Dear Minister Andrews, I watched your interview with David Speers on Insiders with utter disbelief.

Dear Minister Andrews,

I watched your interview with David Speers on Insiders with utter disbelief. Your attempt to explain the inexplicable and indefensible was totally unconvincing. Your colleague, Minister Dutton, commented a year ago that releasing detainees from hotel detention made sense, given that it was much cheaper to allow these men to live in community detention as they posed no threat to the Australian community. There is no logical reason to keep these men in detention. You know that. Sadly, the government’s political agenda, which drives this cruelty and total lack of compassion, seems to be all that matters.

The Australian people have now seen, many for the first time, thanks to Novak Djokovic, the cruel and punitive reality of the government’s asylum policy, and they are not comfortable with what they see. Many, like myself, are outraged.

We have a federal election coming up. Many of us will be working hard to throw out a government which is prepared to inflict such terrible cruelty on refugees and asylum seekers, who fled their homelands to seek safety in Australia.

The government’s actions over the past years bring shame on us all.

Mike Griffin

Letter to Senator Keneally re Afghan Refugee Crisis

Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021
To: 'Keneally, Kristina (Senator)' <Senator.Keneally@aph.gov.au>
Subject: RE: Afghan refugees

 

For the attention of Nav, Office of Senator Keneally.

 

Thank you for your response to my recent email. I am encouraged by the first paragraph in your response. Family reunion is an important priority in UNHCR’s work, and it is a matter of record that the Coalition government has deliberately given a low priority to this group of refugees. I hope that the Labor opposition will exert maximum pressure on the government to prioritise  family reunion for Afghan refugees living in Australia.

Your assertion that the  Afghan refugee crisis can be resolved through the existing humanitarian programme is  deeply dispiriting. The Coalition government has already reduced the number of places by 5,000 in recent times. The fact that there are currently some 5,000 unused places in the programme is entirely a result of the COVID pandemic, which has prevented refugees who had already been approved by UNHCR for resettlement in Australia, and who had been accepted by our government, from travelling here. You must be well aware of this.  What the government has proposed, and what the Labor opposition is clearly supporting, is that these people, who were expecting to be resettled in Australia, will now be knocked back in order to accommodate refugees from Afghanistan.

I asked the question, in an earlier email: “Does the Labor party support a one-off allocation of 20,000 humanitarian visas for Afghan refugees?”

The answer, quite clearly, is a resounding: “ No!”

That’s very depressing.

M.G.

Newsletter for 7 May 2019 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Meet the Candidates Forum: Tuesday 7}^th _{May from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm}

_{Rally for refugees and asylum seekers: Saturday 11}^th _September

_{Our open letter to Minister Dutton}

_{Letters to the local press}

_{Did you see our advert in the Coffs Coast Advocate?}

_{An important date for your diary: Sunday 26}^th _{May, 11.30 am}

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{A great turn out for our demonstration on Friday in Coffs Harbour, with twelve supporters waving banners and placards, attracting lots of positive support from passing motorists. A big thank you to all who participated.}

_{Meet the Candidates Forum: Tuesday 7}^th _{May from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm}

_{A reminder that the Meet the Candidates Forum takes place this evening in the Memorial Hall on Hyde Street in Bellingen. We will have the opportunity to raise questions about the candidates’ and parties’ policies on asylum policy. Please come along to join in the discussion and to help us get our message across about the current bipartisan approach to the despicable policy of indefinite offshore detention, and the very poor treatment of asylum seekers in Australia as they wait for years to have their claims for protection finalised. This is our one and only opportunity to engage with the candidates before the election on 18}^th _{May. Let’s make our voices heard!} 

_{Rally for refugees and asylum seekers: Saturday 11}^th _September

_{We are planning our final activity in advance of the federal election, and we hope that many of you will join us for at least some of the time.}

_{Where? The Jetty Foreshores in Coffs Harbour, adjacent to the jetty.}

_{When? Saturday 11}^th _{May, from 11.00 am until 12.30 pm}

_{Why? To engage with passersby and to send a clear message to the candidates in the federal election that it is time to end offshore detention without delay. The 930 adults who remain indefinitely on Manus and Nauru, and who have been languishing there for more than five years, have surely suffered enough. People have died, many have self-harmed, and most of them are suffering from significant mental health issues. All of this as a result of our government’s cruel policy of indefinite detention, deliberately designed to drive people to despair and to break their spirits. It is surely time to show some compassion, and to demonstrate that everyday Australians are better than this.}

