"Three word slogans"

Indrika Ratwatte

"Despite decades working in humanitarian crises around the world, the suffering I witnessed on Nauru is an immense shock"

 ... Worse than this, a policy that knowingly and unrelentingly harms children for political ends is an abomination. There can be no three word slogans to justify it. There are no excuses.

(Indrika Ratwatte is the UNHCR director of the regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Geneva, she is writing in the Guardian )

Post election wrap up

1. Well, the excitement is over, but the fight to get children and their families off Nauru and out of detention continues.
As everyone knows Labor won, and it appears we made our mark if recent remarks by Ged Kearney, who is now the member for Batman, are any guide.

Ged Kearney wants more 'humane' policies: 'Getting people off Manus and Nauru needs to be a priority'

In this interview Kearney said that her constituents

 “will want to see me argue and work within the party for some change [on asylum policy], and that is what I have promised them, and that is what I will do”.

2. Thank goodness for judges with a heart - watch Barrie Cassidy (Insiders) tell the story

3."Big Ideas" this week on ABC RN was very interesting and I would recommend that people listen to it.    It is titled "Diary of a Nauru Doctor".

This is the blurb on the web site -
"Doctor-turned-whistleblower, Nick Martin, is the most senior official deployed on Nauru to publicly speak out about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.
He was a senior medical officer employed by International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) between November 2016 and August 2017.
Late last year Dr Martin lifted the lid on the secrecy around Australia's offshore immigration system in a media expose.
Now he is continuing his campaign to expose conditions on Nauru, penning a Meanjin essay "Over the seas they came: diary of a Nauru doctor".In partnership with the Human Rights Law Centre, Meanjin hosted a conversation between Nick Martin and Gillian Triggs at the University of Melbourne on 12 March 2018"

Democracy sausages!

Will there be tofu and quinoa sausages on offer at some of the polling stations ?  (There weren't at Spenseley St Primary School, the most exotic was 'Pork and Fennel' and it had gone before I got there!)

Last stand at Preston Market

Bouyed by this prospect the team disappeared before a full group picture could be taken.  So Linda Elizabeth, Barbara and Marie, rolled up and shut down the banners, gathered the fliers and chalk, and headed back to hipster land !

Marie Cole

Last stand for the campaign at Preston  !

Right there to the end our PopUp and Vigil Queen winds down the banner and heads south. Together with Marie Goonan this is the woman who has organised every PopUp and Vigil since January and who mistress-minded our daily purple presence across the electorate. 

Now thats the sort of FROG you need in a campaign !

Marietta's song

In the diverse and multi talented community that is the Batman Grandmothers are women with many skills and capacities. One such talent is that of Marietta Elliot who wrote this  campaign lyric.

So far we haven't had a chance to think of suitable accompanying music for the lyric so if anyone has any ideas please leave a suggestion. 

 

Free the Children

REFRAIN

Free the children

Those innocent children

Who made the decision

To lock them up

Caught up in conflict

Not of their making

REFRAIN

Sadness in their eyes

That cannot be disguised

Robbed of their childhood

For political ends

REFRAIN

We’re tarred with the brush

Of guilt and shame

Those innocent children

Are not to blame

REFRAIN

Do not be the one who looks away

Our focus is on children in detention and now there are 2 more!
At the RAC rally in Northcote on Saturday we heard the story of the Tamil family torn from their home in Queensland and transported to the detention centre in Melbourne.  Since then the press has reported the horrifying details.

Refugee family's treatment is our shame They came here for the same reasons any one of us would .Do not be the person to look away.

Busy week for grandmothers.

On Wed 14th, it was Preston Market's turn to be invaded by the Batgrans. Nine of us, as well as Helen Fox, met outside Centrelink, then walked around the market, without seeing any security. Overall we received a positive response.

Towards the end of our pop-up, Green Senator Nick McKim from Tasmania arrived at the market (see photo). He is a supporter of Grandmothers and he was congratulated on the work he has done on Manus. He said he has applied for a visa to go to Nauru.

There are just 3 more sleeps and 2 Batgran events to election day!

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Monday 11th (Labor Day) was a public holiday, but not for the Batgrans!  We mounted a vigil outside the Northcote Town Hall, on both sides of the conveniently placed tram stop.

