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Project SafeCom News and Updates 28 March 2006
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Project SafeCom
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Mar 27, 2006 16:09 PST
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Project SafeCom News and Updates 28 March 2006
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1. Is the aim of change to help the ABC do its job, or hinder it?
2. Yudhoyono's Papua challenge
3. Turning a blind eye would invite another East Timor
4. Climate expert slams refugee policy
5. Embrace asylum seekers: survivor's final wish
6. People Smuggler found Guilty for Second Time
7. Amal Basry's long journey finds home
8. No Happy Ending: Vale Amal Basry
9. Solon to seek care for life
10. Now to make amends for a shattered life
11. Couple offer home rent-free to West Papuan refugees
12. Visa tension no threat to Indonesian ties, says PM
13. Jakarta postpones bird flu agreement over Papuan visas
14. Permanent visas needed for West Papuans
15. Government should ignore Indonesian protest
16. Six Sierra Leonean runaways win visas
17. Ian Rintoul: A win at Villawood
18. The liberal the Liberals have to have
19. Winds of principle must blow through the House
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=============================================
1. Is the aim of change to help the ABC do its job, or hinder it?
=============================================
The Age
EDITORIAL
March 28, 2006
THE Howard Government has quickly used its Senate majority to bulldoze the
national landscape into a shape more to its liking. Even though key
policies were largely unheralded before the last election, it has rushed
through drastic changes to industrial relations and security laws, with
media legislation to follow. Amid the broader media shake-up, the fate of
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is murky. The noises from Canberra
suggest the temptation to mould the ABC to the Government's liking is
strong. To some conservative ideologues, the existence of the ABC in its
present form is an anathema, a hangover from an age when government
intervention in certain industries was considered in the national interest.
Yet the ABC's staunchest critics sometimes have difficulty identifying what
they dislike about the concept of a public broadcaster. Sure they are
always critical of what they see as left-wing bias and the ABC is accused
of being out of touch and focused on the concerns of the so-called inner
urban elite. Then when an ABC television show becomes popular, as with
SeaChange or Kath and Kim, or when an ABC radio station such as 774
challenges for top of the ratings, the broadcaster is seen as encroaching
on commercial territory.
The debate over the proper role of the ABC has gained fresh relevance from
a suspicious confluence of actions. The ABC is already seeking a
replacement for managing director Russell Balding, who had just steadied
the ship after taking over from Jonathan Shier.
At the same time, board chairman Donald McDonald, whose second term ends
this year, is in the gun from some conservatives for failing to achieve
what they hoped the Howard appointee and friend would do: change the
culture of the ABC. Since he was appointed in 1996, he has turned out to be
a defender of the traditional values of independent journalism.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan has also announced plans to axe the
staff-elected director from the ABC board, without providing a convincing
rationale. Professed concerns about conflicts of interest and alleged leaks
could apply equally to other directors.
Then there is the question of cost. From 2003 to 2006 the ABC received $2.3
billion in taxpayer funding. It sounds a lot, and the Government
commissioned a funding review. But inquiries don't always go to script. It
found the ABC was underfunded to do what its charter requires. These
findings raised the question of whether advertising or sponsorship, similar
to the SBS model, was on the agenda, although Prime Minister John Howard
and Senator Coonan played down the immediate prospect of such a change,
without ruling it out. The funding issue is becoming critical. Senator
Coonan's proposed media laws have created a challenge for the ABC by
allowing it and SBS to be the only networks to broadcast in digital
multi-channel, a costly business.
A big country such as Australia needs a strong, non-commercial broadcaster,
if only to ensure an adequate commitment to properly serving the whole
country. For the sake of an informed, cohesive democracy, all citizens
should have access to such a service. Despite the ABC's occasional flaws
and misjudgements (in common with most other media outlets), an independent
national broadcaster is crucial for Australia's political health. It must
be free to scrutinise critically government and civil society. It must be
able to produce drama that expresses Australian life and should be able to
cater for a broader range of interests than is covered by commercial
networks. It should be able to fulfil these expectations without being
effectively nobbled by funding constraints. But if the ABC's funding crisis
is not redressed, what does the future hold? Even as Australia heads under
relaxed ownership laws towards a commercial media with perhaps only half as
many major voices, the independent public alternative is at risk. Do
Australians want a situation closer to that of the United States, where the
Public Broadcasting Service is a relatively small niche organisation? We
cannot see how that would improve the Australian media landscape or the
health of Australian democracy.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/is-the-aim-of-change-to-help-the-abc-do-its-job-or-hinder-it/2006/03/27/1143441081971.html
========================
2. Yudhoyono's Papua challenge
========================
Sydney Morning Herald
EDITORIAL
March 28, 2006
INDONESIA'S Foreign Ministry made a number of accurate points in its blast
at Australia's decision to give temporary protection visas - in effect,
political asylum - to 42 of the Papuans whose outrigger canoe landed in
Australia in January. To some extent, the Howard Government's actions show
double standards when compared with its stand during the Tampa episode. And
yes, there are elements in Australia supporting Papua's detachment from
Indonesia - quite a lot actually, even if few think it a likely prospect.
But in this case, Australia's responsibilities under refugee treaties could
not be fudged. The Papuans had made it directly to the Australian mainland
as their first country of refuge. The 42 include the family of Thomas
Wainggai, who died 10 years ago in a Jakarta prison serving a life sentence
for raising the Papuan independence flag, making them lifelong "persons of
interest" to security agencies. At present, there is more tension between
Papuans and authorities, which started among panhandlers seeking gold from
the giant Freeport mine's waste, and spread to the student body of Papua's
main university. Regrettably, protesters killed four security men,
inflaming the situation to the point where widespread reprisals are easy to
envisage, despite Jakarta's assurances. Indeed, hundreds of students are
said to have gone into hiding, or headed for the Papua New Guinea border.
Whether the trickle into Australia and PNG turns into a flood depends
mostly on how President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Government address
the special case of Papua, which was fumbled by his three post-Soeharto
predecessors. Having worked out a settlement to the 30-year Aceh conflict,
Dr Yudhoyono might apply his evident peacemaking skills to the other end of
the archipelago. This would be buttressed by his quiet efforts to reform
the Indonesian military, which has played a harsh, extortionate role in Papua.
Plans to cede more autonomy and resource revenue to Papua have been put up
since Soeharto fell in 1998. But there has been backtracking, chiefly
through schemes to split Papua into two or three provinces, and little sign
of much new funding going to health services and education in the villages.
