Do any of our elected representatives listen to us?
Close Manus Island and Nauru detention centres, now. Desperate men, women and children are fleeing conflicts we have been implicated in and seeking sanctuary in Australia. How many times, here in Gosford and on the Central Coast, do we have to march, protest, call meetings, sign petitions, and plead with our local members of parliament to close the camps?
The same efforts are still being repeated in similar regions throughout Australia, plus in the capital cities. Every relevant minister, shadow minster, backbencher, independent, senator, as well as the current and former prime ministers are being called upon to listen. Letters continue to fl ow from people of diverse political and religious persuasions. Many indigenous people, and everyone else whose descendants or themselves have arrived by ship or more recently by plane, since 1788, only 228 years ago, are also calling for offshore processing to stop. We may call Australia home, but the global conflict areas have had civilizations forever, and in partnership with our allies, we appear to be determined to destroy these people, their history and their land.
How many official negative reports does our government need to realise that our immoral treatment of our fellow human beings on Manus, Nauru, and some still on Christmas Island, is inhumane by any standards? We are all shamed by this behaviour. These are our Gulags. We cannot say we did not know, for daily, we read in our newspapers, nightly we see and hear on our televisions and ABC and SBS provide us with relevant documentaries. We are concerned, we have families, we do understand this basic human desire and human right to protect and care for our children.
The incredible, obscene costs to our budget, to support and staff this inhumane treatment in such secrecy, coupled with a separate border control Navy, plus questionable handouts of money to other involved countries to sustain these operations is a national disgrace. Enough is enough. Listen to the people. We and the tragic individuals are bereft of all hope. Bring them back to Australia. They are our responsibility. The money, ours, squandered, could have by now housed, fed, educated and employed these people, who do have names and feelings, not just a number, to be welcomed, to become participating fellow Australians. Now is the time to restore hope, rekindle trust and see that justice is seen to be done.
Letter, Oct 21, 2016 Pamela Lemoine, East Gosford