We had a variety of signs including the middle one in the photo which says "Use your vote to help free refugee children from the cruelty of Nauru"

The one on the right asks for people to toot their support which they did, including an ambulance which, for a short time turned on its siren. Several trams also sounded their bell!
*********************************************************************************
On Tuesday , 9 of us went to Northcote Central and Plaza to do a pop-up.

We moved around the 2 areas in pairs or separately and were kept busy talking to people and handing out the score cards. 

Marie G. reported speaking to one Liberal voter who said there were no children on Nauru. Another man said refugees had not been immunized and brought disease into Australia!

WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP!

STOP PRESS! STOP PRESS! STOP PRESS!

Readers may have noticed that an earlier post has been deleted.  This gave the list of  pop up times near the pre polling booths in Thornbury.  After the RAC Rally in Northcote on Saturday (Hope you were there!) the pop up organisers (Marie Goonan and Marie Cole) met and decided on a change of strategy, so please take note.

We have decided that we need to refine our actions and hopefully target them better. Therefore here is our new schedule.
Please let me know when you can volunteer by emailing Marie Cole colemb@gmail.com

Monday 12th March  5.00-6.00 Vigil outside Northcote Town Hall

As this is a Public Holiday many shops are shut.

Tuesday 13th March   11.30 - 1.00 Pop up Northcote Plaza

Meet on the corner of High and Separation Streets outside the entrance leading to Northcote Plaza with "Lincraft" above the door.

Wednesday 14th March  11.30 - 1.00 Pop up Preston Market

Meet outside Centrelink, 251 Murray Road, Preston

Thursday 15th March Vigil  4.30-5.30 Reservoir

Meet at our usual place on the corner of High Street and Cheddar Road

Friday 16th March  11.30-1.00 Pop up Preston Market

Again meet outside Centrelink, 251 Murray Road, Preston.

On Polling day, 17th March, the Batgrans are not organizing anything, but if someone is keen to wear purple  and help RAC hand out leaflets, they can contact Barbara Trauer (bltrauer@gmail.com)

RAC Rally for refugees in Batman

Yesterday Grandmothers joined the Refugee Action Collective Rally outside the Northcote Town Hall,  a rally  at which Linda King, our tireless Batgrans leader, spoke very movingly about the plight of children on Nauru.
Another speaker, a Tamil refugee spoke of the treatment of a Tamil family, with a baby and a 3 year old, who were living in Queensland when they, with only 10 minutes notice, were separated and taken by Border Force to Maribynong Detention Centre here in Melbourne. This only happened a few days ago. He almost broke down as he told of their plight and at least a couple of us grandmothers were tearful too.

Linda King addresses the crowd

All the candidates were invited, but only Alex Bhatal (Greens) took up the invitation

Grandmothers, Grandfathers and grandchildren all protested.

Friends always welcome!

On Friday our efforts in Northcote were helped by the welcome addition of Grandmothers from others electorate groups. The more purple there is the better!

We also had a talk with Dino who supports the Australian Conservatives, and agrees that Nauru is no place for children.  Good on you Dino!

Scorecard for candidates

 At the beginning of the campaign the Batgrans sent a list of questions to each of the candidates.  Here are their responses

Grandmothers ask:           Will Batman candidates free the refugee children?

Candidates BATMAN Electorate 2018	Party	Ballot paper order	Get all refugee and asylum seeker children and their families off Nauru to safety and care as soon as possible	End detention of refugee and asylum seeker children and their families except for brief assessment	Bring all refugee children and their families from Nauru to settle in Australia
GENTLE, Yvonne	Rise Up Australia Party	1	✔	✔	✗
KEARNEY, Ged	Australian Labor Party	2	✔	✔	*
BHATHAL, Alex	The Greens	3	✔	✔	✔
BAILEY, Kevin Christopher	Australian Conservatives	4	✔	✗	✗
BURNS, Tegan	Australian People’s Party	5	✔	✔	✔
ROBINSON, Debbie	Australian Liberty Alliance	6	✔	✗	✗
VAN LIESHOUT, Teresa		7	✔	✔	✔
WHITEHEAD, Adrian		8	✔	✔	✔
MCDONALD, Mark	Sustainable Australia	9	✔	✔	✔
SMITH, Miranda Joyce	Animal Justice Party	10	✔	✔	✔

Batman Grandmothers against the Detention of Refugee Children asked these questions to all local candidates in the 2018 Federal by-election.