If Jakarta worries about East Timor-style activism, Papuans worry about the
arrival of East Timor-model militias. Naturally, Jakarta is hesitant about
autonomy, fearing it will be taken as a floor rather than a ceiling. Papuan
nationalism seems so deeply instilled in the population that it may be
nurtured only by more welfare and greater self-rule. The sense of betrayal
persists over the Indonesian-manipulated Act of Free Choice in 1969. With
the Freeport mine, the Tangguh gas field, its sizeable oilfields, and the
tropical hardwood being smuggled to China, a breakaway Papua would be
viable enough. But where is the foreign support? Meanwhile, the record of
PNG, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu is hardly an advertisement for
Melanesian independence.
Whatever its fears, a democratic Indonesia cannot go back to the
Soeharto-era formula of tight military control, restricted access and
population-engineering through the now-abandoned transmigration scheme. Nor
can scrutiny be wished away. Friendly governments cannot crack down on
peaceful criticism and advocacy. Jakarta must engage with the Papuan
challenges, and openness will tend to bring out the best in Indonesia.
http://www.smh.com.au/editorial/index.html
======================================
3. Turning a blind eye would invite another East Timor
======================================
The Age
EDITORIAL
March 25, 2006
THE strengthening relationship between Australia and Indonesia is turning
prickly again. As the old joke about relations between consenting
porcupines goes, both nations will have to proceed with great care. At this
stage, neither country can risk misunderstanding about each other's
position, nor hold false illusions about what is possible. Despite
Australian assurances of unqualified support for Indonesia's territorial
integrity, the angry reaction in Jakarta to Australia's granting of
temporary protection visas to 42 asylum seekers from West Papua reflects a
belief that the decision helps promote a separatist agenda. And it will,
regardless of the merits of the decision. The Papuans' asylum bids were
made, not coincidentally, as arrangements for a political settlement based
on special autonomy for the province face collapse. With West Papua being
freely described as "another East Timor" — though not by any Australian
Government representative — Indonesia is sensitive to the merest hint of a
shift in Australia's position.
Yesterday, Indonesia recalled its ambassador in protest at the granting of
visas. An official statement said the decision was "baseless" and would
confirm many Indonesians' suspicions about Australians' separatist
sympathies. The Immigration Department did not allow political pressure to
sway its deliberations and deserves congratulation for acting on its legal
obligations. As Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said, findings of a
"well-founded fear of persecution" were based on case-by-case tests of the
claims. Even as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer sought to mend fences, he
conceded "historically, there have been abuses".
When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called Prime Minister John Howard
to guarantee that the Papuans would not be harmed if Australia returned
them, it is unlikely his good faith was doubted. There is doubt, however,
about the extent to which Indonesia's elected leaders can rein in the
powerful military, the TNI, when separatist sentiment stirs in its
far-flung provinces. Indonesia's discomfort about this does not alter the
need to help Dr Yudhoyono bring the TNI under the full authority of
civilian government. Until then, Australia has to be cautious about how the
two countries' security forces work together. The goal must be to reward
political reform, rather than tacitly condone abuses by the TNI.
In West Papua, a security build-up preceded deadly protests last week,
centring on the Freeport goldmine, which is seen as a symbol of
exploitation of the resource-rich province. A West Papuan parliament was to
debate the issue but is now in limbo. The International Crisis Group is
warning that the Papuan People's Council is facing collapse and with it
autonomy arrangements offered in 2001. As The Age's Mark Forbes reports
from the provincial capital, Jayapura, up to 1000 protesters are in hiding.
Some plan to flee to Australia. Hence Indonesia's warning that Australia's
visa decision could open the floodgates. But this is a side issue to a
greater priority, which is to resolve the underlying problem in West Papua,
where poverty and separatist sentiment are an explosive mix. As Mr Downer
said yesterday, Dr Yudhoyono has made a commitment to finding a political
solution "consistent with the sort of settlement that he's been able to
negotiate in Aceh", which was a laudable achievement last year in another
province with a long-running separatist conflict.
Mr Downer personally informed his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirajuda,
of the visa decisions, which a spokesman said was the "neighbourly" thing
to do. It would be equally neighbourly of Australia to do its best to
persuade Indonesia that a political settlement in West Papua is in
everyone's interest. Some international mediation will probably be needed
to rebuild trust and establish a dialogue between Jakarta and the Papuans,
who saw the holding of elections this month in a hived-off area, West Irian
Jaya, as a breach of the autonomy deal.
This is not a pro-independence argument. As the International Crisis Group
warns, West Papuan leaders "should move beyond non-negotiable demands and
offer realistic policy options to make autonomy work". Neither a settlement
nor the Indonesia-Australia relationship can work without realistic
acceptance of each other's problems and obligations. Australia cannot yield
on human rights law, but it also must reassure Indonesia that it is keen to
work together to avoid the bloodshed and division that "another East Timor"
would bring.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/turning-a-blind-eye-would-invite-another-east-timor/2006/03/24/1143083988816.html
===========================
4. Climate expert slams refugee policy
===========================
Ben Courtice, Melbourne
Green Left Weekly
March 29 2006
Australian climate and refugee policy was condemned by British professor
Norman Myers, an expert on global warming issues, in his address to a
seminar in Melbourne on the topic of environmental refugees on March 21.
Speaking at a seminar organised by Friends of the Earth and RMIT's
Globalism Institute, Myers said that despite a per capita level of
greenhouse emissions among the worst on the planet, Australia is not taking
a single environmental refugee from the low-lying Pacific islands that are
currently becoming uninhabitable.
While 500 million people suffered from shortages of drinking water in 1990,
Myers expects that by 2025, 3 billion people will have less water per day
than it takes to flush a toilet. Many of these people already drink water
that is less healthy than drinking urine.
Myers said it would cost $97 billion to provide immediate water and food
security for all people on the planet. This is equal to the amount of money
spent globally on armies and armaments in the space of 32 days.
He called for the creation of an official category of environmental
refugees, which will distinguish those who leave their land because they
have no choice, as distinct from others fleeing conflict, or voluntarily
seeking a better life.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/662/662p5e.htm
===================================
5. Embrace asylum seekers: survivor's final wish
===================================
By Andra Jackson
March 22, 2006
Mourners at a memorial service for SIEV-X survivor Amal Basry were asked
last night to help enact her dream - to welcome people fleeing persecution.
The Iraq-born woman spent 30 hours in the sea clinging to the corpse of
another woman after an Indonesian people-smuggling boat, overladen with
asylum seekers, sank in 2001.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre's Kon Karapanagiotidis said: "Her dream
was that other people would not suffer as she did."
Mrs Basry, 51, who died on Saturday, was on her way to join her husband in
Australia when the boat sank. After her rescue, she was returned to
Indonesia where she had to wait nearly a year to come to Australia, and
spent three years on a temporary protection visa before being granted
permanent protection last year.
Mrs Basry helped rescue her teenage son Rami from drowning, after insisting
that rescuers continue searching for him. He was the last person pulled
from the water.
