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Brick wall - meet head.
Nov. 20th, 2017 07:36 pmNo, not quite as bad as that. But at the moment, it's embarrassing to be Australian. Not only did it take a long and expensive survey to reassure the government that yes, the majority really does want Marriage Equality 1, but the Government is also abandoning the refugees on Manus Island that came to us for asylum.2 
I've been working pretty hard for the Marriage Equality side, and although the survey was a resounding "yes", I know it's up to me to put the hard word on the Government to do their duty and pass a bill that meets those needs. It won't infringe on the rights of any religions - if a church does not want to hold marriage between anything but a man and a woman, they can choose to do that. But some people are trying to claim that shopkeepers do not have to serve people who want their goods for a marriage between, for instance, two men. This, despite the fact that they are not currently allowed to discriminate by refusing to serve people who want their goods for a wild Mardi Gras party. So that's a whole new fight. But I shall keep on.
But tonight I spent some time doing something that I desperately hope will not be a waste of time. Years ago, a citizens' lobby group explained that every letter that gets sent to a politician represents the views not only of that one person, but a thousand people who thought about the issue, thought they should do something, but hadn't quite got around to sending a letter. So each letter can strike fear into the hearts of politicians.
So I wrote to Peter Dutton, the Minister for Being Mean to Refugees.
I do hope it strikes fear into him.
(1) Marriage Equality. Not just Same Sex Marriage, but Marriage that encompasses any two adults who are otherwise free to marry. Any gender (of which there are many), any sex (including Intersex), and staying valid even if they change their gender (unlike currently, where their marriage will be annulled as soon as they do).
(2) The refugees risked death and horrible attacks and all sorts of hardships to come here because their own countries were too dangerous to stay in. Instead of welcoming them, the Australian Government put them in prison camps in other countries. Nearly all of the people turn out to be (don't be too surprised) genuine refugees. The Prime Minister even admitted to Donald Trump that he was only having the asylum seekers who come by boat put on the islands - those that come by plane were allowed in. Now the Government is trying to close the camps, and make the refugees go into communities that do not want them, that attack them, that treat them terribly. So the refugees are refusing to leave the camps. The water was turned off, the shelters pulled down, any shelter or wells the refugees have built get destroyed, there's no food ... you get the idea. We have room here. We have communities ready and willing to take them in. It's only 600 people. They should come here and stay.
I've been working pretty hard for the Marriage Equality side, and although the survey was a resounding "yes", I know it's up to me to put the hard word on the Government to do their duty and pass a bill that meets those needs. It won't infringe on the rights of any religions - if a church does not want to hold marriage between anything but a man and a woman, they can choose to do that. But some people are trying to claim that shopkeepers do not have to serve people who want their goods for a marriage between, for instance, two men. This, despite the fact that they are not currently allowed to discriminate by refusing to serve people who want their goods for a wild Mardi Gras party. So that's a whole new fight. But I shall keep on.
But tonight I spent some time doing something that I desperately hope will not be a waste of time. Years ago, a citizens' lobby group explained that every letter that gets sent to a politician represents the views not only of that one person, but a thousand people who thought about the issue, thought they should do something, but hadn't quite got around to sending a letter. So each letter can strike fear into the hearts of politicians.
So I wrote to Peter Dutton, the Minister for Being Mean to Refugees.
I do hope it strikes fear into him.
(1) Marriage Equality. Not just Same Sex Marriage, but Marriage that encompasses any two adults who are otherwise free to marry. Any gender (of which there are many), any sex (including Intersex), and staying valid even if they change their gender (unlike currently, where their marriage will be annulled as soon as they do).
(2) The refugees risked death and horrible attacks and all sorts of hardships to come here because their own countries were too dangerous to stay in. Instead of welcoming them, the Australian Government put them in prison camps in other countries. Nearly all of the people turn out to be (don't be too surprised) genuine refugees. The Prime Minister even admitted to Donald Trump that he was only having the asylum seekers who come by boat put on the islands - those that come by plane were allowed in. Now the Government is trying to close the camps, and make the refugees go into communities that do not want them, that attack them, that treat them terribly. So the refugees are refusing to leave the camps. The water was turned off, the shelters pulled down, any shelter or wells the refugees have built get destroyed, there's no food ... you get the idea. We have room here. We have communities ready and willing to take them in. It's only 600 people. They should come here and stay.
