A Dog's act!

Can't sleep!

Haunted by the image of an old woman I once met.

I met her in a jail (they called it an alternative place of detention). The man I was there to see needed help, he was explaining to me that he thought he could manage his wheelchair with flat tyres but he desperately needed a new wheel, the broken spokes on this one were cutting into his hands and the wheel was warped and becoming impossible to turn.

I looked across the room and met the eyes of a frail elderly woman, she was nursing a doll, which another visitor had brought in to comfort her. She had suffered so much and was missing contact with children, maybe she'd lost a grandchild... maybe she just longed to hold a child, to feel it's youth and promise... to hope. Before my visit ended I watched the guard prise the doll from the old woman's hands and give it back to the visitor. "You can't leave that here! You'll have to take it to property or take it home". The old lady was crying... The doll was a gift, suggested by a psychologist to help her with her grief. In this place no good deed may go unpunished or kindness without ridicule. 

I stopped visiting soon after that, others keep going, maybe they're stronger than me? They manage to go week after week and sit with the forgotten souls who have been imprisoned by our protectors. The  Department who issues it's agents with black uniforms. The barest mention of it's name would guarantee a lifetime of metadata retention of any would be whistle-blowing blogger. The visitors and detainees wait their chance to sit in a tiny prison visitor room, in a mosquito pit 40 km out of town, surrounded by razor-wire, under the watchful eye of poorly trained keepers. Men, women, children, elderly and damaged, wounded by wars and conflict and hate in their own land. They survived many dangers to get here, where they thought they'd be safe and now they languish in a heartless country, tortured and tormented by bullies with uniforms and badges and chips on their shoulder! Managed for their own good.

I couldn't go any longer, yes I had family commitments which made visiting difficult, yes the changes to visiting hours and the lack of available space in the centre had an impact, but these were not the main reason. I stopped going because I couldn't bear to sit with people whose lives I had seen deteriorating to the point of psychological ruin and tell them I was doing all I could to help them, knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do to make anything right at all! I stopped visiting because I was ashamed.

Image from ABC Online (Link HERE)

I thought I'd nearly forgotten the experience of seeing the old woman, until I read this article on the ABC website... Then I knew, I'd never forget! I remember her face, I remember her tears, I remember her need to care and to hold something precious.... a child. She showed me her baby as she sung to it and she held it out for me to touch and to kiss, her eyes beamed. This was not a living child but it held the place of one she was missing, she clung to it, and she stroked it and she rocked and sung to it with such love that felt sure it had life! And they snatched it from her arms. And they broke her heart, again. 
That is what I know about Australia's immigration prisons! That was just one glimpse, one half hour visit, the brutality and indifference goes on night and day, indefinitely and without exception until they all go mad! This is the hell our country has created and our citizens endorse. 

As I sit with one or two others holding up a banner which reads 'Kids Don't Belong in Detention' I see the disgust in people's eyes and wonder if they have any idea who they are hating. Sometimes I feel angry and tempted to fight the tough guys who snarl vicious comments as they pass by... 
"Fuck-em... Send em all over there", I've heard that too many times. Sometimes I have to hold my tongue, sometimes I smile and pray silently to the God who knows this shit well... Sometimes I attempt to speak to them and fail. So many thoughts and fears pass through me. The ugliness.... The horror of who we are!

I remember that old lady. Maybe the lady in this article... maybe another. It's hard to know when people are moved about arbitrarily.
They may soon take this lady away, in the dead of night, along with 266 others. All human beings, all who ask only the most basic of rights and the dignity to conduct their lives as nature and God intended for any living thing. 

They do not want to go to a place that will harm them, I do not want my country to send them. Surely we would all obey the most fundamental commandment, the instinct for survival and self preservation? 'Life's longing for itself' brought them to our shores and we would stamp out that precious jewel! We deny and curse the very spirit that sustains them, we can't understand why our efforts don't break them. Can anybody see the crimes we've committed?

Who will be the ones to escort them to the bus? Who will put them on the plane? Who will drug and shackle these brave Men, women and children?

What award do we present to such individuals?

I DISSENT

Below is a speech made by the Australian Author Tim Winton regarding the cruel treatment of refugees under Australian Immigration Detention laws.. I have spent time with refugees in the Darwin camps and I have seen the suffering our Country has caused.

 I have witnessed the wrong doing of my Government, it's policies and its agents and I reject them! 

