Random Observations of Life

Being a one-eyed supporter is easy

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on March 3, 2014 in General

It must be wonderful to be a one-eyed supporter of anything: a football team, a soccer team, a political party or ideology; or a religion.

If you are a one-eyed supporter you can close your eyes and ears to anything that you think doesn’t fit your world.

I’m not a one-eyed supporter of anything. I stopped barracking for the Magpies when there was a racist furor many years ago. I left the Liberal Party when I could no longer tolerate many aspects of the current political platform. I am an atheist. I read a column today that was full of “oh the left should be so ashamed”. There was no balance in this article at all.

There was much talk of “vulgarians”. Interestingly, vulgarian is a term most often used to describe people who ostentatiously display their wealth. I do believe, given the examples, the writer in question was actually referring to less than polite language, not displays of wealth. I happen to agree with the writer on this point. Far too much use of nasty personal insults in the political sphere these days. He forgot to look back at the “big red box” quail menu. That was rather vulgar, as per the definition of “making explicit and offensive reference to sex or bodily functions; coarse and rude.”

Tags: conservative, fanaticism, Liberal, news, politics Permalink

20 Comments

Goodies, baddies, wimps: where are the ADULTS?

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 24, 2014 in General

Perhaps the adults are actually in Cambodia, because Australia’s supply seems to have run out!

Would somebody out there like to explain, with supporting evidence, why Australia deems it appropriate to dump vulnerable people on third world countries?

Manus Island hasn’t worked out so well (not like a raft of people didn’t warn it was a disaster in the making) so now, we are thinking Cambodia might be a better option. Are we so prissy we want to pretend Australia is some sort of first world Elysium? Why aren’t we asking Canada (for example) to help? Lots of land, first world country, low population – sounds awfully like Australia really so I suppose that’s a standby Elysium and therefore not an option either.

MT @luckytran Amazing what we can do when we come together Australia! #LighttheDark pic.twitter.com/iGCwoV2Bwy

— Amnesty International Australia 🕯 (@amnestyOz) February 23, 2014

Tags: asylum seekers, Australia, Light the Dark, Manus Island, news, politics, refugees Permalink

5 Comments

He felt the tip of a blade

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 23, 2014 in General

Continued from Nothing but ocean. If you have just joined this story and wish to start from the beginning, go to What goes around comes around.

Jones elbowed his way to the bow and stared into nothingness. His life was gone, over. He had to find his family if he could and start again. He had nothing, not even identification. The pair of shoes on his feet were the only pair he had. His once crisp white press conference shirt was torn.

Feeling he was being stared at again, he turned his head and met the gaze of the woman from last night. There was a coldness in her eyes.

“Jones?”, she barked.

“Yes, I told you.”

“You are a liar. I know who you are. You killed my husband.” She turned and looked at her daughter beside her. “You killed her father.”

“I’ve never killed anyone!” Now Jones’ ire was up. He’d never laid a hand on anyone.

“You removed my husband from Australia. You could have intervened, but you didn’t. 24 hours after being sent back, he was dead. I was pregnant. You killed my husband.”

Tags: Australia, Boat people, fiction, refugee Permalink

25 Comments

A little Australian history

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 22, 2014 in General

The day will come, and perhaps is not far distant, when the European observer will look round to see the globe circled with a continuous zone of the black and yellow races, no longer too weak for aggression or under tutelage, but independent, or practically so, in government, monopolising the trade of their own regions, and circumscribing the industry of the Europeans; when Chinamen and the natives of Hindustan, the states of Central and South America … are represented by fleets in the European seas, invited to international conferences and welcomed as allies in quarrels of the civilised world. The citizens of these countries will then be taken up into the social relations of the white races, will throng the English turf or the salons of Paris, and will be admitted to inter-marriage. It is idle to say that if all this should come to pass our pride of place will not be humiliated … We shall wake to find ourselves elbowed and hustled, and perhaps even thrust aside by peoples whom we looked down upon as servile and thought of as bound always to minister to our needs. The solitary consolation will be that the changes have been inevitable.

The above is an extract from Charles Pearson’s prophetic book, “National Life and Character: A Forecast”.

Source: http://press.anu.edu.au//cw/mobile_devices/ch13s05.html

It is the passage Prime Minister Edmund Barton read when he rose to speak in support of the Immigration Restriction Bill – part of the White Australia Policy.

Tags: Australia, Barton, Charles Pearson, history, Immigration Restriction Bill, White Australia Policy Permalink

10 Comments

Nothing but ocean

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 19, 2014 in General

Continued from What goes around comes around.

A crewman looked at him in disgust. He would see that look in many eyes and he shrank before it. The crewman knew him from the media reports of years ago. The crewman had waited on Nauru for years as a child. Now he was helping his persecutor escape.

“Get below, out of sight. There are those here who might want to harm you.”

He, this once powerful man who had vehemently protected Australia’s borders, was now at the mercy of those he had punished. He nodded and slunk down the steps.

Below deck the air was hot, fetid: there were frightened children huddled together. A pregnant woman cried softly in the far corner. He squeezed in an inch under the steps and the motor roared into life. He prayed they would get away. He prayed like he had never prayed before.

A woman stared at him, trying to remember why his face was familiar. He turned away, her gaze was penetrating his soul. He was hungry and thirsty, but his saviours had provided him with two milk containers of water and told him it must last the journey. Eight days. He desperately wanted to pee, but there was nowhere. He held on.

Tags: Australia, Boat people, Canberra, fiction, Perth, politics, refugee Permalink

15 Comments

Was I too tough on Scott Morrison?

