arrived at.

Like you I believe in this nation and it's people. I beleive the vast majority of Australiand are decent human beings committed to Liberty. I also believe if we as a people were allowed to look at the histories of these currently faceless 'detainees'; if they became to us all... real people in prolonged detention without charge or trial; if we were allowed to see the effects that these conditions are having on them and their children....our reactions at the ballot box may well be substantially different.

But even if my confidence was to be unfounded, it must be said that even a Democracy is supposed to be limited by the principles of it's constitution. Our treatment of these people is absolutely unconstitutional and is only made possible by ruling that they do not exist inside Australia. In other words by creating places inside Australia, in detention camps and in excised territories, where the guaranteed rights and freedoms accorded by our law do not exist...territories which are excised and where the people who exist there are not allowed even the basic rights that 'habeas corpus' allows and over which we tell our courts they have no jurisdiction.

This kind of action is not the privilege of democratic decision making.

Democracies have many rights, Duncan, but when they seek to take from any class of people the very rights that democracies seek to uphold, the way Apartheid did in South Africa, The way Mugabi is currently doing in Zimbabwe, the way it happened in Rwanda; they cannot claim to be democracies any more and as such they will eventually lose their moral right to self determination.

It's a sobering thought.

All The Best

Pat

Graeme Morrison <leomorro@ozemail.com.au>

Saturday, 28 September 2002 1:23 PM

Pat,
I agree with your sentiments re refugees. You wrote that

"You were absolutely staggered by the massive public support (estimated at 70%) the government has had for it's current response. I can only conclude that Australia has either given into completely to the worst side of it's nature or that, as a result of skilful political propaganda, it has been divided, manipulated and deceived."

If the public sentiment is a result of skilful political propaganda, it is a chilling thought that our politicians are deliberately developing and nurturing this atmosphere of hate.It is unbelievable in the extreme, that such sentiment is actually fostered and encouraged. Who are the faceless persons who develop this policies. Since the demise of Pauline Hansons influence it appears that John Howard has secretly digested all her policies and now trumpets them as his own. The lack of informed debate in Parliament and the press is a big factor in allowing these policies to flourish. There is no proper discussion of the policies, just glib throw away comments designed to make the pollies look informed and sincere

The Labour Party also is not blameless. In the current build our to the State election Bob Carr and his opponent are constantly trying to outdo each other on "Law and Order". Instead of looking at why people commit crime both are hell bent on throwing away the key. NSW has twice the prison population of Victoria. Why?

The Politician parties treat the voters as mugs. In the upcoming by election for Cunningham (Wollongong) Labour has fielded Sharon Bird. Ms Bird used to be a left winger, but when she was constantly overlooked for party selection, turned turtle and became a right winger. Despite losing all she tried to stand for in Throsby, the Labour Party rewarded her for her patience and imposed her as the candidate for Cunningham even though she does not live in the electorate. Heaven help the constituents of Cunningham if she gets elected. How often does a politician do an about face before they become a politician. The Liberal Party could not even be bothered nominating a candidate,

But Pat there is hope. The local unions were so disgusted with the treatment being meted out by the Labour Party they fielded their own independent, Peter Wilson. This would have front page news years ago, Unions turning their back on Labour. In any event it has a least made the by election interesting, especially if there is a strong flow of preferences between the Greens and the independents

Thank you for the opportunity to express myself.

Graeme Morrison

Thanks for that Greame.

I still have hope.

Opinion seems to be shifting a little. Interesting to see the unions standing up to Labor on this. It was the the unions that were at the heart of the green bans in the sixties and seventies when most of the world disagreed with them. Lovers of older buildings and architecture, however, have a lot to be grateful for in the year 2003. Some things take a while and face a lot of opposition, but they are worth working for. Well done.

Keep swingin' the hammer

Pat

I Feel as if we're becoming the pariahs of the world: won't sign the Kyoto protocol, capitalise on the plight of refugees for political reasons, cling to the grubby skirts of Miss America whatever she does, can't think for ourselves etc. I am still proud that this is my adopted country, but we need to take a good clear look at why there are refugees (Who supplies the weapons that are used by nations to persecute their own people?), why so many go hungry when we don't (Who controls the price, supply and distribution of food?), why third world countries are saddled with unpayable debts (Who insists that third world countries make structural and economic adjustments that punish their own people before loans are made - and then who pays only lip service to the notion of a fair and equitable trade balance?).

My heart goes out to anyone who is a victim of terrorism, but we must understand that the economic terrorism we western nations are engaged in kills millions each year it just doesn't make such a good T.V. show.The refugees who arrive on our shores, largely out of desperation are merely a symptom of the above.

Beats me why the real reasons for all this simmering hatred and desperation from the world's disenfranchised and dispossessed is so rarely discussed - does a "fair go" just mean a fair go for Australians? Surely this proud concept is worth exporting.

Paul Blest.