Palm Sunday event Nightcliff Jetty (image courtesy of DASSAN facebook)

Until we are all free , none of us are free

" To those in power who say they're exiling and caging children for their own good, I say we've heard that nonsense before. So, don't do it in my name.

To those who say they're prolonging misery to save life, I say I've heard that nonsense before. You don't speak for me; I don't recognise your perverse accountancy.

To those in power who say the means will justify the end, I say I've heard that nonsense before. It's the tyrant's lie. Don't you dare utter it in my name.

To those who say this matter is resolved, I say no. For pity's sake, no. For the love of God, no. A settlement built on suffering will never be settled. An economy built on cruelty is a swindle. A sense of comfort built upon the crushed spirits of children is but a delusion that feeds ghosts and unleashes fresh terrors.

If current refugee policy is common sense, then I refuse to accept it. I dissent. And many of my countrymen and women dissent alongside me..

Because the secret won't hold. It's out already. There are witnesses. There will be testimony. We will remember. In another time, and very soon, I think, our common sense will be nonsense. And you'll have to ask yourself, was it worth it? This false piece of mind, this stopping of the boats. Was it worth the price paid in human suffering? You're not alone; the rest of us will have to face it, too.

We're losing our way. We have hardened our hearts. I fear we have devalued the currency of mercy. Children have asked for bread and we gave them stones. So turn back. I beg you. For the children's sake. For the sake of this nation's spirit. Raise us back up to our best selves. Turn back while there's still time."

Vigil for Martin

A retrospective post from Saturday 17th Jan

It’s just gone 1am. We thought there’d be torrential rain all night but the weather has been incredibly pleasant. 10 minutes ago the sky opened and delivered us a beautiful 5 minute shower, now it is gone and we are cool and sitting comfortably in the shade of the Department of Immigration building in Darwin. I am at an all-night vigil in support of the 100s of people held in Immigration Detention Centers in Australia, Nauru and Manus Island. In particular we are here because a man who has languished in indefinite detention and has been on hunger strike for weeks is now in a critical condition and we'd like him and others to know that there are Australian's willing to fight for their rights and we hope this gives them hope enough to end their strike.

Why choose to sit out all night outside a closed Government office while drunks argue in the streets around us, cars spin their tyres on the slippery roads and some clown just let off the loudest fire cracker I think I’ve ever heard? Well what else can we do? We continue to communicate with our MP's and the government by the usual means. Letters and petitions have been sent by the truck load and still people's lives are left in peril on Nauru and Manus Island! Children continue to be imprisoned, refugees continue to be returned to harm or locked up indefinitely. As asylum seekers they have very few rights under Australian Law and in this country at this time there is very little regard for the international treaties designed to protect the worlds most vulnerable people. Australians must step up and take action because the people whose lives are affected have no power, they  have no choice but to comply with the demands of their jailers or suffer arbitrary retribution for non compliance. They are in this situation because of Australian laws which completely disregard our international obligations. The fairness of Australian law is completely dependent on the whims of morally bankrupt politicians. Holding them to account is the responsibility of the Australian People, if our laws are unjust then it's up to us to do something about it, sticking up for asylum seekers is our responsibility. 

We gathered on Friday afternoon at 4pm At 5 someone turned their car radio up and we listened to the terrible news of a stand-off on Manus Island. Similar news had been filing through social media. Hungry asylum seekers behind bars, meals withheld for the night while security forces in full riot gear stand on the other side of a high wire fence waiting for the signal to move in! The radio report warned of something big about to happen. The men on Manus have been on hunger strike for days, some have sewn their lips together, images have been leaked of their faces, bloodshot eyes they look beaten, grim and without hope. There are constant reports of taunting and abuse from outside the camp and from the guards employed to watch over them.

The new Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's voice (forgive me if I drop the Honorable) is broadcast, sternly demanding that Advocates stop supporting the hunger strikers! This is the first time I've heard him speak, I've needed to take a break from media and am quickly reminded why I couldn't bear to listen to or watch the news! Sounds like the new Minister for Immigration is just as big a turd as the last one!

Dutton went further and suggested that refugee advocates must have put the idea into people's heads that they could get what they want by using hunger strikes and self harm as a tactic! Is this guy kidding? None of the asylum seeker advocates I have met would ever encourage anyone to commit any kind of self harm! We spend most our time trying to comfort and persuade people to hold on to whatever hope they have, self harm is sure sign that they have lost hope! We all felt worried after hearing the news about Manus, the situation was obviously deteriorating. After the news, the radio was turned off and we resumed our places on the footpath. 

