And another thing, Kev....about the body and the law

Miss Eagle is indebted to Dale Hess for drawing her attention to this article by David Marr on locking up the refugees and interfering with citizens' rights to habeas corpus. So how about it, Kev? Is this repeal of laws on your list? Or will it be like the repeals of Work Choices...a bit selective, a few dregs to remain, a few bits of equity not quite addressed?

A new deal for new settlers?

Miss Eagle has been a supporter of A Just Australia since its earliest days. Those who seek justice and a better deal for asylum seekers and refugees in Australia are looking to the new Australian Government for the humanity in immigration and refugee policy which was lacking in the policies of the harsh regime that was the Howard Government.

To-day, Miss E has received the following email from AJA. Of particular interest is the advice on how to campaign against the term "illegal/s" in the media by using the Press Council decision against such usage.

The work continues
After the election, AJA staff and board have been analyzing the need for an organization like A Just Australia to continue. It is clear to us that while the sector is in a much better position to achieve positive policy change, there is still work to be done. Luckily most of that work is now advising and negotiating on policy implementation, as opposed to developing public pressure campaigns to simply get the previous government to admit that change is needed.There have already been announcements that the 7 Burmese on Nauru will be resettled in Australia before Christmas, and the 72 Sri Lankans found to be refugees may be settled shortly in the new year. Today there was also an announcement that Labor is living up to the pledge to review the 45 day rule, which prohibits some asylum seekers from working.AJA will continue to advocate for change to policy using as a guide our 10 Steps to Clean Up Our Act. We hope that most of these steps will be adopted by the new government which will achieve our objective of putting A Just Australia out of business, which is our ultimate goal!But we cannot continue without your support. Early in the new year we will be running our membership drive again. We hope that all memberships will be renewed, and we can pick up some new members and donors to continue the work towards making a more just Australia.In the meantime, happy holidays to everyone. Lets all hope that the ALP gets rid of TPVs very soon, so that refugees who have been separated from their wives, husbands or children by the previous government's policy of denying family reunion, can celebrate the festive season next year with loved ones by their side.

Where to from here?

AJA coordinated the convening of a planning meeting in Melbourne with many of the key advocacy groups and legal/health practitioners. Out of that meeting came two clear objectives:
1. The identification of 6 high priority areas of reform that were needed immediately. These were seen as righting the most grievous wrongs, such as bringing people off Nauru, conversion of TPVs and THVs to permanent visas and giving split-family reunion priority to those who had been on TPVs, removal of vulnerable people from detention and halting any imminent removals of people refused Ministerial Intervention and a review of those cases.
2. That A Just Australia and the Refugee Council of Australia were seen as the best agencies to take those matters to the Minister on behalf of the sector..A Just Australia is hard at work at preparing those policy recommendations along with other organizations.

There have already been some informal discussions with the Minister's office and we feel very positive about the direction that we see asylum seeker and refugee policy taking over the coming months. Change is not something that can happen overnight, but we feel assured that it is coming and it will be change that achieves compassionate policy creating an 'orderly migration system' that is not at the human rights expense of the world's most vulnerable people - refugees.

News from our Annual General Meeting
A Just Australia held our AGM on 10th December, Human Rights Day.There have been some changes to the board makeup:Mark Madden has stepped down from the chair, a position he held for two years. Mark worked tirelessly behind the scenes on the strategic direction of AJA, providing key policy writing and directing the fundraising efforts of our membership drive. Great thanks are extended to him from the rest of the board, as well as the staff of AJA. We would not be in the position we are today without all his efforts.Dianne Hiles has stepped up to the role of chair. Dianne is a founding member of ChilOut (Children out of Detention) and a passionate speaker on children's rights .A long term supporter of Amnesty International, Dianne was elected to the Board of A Just Australia in April 2006 and became Secretary at the last AGM.John Ball has remained as deputy chair and Ian Anderson has also remained as Treasurer. Both have made a great positive impact on AJA and will continue to do so. Sean Cleary has taken the role of Secretary, and Mary Stuart and Phil Glendenning remain as board members. Philip Adams is expected to continue but was unable to attend due to illness.The board gratefully acknowledges the work of Sarina Greco and Josh Bornstein, previous board members who resigned their positions at this year's AGM.