Prayers at the memorial service, held at the Imam Ali Islamic Centre in
Fawkner, were led by Sheikh Ali al-Kaaby.
Mourners, who included members of the Iraqi Al-Amel Temporary Protection
Visa Holders Association, refugee advocates and actors, heard how Mrs Basry
had to tread water surrounded by corpses as she waited to be rescued after
the SIEV-X sank.
Actress Anne Phelan, who played the role of Mrs Basry in the Playbox
production of Something To Declare by Actors for Refugees, said Mrs Basry's
story was retold in performances in every state of Australia.
"She swallowed all her fears and said 'I will tell what happened' and it
didn't matter what it cost her," she said.
Her bravery was illustrated by honouring a promise to appear at a public
meeting in Woodend two years ago, despite having just had treatment for
secondary cancer, Phelan said.
Mourners were told that when Mrs Basry received permanent residency last
year, it allowed her to travel to Iran to see her children, grandchildren
and father.
She hoped that her eldest son and daughter and grandchildren could come to
Australia.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/sievx-survivors-final-wish/2006/03/21/1142703364906.html
===================================
6. People Smuggler found Guilty for Second Time
===================================
The West Australian
Saturday March 25, 2005
by Natash Grantham
A Palestinian man has been convicted for the second time over a people
smuggling operation that brought hundreds of Iraquis and Iranians to
Australia in the two years to September 2001.
A District Court jury yesterday found Keis Ad Rahim Asfoor guilty of seven
of the ten charges relating to trips that ended with hundreds of boat
people being arrested at Ashmore reef and taken to detention.
The jury found Asfoor, 34, marshalled people to collection points mostly in
Jakarta and Lombok, then on to boats bound for Australia. He sometimes used
a false name. The boats were intercepted at Ashmore reef, 610km north of
Broome, and their passengers detained. Many gave evidence during the 6 week
retrial.
The trial was the second for Asfoor, who was convicted in 2004 of 12
charges relating to the same trips. He has been in custody since he flew to
Australia on a false passport in 2001.
Asfoor was then jailed for 12 years but the Court of Criminal Appeal
ordered a retrial when it found errors in Judge Shauna Deans's jury address
over identification evidence.
Judge Peter Martino will sentence Asfoor next Friday.
=============================
7. Amal Basry's long journey finds home
=============================
By Arnold Zable
March 21, 2006
Amal was desperate for Australians to understand why she had risked her life.
The best-known survivor of the SIEV-X tragedy built a poignant legacy.
Amal Basry died on Saturday. Her death, after a long struggle with cancer,
was a tragic irony; her life's journey, a mirror to our troubled times.
She understood, intuitively, that her experiences had much to tell us about
who we are as a nation, and how we can become a more just and compassionate
society.
Amal and her teenage son Amjed were among the 421 asylum seekers who
boarded a 19.5-metre fishing boat in the pre-dawn darkness of October 18,
2001, in a Sumatran port. At 3.10pm the following day, the boat, now known
as SIEV-X, capsized and sank on its way to Australia.
When Amal surfaced, as she put it, the gates of hell opened up - 353 men,
women and children died. Amal clung to a corpse for more than 20 hours and
was rescued by an Indonesian fishing boat the following morning. She begged
the captain to search for her son. The boat picked up more survivors; the
final one was Amjed.
After her arrival in Australia in mid-2002, Amal made it her mission to
tell the story of the sinking. A woman of extraordinary courage, she would
rise from her sickbed to address audiences in schools and colleges, at
memorial services and public meetings.
She told her story with the passion of Coleridge's ancient mariner. She
relived the terrifying images many times. "I was like a camera," she said.
"I saw everything, people drowning and screaming."
During the night before her rescue, she saw the lights of three boats and
joined other survivors clinging to debris in a desperate attempt to reach
them, but the boats disappeared. This is among the many questions yet to be
answered about the tragedy.
Amal was desperate for Australians to understand why she had risked her
life to make the journey.
Her troubles began in 1980, with the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war. Her
husband, Abbas al-Shiakhly, was conscripted and Amal left her job in the
Bank of Iraq in Baghdad to look after their three young children in his
absence. The eight-year war claimed an estimated 1 million lives.
During the Gulf War, in 1991, Amal's 20-year-old brother was killed in an
American air strike. A second brother was executed by Saddam Hussein
because he refused to take part in the fighting and a brother-in-law was
killed in southern Iraq for taking part in a Shiite revolt against Saddam.
Abbas and two of his brothers were jailed and tortured in 1995. In 1997, a
brother-in-law was arrested and has not been heard of since. It was time to
escape. Amal and her family found sanctuary in northern Iraq with Kurds
and, in 1999, fled to Iran. At this time, Australia was seen as a potential
haven. Abbas left first and arrived by boat on the north-western coast of
Australia in January 2000. After eight months in the Woomera detention
centre, he was granted a temporary protection visa and settled in Melbourne.
Amal was determined to join him as soon as possible. He phoned her in Iran
and warned her that the journey was dangerous. Amal could not wait - under
the conditions of Abbas' temporary visa, the family faced years of
separation. Amal embarked on her fateful journey with her youngest son in
July 2001.
The trauma of the seven Australian-based survivors of the sinking was
compounded because, unlike those accepted in other countries, they did not
receive permanent protection. Amal was finally granted a permanent visa
last year. Her spirits soared. "I am a free woman in a free country," she said.
In November, she was able to travel to Iran and Jordan to see her ailing
father, elder son, daughter and four grandchildren. Before she left for the
Middle East, she expressed a wish to be buried in Iraq should something
happen, but on her return in February she said she wanted to end her days
in Australia. She had come to love the country, and those who had welcomed her.
Amal will not be forgotten. Her tale will live on and become an Australian
legend. She was a woman of great humour and humanity who became a friend to
people from many backgrounds. She was loved by her fellow survivors, and
became their outspoken champion.
She bore witness to the most tragic maritime disaster off Australian waters
since World War II. Her experience is a powerful counter to the collective
amnesia that has so quickly developed about the SIEV-X.
Yet it is the story of our ancestors writ large. It reminds us that the
country has been built on the perilous journeys of our forebears, and the
wisdom of the indigenous peoples of this land. These are the two great
forces that have shaped us.
Amal's final wish was for her elder son, daughter and grandchildren to be
allowed to settle in Australia. Let us hope that the culture of the
Immigration Department has truly changed, and her wish is granted.