As the night rolled on people came and went, most spending more than a couple of hours at the vigil. By midnight those who were not staying the night had left and a core group of 7 of us remained.

I enjoyed being outdoors for the night, it was a rare opportunity to sit and reflect on the situation and affirm my commitment to seeking justice. We talked a little, but mostly sat quietly until someone would walk past and ask us what we were doing. Oddly throughout the night we weren't approached by police or security guards.

I was dreading a confrontation with the violent drunks staggering out of the pubs at 5am which fortunately didn't happen. Very few people approached us. Kind of unexpectedly most of the people who did come by to see what we were doing were drunk but quite friendly. They were all men, that's not to say there weren't plenty of drunk women on the street but for some reason they just didn't approach us. Of course there were the inevitable arguments about security threats and who is or isn't a refugee etc...but mostly people were not threatening. A couple of guys sympathized with the cause, some asked reasonable questions but mostly I heard the same old stuff.

Through the night generous supporters have dropped by for a chat, some even bring coffee. As we sit this vigil there are similar events taking place around Australia. This is just one of the many things that must be done to keep the pressure on our Government for justice and fairness, although these have fallen off the national agenda while people continue to challenge the cruel policies of our government we are determined to have them returned!

Dawn 17th January 2015. Photo courtesy DASSAN

Walking in silent contempt-ation (part 2)

On the 21st September 2014 Here's what a few people from Darwin decided to do to mark International Day of Peace

We walked from Darwin to Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre, (40km).
8 walked and we were joined by several others at the vigil

Walkers and friends outside the Wickham / Bladin Point Immigration Detention Centre

Trevor (The Rubbish Warrior) Jenkins walked the whole way with holes in his shoes

 It was a long walk

Me absolutely exhausted!

Some of us who walked and Ben. Eldest walker Liz... age 72!

We all made it to our destination. Not much to say having walked such a long way except. It was good.
Read more HERE on FarceBook.

Took 11 hours.

A walk in the light Greens

Who's listening? Who's playing?

Nearly a whole dry season has passed and I've only spend one night camping! Although I'm nearly totally recovered now, I was out of action for camping during most of the dry!
Coming off my bike has been quite a setback in that respect. The fracture to my T4 appears to have healed well and the wrist bones have set as they should although my left hand is considerably weaker than it was before the accident and I still get a few aches and pains but it's only been 12 weeks so I reckon by next year I'll be fine.

A little while back I caught up with a friend I've known since kindergarten and haven't seen for about 20 years. I nearly cried to see him still living, too many old friends are all finished up now! I think a lot of the bravado of our youth has been washed away. I'm sure he's survived harder times than me but I still felt that connection that is sometimes talked about when people who share escape from a similar peril. I hope we meet again as we trudge this new path....  
(P.S. How bizarre! If you want to know what my God is like, here's a great example! In the previous post I absolutely slammed the friends of my youth and criticized them savagely! Pledging that I never wanted to see any of them again... then what happened? An old mate turns up out of the blue. Just like that! OK OK I'm sorry!)


It's a good thing there's plenty to do around town at this time of year. A couple of weeks ago I attended a Stolen Generations family day in the park and who should turn up and play but Archie Roach! For FREE! His song Little by Little is such a great recovery song! Sorry I can't find it on the tube.

Over the past week we've been out every night catching every free performance we could. The drumming has been absolutely awesome! The highlight though was a performance we paid to see called The Arrival. It was a haunting story taken from the picture book by Shaun Tan, about a man fleeing persecution and portrayed through still images projected on a huge screen. The images were accompanied by an amazing ensemble of all kinds of instruments violins, trombone, drums, and various other objects to create sound effects performed by Ben Walsh and the Orkestra of the Underground. It was awesome and emotionally challenging particularly considering the current situation for Asylum Seekers in Australia.
Check out some of the images in Shaun Tan's book The Arrival HERE.

The boys behind the wire enjoyed Tods playing but really they just wanted to have a go themselves.

On Saturday arvo a couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting Greens candidates and awesome song men,Warren H Williams and Tod Williams when they came to visit Asylum Seekers at the Darwin Airport Lodge. Here's a song they whipped up in the morning at Parap Markets and then performed in the afternoon outside the DAL.



