Brand Fixing

For World Refugee Day, I posted a few poems by myself and others on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtags #worldrefugeeday and #poetry but here’s a new one I just wrote…

In the battle of the brands
brand Labor
brand Liberal
compete for niche markets
sell their wares to a demographic
they claim they have to appease
but cultivated themselves

paid Murdoch and Fairfax
to invent new customer demands

they now expect a certain type of product
fit with the latest in racist features
anti-boat rhetoric comes standard
with bogus security extras
for threats that don’t exist

and they’ve fixed the market
agreed to both leave out costly features
such as health and education
to go for the cheap sell
price brand Green out of the market
force them to play dirty too

more than sawdust in the engine
or bolts not screwed on right
the product is tainted to begin with
selling the same rotting wares
the biggest con job you’ve ever seen

under the hood
people pay with their lives
so the brands can cut costs
and make it Canberra on top

but
brand Labor is doing it tough
brand Liberal have a reputation
the tried and trusted racist brand
Labor’s just a cheap rip off
who fired the advisor that said
perhaps human rights
would be a definitive selling point
a one of a kind feature
that brand Liberal couldn’t match

Bowen and Gillard, the real animals, push through with the Malaysian "solution."

In the face of the High Court, growing numbers of voters and now even sections of the Labor Left, all opposing the absolutely horrific plan to ship human beings to Malaysia, to deny human rights to asylum seekers, the Labor party and most importantly Julia Gillard and Chris Bowen, have slapped human rights right in that very face. It is clear we need more than the law or even just the truth on our side.

I woke up late this morning, planning to spend a few hours working on some poetry, but Twitter, Facebook, the news, would not let me escape the enraging news that Labor’s planned response to their Malaysian “solution” being deemed illegal was to just change the law and make it legal. I now wish I’d blogged about our initial victory because I seem to have forgotten the euphoria of the brief victory.

Bowen and Gillard have absolutely no concern for human rights. The ALP caucus is nothing but a pack of vultures shedding crocodile tears about upholding human rights. They’re also a pack of hyenas scavenging on the dead corpse of Howard’s policy and making it their own. Our government are the real animals, not the refugees whom they demonise, treat like animals and leave to rot in cages in deserts, islands and whatever poor country we can dump them.

And these animals, these savages in suits cannot be reasoned with. They cannot be stopped by court rulings or appeals to their humanity because they have none. They need to be forced, they need to be fought. We cannot find a short cut other than building a long-term, public campaign for refugee rights that takes to the streets, occupies their offices, and this December, gathers in a mass outside their conference.

It is encouraging that the Labor Left have started to mount some opposition to official ALP policy, but this opposition needs to become more public, not hidden in caucus board rooms, and it needs to continue beyond this vote. And the only way to make sure Labor Left find their spine, is to put pressure on them.

This December, the ALP will hold their conference in Sydney, in Darling Harbour, and there needs to be thousands of refugee activists from around the country outside that conference forcing the issue of refugees, and to push Labor to take a decent stand.

I’ve already bought my plane ticket, like hundreds of others, but we need more people. And the biggest endorsement is Gillard and Bowen themselves, making it clear, that these heartless bastards at the top are not going to start treating refugees humanely without a fight.

Refugee advocates demand closure of Broadmeadows Detention Centre

On Saturday, I witnessed a teenage asylum seeker scale a barbed wire fence to escape, if only briefly, and join a protest outside of Broadmeadows Detention Centre. Three of them escaped in total, but I only saw the one, captured in the video below. They bolted so fast to the fence and scaled it so quickly, such is their desperation for freedom.

The protest was an action organised by the Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) that aimed to highlight the existence of a detention centre that imprisons unaccompanied minors in the very suburbs of Melbourne where other kids their age go to school and go about their ordinary lives. There are around 140 teenagers inside, mostly from Afghanistan, and under Labor’s policy of mandatory detention, can be locked up indefinitely.

The protest also aimed to call for the closure of the detention centre, and all detention centres, as well as the release of all asylum seekers, be they children or adults. The policy of mandatory detention where the Australian government detains all asylum seekers arriving by boat is one of Australia’s greatest crimes.

We managed to rally a couple of hundred people willing to negotiate Melbourne’s terrible public transport system to meet in a car park down the road before we marched down to the centre. It’s going to take a lot more people to challenge Labor’s policy but Saturday’s action was an important start to rallying supporters for refugee rights and convincing people of the need to take action.

It was outside the gates that we saw the three men scale the fence and jump out. This is not an unusual thing. According to advocates that visit regularly, they often escape if only briefly. It is the very act of being detained with no idea when they’ll be let out that drives them to try and escape. It is also that the detention centre breeds mental illness, exacerbates already traumatised minds, and pushes them to self-harm and attempt suicide.