_{We have lots of banners and placards to share, but you may of course want to bring your own. Please encourage your family and friends to join us. Let’s make this a big show of solidarity with Australia’s refugees and asylum seekers.} 

_{Please make a big effort to join us if you can.}

_{Our open letter to Minister Dutton}

_{In recent days we finally sent off our open letter to Minister Dutton, calling for an end to offshore detention and appealing to him to finally show some compassion towards refugees. Some 775 people signed the letter at our market stalls and at events run by a number of other RAR groups. You can find the accompanying letter to Minister Dutton on our blog, the details of which you will find at the bottom of the newsletter. Maybe we won’t have to correspond with him for too much longer!}

_{Letters to the local press}

_{A number of our supporters write regularly to the local press to encourage people to consider the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, and it’s really encouraging to see that their letters are regularly published in the Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Heads and Bellingen papers. Our practice is to publish the letters on our blog, but a letter from one of our supporters, which will hopefully appear in the press in the days ahead, deserves to be read by you all in the newsletter. You will not fail to be moved by it.}

_{“I am part of a group who advocates for refugees in the Bellingen, Coffs and Nambucca area. You may have seen us standing by the side of the road with our signs supporting refugees.}

 _{Occasionally passersby call out “Send them Home.”  So, I have decided to tell you about a certain family of four who are my friends in Sydney who can’t go home to their Middle Eastern country which they left in a hurry in fear of their lives.} 

 _{They were in the last boatload of asylum seekers to land on Christmas Island before the government decided to send all boat people to offshore detention.  After six turbulent years of learning a new language, dealing with the trauma of their lives, missing their extended family members left behind and looking for jobs, they are living in Sydney.}

 _{They receive no money from the Government. The sons are settled at school, the father, a former school principal, is working and studying as a tradesman and the mother, a B.Sc. graduate, is working in Aged Care and continuing her studies.}

 _{They love Australia, they love their work and each month they donate money from their minimal wages to St Vinnies because, as the mother explained to me:}

 _{“When we were dependent on money from the Government, we made a pact with each other that when we had jobs we would give back to Australia.”}

 _{It is people like these, who are still waiting for a permanent visa, that some politicians and passersby want to “send home.” I want people like these to be my neighbours.}

 _{Vote for compassion.”}

 _{Margaret Henley}

_{Did you see our advert in the Coffs Coast Advocate?}

_{On Saturday 4}^th _{May our half-page advert appeared in the Coffs Coast Advocate. We do hope that you saw it and had the time to read it. If not, you can access it on our blog by clicking on the link at the end of this newsletter. The advert sets out clearly our position and our concerns about government policy, and appeals to voters to consider the terrible plight of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus when casting their votes in the federal election.}

_{The advert cost just under $975, and we are deeply grateful for the magnificent response from our supporters. But we are not quite there yet. If you could consider making a donation, no matter how small towards the cost of the advert, that would be greatly appreciated.}

_{Our BCU bank details for making a payment online are:}

_{Account name: Bellingen and Nambucca RAR}

_{BSB: 533000}

_{Account number: 238205}

_{If you are transferring funds from a BCU account, then the account number is 238205S44}

_{Please mark your donation as “advert”}

_{An important date for your diary: Sunday 26}^th _{May, 11.30 am}

_{Whatever the outcome of the federal election, we know, sadly, that our work will not be over. The Labor Party, in its election material, makes clear that it is just as committed to maintaining offshore detention, and to refusing to allow the detainees on Manus and Nauru to resettle in Australia, as the Coalition. It has, though, pledged to take up the New Zealand government’s offer to resettle 150 refugees from Nauru and Manus, which we welcome.} 

_{Once the election is over, our group needs to meet to consider the outcome, to review our strategy and to decide our priorities for the year ahead. To that end, we would like to hold a meeting, to which everyone is invited, on Sunday 26}^th _{May, starting at 11.30 am and followed by a social lunch from 12.30 pm.}

_{Venue: 39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach.}

_{This will be an important meeting, and we hope that many of you will come along to help us shape our actions and priorities for the year ahead. The lunch will be a great opportunity to relax with friends, to meet new people and to share our commitment to the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees}

_{Please put the date in your diary. Further details in next week’s newsletter.}

_{Check out the index of subjects on our blog http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au}

_{It includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers.}

_{This newsletter is sent to >620 recipients}

_{Our Face book is at https://www.facebook.com/Rural-Australians-for-Refugees-Bellingen-and-Nambucca-Districts-269696303205083/timeline/}

