BY TAMARA PEARSON
SYDNEY — "The Australian government, supported by the Labor Party, turns away, terrorises and attacks defenceless people who are themselves fleeing terror, war and persecution", declared Max Lane, coordinator of Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific. He was speaking at a DEcember 3 public meeting in Granville Town Hall which launched a call for a royal commission into the treatment of refugees.
Organised by Free the Refugees Campaign (FRC), the public meeting was attended by 110 people from all over Sydney. Explaining the need for a royal commission, the FRC's Trish Corcoran said it would be "a useful step in dispelling the myths propagated by the government and elements of the mainstream media. It has the power to expose the deceit and lies to public scrutiny and hold the government accountable for the effects of its policies on refugees".
Ali Mehdi Sabi, an Iraqi refugee who lost his entire family when they drowned on their way to Australia, told the audience that he holds the Australian government responsible for the sinking of the boat.
Sylvia Hale, from the Australian Greens, pointed out that asylum seekers are being denied basic human rights. "The issues are so fundamental to what we regard as civilised society that you have stand up and say 'enough is enough, I protest'", she said.
Hale said the Labor Party was more culpable than the Coalition parties, because "by failing to speak out against what the government was proposing, it condoned, sanctioned and agreed that these violations of human rights were permissible".
Doug Cameron, national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, expressed the sympathy of his union for the "plight of refugees in this country". Emphasising that "the treatment of the refugees is wrong", Cameron talked of Australia's diminished reputation as a result of its policies.
He pointed to the hypocrisy of allowing "freedom for goods and services but a fortress against refugees", and explained how workers' fear of losing their jobs has been misdirected towards asylum seekers. As a result, Cameron said it is necessary to launch "an education program within the trade union movement" on the rights of refugees.
However, Cameron's attitude towards the Labor Party differed greatly from Hale's. He recalled that when he joined the ALP in 1973, it was "the party of change, reform and equity" but he went on to argue that "because the Labor Party did the wrong thing, this isn't a reason to move away, but rather we have to fight for the refugees within the Labor Party".
Salvatore Scevola, recently ousted from his position as chair of the Ethnic Communities Council for his stand on the Tampa crisis, also expressed faith in change from within the Labor Party. The key is "real leadership", he maintained, with the courage to dump "populist opportunism" and "stand up and say 'this is what we believe in'."
Scevola gave his support to the call for a royal commission into the treatment of refugees. "They're all having us on, and it's time the people of Australia stand up and say we will not support any government that oppresses people who are fleeing oppression. The very fact that we are here, putting our names to a royal commission ... is proof enough that one day the truth will come out."
Max Lane, the final speaker, emphasised that overturning the government's refugee policy will require a large movement. "It won't happen in elections, but on the streets."
From Green Left Weekly, December 12, 2001.
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