Posted by Jim McDonald on January 26, 2012
I have just returned from the Noosa Australia Day Citizenship ceremony. I have mentioned elsewhere that I regard these ceremonies as one of the most solemn and important secular ceremonies in our country. I stayed until the end of the formal “ceremony” and left in disgust.
You’d think, that if citizenship and welcoming migrants as fellow Australians were important, some thought would be put into ensuring their formal induction is a memorable day for those people who have come to our country, and decided to adopt the responsibilities of full citizenship.
What the Sunshine Coast Regional Council dished up was an appalling, ocker display that appeared to have been put together in the most diffident fashion. Mayor, Bob Abbott, for the most part was the only speaker to give the ceremony some gravitas. Bob couldn’t help himself and finishing off with a loud “Aussie, Aussie Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi” at the end of the formal ceremony was a banal end to his barely audible reading of the Oath and Affirmation.
They were the only clear words we heard from Bob Abbott. He spoke quietly into an inadequate PA system and could not be heard by most of the audience. A Council, which will spend $80,000 on electrical equipment for a commercial food and wine festival in Noosa, could not even be bothered installing a professional PA system.
Councillor Russell Green gave a blokey introduction to the MC whose only qualifications for the job seemed to be inappropriate blokey in-jokes [Cr Green really hit the mark] and the fact that he’d been the presenter for some travel program. Enunciation was not one of his qualities and I wonder what those new citizens for whom English is a second language made of it. At the end of what should have been an important and significant highlight of the morning he engaged in banter about football and cricket.
Noosa Citizenship Ceremony, Australia Day 2012 (photo: Jim McDonald)
I didn’t stay to hear any of the other speakers so I didn’t get to hear local member Glen Elmes who looked not the least embarrassed by the nonsense and I wondered whether a woman’s voice would be heard on stage before the pipe band arrived.
This appalling clique that was onstage throughout has got to go!
Jim McDonald
Greens Candidate, Noosa
Australia Day
Posted by Jim McDonald on January 25, 2012
The Greens candidate for Noosa, Dr Jim McDonald, said he will be attending the Australia Day ceremony at the Recreational Hall at Wallace Park.
He said, “I think it is important that a candidate aspiring to represent Noosa should be present at the formal induction of new citizens into the community.
“Citizenship ceremonies are one of the most moving secular ceremonies in our nation. I have always admired the bravery of migrants who choose to set up a new life in Australia and to formally identify themselves with our nation by taking on citizenship.
“My own migrant origins in Australia stretch back 180 years, so there hasn’t been a tradition in my family of people formally taking on citizenship. But the challenges facing today’s migrants and my forebears who were free settlers are similar in many respects.
“Some of our new citizens will have fled tyranny and persecution and we welcome them into our community and wish them a safe and prosperous future in our country.
“On behalf of the Noosa Greens, I welcome all our new fellow Australians.”
Jim McDonald
Greens Candidate Noosa
Media Release, 25 January 2012
Posted by Steve on July 25, 2011
The Australian Greens have condemned the Malaysian Solution reached today which will involve sending up to 800 people, including unaccompanied children, to an unknown fate.
“Under this deal, the Australian government is shirking its international obligations to offer protection to those seeking our assistance,” Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said.
“The Greens are doubtful that in reality the rights and protections of 800 vulnerable people sent by Australia will be any different to the 94,000 asylum seekers already in Malaysia.
“Ultimately these 800 people will be subject to domestic Malaysian law, and we know these laws do not meet appropriate human rights standards.
“We do not support any policy to expel unaccompanied children and families to a country which has not signed the UN Refugee Convention.
“This four-year deal is a waste of Australian taxpayers’ money that would be better spent increasing our humanitarian intake so 800 people do not have to board boats before 4,000 refugees are taken from Malaysia.
“Both houses of parliament have already condemned this deal, but it can be enacted because the Immigration Minister does not need parliament’s approval.
“Nearly 10 years ago the Greens condemned the Pacific Solution. We condemn its newest version, the Malaysian solution.”
Posted by Steve on June 2, 2011
“The documents clearly show terms such as ‘asylum seeker’ has been replaced by ‘illegal immigrant’ and there’s no mention of human rights,” Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“While the Prime Minister claims the 800 people to be sent to Malaysia will be treated in accordance with our human rights standards, these documents, and e-mails from the UNHCR, ridicule her remarks.
“In this race to the bottom between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott to see how tough they can be on asylum seekers, where is the Prime Minister’s bottom line on walking away from the human rights she says would underpin the agreement?
“We also have confirmation that unaccompanied children already on Christmas Island will be expelled to Malaysia – something the Greens have long feared would happen.
“The Immigration Minister has a clear conflict of interest, because he is by law the guardian of these children and must ensure they are not endangered.
“By emphasising the government is trying to send messages to people smugglers, Mr Bowen is ignoring the nine unaccompanied children already on Christmas Island.
“Australia has domestic and international obligations to ensure the safety of these children.
“Australian tax payers’ money should not be spent on this deal which means Australia pays the cost for expelling 800 people and having no say in how those asylum seekers will be treated.
“The Australian government should walk away from this deal if it cannot guarantee that Australian human rights standards will be used in the final agreement, which must be made public whenever the two governments sign it.”
The Greens’ policy on asylum seekers can be found here
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