Arnold Zable is a Melbourne writer.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/amal-basrys-long-journey-finds-home/2006/03/20/1142703280987.html
===========================
8. No Happy Ending: Vale Amal Basry
===========================
1 July 1953 - 18 March 2006
by Marg Hutton
Sievx.com
19 March 2006
Less than five years after surviving the horrific sinking of SIEVX, Amal
Basry lost her three year battle with breast cancer. She passed away on
Saturday afternoon 18 March in Melbourne's St Vincent's Public Hospital in
the presence of her son Rami and daughter-in-law Daniella. She was fifty-two.
Amal and Rami were rescued from the Indian Ocean on 20 October 2001 after
spending nearly twenty four hours in the water fighting for their lives.
Amal and Rami defeated the odds - only about one in ten passengers aboard
SIEVX survived and most of the 353 who drowned were women and children.
Unlike most of the other survivors they did not lose any immediate family
members, although they did lose cousins, nieces and nephews.
In June 2002, eight months after the sinking, Amal and Rami were finally
permitted to come to Australia on temporary protection visas (TPVs) because
they had proven family connections here. Amal's husband Abbas Akram had
made the journey to Australia on an earlier boat arriving on the north-west
coast in January 2000. He spent 8 months in Woomera Detention Centre before
settling in Melbourne on a TPV. Only seven survivors of the sinking were
permitted to settle in Australia; the remaining 38 were resettled in other
countries where they were very quickly granted permanent residency. Unlike
the 38 who went to other countries, Amal and Rami had to endure an
inexplicably cruel three year wait before being granted permanent
protection visas. It is difficult to imagine how this needless bureaucratic
obstructionism affected these already deeply traumatised people. They
wanted nothing more than security and were forced to wait for years never
knowing if they would be allowed to put down roots and make their home
here. It was not until the middle of last year (2005) that they were
finally granted permanency.
I never met Amal but I did hear her speak once.
On the first anniversary of the sinking - only days after the first Bali
bombing - I attended a memorial service at Edwardes Lake Park in Reservoir.
At exactly 3.10pm, a year to the minute since SIEVX sank and 353 people
perished, Amal bravely took the stage supported by Gabrielle Fakhri of the
Thornbury Asylum Seekers Resource Centre and recounted, first in Arabic and
then in English, the story of the sinking.
To hear Amal speak was an unforgettable experience. She had a powerful
presence - strong, courageous, poetic, dramatic. Speaking haltingly in
English but with conviction she moved the audience to tears as she told of
her son kissing her goodbye for what they both believed would be the final
time.
I taped Amal's speech. Although the sound recording is very rough and some
of the words are indistinct, the tape provides a glimpse of an exceptional
woman. Below is a transcript:
Good afternoon. I would like to welcome you all. It means a lot to me. It
gives me hope .... because this time last year I was fighting for my life,
fighting like many others who were with me last year. When our boat sank we
felt we were going to die. Everyone... screamed - 'God, God, please help
us, save us please'... I can never forget the unbelievable pictures in
front of my eyes. Some people... in the water, some swallowing the water
and choking and choking. I will never forget the bodies lying on the sea.
And the moment that pushed me into... the....water and... I saw my son
fighting for his life as well... finding a piece of wood, my son started to
scream 'Mum, Mum, we will choke, we will die. God please save us.' At this
point I was anxious to get where my son was but I saw a dead woman's body
beside me. And with my heart burning I feeling very scared and try to hold
the hand of the dead body to support myself to swim to my son's side. Thank
God I could arrive near my son. We kissed each other. [sobbing] Then he
said 'Give me a kiss mum, we are going to die'... where some other people
were still fighting for their lives. The screaming still rings in my ears.
And one man screams 'All my family drown' and my friend who was holding
onto a piece of wood had all her children's dead bodies floating around
her. Next morning while we were still waiting for death the Indonesian
fishermen help us and save us. And now I am living in Australia with my
family and all my dreams come true. Thank you.
One thing Amal did not mention in this speech was her role in saving the
life of her son. When she was rescued by the Indonesian fishermen her son
was not among the survivors. Amal prevailed on the captain to turn his boat
around and continue the search and her son and ten others were eventually
found clinging to a small piece of wood.
Amal believed she had survived for another purpose as well - to tell her
story. She wanted the world to know what had happened to the people of
SIEVX. As she said to Geoff Parish of SBS Dateline, the story of SIEVX is
'a disaster that deserves to be written down by someone. People bought
death in seeking freedom'.
During her four years in Australia, Amal recounted the story of SIEVX many
times. In August 2002 she told her story to Michael Gordon of the Age:
At her new home in Broadmeadows this week... [Amal Basry described] in near
forensic detail how almost 400 people were coerced into boarding a small,
unsafe and ill-equipped boat: the trip in five buses with curtains drawn to
the apartments where they prepared for the voyage; the demand that the
women and children board first, apparently to ensure the men followed; the
refusal to return mobile phones surrendered the previous week; the attempt
to plug a hole with material from a pair of jeans; the decision of the men
not to let on that the engine had failed and could not be repaired; the
sound of women screaming as the boat sank; the two mysterious lights in the
distance as she clung on to the body of a drowned women; the rescue by
Indonesian fishermen alerted when they saw floating luggage and bodies.
After saying all this through an interpreter, she looks at me intensely and
says in English: "I was like a camera. I remember everything."
Amal's story travelled far and touched many. I don't know if she ever knew
that the harrowing account of her survival as retold by Arnold Zable in an
essay in Eureka Street was incorporated into a London production of
Pericles - a joint production of the Royal Shakespeare Company and
Cardboard Citizens. The Australian folk singer Suzette Herft also credits
Amal as being the inspiration for her song 'Journey on the Wind'.
Amal was a patron of Jannah the SIEVX memorial, an online condolence book
established by Mary Dagmar Davies - the first memorial of any kind to the
SIEVX dead. Amal was also involved in the national SIEV X memorial project
begun by author and psychologist Steve Biddulph and Uniting Church Minister
Rod Horsfield.
She attended the opening of the Memorial Exhibition in Sydney in October
2004 where she gave the most remarkable speech. Mary Dagmar Davies
described the occasion:
When [Amal] reached the lectern she started with the words 'I am still in
the water with the dying' and then she looked across the room and suddenly
saw Sondos Ismail the mother who lost her three little girls... Seeing
Sondos with her little daughter Allaa who was born in Australia and looks
so much like her three little sisters that she will never meet overwhelmed
Amal and she broke down in tears. For a moment it looked as though she
could not go on. But Amal, who is fighting cancer, is an exceptionally
strong woman and she knew she must speak for Sondos as well. And Amal
continued with tears rolling from her eyes. She was so articulate her voice
rang out loud and clear... She spoke for less than four minutes. She spoke
of her cancer and her experience on SIEVX and in the water. She told us
more about SIEVX than any of us knew because she was there. She was poetic.