And I support them when they break out, when they fight back, when they resist. I don’t agree with those who think refugees and asylum seekers are nothing but passive victims and they should not fight back. I don’t agree that we on the outside just need to appeal to Gillard’s human morals or to go through legal channels. Gillard doesn’t care and the legal system is what keeps them locked up.

It’s going to take much more and when refugees fight back, it’s a cry for support from ordinary people to join them and show solidarity. It’s through their fight and us supporting them that we will free them once and for all, but to do that, we need to rally many more people. Under John Howard, and the Liberals, we managed to mobilise thousands in support of refugees and against his racist policies. We need to do this again under Labor. It’s clear they’re no better, despite their empty promises.

I had a video camera on the day and below is my first mini-doco documenting the events of the day. Feel free to share it around so more people find out what went on, what we need to do, and encourage people to take action.

Christmas Island tragedy: they have watched them sink before

Another boat has sunk making the dangerous voyage to Australia fleeing war and persecution. More asylum seekers have died. This is yet another tragedy. And I read all the details I can find to help explain what is going on. It is almost too much, and is too much for some people.

The reminders are stark. I am reminded of the SIEV X tragedy where hundreds of asylum seekers were left to drown in the middle of the ocean whilst the Navy, under Howard’s watch, watched them drown. Indeed, the Labor government has had their fair share of boats sink whilst in government.

Both Labor and the Liberals have been quite happy to have these people drown in the middle of the ocean. They see it as better than them coming here.

I am reminded a poem I wrote and published on this blog a few weeks ago, They Kill Them. In particular these lines:
They cut the cue
Shut the gate
Force another route
They watch them
sink
on the way

They kill them
In the end,
they kill them

It angers me that in response to this latest tragedy, both Labor and the Liberals have come out saying now is not a time to ‘play politics.’ Others have said this too. I think they only say it because they know the blame is on them and they want to save their skins.

Politicians are crying crocodile tears for the cameras, pretending to give a shit about these desperate people when underneath the façade of public politics, we all know that it is the policies of the Labor government that has driven these asylum seekers to this situation where they have lost their lives.

The question is being asked: Why is that, in a body of water so heavily patrolled, that the Navy intercepts boat after boat trying to safely reach Australian shores to seek asylum but they manage to miss a boat that is heading toward cliffs on Christmas Island?

I think they knew all along. As I said at the start with SIEV X and numerous others, they have watched them sink before.

David Marr’s piece in The Age asks the same question today.

And finally, The Age also reports on Wikileaks cables that have been released concerning conversations between the US and Australia around the issue of asylum seekers. It seems even the US have cautioned Australia on how the Labor government have dealt with the issue.

Mind you, they’re only concerned about it from the point of view of how it looks with the logic of PR politics. It’s also the height of hypocrisy given how the US treats Mexican immigrants and Cuban refugees.

I’d certainly like to see some more Wikileaks concerning what our government is really saying about Christmas Island and this tragedy. Whilst the world community attacks Assange, they’ve learnt nothing from this and I’m sure there are plenty of details they’re trying to hide and we need to expose. They did it with SIEV X as well.

Now is the time for politics. We need to blame the policies of the government for leading to this tragedy and we need to stand up to actually turn this around. Asylum seekers should be able to safely land on Australian shores and seek asylum.

In fact, instead of intercepting boats to lock up asylum seekers in places like Christmas Island – or watching them drown, wouldn’t it be nice if we helped these people get here? They certainly deserve it but our government isn’t going to take anything like a humane approach unless we force them to.

Poem for refugees: They Kill Them

It is absolutely unacceptable that another detainee in Villawood detention centre, an Iraqi father, has been driven to suicide because our government has threatened to deport him back to a place he fled from where, if he was returned, would have possibly faced death or torture.

—

They kill them

They kill them
In the end,
they kill them

They push them,
but hope they don’t get out
Freeing homes from foundations,
liberating limbs from lives
consciousness with the cackle
of bombs
raining down

They kill them
In the end,
they kill them

They cut the cue
Shut the gate
Force another route
They watch them
sink
on the way

They kill them
In the end,
they kill them

If they make it this far,
they kill them
from the inside
push them so far
they want to die

Fragrant poisons slide down their throat
Choke!
They want to choke.

Or bring the razor wire
right to their skin
They cannot wait
indefinite years

Mattresses all around
Jump!
They tell them to jump!

