Argh. The first time in ages that I've had a chance to blog - and its with anger in my heart. Hang on.. just got to get my soap box steady.. okay.. no.. yeah.. there it is. Okay..
Now a storm is brewing in southern Tasmania because the Commonwealth government has advised that they will turn a dis-used army barracks into an immigration detention centre. Two decades of playing the race card in politics has succesfully built up as strong a 'us and them' feeling in Tasmania as strong as any shopping centre in western sydney. The nice term for Tasmanian's is colloquial. We have come from the mainland but never really felt unwanted. But others have felt the sting of rejection for originating from the North Island. So imagine the mistrust of foreigners.. i mean .. REAL foreigners... people who, heaven forbid, may even look a bit different.
I'm not sure what frustrates me more.. the barely concealed xenophobia.. or these folks trashing any sense of logic in their arguments. I mean trash.. they've taken the logic out the back paddock, punched out the windows, welded in a roll cage, and then smashed it into every tree they can find. It's like arguing with a 9/11 conspiracy theorist on dope. Let's look at a few logical glitches that keep coming up.
Illegal immigrants. Okay - this old chestnut. This one should be easy to fix, but it isn't. All people have a fundamental right to seek asylum from persecution. Don't take my word for it.. The UN says its so. And I quote "Under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951, a refugee is more narrowly defined (in Article 1A) as a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country"
See? Can you spell g-o-o-g-l-e? Then fucking google it.. don't keep repeating nonsense.
Human rights: Argh..If my kids ever came home with a report card like Australia has for Human Rights.. I don't know what I'd do. No television for a month for starters.. When it comes to the Universal declaration of Human Rights, it would be quicker to say which of the articles we do comply with. Lets see.. Article 1. act towards one another in spirit of brotherhood.. no.. hmmm.. 2 everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms.. blah blah blah.. no distinction shall be made on the basis of country or territory to which a person belongs.. dam. Thought we had that one.
Article 3.. right to life, liberty and security.. Hmm... well we have the security bit covered. Thanks to those barbed wire fences.. Am I right? (High five!)
Article 4. no one shall be held in slavery or servitude. YES! AUSTRALIA ROCKS Article 4. WOOHOO.
Article 5. Dam.. inhuman, or degrading treatment. Crap..
Article 6.. 7.. 12.. no.. 13. no.. 14.. aw look. just forget the Universal declaration of Human Rights. We did already? Well why didn't you tell me that. By the way.. we also break the non-discrimination clause in article 3 of the Refugee Convention, Article 26 of the ICCPR, and article 2 of the International convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. Phew! Better make that two months without television. Glad they didn't have all these shitty rules 200 years ago .. am I right? <High five!>
Okay..
But these people are queue jumpers right? Hmm.. well that's a tough one. Bit hard to stand in a queue in a war torn country where the sign next to the QUEUE HERE say.. SHOOT ME. Often the uneducated assume that every country has a McDonalds drive through, where families can opt to immigrate to other countries, in a nice orderly fashion. "Two kids meals, large whopper, and hmm.. Australia looks nice this time of year." "Thank you.. here are your meals. The trip to Australia will be a little while longer, but if you'd like to wait in parking spot 1, we'll be right out." Meanwhile, the reality is that these countries of origin are dangerous. Do you have kids? Do you love your kids? Would you cross a treacherous ocean with your kids, knowing full well that you all could die, just for shits and giggles?
What is down right depressing is the idea that the 'boat people' are somehow overrunning the country. Let's look at that.. First, by comparison with say European countries which are smaller than Oz, we take a bare fraction of the number. And we are quite choosy too boot.. more on that later. But even the problem is skewed by the means of arrival. While dolt's and rednecks loose sleep over the foreign peril arriving in leaky boats, tens of thousand of other people are coming to Oz seeking asylum in planes, on various temporary visa's, and applying for asylum. Did you know that in 2008, Iraqi's were our highest number of asylum seekers. Third was China! How bout that? We don't hear much about Chinese asylum seekers BECAUSE THEY FLY HERE! We also don't hear much about the illegal immigrants (yes.. correct terminology this time) from the UK who overstay their visa's. Perhaps it's because they're white? Perhaps because we see ourselves as an anglo saxon country.. If anyone can think of any non-racial reason for the difference, I'd love to hear it..
But aren't they coming in their thousands? What if the sheer weight of them causes Australia to sink into the ocean like Atlantis. Here's a fun fact to put your mind at ease.. In the 34 years from 1/1/1976 to 30/4/2010, there were 23,024 people who came to OZ by boat - which equates to 677 a year on average. And most of them are pretty skinny... so I think we shoudl be safe yes?
But are they really fleeing bad places, or just seeking to jump a queue? Well.. 80 percent of the worlds refugees are in developing nations - that's third world for those of us pre-pc.. Over 96% of asylum seekers in Oz are found to have valid cases.
But don't asylum seekers get a hot spa in every room, massage by the pool, and a new lexus every year? Far out.. if you believe this, please contact me immediately.. i have a hot bridge with your name on it. Asylum seekers do not get four times the nicome from centrelink than aged pensioners. Whoever sends you those emails, tell them to stick em up their ass with whatever viagra pills they've been ordering online. It's just not true. Don't believe me. Ring centrelink (wait for 30 minutes on hold), and then ask them.
I think my main point is - if your scared of these poor unfortunates - work out why. If it's racial prejudice, then you can't be helped, but congratulations on being self aware. If you think you have a stronger argument than that, then articulate it. Take the time to research whether your fears are justified. Try not to get caught in logical fallacies (such as inductive reasoning.. a group of asylum seekers burnt down a hut, therefore they must all be criminals.). Try not to believe what others say without checking it out for yourself (including what I've said here). Try not make judgements about people without having some idea of the context from where they come. These places are not like Australia, or any other country you see on your favourite sitcoms at night. These places are the sort of countries where Australia has troops being deployed in an effort to bring back some kind of normalcy. Our soldiers are dying - and they have guns.. so imagine how dangerous it is for farmer joe, and his family. We don't send our troops over there because it's a picnic..
Finally, show some fucking compassion. We live in a time when we go without very little. Even the poorer (and I don't include our indigenous population in this statement.. but that's a whole other kettle of fish) of us can still afford our ciggies, a takeaway, and hell.. a nice big flat screen tele on the wall. In a country where we can afford to spend a fortune on sport, art, and leisure, surely we have enough to help some others with the means to survive. Don't we? Sigh...
I heard a story recently of a southern state in the USA which ran a poll for republicans. The question was "should inter racial marriages be legal". In the year 2011, 46 percent of respondents said no. Another 16 percent said unsure. This is 2011. Less than half thought it should be legal for a two people to marry if they have different ethnic backgrounds. I thought "those crazy redneck yanks". But.. I wonder if there are people in the USA who say similar stories about Australia. "Did you know that 76% of Tasmanians think Asylum Seekers in sinking boats should be turned back? HA! Those crazy dim witted Aussies.. ".
Now I'm going to turn my soap box into a vegie garden. Thanks for reading.