Complaint on use of term 'illegals'
For many years the term "illegals" has been used by both the media and the previous government to describe unauthorized entry asylum seekers. The use of such terms has contributed to the here harmful stereotyping of asylum seekers and has had a serious negative impact on public opinion. This term is not only incorrect, but it is inflammatory and does not add any positive input to public discourse about a sensitive area of public policy.This term did fall out of use under Amanda Vanstone, but was brought back by previous Minister for Immigration, Kevin Andrews in many media statements. See here or here , just to name a few. He even uses this term in his profile on the Liberals website. The first story that we have seen attributing comments by Senator Chris Ellison makes use of the term 'illegals.' There is no direct quote by the Senator, so this may be the fault of the journalist in question. However we will be keeping a watch on any future use of this term.A Just Australia wrote to the West Australian newspaper to complain about the article, based on a Press Council ruling on the issue. We also wrote to the Press Council, as a previous letter of complaint on another article had no response. We did get an immediate response to our 2nd letter. AJA encourages any supporter who sees an article, or hears the use of the term illegals on the radio to make a similar complaint. Our vigilance will ensure that the term stops being used by the media, which will have an enormous impact on public opinion. This allows for greater room for movement towards compassionate policy reform, as there will be less voter backlash. See our letter below for ideas on how to structure your complaint.AJA notes that Mira Wroblewski was the person who went to great lengths to make the original complaint to the Press Council back in 2004. She won the ruling we can now all use to ensure accurate media reporting on this issue. Good on you Mira!

Dear Paul Armstrong,

I am writing to you to make a strong complaint about a story written on the 11th December by Rhianna King "Keep Pacific Solution: Opposition"Our concern is with the line "Senator Ellison - the former justice minister appointed as shadow immigration minister last week - urged Labor to retain the coalitions Pacific Solution, in which all illegal boat people were detained on Nauru then resettled in a third country."

Such claims made by the media are inflammatory and do not add any positive input to public discourse about a sensitive area of public policy.

I refer you to the Australian Press Council guideline No. 262:

The Australian Press Council has received complaints about the terminology that is applied, and ought to be applied, to those arriving in Australia who do not have normal immigrant credentials. Technically in Commonwealth immigration legislation they are referred to as "unlawful non-citizens". However, they are often referred to as "illegal immigrants", or even "illegals".The problem with the use of terms such as "illegal refugee" and "illegal asylum seeker" is that they are often inaccurate and may be derogatory.

The Council cautions the press to be careful in the use of such unqualified terms in reports and headlines.See also the adjudication on a complaint made to the Press Council on a similar case: http://www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/adj/1242.html

I also attach a letter of complaint we sent on 27th November re another article by Rhianna King and Nick Butterly, which contains the same problem. This letter was sent to you via email and to date we have had no response from you.I would like to know any action to intend to take both for the published articles and to ensure that these terms are not used in any future publications.

Yours sincerely

Kate Gauthier

National Coordinator

The West Australian wrote back the same day with a positive response:

Dear Kate Gauthier

RE: Use of the term "illegals" in The West Australian.

Your letter has been referred to me by the editor Paul Armstrong for response.The reporter who wrote both stories, Rhianna King, has now been counselled about the misuse of the term "illegals" in her reports.An internal message has also been sent to all reporting and sub-editing staff on the newspaper urging caution about the use of the term and referring them to our long-standing style point. The message states:Please exercise caution with the terms "illegals", "illegal boat people", "illegal asylum seekers", "illegal refugees", "illegal detainees" etc. In most cases the word "illegal" is not appropriate, is inaccurate and can be seen as us using derogatory language.Our style is quite clear yet this has happened twice in the last month.

Our style is:

illegals - do not use when referring to detainees or asylum seekers.

Australian Press Council has even issued a guideline on the matter (Number 262), in which they caution newspapers "to be careful in the use of such unqualified terms in reports and headlines".

Yours sincerely

This newsletter is brought to you by A Just Australia Inc..To contact us, email: mail@ajustaustralia.com.

Let's hear it for good governance

Parliament House, Perth, Western Australia

Miss Eagle has from time to time posted on the topic of governance. Miss Eagle believes that good governance is conspicuous by its absence at state and federal levels of government in Australia.
Miss Eagle was interested in David Cohen's The Strife of Brian in to-day's The Age which outlines the wreckage in the trail of Brian Burke and Julian Grill. In fact, the Burke and Grill's political and lobbying expedition has been disastrous for good government, particularly ALP government, in The West and has done extensive damage to many political careers and personal lives.