They kill them
In the end
they kill them

Or at least
hide them
bury them
in the desert
ignored and forgotten
eroding humanity away

Unless
they can’t be pacified
and we join them
pulling the fences wide

They can’t kill them
In the end
They can’t kill them

Them and us
rip these cages from their foundations
liberate their lives with their limbs

They’ll starve
force you
to want them to eat

Force you
to take to the streets

They show their scars
to show they’re alive,

They can’t kill them
In the end
they can’t kill them

Their stories
won’t go away
Those images
won’t go away

The very fact
that they’re human
will not go away

This struggle,
with us,
with razor wire cast aside,
will not die

They can’t kill them
In the end
they can’t kill them

Show your solidarity with Villawood Detainees

I haven’t had a chance, until now, to respond to the events in Villawood Detention Centre over the last couple of days. The conditions and inhumane treatment has been pushed to breaking point and I can see no reason why this won’t continue until something happens.

For those that haven’t been following the story, a Fijian man, Josefa Rauluni, committed suicide inside Villawood Detention Centre on Monday by jumping off of a building’s roof. He was meant to be deported that day back to Fiji. As a pro-democracy activist, he’d most likely face torture back at home and said he’d rather die here than be sent back.

The immigration department didn’t care, ignored his pleas, were going to send him back anyway and put mattresses on the ground underneath before telling him to jump. Of course, he jumped and deliberately missed the mattresses.

Following that, up to 13 men climbed onto the roof over a 24 hour period in protest of this man’s treatment and their own treatment. They said they’d jump if their claims weren’t reconsidered. Some even had UNHCR cards confirming their refugee status.

The immigration department didn’t care, ignored their pleas, were going to send them back anyway. They used a cherry picker to pull dehydrated men off of the roof.

All of this follows a man dying in Curtin over a month ago, and protests inside Darwin Detention Centre a few weeks ago including Afghan men breaking out to stage a protest on a busy highway.

All of this has been more and more in the media. The plight of asylum seekers in Australia is becoming more and more in your face again. I think you’d have to be a monster to ignore it.

It’s all reminiscent of a time under Howard when hell holes like Curtin, Baxter and Woomera were forcing other asylum seekers to their own breaking point. Self-harm, suicide was all on the rise. Refugees were sewing their lips together, swallowing shampoo, refusing food.

These are all desperate acts from desperate people because, both then and now, the government gave them no options. They’re locked up indefinitely and they have no choice when they get back to places they fled from in fear of their lives.

And you have to say that, rather than be quiet and accept their fate, the protests and the struggle inside is a good thing. Anyone who actually cares about these people should stand with them and say that they support them. These struggles act as a flare, bringing attention to the horrific conditions the government puts them in.

A return to protests and hunger strikes from the detainees themselves is a rallying cry. When they did it last time, it inspired refugee activists to come and take a stand. We need to do it again.

I say it a lot. I say that we need to take a stand, I say that we need to get out on streets, I say that we need to protest. We really fucking do. Nothing changes unless we do. And we did it last time, we can do it again, but only if people do something.

Men, women and children are going to continue to be locked up, rot behind razor wire, be driven to suicide, and be sent back to their deaths unless we join with them in their protest.

In Melbourne on Friday, there will be an emergency protest calling for an end to mandatory detention. It’s at 5pm in the Bourke Street Mall in the city. I am sure there are others around the country, and there will be more in the future.

Refugees Aren't Breathing a Sigh of Relief

Perhaps it might have come as a surprise to you that there was a noticeable absence of political commentary coming from me, post-election. I’m afraid the saga of the independents didn’t thrill me as much as others so my posts would’ve just consisted of how mad I think Bob Katter is.

Now that it’s settled, and we in fact don’t have Tony Abbott as Prime Minister, some people might be breathing a sigh of relief, some people might think it’s time to relax. This would be a grave mistake, in my opinion.

Despite Abbott not winning, it still remains frightening how close this caveman got his bigoted hands to the levers of power. And the attitude of some might be to lay off Labor so we don’t rock the boat and keep Abbott out, or that we just need to be thankful we don’t have Abbott.

This all neglects that fact that Labor are just as right-wing, support the same ban on same-sex marriage, will open some form of offshore processing, will continue to demonise refugees, attack the union movement, and refuse to tax filthy rich mining companies.

I think that if we want to make sure Abbott doesn’t get a chance next time, we need to push Labor because they’re not going to save their skin on their own. We need to hold Labor accountable, not just put up with what we’ve got.

In regards to refugees, we’re not going to have TPVs and probably not Nauru but asylum seekers are still in detention. A man died in Curtin two weeks ago and barely anyone noticed. People are rotting in these places and their despair really isn’t going to change much now that Gillard remains PM.

Yesterday, we had a little demo outside the GPO in which I put together a wire fence that people held on the steps. The image of the wire really confronted people. And this is just chicken wire, not electric fences topped with razor wire up high and stretching as far as eyes can see.