She was compelling. She was the truth. People listened intently, some
cried, and in the packed church a pin dropping would have sounded like a
thunder clap.
Amal was haunted by the SIEVX tragedy. In an interview with Helen Lobato in
2002 for 3CR radio's 'Women on the Line' she spoke of how SIEVX had
diminished her, how difficult it was for her to do normal every day things
and how afraid she felt. She told Lobato : 'I lost something in myself in
this accident'.
But Amal didn't let her fears or her illness prevent her from bearing
witness to what she had endured. In 2004 she made the long journey to
Brisbane to give evidence at the committal hearing of Khaleed Daoed, one of
the organisers of the SIEVX voyage.
Amal was always prepared to stand up and speak about SIEVX on behalf of the
survivors despite her illness and the fears she carried with her from the
trauma of SIEVX. In many ways she was the public face of SIEVX.
More than 140 women lost their lives on SIEVX. We don't know their names
and cannot mourn them as individuals. But over the last four years many of
us have come to know Amal and she will be deeply mourned both as the warm
courageous person she was and as a symbol of all the nameless women who
drowned on SIEVX while seeking sanctuary and a better life in Australia.
Our thoughts are with her family both here and overseas.
From http://www.sievx.com/
====================
9. Solon to seek care for life
====================
Sydney Morning Herald
By Robert Wainwright
March 27, 2006
THERE is no final figure in mind, but lawyers for Vivian Alvarez Solon will
argue today that the wrongly deported woman is owed a lifetime of care -
probably costing taxpayers millions of dollars - by a system that
contributed to physical trauma that will never be healed.
A five-day private arbitration hearing begins this morning before the
former High Court judge Sir Anthony Mason. It will take place behind closed
doors, which means the public will miss out on hearing two of the country's
top lawyers going head-to-head.
The former Federal Court justice Marcus Einfield, QC, an international
jurist and human rights advocate, will represent Ms Solon against the
Commonwealth advocate, the former federal attorney-general Tom Hughes, QC.
At the heart of the case will be the extent and treatment of injuries
sustained in a road accident weeks before she was deported from Queensland
and left in a wheelchair at Manila airport.
Ms Solon, who now lives under 24-hour care in a Sydney apartment, has been
diagnosed with tetraparesis, which means all of her limbs and other
identified bodily functions are partially paralysed. She is said to be able
to walk only a few metres at a time.
Her lawyer, George Newhouse, would not discuss specific aspects of the case
yesterday but said that although she was responding well to medication, her
injuries were permanent.
"Obviously it is going to cost a lot to take care of a woman in a
wheelchair. She is owed proper and lifetime care," he said.
"We believe that Vivian's injuries were exacerbated on at least three
counts: the failure to identify to her as an Australian citizen, medical
negligence at Lismore Hospital, where they mis-diagnosed her condition, and
the fact that she got no medical treatment in the years she was in the
Philippines."
http://smh.com.au/news/national/solon-to-seek-care-for-life/2006/03/26/1143330931521.html
================================
10. Now to make amends for a shattered life
================================
Sydney Morning Herald
By Natasha Wallace
March 28, 2006
SITTING in her wheelchair, Vivian Solon seems a slighter figure than when
her shocking story of wrongful deportation came to light.
Surrounded by media and her legal team moments before her compensation
hearing began yesterday, Ms Solon, who is rumoured to be seeking a
multi-million-dollar payout, could barely speak. "Yes, yes, thank you," was
all she whispered, when asked if she was happy that she may finally see
justice.
After being knocked off her bicycle near Lismore in 2001, Ms Solon was
mistaken for an illegal immigrant, taken from her family by the Department
of Immigration and deported to the Philippines. Crippled and suffering
amnesia, she was left in a wheelchair at Manila Airport. The Prime
Minister, John Howard, has apologised for the blunder.
The former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld, QC, who is leading her legal
team, said outside the hearing the case "is all about justice for Vivian
Solon".
Since returning to Australia last November her physical health had
improved, Mr Einfeld said. But she was unlikely to recover fully, was
"vulnerable" and her mental health still "shaky".
"She still suffers from serious physical disability, which you can see for
yourself, and she still suffers a significant amount from the trauma she's
undergone."
Ms Solon, 43, is seeking compensation for past losses and future medical
care, as well as pain and suffering. The Government is paying for her
accommodation, transport and 24-hour specialist medical care.
Ms Solon is also asking that her sister, who has cared for her in
Australia, be allowed to stay. Mr Einfeld would not reveal the sum she is
seeking but said it was "very substantial".
¦ Labor has devised a test it says would prevent people being wrongly held
in immigration detention. Under the test a person found without paperwork
and in a mentally disturbed state would be sent for psychological assessment.
http://smh.com.au/news/national/now-to-make-amends-for-a-shattered-life/2006/03/27/1143441085205.html
=========================================
11. Couple offer home rent-free to West Papuan refugees
=========================================
The Age
By Andra Jackson and Jewel Topsfield
March 28, 2006
A MELBOURNE couple will allow a West Papuan family to live rent-free in the
house they bought for their retirement.
Ben Leeman, 65, of Surrey Hills, and his wife, Jean, have offered to house
some of the 42 West Papuan refugees granted protection visas last week.
Mr Leeman is a former social worker with a Federal Government department
and has been a member of the Australia West Papuan Association for six years.
"We have an interest and concern for what's happening in West Papua and
think Australians should assist the West Papuans the same as we assisted
the East Timorese," he said.
"We believe it is important that we share our resources with people who
have suffered oppression and this is something we can do directly."
The couple have offered the house in Blackburn rent-free for the first few
months.
Church groups across Melbourne are also providing accommodation for the
West Papuans, who fled to Australia by boat in January.
The refugees were due to arrive in Melbourne today but have been delayed by
cyclones buffeting Western Australia and Christmas Island.
Meanwhile, preparations are well under way by the Immigration Department,
the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, the Red Cross and the
Australia West Papuan Association to help the group settle into Melbourne.
Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture director Paris Aristotle said
the foundation and the Red Cross planned to hire five Indonesian speakers
with links to Melbourne's West Papuan community.
The refugees will stay in a city hotel for their first few days while they
familiarise themselves with Melbourne.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yesterday stressed that Australia
recognised Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua after the Indonesian
Government raised fears that Australian "elements" supported independence
for the province.
His comments come after recalled Indonesian ambassador Hamzah Thayeb
reportedly went to the private residence of Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono on Sunday.
Mr Downer said Indonesian anger over the decision to grant temporary
protection visas to 42 West Papuan asylum seekers was understandable and
had not come as a great surprise.