Midas and his Golden Touch are well known. This is a story of legend and myth. The Corrupt Touch, however, is commonplace around the globe. It is accompanied by a unique stench and lays waste to governments, corporations, shareholders and various innocent parties. The following quote is striking in Miss Eagle's view.
None of the CCC revelations have surprised Larry Graham. Graham was a Labor MP from 1989 until he was dumped in a preselection stoush in 1999: he then served as an independent until he retired in 2005.
"This will be a contrarian view, but the problem is not with Burke and Grill: people always get lobbied," he says. "The problem is with the talent pool in WA: it's drained, it's gone."
The combined membership of the Labor and Liberal parties in WA is about half that of the West Coast Eagles, Graham says.
"Between them they don't even have a decent suburban football club." He believes WA MPs are unable to delineate between public affairs and private interests.
"These people took an oath to serve without fear or favour - do they?
"There is no one of substance in the WA Parliament... Here, the influence- peddling and the warping of the system has happened because WA's political system has been so potently inbred for so long," Graham says. "It's impossible to get ahead unless you kowtow to the numbercrunchers."

WA throws up some tough and unusual characters on both sides of the political fence. Let's run through some:

• Peter Walsh, ALP
• Graeme Campbell, ALP
• Wilson Tuckey, Liberal Party
• Ross Lightfoot, Liberal Party
  

This list is not definitive and nor would a complete list be a men only affair.
Larry Graham's points are well made and deserve a hearing. However, if anyone thinks that these flaws are restricted to Western Australia then they should think again. The drive in the political parties for power over values and hard work at community level has led to a race to the bottom at the local level.

Once, in the long, long, ago, the ALP required a minimum three year membership to be eligible for election to major party forums and to be eligible for pre-selection to state and federal parliaments and municipal elections where an official Labor ticket was run. Not any more.

Spend your life making money or a name for yourself. Don't even bother to be an office bearer on the local P&C, as long as you are a top dog local people will be trampled over to give you a seat. And what sort of seat do the top dogs get? Why they receive the golden parachute into safe, iron clad ones of course. Not marginal seats where a well-known name might just give the ALP an edge to get a candidate over the line and take a seat from one of the conservative parties. Miss Eagle congratulates Maxine McKew on her decision to run against the Prime Minister in the seat of Bennelong. This is a good use of her high profile name and her skills.

So there is little future in local people joining a local branch to enhance and/or enrich the candidacy/career of another. Time was when people joined a local branch of a political party as an expression of their personal and community values and they were prepared to assist a candidate who share those values and would promote them in parliament.

To-day, values have gone by the board. Kim Beazley has never given any indication that movement away from Labor values in relation to "boat-people" was a factor contributing to his inability to secure federal government for the ALP. There seemes to be some awareness of the disaster that has been the ALP on immigration by Tony Burke, Labor's Shadow Minister for Immigration, Integration & Citizenship. The latest round of people being herded on to Christmas Island will give Labor and Burke plenty of opportunity to strut their stuff and show how diligent they are in attacking John Howard and the Liberal Party on their draconian immigration policies.

Graham hits the nail on the head when he speaks of there being no delineation between public affairs and private interests.

Look around Australia. The old adage says that a people gets the government it deserves. Perhaps our governments without good and sound governance are a true reflection of the people who elect them. Are we Australians as self-interested as that?

Bennelong backsliders?

If a federal election was held today, Prime Minister John Howard would lose his own seat. So says a Roy Morgan Research and Crikey.com.au telephone poll of almost 400 Bennelong voters. The poll found 55 per cent supported Labor on a two-party preferred basis.

In recent years, Miss Eagle lived in the electorate of Bennelong and was the recipient of regular newsletters from the incumbent, John Howard. And yes, people are moving into the electorate in droves and a lot of them are Asians - probably with long memories about John Howard's comments on Asian immigration.

While Bennelong takes in the leafy areas of Gladesville, it also takes in the unitsville areas of North Ryde, and Top Ryde, and Miss E's former address in Fontenoy Road, Macquarie Park. The Federal Electorate also takes in the electorate of John Watkins, NSW's Deputy Premier and Member for Ryde, and Minister for Transport and Minister for Police.

So things could well be on turn....
but Miss E would not hang by her neck waiting for it. For instance, Miss Eagle has not had a great deal of confidence in the predictions of Roy Morgan Research. In the field of psephology, she trusts only Anthony Green, thank you very much.

Owning up and going from there

Boyd over at Non-violent Jesus has a great post on what we - and particularly those of the we who are Christians - should be doing. His post is out of the USA and relates to that nation's involvement in the war on Iraq. Miss Eagle has long advocated similar principles in Australia in relation to this nation's handling of reconciliation with the people of the First Nations and in the matter of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigration policies.

" 'Fess up!", Miss Eagle says. Come to grips with the truth about ourselves, our actions, our motivations. Then - and only then - can we move forward into new and creative policies and solutions. Christians, if we are worth our salt - or, as the good news says, if we are the salt which has not lost its taste and flavour - should stop shilly-shallying and being mealy-mouthed and lead the way in this direction. The principles espoused can be used on a number of fronts.