This is an absolutely appalling situation and one that I certainly don’t think we should be breathing a sigh of relief about just because it could’ve been worse.

On Afghan asylum seekers protesting

I was so inspired today to see asylum seekers break out of immigration detention in Darwin. And I completely stand beside them in their struggle just to exercise a basic human right to flee persecution.

From Chilout.org

The television footage and some of the video posted on ABC News is incredibly moving and I really have to question people’s humanity if they’re not affected by it. One Afghan man said, “Please help us. I am human, I am a human being.”

I was immediately reminded of the riots and protests inside detention centres around Australia when Liberal Prime Minister John Howard oversaw one of the most brutal immigration policies. People were locked behind razor wires for years and years – or worse, deported back to where they fled from only to disappear and presumed killed.

It was those riots and protests inside detention that inspired ordinary Australians to take to the streets in support of them. The struggle in and outside those hell holes fed off each other and spurred people on to fight for basic human rights.

It is by doing this again that these asylum seekers are bringing their plight to people’s attention and should move to people to get off their asses and do something.

God help us if Abbott gets in because he will so quickly go back to the worst of the Howard years and condemn people to rot in detention, to drown in the ocean, or be sent back to places where they’ll be killed. And Gillard’s policies aren’t much better either.

But it was those movements last time that meant Howard couldn’t get away with using racism as a distraction and it will take those movements again.

I'm from Sydney's Western Suburbs and I'm not concerned about boat people

My name’s Benjamin Solah; I’m from Sydney’s Western Suburbs and I’m not concerned about boat people.

I’m not anxious or worried. I don’t feel threatened that they’re going to affect my way of life.

What I am concerned about is Julia Gillard assuming to speak for me, a working-class person, and assuming what my fears are.

Don’t get me wrong, many people from where I grew up do have these fears, can be racist and xenophobic and full of these myths about asylum seekers.

But these fears don’t come out of thin air. It is the likes of Tony Abbott, the Liberals, racists like Pauline Hanson, shock jocks like Alan Jones and sensationalist media outlets like The Daily Telegraph run by Rupert Murdoch that speak to spread myths and rile fear in people about what amounts to quite a small amount of people coming here.

If Julia Gillard had any guts, she’d counter those fears with the truth, she’s show leadership to turn the debate around, input reason into the debate. But Gillard and the Labor party have no guts, no principles. They’re interested in racing to the right, collapsing to every right-wing demand and appealing to people’s manufactured fears.

But people from working-class areas like Western Sydney are also concerned about other things. They’re worried about losing their jobs, or finding jobs or not being paid enough to keep themselves and their families properly looked after; they’re concerned about shit public transport and inadequate infrastructure as well as hospitals and schools that seem to get less funding than the ones in the North Shore.

They’re concerned about a lot of things but Julia Gillard doesn’t seek to relieve these concerns. If she did, maybe she’d install programs that built schools and improved public transport, giving the unemployed jobs. Maybe she’d improve union laws, raise the minimum wage, and reinstate unfair dismissal.

She wants you to be concerned about ‘boat people’ so you forget about being so concerned about these other things. Kicking refugees while they’re down fits into the agenda of the rich and powerful whilst seeing to the other concerns about jobs and living standards contradict that agenda.

Julia Gillard does not speak for me. I’m concerned about her. I’m anxious about racism. And I want to stop the flow of myths, distractions and hysteria leading up to the election.

And I’m not going to stop this by voting for someone. I’m going to do it for myself. I’m going to do so by standing with others who want to stand united and to show Julia Gillard that we make the world move and we will not stand for her trying to tell us what we’re to be concerned about.

Asylum Seekers: Gillard returns to the Howard era

Following my piece on Monday arguing that we needed to oppose Gillard and not just accept something ‘better than the Liberals,’ Gillard seems to have really turned the screws tighter in regards to policy toward asylum seekers.

All the rhetoric of xenophobia, learning English, political correctness, and the pledge to ‘stop the boats’ reek of Howard’s rotten era. And plans to process claims in East Timor are barely distinguishable from Howard’s ‘Pacific Solution’ of processing claims in places like Nauru.

So it’s shocking to hear that some refugee groups have been so soft, welcomed some of her policies, made mild criticisms at best or just not come out as hard and loud as they should.

But I attended a demonstration at Treasury Gardens this morning before work with some refugee advocates like Pamela Curr willing to condemn Gillard’s policies for what they are: pure racism.

I will post photos when I get home tonight.

We can all see an election is around the corner. They love the refugee issue to whip up fear about something else and distract voters from looking at policies where people might see that both Labor and Liberal’s desire do things in the interests of the rich and powerful are the real cause for concern and anxiety.