'I feel ashamed to be Australian'

BY SARAH STEPHEN

"I feel ashamed to be Australian", is the most frequently appearing comment on the online petition calling for a royal commission into the Australian government's treatment of refugees. More than 7000 people have signed on to the petition since it was set up in January, making it one of the most popular petitions at <www.petitiononline.com>, an international site.

Some of the comments received:

• "Question for the day — does the Australian government actually believe in what it is doing, or is this just its way of getting votes? I don't know which answer is more disgusting."

• "What excuse for no compassion? Stunted growth of frontal lobes?"

• "Frankly I see [Coalition refugee policy] as vote buying to entice the Pauline Hanson masses to the Liberal government, which they have done successfully, it would seem."

• "One repressive policy leads quickly to the next."

• "Silence equals participation in this racism and inhumanity."

• "[Immigration minister Philip] Ruddock go sew your lips up."

• "If they were English Anglo-Saxons and not Muslims, [Prime Minister John] Howard would have welcomed them."

• "Expose our shame so we can begin to set it right and rid ourselves of this ugly, self-righteous inhumanity."

• "How long does it take to fill in a form, honestly?"

• "I was a refugee from Britain, I paid £10 to be transported here. I was not fleeing torture or trauma in my own country but merely sought a better life. Why am I more acceptable than those prepared to risk their lives and money to escape oppressive regimes?"

Add your signature and comment by logging on to <http://www.petitiononline.com/ausrefug>.

From Green Left Weekly, February 20, 2002.

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From GLW issue 481