1. Honesty, self-criticism, confession.
2. Contrition, repentance, making amends, setting things right.
3. Reformation in our actions and ways of doing things. New actions. New attitudes.

These are principles that can be taken onto a number of fronts. Not only in the matter of war and peace. Not only in the matter of asylum seekers and hospitality. But also in the matter of the new workplace legislation. Miss Eagle has said harsh words, particularly about the Howard Government, in all this. But if Miss Eagle is to be honest, the most satisfactory result for all with justice for all - employers, employees, business and community - will involve reconciliation. And Miss Eagle has to say that the state jurisdictions - at least the one in which she worked in Queensland - have strong conciliaton processes, and the word 'conciliation' is in the title of the governing industrial relations tribunal.

But - most Christians sitting in pews do not seem to have a clue about industrial relations or the issues involved. In most parishes or congregations of most denominations, industrial relations is barely a blip on the agenda. In fact, some denominations have poor track records themselves in industrial relations. Yet the current state of industrial relations in this nation has the capacity to rend asunder community values and traditions with no significant benefit or enrichment to either. So, in the name of Christ, Christians, what are you doing?

Seeking justice - Vivian Alvarez Solon

The road to justice for Vivian Alvarez Solon has entered its more formal process in Sydney as she seeks, with the assistance of a legal team headed by Justice Marcus Einfeld, compensation for the grave injustice done to her by the Australian Government. The matter is in private arbitration before distinguished jurist and former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Sir Anthony Mason.

Wrongful detention details revealed

The Commonwealth Ombudsman, Professor John McMillan, has to-day released a report into the wrongful detention of more than 200 citizens or permanent residents by that people friendly organization, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA). The report is available here. Today's report focuses on the case of an individual identified only as Mr T.

Originally from Vietnam, Mr T is an Australian citizen who suffers from severe mental illness. Officers of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs detained him as a suspected unlawful non-citizen on three occasions between 1999 and 2003. On one of those occasions he was detained for a period of eight months.

The Ombudsman found that evidence gathered during this investigation has revealed many of the systemic failures in the Department previously identified in the reports of the Rau and Alvarez matters. These systemic failures include:

• a negative organisational culture
• a poor understanding of the requirements and implications of the Migration Act 1958
• a rigid application of policies and procedures that do not adequately accommodate the special needs of persons suffering from mental illness
• poor training of DIMA officers, including the management of mental health, language, cultural and ethnic issues
• an abrogation of duty of care responsibilities
• poor instructions, procedures and practices relating to the identification of detainees, including the failure to use fingerprints as a means of identification
• information systems and database shortcomings
• poor case management, including no effective review process, a failure to follow up on information and poor record keeping
• a lack of appropriate arrangements to facilitate the gathering of important information that may assist in the identification of a detainee from Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) service providers.

The Ombudsdman found that, while some departmental officers failed to perform their duties adequately, in his opinion these failures were a direct consequence of systemic departmental failures. Therefore he has not, in his report, singled out individual officers for specific criticism. Again we have, as with Palmer and Comrie, systemic problems including department culture fingered. Yet again, Miss Eagle expects, no ministerial responsibility will be admitted when it is clear that responsibililty for such fundamental malfeasance must go not only to the department head - rewarded and departed to Indonesia - but to the minister at the time of the maltreatment.

Immigration comment is regularly made on this blog.

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Smoking guns become a cannonade at the AWB kickback inquiry

Is amnesia in the workplace contagious? Is John Howard suffering from the same failure to recall as Trevor Flugge? He is keen to tell us that there are lots of cables come to his office and that he doesn't see them all.

Well, Prime Minister - Miss Eagle never imagined that you did. You see, you always - well, almost always - look pretty relaxed. None of that ageing in office that she remembers with Malcolm Fraser. And when you are filmed at your desk, it is clear that you adhere to a "clean desk" policy so it has always been reasonable to assume that the cables and correspondence are piled high on someone else's desk.

So whose resonspibility was it to read the cables - and remember they were sent not only to you but to quite a number of ministers? Pass the buck all you like - but in the end it has to stop with you, Prime Minister.

Of course, if office policy has been one-remove-deniability as it appeared to be in the children overboard scandal and no-responsibility-taken as with the great variety of immigration malfeasance, then how are you ever going to see a cable alleging impropriety even if it is the only cable ever received.

You are responsible for setting the pace, Prime Minister,

not only in your office but for the whole-of-government.

PUBLIC FORGIVENESS: possible impacts

Following my post on Public Forgiveness, I have gone on to wonder what effect the process might have on the implementation of new policies and regulations. As Andrew Metcalfe takes over as the new Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), the question arises whether he will be seen to be part of the problem or whether he will become part of the solution. Will the changing of the guard at DIMIA amount only to a change of deckchairs on the Titanic.

