Not helping those in need is the real “un-Australian” trait
Imagine that you are a woman who has been raped or a man who has been tortured. At last you have found safety in a welcoming Australian community. Now you receive a letter telling you that your small income will be slashed, that you must find independent accommodation in just three weeks, and threatening you with return to the place in which these terrible things happened. For three years I have visited refugees in detention and followed up with home visits when people are released into the community. Never in all that time have I seen one family or individual living in the luxurious accommodation that the Minister for Immigration would have us believe they all enjoy.
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If Mr Dutton is genuine in his concern for the taxpayer dollar, he would do better to close the offshore detention camps that are costing us billions, where people are dying, and 169 children as well as women and men have suffered in ways few of us can imagine for the past four years.
If you are one of the many Australians who have been shocked and outraged by this latest cruel attack on vulnerable people, there are several things you can do: Contact your local MP and have your say; Donate to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
The ASRC is the most trustworthy and efficient organisation in refugee support and the first port of call for people in need. They desperately need funds to cope with this crisis; Join the 'Let Them Stay - Make Them Welcome' rally in Melbourne this Saturday, 2 September at 12pm Parliament House, Spring St. Ballarat people may wish to join members of Rural Australians for Refugees and Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children who will be leaving from the Ballarat railway station on the 10.15 am train. We must be heard. Australians, we are better than this.
Maureen Riches, Ballarat