Warren H Williams and Tod Williams performing "I Want to be Free"


Then on this Saturday just passed Sam the kids and I joined about 80 other cyclists for a ride along Nightclif foreshore to a spot near the pool where we gathered to listen to the director of the Edmund Rice Centre, Mr. Phil Glendenning. Mr Glendenning has done a lot of work monitoring the welfare of Asylum Seekers who have been returned to dangerous countries. The outcomes have been grim. Having heard this man speak so honestly and with such authority I am now utterly convinced that it is totally necessary for everyone with any sense of humanity to speak against the current political agenda which demonizes Asylum Seekers and punishes Refugees!

Phil Glendenning speaks to a crowd in the NT about Human Rights

On Sunday Phil spoke to a smaller group at Cazaly's, but was unperturbed by the low numbers. Instead of being disheartened or grumbling about the futility of preaching to the converted he praised those who came and reinforced our sense of purpose in being there. When I feel like quitting I'll think of you Phil. Thanks!

Now we're just a couple of weeks away from the Federal Election. Rumor has it that the majority of the population of this country are prepared to vote for a party who don't give a rats arse about anyone but the Super Rich but that's OK so long as they save us from the women and children who may wash up hungry and scared on our shores! If the Coalition get the senate then they will have full power to approve any BS policy their sociopathic benefactors might concoct... Looks like we'll have front row seats for a national decent from a semi enlightened nation into a hoard of self serving savages?

Family drama reveals detention contortions - Eureka Street

Over the past few months I've been attending a weekly vigil at the Darwin Airport Lodge Detention Centre.

The Darwin Airport Lodge is listed as an 'Alternative Place of Detention'. There has been a lot of criticism about locking children up in detention centres so the government swapped a few words around and now everyone's happy. The dumb ass Australian public who want to punish people for seeking safety but don't want to be seen to hate children are satisfied that an 'Alternative place of detention' is far more caring and humane than a detention centre. The government invents some crap about creating a deterrent in order to prevent drowning at sea and the Australian public are overjoyed. We get to condemn the evil people smugglers, punish, confuse, condemn and antagonize asylum seekers who risk their lives to find safety simply because the last mode available to them is by sea and continue to feel righteous about ourselves because we are doing all this so that we can assist the refugees who go through the appropriate channels first. What a joke!

Meanwhile there are real human beings who had the misconception that Australia is a safe place with laws that could protect refugees from persecution. When they get here and realize the bitter truth they are crushed! They are completely confused by the lack of humanity in the way they are treated, the lies they are told and the brutal way they are herded up without being told what is happening and shoved around like cattle! We condemn them for not following rules that don't actually exist and then place them in a system that arbitrarily creates and dismantles it's own rules on a whim and expects them to be aware of every policy change being applied to their lives. Reality is continually altered and readjusted by an authority they have very little access to, time is warped by waiting and disappointment, justice is overridden by the incapacity for detention facilities to hold the numbers that are being held for artificially long periods in order to create the illusion of an appropriate length of time one might wait in a queue that never existed and people never know where they will be moved to next. Maybe Melbourne, maybe Sydney maybe Nauro or Manus Island... Maybe sent back to danger because there's no space in the waiting room and nobody wants to asses your claim! 

In the midst of all this there are children! My daughter recently asked " If the people that I go to visit love Australia, why doesn't Australia love them? Why don't we adopt them they could do nice things for Australia?" 

Over the past few months I have met many lovely people, many people who have far greater respect for our country than most of the citizens I have met but they are broken... first by the horrors they have fled but now even worse their sense of hope for any kind of future is being stolen from the by us! No amount of rationalization  can mask the injustices we are perpetrating against these people and the to subject innocent children to these conditions is inexcusable!

If you have any sense of justice you might like to read the story below about Ranjini and her family. How have we come to this place where we as a nation are prepared to rob children of their childhood and their potential to flourish and grow? We are poisoning the roots of our own future!

Here's a story from Eureka Street... food for thought.

Family drama reveals detention contortions - Eureka Street

"...Ranjini's story is another indictment of a collective failure or refusal to imagine the injustice endured by others. We allow ourselves to be distracted by endless abstractions peddled by politicians and the media because if ever we acknowledge the humanity we share with refugees, then we may be compelled to treat them accordingly.
Still, sometimes, despite our best efforts, a name surfaces, photos of a smiling woman emerge. A baby arrives."

 (Author. Fatima Measham)