"We do not support any secessionist movement or attempts of other kinds to
achieve separation from Indonesia in Papua," he told Parliament yesterday.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/couple-offer-home-rentfree-to-west-papuan-refugees/2006/03/27/1143441087328.html
========================================
12. Visa tension no threat to Indonesian ties, says PM
========================================
Sydney Morning Herald
By Stephanie Peatling and AAP
March 27, 2006
THE Prime Minister has played down talk of a diplomatic rift with Indonesia
following Australia's decision to grant temporary protection visas to 42
independence activists from Papua.
Jakarta recalled its ambassador to Australia on Friday, saying it "deeply
deplored" the decision, which it said justified claims that Canberra might
one day recognise independence for the province.
However, John Howard said yesterday that Australia would continue to oppose
independence as he tried to downplay the extent of Indonesia's anger.
"We will continue to recognise Jakarta's sovereignty over West Papua," Mr
Howard said.
While he acknowledged it was a "difficult issue", Mr Howard said he did not
believe it would damage talks on prisoner exchanges or bilateral security
arrangements.
There were reports at the weekend that a member of Indonesia's Foreign
Affairs Commission, Djoko Susilo, had threatened the negotiations for a
prisoner exchange program.
"We will stop the governments [of Indonesia and Australia] trying to swap
the prisoners," the MP was quoted as saying.
"We are trying not to hurt the Australian people, but this is the lowest
level [between] Indonesia and Australia and we want more action taken by
our government against yours. The prisoners will stay in Indonesia - they
won't do their prison time in Australia …"
A leading figure in Indonesia's Golkar party said last night the parliament
would push the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to freeze diplomatic
relations with Australia. The Indonesian news agency Antara quoted the
Golkar deputy secretary-general, Priyo Budi Santoso, as calling for more
action. He said allowing the Papuans to stay showed that Australia could
not be trusted.
Federal Government officials said last night they were confident
negotiations on swapping prisoners would continue.
A spokesman for the Justice Minister, Chris Ellison, said: "We understand
that references to the negotiations have been made by a single Indonesian
legislator. Until such time as we receive advice … to the contrary, we
consider it to be business as usual."
The Government also distanced itself from reports that three Papuans had
reportedly sought asylum in neighbouring Papua New Guinea just days after
42 of their countrymen were given visas to stay in Australia.
The head of National Solidarity for Papua, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, said the
three students had fled to Papua New Guinea last Thursday after riots in
which five members of the Indonesian security forces were killed by
demonstrators. The demonstrations, organised by students in the provincial
capital, Jayapura, were aimed at the giant Freeport goldmine.
Mr Howard said he had not received independent verification of the claim.
"Anybody who thinks that [Friday's] decision is some kind of green light
for people to resume unauthorised arrivals in this country will be very
sadly mistaken," he said.
http://smh.com.au/news/national/visa-tension-no-threat-to-indonesian-ties-says-pm/2006/03/26/1143330931512.html
===========================================
13. Jakarta postpones bird flu agreement over Papuan visas
===========================================
ABC ONLINE NEWS
Monday, March 27, 2006. 8:50pm (AEDT)
Australia's envoy to Jakarta has insisted that Australia wants Papua to
remain a part of Indonesia as he sought to defuse anger over visas granted
to refugees from the province.
His attempt to smooth over the worst incident between the nations in almost
a decade came as Indonesia postponed signing an agreement on Australian
assistance to fight bird flu with $10 million of funding.
"This postponement is linked to the granting of the visas," Lalu Mara
Satria Wangsa, from the Indonesian welfare minister's office, told AFP.
"The Government has one voice on this," he said, adding that the agreement
would be signed when "diplomatic relations are more conducive" to it.
Australia's ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer told reporters that The
Federal Government wholeheartedly backed Indonesian rule over Papua,
echoing Prime Minister John Howard's conciliatory words over the weekend.
"The Australian Prime Minister, our Foreign Minister and the Australian
Government have made it very clear in recent days that Australia recognises
Papua as an integral part of Indonesia, and we do not support, and will not
support, separatism in Indonesia," Mr Farmer told reporters.
Speaking after talks with Indonesian Defence Minister Yuwono Sudarsono, Mr
Farmer repeated that "the Government's position is that Australia
unreservedly and strongly recognises Papua as part of Indonesia."
The statement came as anger mounted here after temporary visas were given
to all but one of 43 Papuans who landed in Australia in January seeking
asylum, citing persecution and genocide by the Indonesian military in Papua.
Indonesia recalled its ambassador to Jakarta in protest last Friday.
"We understand that this issue has been a difficult one for Indonesia,
but... we were obliged by Australian laws and international obligations to
process their applications for visas," Mr Farmer said.
Mr Farmer also denied accusations that the Government quickly granted the
visas while being tough on illegal immigrants from countries such as Iraq
and Afghanistan.
"The facts are that of the some thousands of asylum-seekers from
Afghanistan and Iraq, about 90 per cent of those people were given visas,"
he said.
Protests over the visas were reported in three Indonesian cities today.
The visa incident is the worst to hit relations since 1999 when Australia
led peacekeeping troops into the then-Indonesian province of East Timor to
halt violence by pro-Jakarta militias following the territory's vote for
independence.
Ties had been improving steadily in recent years following the election in
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Strong cooperation between the two governments in the fight against
terrorism as well as Australia's prompt aid effort in the wake of the 2005
tsunami also bolstered relations.
-AFP
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1602109.htm
==================================
14. Permanent visas needed for West Papuans
==================================
DEMOCRATS MEDIA
Thursday 23 march 2006
SENATOR Natasha Stott Despoja
AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS
Foreign affairs Spokesperson
The Australian Democrats today welcomed the Government's decision to award
visas to 42 of the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers detained on Christmas
Island, but said these visas must be made permanent.
"The arrival of these West Papuan asylum seekers in Australia, including
West Papuan activists, was a stark reminder of the ongoing bloodshed in
that region," Democrats' Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Senator Natasha Stott
Despoja said.
"Grave human rights abuses have taken place against the West Papuan people
over a number of decades, at the hands of the Indonesian military.
"I am heartened the Australian Government has stood up to Indonesia on this
issue, despite the Indonesian Government's claims of harm to the bilateral
relationship if Australia was to grant these visas, but Australia must now
do more to end the violence in West Papua.
"Next week, the Democrats will move a motion in the Senate acknowledging
the Government's decision to offer visas to the West Papuans, and calling
on the Government to do more to end the ongoing human rights abuses in West
Papua.
"The Australian Democrats will continue to pressure the Government to
convert these temporary visas to permanent visas, to offer these West
Papuan refugees stability and the chance of a new life in Australia,"
Senator Stott Despoja said.
===================================
15. Government should ignore Indonesian protest
===================================
Greens Media
Senator Kerry Nettle
24.3.06
Indonesia’s criticism of Australia granting asylum to West Papuan refugees
should not influence the government’s responsibility to stand up for human
rights, Senator Nettle said today.