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 17, 2014 in General

Please allow me to provide context and a sequence of events.

Yesterday I saw this tweet:

Scott Morriscum, arsehole extraordinaire #auspol #worstgovernmentever pic.twitter.com/wzHd3YvbzO

— Salty Bobbins (@SharyBobbins) February 16, 2014

My immediate response was “Oh, this couldn’t be true, it’s a mean meme.” **

Looking further afield, I started to think there may be some truth to it, so I went to the source, the ABC Insiders web page.

Indeed, that is how the interview transpired.

Tags: Australia, detention, Insiders, news, Scott Morrison, suicide Permalink

7 Comments

Could he have avoided overstaying his visa?

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 16, 2014 in General

BARRIE CASSIDY: Three days ago an Indian student took his own life at a detention centre in Melbourne. He was in that centre because he overstayed his visa. Could that have been avoided?

SCOTT MORRISON: Could he have avoided overstaying his visa?

BARRIE CASSIDY: Is there a better way to deal with a student who overstays his visa?

SCOTT MORRISON: Well Barrie I want to be careful on this matter.

http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2013/s3945746.htm

Morrison went on to say “This is a very complicated and tragic case”. Yes, flippant responses always underline the tragic nature of the loss of life.

May the young man rest in peace.

Edit: It has been suggested to me that Morrison was only trying to clarify the question. Doesn’t seem that way from the video on the ABC page, however if, and it is a big IF, that is the case, it indicates he is not up to the intellectual requirements of the position.

Tags: Australia, BARRIE CASSIDY, detention, humanity, news, Scott Morrison, suicide, visa Permalink

11 Comments

Another life needlessly taken

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 16, 2014 in Family, General

A life was not lost. A life was taken. Stolen. Jordan Davis did not live to celebrate his 19th birthday today. He was shot by Michael Dunn. Michael Dunn drove away from the scene like this was a normal event. I don’t understand. I don’t understand any of it.

The jury verdict is in. Dunn has been convicted of four out of five charges, but the main charge of murder in the first degree has been declared a mistrial. I don’t understand why yet, but legal analysis will surely be published soon.

“This defendant was disrespected by a 17-year-old teenager, and he lost it. He wasn’t happy with Jordan Davis’ attitude. What was his response? ‘You’re not going to talk to me like that,'” Wolfson said. “He took these actions because it was premeditated. It was not self-defense.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/12/fla-jurors-deliberate-in-_n_4776991.html

I’m a parent. We all have moments of anger over the behaviour of teenagers. We don’t shoot them. This trial carries headlines of “the loud music trial” in much of the reporting in the USA. It isn’t a “loud music trial” it is a murder trial. A teenager was shot and killed.

Tags: Civil Rights, gun control, Human Rights, intersectionality, Jordan Davis, Loud music trial, parenting, USA Permalink

7 Comments

Are decision makers adequately resourced?

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 10, 2014 in Partner Visa

In earlier articles I looked at the fee structure, international obligations and the growing pipeline of Partner Visa applications.

The current Minister – Liberal Scott Morrison

Today I ask questions about the decision makers themselves. As the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) do not respond to questions from other than working journalists, my questions have not been answered. Consequently I have plenty of questions, but few answers. Do you have answers?

There are a host of questions worthy of consideration.

What formal qualifications do decision makers hold?
Is continuing professional development provided?
Is the risk of decision makers giving compliance precedence over human rights provisions adequately mitigated?
Is the risk of moral panic adequately mitigated?
Are decision makers required to undergo debriefing at regular intervals?
Do decision makers only decide Partner Visas or do they decide visas from a range of immigration streams?
Are key performance indicators (KPIs) driving appropriate behaviours?
Why is there a difference between onshore and offshore appeals at the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT)?
What impact is the number of Australians with long term relationships returning to Australia having on the applications of those with relationships of less than three years?

Tags: Australia, Civil Rights, Human Rights, ICCPR, immigration, love, marriage, Partner Visa, Spouse Visa Permalink

17 Comments

What price justice for love

Posted by Robyn Dunphy on February 2, 2014 in MRT Appeal, Partner Visa

There is a group of Australians struggling for justice that are ignored by the rest of the population. As a member of that group myself, I pay attention to developments in the field.

Sadly, apart from myself, this group suffers in silence. These people suffer in silence out of fear. If you, a fellow Australian, find that disquieting I am heartened. You should find it disquieting.

Here are the words of an Australian sponsor (emphasis added). We are not the only ones who suffered and this case, on the face of it, was simple compared to ours.

I am still left with questions that I don’t think I will ever be able to answer. How does someone look over a huge wad of paperwork that stands in evidence of a five year relationship and place all focus on how that relationship began? Or, on the other hand, if she believed us all along and her horrific bombshell at the end of his interview was simply to provoke a reaction to test her assumptions, how can it possibly be justified? Despite our good fortune in the end, I will never get over our treatment. My husband will never get over her words, as she looked past every single thing we had submitted that attested the contrary. What a wonderful way to enfranchise potential new citizens. You’re not welcome in Australia.

Our story is just one of many. I believe the numbers are increasing. I noticed a steady increase in readership of “Will you appeal your Partner Visa denial?“. Once it was getting between two and four readers a day. Now the daily average is eight. Perhaps, I thought, that is just because this site is being found more easily due to longevity.

I also noticed an increasing tone of despair in the search terms that find this site. The words depression and suicide started to feature more often in conjunction with the words partner visa or the subclass numbers. This is surprising because webmasters see less and less of the actual search terms these days (see footnote 1).

Two recent examples are: