Hello,

Today in my lunch break I attended a rally to demand the return of West Papuan asylum seekers from Christmas Island back to Australia, demand they be removed from mandatory detention and demand they cease being held incommunicado.

Simple!

I made a bit of a speech. Nothing fancy. Speech below:

Why does this federal government insist on making the same mistakes over and over?

Why do ideas and opinions have to be rammed down this federal government’s throat over and over before they are swallowed?

Why are human rights in this country and our neighbouring countries so blatantly ignored?

I have been told that the invasion and occupation of West Papua has cost over 100,000 lives.

To me, this is simply intolerable. Like East Timor the Australian Government should shift its policy and support human rights and independence in West Papua.

Word is that the West Papuan people who arrived in Queensland are political activists – advocating for independence. How dare our federal government judge the likes of student leaders for example.

These people are coming to Australia to seek asylum from political persecution. Damn, I wish I could still tell them it was the lucky country! I used to be able to.

It is a week since the West Papuans arrived in Australia, yet the Government is still not letting these asylum seekers communicate with the outside world.

My demands – the demands of The Greens – are simple really and, often, compassion is something that’s really simple.

Quite simply, asylum seekers should not be in detention.

Simply, West Papuans should be brought to Australia where they arrived to seek asylum. We should welcome them, care for them and make sure they’re doing OK.

Even more simply, the West Papuan people on Christmas Island should not be held incommunicado.

You know, as someone who used to work for News Limited, I’ve been known – since leaving – to give the media a hard time. But what sort of democracy do we live in where even when the media is trying to do their job, they are forced away?

The media can’t visit these people, can’t talk to these people, can’t photograph these people, can’t tell the stories of these people. We have Australian citizens who are willing to listen and the media isn’t allowed to tell. What sort of bizarre democracy is that? How is that even remotely acceptable?

The media’s role in a democracy is to report factually and truthfully on current events and make them accessible to the wider population. I totally respect that.

The Australian public needs this accurate and current information to ensure they are able to hold their governments accountable for their actions. I totally demand that.

So no wonder the doors are locked shut on Christmas Island. God forbid the public finds out the truth about West Papua and realises that it’s simply compassion that these people are after. It’d be a public relations nightmare for this government if the public realised it was this simple!

include student leaders

“These are
undoubtedly political activists”, Byrne told the January 18 Melbourne
Age. “Their concern seems to be to preserve their activism. The
Indonesian authorities have been extraordinarily effective in getting
rid of people advocating independence for many years.”
Australia should not be a complicit party in escalating human rights violations in West Papua. Let’s hope the Federal Government does not compound this complicity by refusing asylum for the West Papuans.

As someone who was born and bred in Queensland, I am more than happy to welcome West Papuan refugees to this state. And this welcoming of refugees is done in Queensland– week in and week out.

Howard – get out of Queensland!!!

Greens senator Kerry Nettle is going to Christmas Island this weekend to meet with the West Papuans.

Fortunately, the Minister of Immigration and the Department is obligated under the Migration Act to allow Kerry to meet with the asylum seekers.

I wish Kerry the very best on her journey and I hope she brings us back some answers and some stories to share with those who care about these people, their plight and the persecution they’re fleeing.