“The anger expressed by the Indonesian government at the decision is
acknowledgement of their failure to respect human rights in West Papua and
resolve the conflict peacefully,” Senator Nettle said.
“The government should not use the decision to grant asylum as an excuse to
let Indonesia off the hook on its violation of human rights in West
Papua. They should not sign on to a new security treaty.
“The Greens hope that the recognition of the refugees’ claim will be a
first step in Australia playing a positive role in West Papua.”
For more information: Jon Edwards 0428 213 146
===============================
16. Six Sierra Leonean runaways win visas
===============================
The Age
By Martin Boulton, Chris Johnston and Peter Ker
March 28, 2006
SIX Sierra Leonean athletes found by police in Sydney yesterday will apply
for protection visas in the hope of making a new life in Australia and
avoiding horrors such as genital mutilation in their homeland.
The Immigration Department has issued bridging visas to all six — on the
same day it was revealed that nine athletes from Cameroon had also fled the
Commonwealth Games athletes village.
Eight athletes from Sierra Leone are still missing, along with one from
Tanzania and one from Bangladesh.
The Sierra Leonean athletes decided last Tuesday to flee their team and
seek asylum. By Thursday they were catching a train to Sydney, having made
contact with a refugee advocacy group that would house them until they
could apply for visas. Their Games-related visas would be valid until April
26 so they thought they had enough time to officially apply for a visa.
Despite facing reprisals if he was caught and returned to his home country,
Albert Kobba, a 19-year-old 400-metres runner, was not worried during that
overnight train trip. Instead he marvelled at a utility that most here
would take for granted.
"There are lights at night-time on the train trip, so we were not scared
when we came to Sydney," he said. "In Africa everything is dark."
The group then spent the weekend at the luxury beach-front house of Dr
Rosemary Ashton, a long-time refugee supporter and member of the Northern
Beaches Refugee Sanctuary, a group that lends money to Sierra Leonean
refugees who have been granted visas to Australia but cannot afford the air
fare.
The group was fleeing more than an impoverished and war-torn country. Sarah
Turay, 19, Isha Conteh, 17 and Marion Bangura, 19 all face the prospect of
female circumcision if they return home.
"My aunt's son's saw me in the street and was very angry with me and
punched me for not being circumcised," Ms Turay said. "He is in jail for a
month but he has threatened to kill me when I return."
The men, Mr Kobba, Hassan Fullah, 19 and Bangali Keita, 19, face
imprisonment and worse.
The chairman of the Northern Beaches Refugee Sanctuary, David Addington,
told The Age they were all scared. "They're really traumatised by the whole
prospect of what's going to happen to them … and they're just kids," Mr
Addington said.
He said the bridging visas were the first step and all six would be
applying for protection visas.
The disappearance of nine Cameroonian athletes on Sunday came after a
failed escape attempt by one of them on Friday. Cameroon team manager
Robert Ndjana said an athlete escaped for four hours on Friday before being
caught by officials 40 kilometres out of Melbourne.
Five of the missing Cameroonians are boxers, three are weightlifters and
one is a track and field athlete.
Mr Ndjana said he did not fear for the mens' safety and urged members of
the local Cameroonian community to help if they had any information on the
men's whereabouts.
A spokesman for the Immigration Department said bridging visas granted to
the six Sierra Leonean athletes were valid until April 13.
"This will allow them and their representatives time to make a visa
application, but at this stage (department staff) have not received any
visa applications from the group," he said.
He said the athletes were again "lawfully in the country" following the
cancellation of their Games accreditation and visas at midnight on Sunday.
"Our interview process has concluded. As to what they do and where they
reside, that's now a matter for the group to decide," he said.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/six-sierra-leonean-runaways-win-visas/2006/03/27/1143441087283.html
=========================
17. Ian Rintoul: A win at Villawood
=========================
21 March 2006
Dear All,
The Villawood hunger strike ended today (Tuesday). There were still more
than 80 on hunger strike last night. This morning there were strong rumours
circulating that Mr Huang, the man who attempted suicide last week, was
being released by the department.
Late this afternoon, the department confirmed that Mr Huang had indeed been
released. I don't know whether this is a bridging visa or a community
detention arrangement. But there is little doubt that it was the protest
that finally forced the department's to do what advocates had been pleading
with the department to do for months.
Interestingly the two main demands of the hunger strike (besides the relase
of Mr Huang)- the release of those with psychological problems and those
detained for longer than two years had been brought up at a meeting between
detainee reps, DIMA, GSL, etc at Villawod on 22 February.
Following the hunger strike, the detainees will re-visit these demands
again at the next meeting, which has been stalled by the department.
Also, many of you will know that Zhang Jun Wen, the man who was on hunger
strike for 55 days last year has received a 48B and has made another
application for a protection visa..!!
And still the department insists that protest doesn't work! Roll on Easter!
Ian Rintoul
============================
18. The liberal the Liberals have to have
============================
The Age
March 24, 2006
Petro Georgiou has acted in the finest Liberal traditions, writes Tony
Cutcliffe.
WHEN federal Liberal backbencher Petro Georgiou wrote for these pages in
May last year ("Why we need a new policy on refugees", Opinion, 26/5/05),
he began by declaring it was time for Australia to show "compassion and
accountability" in the way it treated asylum seekers.
He will have been aware that his stand would provoke yet another attempt to
wrest the seat of Kooyong away from him. The preselection nomination by the
ambitious young Joshua Frydenberg shows just how far the Liberal machine
has strayed from its roots in the relatively short time Georgiou has been
in Parliament.
As member for Kooyong, Georgiou occupies the seat once held by the much
respected founder of the Liberal Party, Sir Robert Menzies. Among Liberals,
Menzies is not just respected, he is absolutely revered for his values and
for his political legacy. John Howard even went so far as to install
Menzies' old desk in his Canberra office.
Georgiou has had a distinguished career in public policy. He worked for
former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, during which time he was instrumental
in establishing the multicultural broadcasting flagship SBS. He continued
to utter Menzies' war cry by providing key strategic support to Jeff
Kennett, who presided over the reconstruction of Victoria's collapsed economy.
Why then are the knives out for Georgiou when it seems that the spirit of
Menzies would embrace him and all the things he stands for? Why are
superannuated pinstripes such as Hugh Morgan reported to be leading the
charge, when Georgiou has reliably supported structural reform in the
interests of public good? How is it that former senior Liberal Neil Brown
is reportedly moving against Georgiou, who has been a courageous champion
of human and civil rights?
