letter from Mike Griffin to new Labor MP Ged Kearney 22 May 2018

_{Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 4:04 PM}

_{To: Ged.Kearney.MP@aph.gov.au}

_{Subject: Your asylum seeker stance}

_{Dear Ms Kearney,}

_{I am writing both to congratulate you and to express my deep appreciation for you principled and compassionate comments about the current refugee and asylum policy in your maiden speech, which I have just read. As an organiser of a refugee advocacy group on the Mid North Coast, it is enormously heartening to see that we do have some brave people in the Labor party who are prepared to demand an end to the cruel and inhumane treatment of our asylum seekers and refugees, and I will certainly be referencing your speech in our newsletter, which goes out to some 570 supporters each week.}

_{Our local Rural Australians for Refugees group is currently collecting signatures on an open letter to the delegates to the upcoming Labor Party conference (attached) in which we are urging the party to demonstrate leadership on this hugely important issue. RAR groups across Australia are collecting signatures on the letter, and we are expecting a good response. We hope that our open letter, and no doubt others like it, will give heart to those in the party who are pressing for a significant policy shift, rather than simply refinements to the current policy.}

_{Best wishes}

_{Yours sincerely,}

_{Mike Griffin}