If there is a dialogue of public forgiveness, surely assurances would be given and the the publicity surrounding the event would ensure that real change occurred. The reconciliation following the public forgiveness dialogue could include a more inclusive role for significant stakeholders such as refugee and asylum seeker organisations.

PUBLIC FORGIVENESS

Left: Archbishop Desmond Tutu

This topic has been stirring in mind over many years - ever since Bill Clinton made a public apology for his actions with Monica Lewinsky. Much hatred surrounded Bill Clinton and there was no doubt the Republican Party was out to get him in a big, big way and were not going to let go. But, it occurred to me, if a public figure apologises sincerely on an issue that has affected the public life of a nation then how can that figure be told he or she is forgiven. How can forgiveness be demonstrated, how can dialogue be entered into.

This is the case with Bill Farmer on his resignation from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMIA). There are a lot of us in this nation who have been highly critical of Bill Farmer and his department. His department has been heavy handed, inhumane and unjust. This has been demonstrated beyond argument. Bill Farmer as a bureaucrat, not able to take media grabs as a Minister does, took the one opportunity he had - an appearance before a Parliamentary Committee - to apologise. He is now leaving his position and his deputy takes the leadership. We don't know yet how good he will be at his job and how well he will bring change to a department sorely in need of it. Then there is the Department of Immigration itself. Bill Farmer is one person. Clearly, there were many, many others only too willing to take a hardline, inhumane stance in implementing the policies and rules and regulations of DIMIA. Can a whole Department say sorry? Can a whole Department be forgiven? If so, what is the process? Corporate collectives such as businesses, bureaucracies, clubs and so on can take on identities and characteristics of their own just as individuals do. Because of this, my view is that responsibilities and actions demanded of the individual can, for the most part, be expected of them. So for these corporate collectives, there should be opportunities for them to apologise, take part in dialogue, and be part of a forgiveness process with those who are stakeholders.

South Africa has led the way with defining new approaches and processes with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The premise is simple - vengeful bloodletting would hinder national progress into a new era. This so often happens in national life as well. Roadblocks to a new country, a new vision.

This is the case in Australia with the ups and downs of reconciliation with the First Peoples of this land and the Prime Minister's reluctance to say sorry. What is the measure of a nation who is willing to excoriate figures and collectives in public life but has no room for a process of dialogue, forgiveness, and reconciliation?

I have no process to suggest. I just want those who read this to consider and if there is sufficient agreement perhaps the nation can begin to discuss how we bring to our public life a discourse of apology, dialogue, forgiveness and reconciliation.

BILL FARMER, HEAD OF DIMIA RESIGNS POST

The Prime Minister, John Howard to-day announced the resignation of Bill Farmer AO from his position of Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. See New Senior Appointments - 10 July 2005. Ordinarily, this would be a matter for much rejoicing in those seeking reform within the Dept of Immigration. However, his departure has been suspected as being imminent for two reasons:

1. He apologised to a Parliamentary Committee
2. He received an AO at the recent Queen's Birthday awards.

Awards are not unusual prior to the resignation of a senior public servant or their transfer to a significant overseas posting. In this case, Bill Farmer will become Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia. This posting need not be seen as unusual since his service prior to DIMIA was with the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT). If there is anything punitive in these changes to Bill Farmer's career because of the massive failures within the operations and organization of his department, it is not evident.

As a Christian and a practising Anglican, I have been particularly disappointed in the handling of immigration matters because Bill Farmer is the spouse of an Anglican priest in the Anglican Diocese of Canberra-Goulburn and because the excesses under his leadership also occurred under the ministry of that other well-known Anglican, Philip Ruddock, now the Commonwealth Attorney-General.

All of us can be forgiven and all of us deserve the right to a clean slate and a fresh start. I hope that Bill Farmer has been able to learn from what has occurred within the Department of Immigration and understands how the Department he led has been the bureaucratic hand of gross injustice. I also hope that his new position gives him more time for biblical study - in particular, I hope he has a glance at the references in the Old Testament on how the Lord God of Israel instructs us to care for the sojourner - because you were once sojourners. The New Testament could provide material for reflection - particularly the matter of Jesus, with his parents Mary and Joseph, fleeing persecution to become asylum seekers in Egypt. There is no mention of how the Egyptians treated this little family of refugees but clearly they were not locked in interminable detention and were, at an appropriate time of their choosing, able to return. And thereby hangs a story! Now, Bill, narrative theology is a worthwhile pursuit. Listen to the stories.