A scan of Georgiou's previous stands uncovers much of the motivation for
others who might want to bring him down. Former communications minister
Richard Alston, now comfortably ensconced as high commissioner in London,
is reported to be one of the political assassins. Georgiou upset Alston's
applecart in 2002 when he and others refused to allow Alston to use the
parliamentary Liberal Party as a rubber stamp for Alston's legislation.
Others will be upset by Georgiou's stand for the civil rights of same-sex
couples. He will have upset yet others by opposing the trampling of civil
rights in anti-terrorism legislation.
To the ghostly applause of Menzies, Georgiou has stuck his head up time and
time again for forgotten people in the same way that Menzies championed the
so-called forgotten people of his era. Georgiou has marched for the cause
of Aboriginal reconciliation and has steadfastly promoted harmonious and
constructive multiculturalism.
In 1999, Georgiou annoyed others in his party by reminding them of Menzies'
particular commitment to social justice and equity of opportunity. He
implored his own party to keep this in mind when considering its options in
welfare and social reform. He urged others to remember that those who had
been relegated to the community's margins rarely had a choice in the
matter. Despite potential political benefits, Georgiou also opposed
non-compulsory voting because it wouldn't benefit the broader population.
Reading the demands of national identity, Georgiou worked diligently for
the cause of a republic in the referendum, setting himself apart from the
egotistical supersizing that ultimately shattered the "yes" case. However,
it seems that Georgiou's determination to protect the rights of defenceless
refugees, particularly their children, has brought on him the faceless
opprobrium from which his challengers draw their comfort. He steadfastly
refuses to bow to the bunyip bluebloods who would have his head.
The Liberal leader at the time of Georgiou's original preselection was
Alexander Downer, who described Georgiou's selection as important for
broadening the base of a party that had become "too narrow in years gone
by". The same Downer is now reported to be up to his garters in the putsch
against his parliamentary colleague. Sadly, even former governor-general
Sir Zelman Cowen appears to have forgotten his former vice-regal manners
and entered the fray.
Contrary to some of the spin, the challenge to Georgiou is not a measure of
his departure from the party's best interests: it demonstrates how far his
party has moved from the enduring principles of its founder whom it
purports to venerate.
Tony Cutcliffe is a director of the Melbourne-based community forum the
Eureka Project.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/the-liberal-the-liberals-have-to-have/2006/03/23/1143083906796.html
=====================================
19. Winds of principle must blow through the House
=====================================
The Age
March 26, 2006
Politics needs more conscience and less rhetoric if it is to lose its
tarnish, writes John Button.
CONSCIENCE votes, like that taken on the abortion pill RU486 last month and
now mooted for cloning and stem cell legislation, are good for the
individual and good for the political parties. Individuals get better
opportunities to speak. Parties are able to give the impression that they
have no serious internal divisions. Even a minister who might seem to have
a conflict of interest is able to remove the ministerial hat and speak and
vote as an ordinary parliamentarian.
The public has always had a degree of scepticism about the political
process. It is sometimes hard to accept a system that is based on
compromise. But that is what politics is; the conciliation of differences
in society that might otherwise be resolved by coercion or violence.
Churchill thought it a terrible system until one considered the alternatives.
This classic model of politics has been increasingly tarnished. It doesn't
seem to work quite as well as it once did. As early as 1946, George Orwell
identified political decline with the decay of language. Language, he
wrote, should be an instrument for expression and not for concealing or
preventing thought. And this was before TV and the latest in spin doctoring.
In his 2004 book Death Sentence, Don Watson followed the political and
bureaucratic language trail further downhill with some fine examples of
language devoid of meaning.
Politics has become more short-sighted than ever, and obsessed with
day-to-day issues. Someone seeking a long-term view won't find much on
party websites. Journalist Paul Kelly in his 2005 Cunningham Lecture
referred to the emerging crisis of ideas about the future in federal politics.
Much of today's political dialogue is concerned with anti-terrorism
measures, the curtailment of civil liberties and police checks on this and
that. This is what British sociologist Frank Furedi ( The Age, 28/1) calls
the politics of fear; the work of a political class estranged from the
world of ideas and principles. It is not a plot, but an unconscious device
which saves leaders from the more onerous task of thinking positively about
the future.
Our political system is said to be better than the alternatives. And it is.
Most certainly, it is better than regimes that condone and use violence as
a political weapon. But there is a widespread feeling that, wittingly or
unwittingly, the practitioners let the system down. The language is full of
platitudes, political correctness is too dominant, fear-mongering too
prevalent. It seems a murky world. People tend to switch off.
What the RU486 debate did was brighten things up a bit; not the subject,
but the event. It did two things. It raised the profile of women in
politics. And it made politicians sound real. These were advances.
In 1978, the ALP was in a not-unfamiliar state of gloom. A national
committee of inquiry recommended a system of affirmative action for women
in party positions and in the parliament. At that time, Labor had no women
members of the House of Representatives. In the Senate, there were three
women out of 26. The situation in the conservative parties was not much
different. Now roughly one third of senators are women and about a quarter
of the members of the House of Representatives.
This is some progress in numbers but the consequences have not lived up to
expectations. Feminists of the 1970s hoped that an influx of women into
Federal Parliament might change both the character and tone of politics.
The place would sound less like a saloon bar on a Friday night and more
attention would be given to issues such as child care, women's pay and
conditions of work, all matters in which the experience, values and
intuition of women might produce better attitudes and better laws. By and
large, this has not happened.
In the Labor Party, factionalism has contributed to the marginalising of
these female values. Factions are essentially about power, feudal and
macho. The Liberal Party looks a bit better, but put-downs such as "the
doctors' wives" are always available when the going gets hard.
Now, of course, the zephyr that was the abortion pill conscience vote has
run out of puff. It's business as usual. But some things will remain in the
memory, a brief dreamtime of Australian politics. Perhaps more women will
emerge from the fog and politicians will be heard more clearly stating what
they believe.
John Button is a former federal Labor minister.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/winds-of-principle-must-blow-through-the-house/2006/03/25/1143084053988.html
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LINKS:
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HOME OF TERROR? - the hub page for our NEW Australian Anti-terrorism
legislation and our "seditious" section:
http://www.safecom.org.au/terror-home.htm
ROYAL COMMISSION Petition: download it, print it, put it out - everywhere
around town: http://www.safecom.org.au/royal-commission.htm
What's New - this page lists all the new additions to the website -
hundreds of pages: http://www.safecom.org.au/whatsnew.htm
Project SafeCom events page: http://www.safecom.org.au/events.htm
The Reading Room: http://www.safecom.org.au/readings.htm
The Project SafeCom shop: http://www.safecom.org.au/products.htm
Our Baxter page: http://www.safecom.org.au/baxter.htm
Project SafeCom's No War position: http://www.safecom.org.au/no-war.htm
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