_{(579 likes)}

_{Twitter Account @RARBellingenNam}

_{Email address bellingen.rar@gmail.com}

_{The National RAR web site is at  www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au} 

_{The National RAR facebook site is at  RAR Facebook}

Letter to Minister Dutton - public discourse 20 March 2019

From: Mike Griffin
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2019 4:18 PM
To: 'Peter.Dutton.MP@aph.gov.au' <Peter.Dutton.MP@aph.gov.au>
Subject: public discourse

Dear Minister Dutton,

I listened with interest to your interview on Radio National earlier in the week, in relation to the Christchurch tragedy.  Predictably, you refused to answer the direct questions about how you, and other politicians on the right, might share some responsibility for the normalization of anti-Muslim and racist discourse in Australia. 

Rather than share some responsibility for helping to create a climate of fear and mistrust, you  chose to put on a show of confected outrage at the mere suggestion that some politicians like yourself might have some questions to answer, preferring instead to equate the legitimate concerns of Richard Di Natale and Mehreen Faruqi with the racist rantings of Frazer Anning.

This is nonsense, as you well know. Let’s not forget that it was you who warned us darkly about the danger of “single males”, “rapists” and “paedophiles” finding their way to our shores. 

It was you who sought to convince us that the refugees on Manus and Nauru would take our jobs, live on the dole, kick patients off waiting lists and kick people out of social housing.  

You have spent years, as a senior government politician, sowing the politics of fear and discord at every opportunity, often aided and abetted by your good friend Alan Jones, who I note has donated $10,000 to the re-election campaign of Pauline Hanson. 

I do hope that the tragic events of Christchurch will give you pause for thought. You might start by making a commitment not to participate in Alan Jones’ utterly unpleasant and race-baiting programmes between now and the federal election.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Griffin

Valla Beach NSW 2448.

Letter to Cathy McGowan MP - please support Dr Phelps's bill

From: Mike Griffin <mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:31 AM
To: 'cathy.mcgowan.mp@aph.gov.au' <cathy.mcgowan.mp@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Asylum seekers

Dear Cathy McGowan,

As a long-standing RAR member, I want to acknowledge the major contribution that you have made in parliament in fighting for a humane and compassionate policy on refugees and asylum seekers. You have at all times taken a principled stand for the rights of asylum seekers and you have never failed to hold the government to account. 

I am concerned, though, that you have announced that you have not yet decided whether or not you will support Dr Phelps’ Bill to put the needs of patients front and centre, rather than the deliberations of bureaucrats and politicians, when doctors request the transfer of people from Manus or Nauru for urgent medical treatment.  

Surely, the worst that can happen to the government is that it suffers some embarrassment on the floor of the House if the Bill is voted into law? Yet, for refugees, it could be a matter of life or death.

I urge you therefore to please support Dr Phelps’ Bill when it returns to Parliament in February. Your vote will be crucial in deciding whether parliament votes for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers or for a continuation of the current inhumane policy, which is all about politics rather than principle.

Regards

Mike Griffin

letter to Prime Minister signed by 1835 people

18^th December 2018

Dear Prime Minister,

Please find enclosed an open letter to you, which has been signed by 1,835 people. The signatures have been collected by supporters of Rural Australians for Refugees in many communities across Australia. The letter reads:

“We, the undersigned, are well aware that the international community faces serious challenges in dealing with the millions of people around the world who have been forced to flee their country.

Detaining people indefinitely on remote islands, away from public scrutiny, however, can never be a part of the solution. More than 100 children remain on Nauru. Many of them have only known a life in detention. A large number of them have significant mental health issues. Current government policy is deliberately cruel, utterly inhumane, morally indefensible, and unsustainable. We have a humanitarian catastrophe on our hands which has been deliberately created to achieve political objectives.

We therefore call on your government to immediately evacuate all the children, men and women currently held on Nauru. They must be brought to Australia to receive appropriate care and resettlement here or eventually in other safe countries prepared to accept them. Enough is enough.”

We acknowledge that, since the launch of this open letter, the number of children on Nauru has been dramatically reduced, but we note, with dismay, that your government has spent some $480,000 in the courts during this financial year in a cruel attempt to prevent children coming to our shores for emergency medical treatment. That is truly reprehensible, and cannot possibly be justified. We can protect our borders without treating asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru and Manus with such cruelty and inhumanity.

It is surely time to bring this shameful chapter in our history to an end.

                                                                        Yours sincerely,

                                                                        Mike Griffin

                                    On behalf of Rural Australians for Refugees