Launceston.

P.S. Thanks for being someone who speaks Australian to Australians so eloquently - even if you ain't been to Tassie for ages!

Thanks Paul

I hope get back to Tassie soon.

All The Best

Pat

Excerpt from January Chilout (Children Out Of Detention) Newsletter http://www.autositecreator.com.au:80/websites/10439/index.htm

Makes you wonder....

To make you really proud on Australia Day, as at 6 January 2003 DIMIA's
figures are there are:

33 children detained at Villawood,
49 at Baxter,
3 at Maribrynong,
20 at Port Hedland,
6 in the Woomera Housing Project,
169 on Nauru and
38 on Manus Island,
a grand total of 318 little souls incarcerated because our policy of
mandatory detention gives our honourable government "no choice" to do
otherwise.

The 207 on Nauru and Manus Island are getting little outside
intervention or support and have been held in conditions we know to be
deplorable for getting on for fifteen months now. Many are Afghanis who
neither qualify for refugee status nor feel safe enough to return home.
Our legislation simply states unathorised arrivals MUST be detained
until they can be deported, giving the government no option than to keep
them - for years if necessary.

All detainees are human yet the treatment we are meting out to them is
harsh and inhumane. ChilOut continues to call for compassion and common
sense to be applied to this situation. Not to mention economics. How
many millions of dollars is it costing to operate Baxter? And DIMIA's
figures show all this is to detain 231 men, women and children.

"John Mannion" <johnmannion@orroroo.com

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 15:16:00 +0930

Subject; Baxter

Pat, I read your editorial on refugees and have to respond. I used to be proud to be an Australian, but with the fiasco and propoganda surrounding our Govt treatment of those who arrive from less fortunate countries, I'm not sure anymore. I've visited Baxter twice now and found those I visited to be 'normal' human beings escaping to a better life - much as my Irish catholic ancestors in the 1860s. I agree there should be some screening, but not whilst being housed in what is a maximum security prison, with no views of the the outside world. That is no way to treat anyone, particularly children.

I believe in a fair go for all, as the lyrics of our national anthem state, but it seems that's as far as it goes - words!

John Mannion

Peterborough SA

Dear Pat

Some time ago you wrote Coming Home, inspired by my story of trying to find roots back in England, and then returning here to the realisation of what a fantastic place Australia really is. I have been right around this planet, not to every country, but to every continent, and I can say without any fear of contradiction that this truly is the best place to be. I served in the RAN in Vietnam, and between my father my brother and myself we chalked up over seventy years of Naval service. Our patriotism could not be questioned.

This issue of refugees , or "bomb- throwers" as my local RSL compatriots term them, is a vexed one.There is seemingly no room for intelligent debate, as the proponents from both sides apparently wish to emotionalise every discussion. We are either under threat from a new terrorist invasion, or we are behaving like the Nazis in their repression and persecution of the Jews.

While it is acknowledged that the political spin doctors have the capacity to control the dissemination of information to a large degree - =
the truth will out, and they will be accountable. If it be the will of the people, based on that truth, to have the pariahs continue to administer the unfortunate individuals at the centre of the debate, then so be it. That is democracy, and I fear the alternative.

Restriction of access, which may inform us of the 'truth' is probably the biggest threat to democracy that we face, and I will take up arms once again, to defend the right to not only have freedom of thought and speech, but also freedom of information about what my elected government is actually up to.

Lest We Forget!

Kind Regards
Duncan Cole.

Endnote:

December 2005.

After a long campaign by members of Chilout and likeminded organisations sufficient pressure was brought to bear upon the Australian government to result in crucial members of the Federal Liberal Party (notably Petro Georgio and Judi Moylan ) to float a conscience driven Private Members Bill to overturn key planks of the Mandatory Detention policy; most significantly in the area of the detention of children. Faced with the destruction of a policy central to the Howard Governmen'ts credibility, senior ministers brokered a compromise with the rebel MPs which resulted in the release of long term detainees and children from behind razor wire.

This has not completely dismantled the policy and allows for it's reintroduction in the event of large scale arrivals of refugees should they occur again in future but has taken a lot of heat out of the issue domestically and brings largely to a close one of the most shameful abuses of children by an elected government in Australia's history.

Further significant abuses of human rights by the Immigration department, most infamously in the case of one Australian Citizen Ms Alverez, illegally deported to the Phillipines have led to large damages suits against the government (as we predicted would inevitably happen)

In November 2005, an independent judicial inquiry has found the department guilty of a 'culture of abuse' which completely disregarded the basic human rights of it's 'clients' but although the Dept has been publically disgraced, John Howard in the the most significant rerversal of his vaunted policy of ministerial responsibility, has refused to ask Amanda Vanstone or her predecessor Philip Ruddock to take responsibility and resign from cabinet. Given Mr Howard's track record of dishonouring his word and misleading Australians on everything from the Iraq War to the 'Children overboard affair' this is not surprising.

