From the 1950s we had The Good Neighbour Council welcoming and helping New Australians (like me), both those pulled by the peace and potential of a great country and those pushed by war and persecution, who had lost their country and needed a new life, and required a new country to belong to.
In the 1980s, my generous community in Canberra sold government the idea of direct settlement into the community of the Indo Chinese boat people and their dependants. It worked brilliantly, on the smell of an oil rag, underpinned by friendship and compassion and the wealth of ordinary Australians willing to share with the vulnerable refugees who came with no material possessions. The Community Refugee Settlement Scheme spread around the nation, engaging people in local communities, from Cairns to Hobart to Perth.
Today I hear government commitment of $700 million over a number of years to refugee settlement through the contracted agencies which deliver some of the best, if not the best, refugee resettlement support in the world. What plans are there to really engage with the people who have spoken up and attended vigils and signed petitions in support of compassion and an increased intake of refugees and also of asylum seekers and especially those who prove to be refugees?
Some modest enabling funding to community groups through local governments will signal the welcome which lies in the hearts of most Australians for the children and the adults who flee war and persecution who are our brothers and sisters on the face of fragile planet earth.
– Frederika E Steen AM, CLA member, Chapel Hill Qld
In the 1980s, my generous community in Canberra sold government the idea of direct settlement into the community of the Indo Chinese boat people and their dependants. It worked brilliantly, on the smell of an oil rag, underpinned by friendship and compassion and the wealth of ordinary Australians willing to share with the vulnerable refugees who came with no material possessions. The Community Refugee Settlement Scheme spread around the nation, engaging people in local communities, from Cairns to Hobart to Perth.
Today I hear government commitment of $700 million over a number of years to refugee settlement through the contracted agencies which deliver some of the best, if not the best, refugee resettlement support in the world. What plans are there to really engage with the people who have spoken up and attended vigils and signed petitions in support of compassion and an increased intake of refugees and also of asylum seekers and especially those who prove to be refugees?
Some modest enabling funding to community groups through local governments will signal the welcome which lies in the hearts of most Australians for the children and the adults who flee war and persecution who are our brothers and sisters on the face of fragile planet earth.
– Frederika E Steen AM, CLA member, Chapel Hill Qld