letter to Peter Dutton - Your latest act of cruelty

_From: Mike

_{Sent: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 2:37 PM}

_{To: Peter Dutton}

_{Subject: Your latest act of cruelty}

_{Dear Mr Dutton,} 

_{My reaction to your latest punitive action against vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees living in Australia fills me with dismay.  Here we have some 400 people, many of them children at school, scraping by in the community, not permitted to work and supported by decent people in our society. You are now stripping them of the meagre government support that they have been receiving in what looks like a crude political ploy aimed at boosting the standing of your party, whilst making life even more difficult for this group of people, who have committed no crime and who have exercised their rights through proper legal process to allow them to stay.}

_{There is nothing “un-Australian”, as you have  arrogantly suggested, about the pro bono actions of lawyers to assist these vulnerable people. As Fiona McLeod, the president of the Law Council of Australia commented: “There is nothing more Australian than ensuring people are subject to the rule of law and have their legal rights protected. The Australian legal system reflects fundamental values, including the right not to be arbitrarily detained and the right not to be subjected to cruel or inhumane treatment.”}

_{The response of the Anglican Dean of Brisbane, the Rev Peter Catt, is typical of the many that I have heard in the past week. He stated : “I could not believe that Minister Dutton would resort to this level of cruelty....When the government is cruel, the community will be kind.”}

_{For you to suggest that these people should return to Nauru or Manus, when both centres are about to close, and where the cost of warehousing them “to keep our borders safe” is in excess of $500,000 per annum, beggars belief.}

_{One can only hope that the opposition parties will find the necessary spine to band together to have this latest act of cruelty disallowed. As a nation, we are surely better than this.}

_{Yours sincerely,}

_{Mike Griffin,}

_{Valla Beach}

_{NSW 2448}