And the 'good guys'?

Recognition finally came to the human rights campaigners in Dec 2005 when Chilout was awarded the HREOC Human Rights award for it's effective advocacy on behalf of detained Children. ( story below )

My congratulations go the magnificent Julian Burnside, to the original convenors of Chilout, the more recent director Dianne Hiles, internet activists Susan Metcalfe, Elaine and Geoff Smith, Jack Smit and all the other activists whose courageous and tireless efforts brought about these outcomes this year.

Pat Drummond

On 21/12/2005, at 11:16 PM, ChilOut wrote:

Special end of year message

Status report on children

At the end of July 2005, all children in detention centres were transferred with their families into community detention. There are 26 boys and 14 girls in community detention and a further 5 unaccompanied minors, 4 in foster care detention and one detained in hospital.

As at 9 December 2005, there are no children being held behind razor wire in high security immigration detention facilities. 

There are 45 children currently in immigration detention.
Our ongoing mission is now explained on our web site, www.chilout.org. 

ChilOut receives HREOC Award

At the Human Rights ad Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) awards lunch on December 9, ChilOut was honoured to receive the Community Organisation Award for Human Rights. The citation read:
"The judges credited ChilOut for their relentless campaign and their contribution in pressuring the federal government to remove children from Immigration Detention.
 
The group of "middle Australian mums and dads" that formed in 2001 after seeing the plight of a six year-old Iranian boy in immigration detention has demonstrated the remarkable power of committed individuals to achieve change. They showed the faces of the children behind razor wire and brought the suffering of those children into Australian living rooms - confronting us all with the reality of children in detention.
 
ChilOut supported people inside immigration detention through visitors' programs and worked tirelessly to increase public awareness on the plight of refugees, asylum seekers and their children. Their campaign had a clear goal and this award recognises the efforts of the many people involved. ChilOut's reward was getting children out of detention and this award is a celebration and recognition of their efforts."

ChilOut thanks HREOC and the judges for this recognition and congratulates the other award winners, notably David Vidiveloo, the internationally acclaimed filmmaker who won the Human Rights Medal. We were delighted that our founder, Junie Ong, was able to join us on this occasion and that she was individually honoured at the start of the event's proceedings.

These are the main points of the acceptance speech I made on ChilOut's behalf.
Thank you.
 
This award recognises the whole ChilOut team.
 
It recognises the long hours Jane Denning has spent in post office queues mailing merchandise around the country. It recognises the long hours Fiona Walkerden spent on our website, making it a vibrant part of our campaign and a well respected source of information. It recognises Anthony Meggitt as a Garage Sale Organiser Extraordinaire, and all the other bizarre things everyone else in the ChilOut team found themselves doing over the last four years. It particularly recognises our outstanding coordinator, Alanna Hector (Sherry) who amongst many other things, orchestrated our crescendo, getting the photos of the "bar code babies" onto the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald at a very critical juncture.
 
But it also recognises [YOU!] the thousands of ChilOut supporters who sent emails, rang MPs, visited Villawood, befriended asylum seekers, raised money or rallied around us at countless protests and events.
 
While we have had a weasely result of sorts, human rights need defending now as ever before. We had the judicial murder last Friday in Singapore. We have ongoing capital punishment. We have a hunger striker in his 48th day without food at Villawood, garnering hardly any media attention. Why would Falun Gong practitioners prefer to die in Australia than be returned to China, the host of the next Olympic Games? Here we have civil liberties such as freedom of association under threat, we have mandatory preventative detention AND WE STILL HAVE A LAW THAT IS IN BREACH OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD!
 
Call me naïve but I like to think that if we actually delivered on the sentiment of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, if we could ensure that every child had access to basic healthcare and education, safe living conditions and freedom from abuse we would go further towards making the world more peaceful than any war on terror.

Season's Greetings

On that note, we thank you for all your relentless support over the past four years and the pressure you have so effectively brought to bear on our politicians.

We leave you with our best wishes for a joyous and happy Christmas and a very peaceful New Year. We will be back early in 2006 with news of our current issues. 

In the meantime, New Matilda has launched a campaign for a Human Rights Act: 
"We are now the only Western country that does not have [a national Human Rights Act or equivalent] and recently our human rights record has been disappointing. This campaign developed out of despair about the degrading treatment of asylum seekers coming to Australia and alarm about the far-reaching powers granted under anti-terror legislation."

If you have energy for some homework in the holidays, we encourage you to make an individual submission in support of New Matilda's Human Rights Act Campaign or even better, if you are associated with another group or organisation get them to make a submission too. The consultation phase of the campaign runs until February 2006.

Remember HUMAN RIGHTS MATTER. If you don't look after them and get active in this campaign, who will? (You didn't think you could rest on your laurels did you? There's still much to do!!!)

Dianne Hiles
for ChilOut

.