*no answer received to this specific question. Ged Kearney referred to the ALP wider refugee policies.  

Grandmothers ask Batman candidates:

Candidates BATMAN  Electorate 2018	Party	If elected, what would you do to ensure refugee children are moved to safety from Nauru?
GENTLE, Yvonne	Rise Up Australia Party	There needs to be an alternative place which would be safe for the refugees and have facilities for them
KEARNEY, Ged	Australian Labor Party	Refugees on Manus Island and Nauru – including children – have been there too long and I want to see them safely resettled as soon as possible. Labor will work to ensure children are out of detention as soon as possible, appoint an independent children’s advocate to represent the interests of children seeking asylum, and reintroduce the ‘90 day rule’ into the Migration Act … If I’m elected, I’ll be a voice for asylum seekers in the Parliament, inside the Labor Party and in the Labor caucus.
BHATHAL, Alex	The Greens	Children don’t belong in detention. It is to our national shame that there are still children living in rotting tents on Nauru. The Greens will remove all children and their families from detention immediately, including those in offshore detention and on Nauru. The Greens will save $2.9 billion by shutting the detention camps on Manus Island and Nauru and abolishing the practice of offshore detention.
BAILEY, Kevin Christopher	Australian Conservatives	Place them in third party countries
BURNS, Tegan	Australian People’s Party	Bring forward legislation to bring refugees here
ROBINSON, Debbie	Australian Liberty Alliance	If elected I would charter a flight back to their home region and use the money we save to help indigenous and disadvantaged children in Australia.
VAN LIESHOUT, Teresa		I would bring the women & children from Nauru to Australia to settle here.
WHITEHEAD, Adrian		Work with the government of the day to achieve this
MCDONALD, Mark	Sustainable Australia	Develop a policy that children do not go  to detention
SMITH, Miranda Joyce	Animal Justice Party	As a representative of a minor party that has core values of kindness and equality I would support any introduced bill that  supported refugee children being moved to safety from Nauru.

Another rally for you to attend

Don't forget this important event!

RAC Rally . Saturday 10th March from 11.30 at Northcote Town Hall   

Hosted by Refugee Action Collective 

Rally starts with speakers including a representative from the Batman grandmothers. Speeches in the Town Hall precinct will be followed by a short march down High St to Separation St. Palm Sunday fliers,score cards etc will be distributed en route.

 It would be great to get an amazing hue of purple gathering at the Town Hall to then march en masse, with placards and silhouettes down High St. I think there is a marching band. Please bring your own placards and silhouettes and of course lots of purple

Local legend pops up!

Guess who popped by to support the Batgrans Batman Election PopUp today ? 

Much loved and highly acclaimed comedian, actor, author and total legend Denise Scott who was back in High St Thornbury after a  sell out show at the Sydney Opera House.  

Denise is an old friend  of GADRC having helped launch the network from the steps of St Pauls Cathedral in 2014. Thank you Denise.  Time to make you an honorary FROG! 

On the (by)election trail!

Starting Monday 5th a group of Batgrans were between the 2 pre-polling stations in High St, Thornbury where they spoke to early voters and members of the public in our continuing effort to sway public opinion in favour of refugees and their children.

Determined Grandmother v reluctant voter. No contest!

Meeting the candidates!

Batman Grandmothers have been out and about in Darebin talking to voters and candidates about refugee children in detention.
Alex Bathal, Greens candidate signed one of our child cutouts in support of our cause. (16/2/18)

ALP Senator Penny Wong and candidate Ged Kearney expressed understanding of our position but could not say that the ALP would change/soften its policy re off shore detention of children. (22/2/18).  It is dispiriting that the two major parties are in lock step over this cruel and harmful policy. We can only hope that Ged Kearney, who has previously expressed sympathy for refugees can influence the Labor Party Conference on this issue.

It was encouraging to see and talk with students from local high schools at this event.  These young people are studying politics and were interested in the activities of the Batgrans. They'll be entitled to vote very soon.