Claudia Karvan's speech to the NSW Teachers Federation

Claudia Karvan

Text of speech to the NSW Teachers Federation

12 March 2003

?In the last few months we?ve seen a steady policy of releasing children from detention on mainland Australia ? and the government is playing this for all it?s worth.? What they don?t tell us is many of these kids are still under house arrest in the community and that there has been no change in the number of children on Nauru and Christmas Island.? The government might have moved 19 children out of detention centres in the past few months ? but that still leaves 153 too many children locked up. All have been detained for over two years and most are less than 12 years old.

?Even having talk about these children like numbers makes me angry. This isn?t about numbers.? It?s about stealing the most important time in their development as human beings from these children; it?s about the families that are being destroyed by these policies and the nightmares that will never go away.

But what Amanda Vanstone?s recent actions show is that there is hope on the horizon.? Hope that the alternatives A Just Australia proposes are possible after all.? Hope that the government is acting this way because it knows that Australians will no longer fall for their attempts to divide us and pit us against suffering people who only come here because they want to be like us ? to have the lives we have and take for granted.

?Hope of course is a double-edged sword.? The danger is that the government releasing some children from detention will discourage those who have given their time and money in support of refugees from continuing to fight on the matter, from raising their concerns.

?But now is the time to take advantage of the change in the public?s mood about refugees, rather than the time to get distracted.? No one believes children should be locked up anymore. Rural communities have expressed their gratitude for the labour Temporary Protection Visa holders supply to their industries, and people are increasingly turned off by terms like ?illegals?.? Recent polling shows the majority support neutral language and the UN?s involvement in processing refugee applications.

?Yet, as memories of Tampa fade and Children Overboard becomes just another example of people feeling cheated by their government, it becomes harder and harder to keep refugees on the list of issues that would make people change their vote.? In this year - an election year - that is a real worry.

?But if we keep prodding it remains possible that a major policy turn-around could happen out of the blue.? Few would have predicted Arthur Calwell announcing in 1945, while we were still at war, that Australia would soon undertake the most ambitious immigration program in the history of the world.? Likewise with Malcolm Fraser and the Vietnamese refugees. But they did, and we must act in the hope that these were not isolated acts of leadership.

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There are, of course, people apart from our politicians who have the opportunity to provide leadership on refugee issues.? Everyone is the room has that opportunity. It?s exciting to be here because, as teachers, you have the best skills as well as the passion to increase the understanding of these issues amongst your networks and your students.

I have faith that just as you have succeeded in making us so aware and committed to the importance of public education you can succeed in convincing your members about the importance of social justice for everyone, including refugees.

?Federally, your parent body, the Australian Education Union, has a great track record on refugees.? And your upcoming campaign to stop the deportation of refugee students and their parents is an excellent idea.

?Beyond that though, by having sensible and open discussions about these issues with your students you will be laying the foundations for a fair and inclusive society well into the future.? Hopefully, with your continued work we will never have another generation of Australians willing to fall for the deception and fear tactics we saw practised in 2001.?? And you never know what potential leaders are sitting in your classrooms ready to be inspired by your leadership on refugees.

?But more than that, as the strongest union in NSW you?re also in a fantastic position to provide other forms of in-kind and financial support to organisations like A Just Australia to complement the work you do with your members.

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This is not an easy campaign.? No one says it is. But it is about change that will better us all ? change that will improve our society in ways we can?t predict and measure now.? It is about bringing good sense and compassion back onto our public agenda.? The good sense to act when we see injustice and the compassion to want to.

If there are Temporary Protection Visa holders in your electorate you can get to know who they are and arrange an appointment with your local MP to discuss their situation.

If you think your MP is a write-off then you might want to consider getting involved in a group like A Just Australia that works to change policy at a national level.

If you?re pushed for time a monthly financial pledge is always a great contribution.

In your classes you could screen one of the many documentaries or videos that have now been made on refugees since 2001, you can use the AJA website to download materials that will help your structure a class discussion and which you can build a lesson plan from.

And importantly, in this election year, think about how your and other Teachers Federation members are going to vote. Even those who want to vote for the Coalition in the Lower House should be worked on so that we end up with a Senate that keeps the government of the day accountable.

?AJA has now achieved two very important goals

???????? breaking bipartisan support for the Pacific Solution, long-term detention and children in detention and

???????? changing public opinion on these matters so that as refugee supporters we are now in with a fighting chance each time a new issue arises

Now, there are three priority areas we think you need to focus on if you want to do more: They are urging the government to change its policies to:

1. Provide permanent protection for proven refugees, with assistance to return home on a voluntary basis;

2. Introduce a process for humanitarian visas or solutions for those stuck in the limbo of long term detention; and

3. Immediately release children and their families into the community.

?But I want to end with a personal story.? Last December five members of an Iranian family were released from long term detention ? a mother and her four children. Three of the children have a rare condition that requires specialist medical attention. During three and a half years of detention in Port Hedland their condition was virtually ignored. At one point they were sedated with drugs, but the doses were so incorrect that their livers were damaged and they had to be removed to Villawood to receive ongoing treatment. Phillip Ruddock didn?t want them at Villawood because he thought they would escape - even though the youngest child is just nine years old and a compulsive hugger who stand out wherever he goes.?

On December 23 2003 Minister Vanstone decided to let them out.? The oldest is now studying nursing and has become engaged to a former detainee, picking up the pieces from four wasted years.? But the story goes on.

Their uncle and 70 year old grandfather are still in Port Hedland.? They have been given visas, but are still waiting for a security check to clear. They?ve been waiting three months, and have no idea how much longer they?ll have to spend baking in the Port Hedland heat.

The message we have to take from this is that hard work pays off.?

But you just have to think of that 70 year old man - still thousands of kilometres from the rest of his family ? to remember that our job is far from finished.

ENDS

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