Our decency as a people
My thoughts from today on “our decency as a people”. All of the articles I refer to are listed below.
Abbott called on “illegal” slur
Nappy spat sparks violent racist tirade
Car park slaughter “beyond belief”
Sex predator lies in wait in woman’s home
Australia risks creating underclass with new Asylum Seeker rules
SBS: Go Back Where You Came From
Tonight I snapped a selection of Tweets during the screening of Go Back Where You Came From, the second series on SBS. A trailer follows. Both speak for themselves. WATCH IT!
Tweets
Welcome to Australia
Today I received an email from Welcome to Australia, organisation headed by Brad Chilcott. Here is a message all Australians should heed. Please read Brad’s words!
Welcome
Over the next five or so weeks, a panel of eminent Australians will be meeting to discuss a way for our political leaders to end the deadlock on our treatment of people seeking asylum in our nation. After providing their recommendations to parliamentarians, there’ll be a legislative response to be debated and politicians will cast their vote. There’ll be passionate opinions from all corners about onshore vs offshore processing, stopping the boats and opening the borders, upholding our international treaty obligations or discarding them and many other areas of policy.
The media will take the slogans and the sound-bites and try to make a complex situation sound simple, black and white. Different people will try to pass off their “solution” as the only option for Australia, with some using that word as if the rest of the world isn’t dealing with the tragic results of war, oppression and persecution and in a way that suggests we should somehow be insulated from the responsibility of compassion and human solidarity.
Where are the REAL Liberals?
Malcolm Fraser is welcomed at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland USA, upon arrival for a visit to the United States. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I received a phone call the other day from the Liberal Party asking if I was happy with my membership. I haven’t been as active a member as I’d like, or planned to be, but anyone who follows us knows why! There are not enough hours in the day at the moment. That doesn’t mean I don’t keep my eyes on what is happening in my country.
There seems to me to be a code of silence about our leader. For overseas readers, in simple terms the Australian system is such that the elected representatives of the people within each party choose a parliamentary leader from amongst themselves. If the party is in power, that person is Prime Minister – if not, the person is the Leader of the Opposition. Currently we are in opposition.
I have pleaded many times for our politicians on both sides to stop using asylum seekers as a political football. It is inhumane. Today I even found myself agreeing with Chris Bowen, something I have to say I never thought I’d do.
Do not read this – it is an article about nothing
OK, so you are reading. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
There are several things I feel like writing about: the terrible news of another boat load of people seeking sanctuary suffering a sad fate.
West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan said about 40 people were spotted on the upturned hull, others were in the water and up to 75 others may be dead.
‘‘We have grave fears for the remainder,’’ he told reporters.
Twitter is alive with people turning the deaths into a political football – AGAIN! How can humans do this, I wonder: use the lives of vulnerable people for their own political purposes?
I was too saddened by the reaction of some Australians who I felt should have behaved better to actually draft an article. Read more
Interview of Team Oyeniyi shown on Channel 31
I promised to publish, despite how bad I look on camera (never wear pale lipstick on TV), so here we proudly present Natalie Yoannidis’ assignment interview. Many thanks to Natalie for allowing us to share her work. If you wonder if I am ever nervous about pushing the “Publish” button – this is the time!
Related articles
- What a journalism student learnt by meeting Team Oyeniyi – Guest Article (teamoyeniyi.com)
- Team Oyeniyi interviewed (teamoyeniyi.com)
- Happy Wedding Anniversary to us!! (teamoyeniyi.com)
- Living with the aftermath of mandatory detention (teamoyeniyi.com)
David Manne brings High Court challenge
Eight days ago I wrote “Ranjini needs our help to encourage the government to find a better way“. As can be seen from the content and links in the article, I wasn’t the only one very concerned about the situation.
Last night David Manne, Executive Director, Refugee & Immigration Legal Centre, announced on Twitter he had:
Just brought High Ct challenge to indefinite detention of a
#refugee assessed as security risk w/o access to reasons or reviewDavid Manne Announcement
Hurray for David! Hurray for all the people who worked so hard to make something happen! Good for the Greens to move a bill in parliament too.
