Issue 804

Editorial with Simon Thomsen

A Fair Go for Hope

Echo editor Simon Thomsen gave the following address at Lismore's Australia Day celebrations.

I'd like to thank Helen Gates, chair of the Australia Day committee, for asking me to speak today. It is an enormous honour on our National Day to be asked to talk about what it means to be Australian. And I'm proud of the fact that I'm doing it in Lismore, the city I call home.

I'd also like to acknowledge the Bundjalung indigenous people of this region, who have shared this land with us. I thank them for the fact that 214 years ago, their ancestors did not declare 'We will decide who comes in to this country' as Captain Arthur Phillip came ashore to begin the European settlement of this great nation.

Some 2500 years ago the philosopher Socrates declared 'An unexamined life is a life half lived'. Today is a day for celebrating our achievements, but it's also a time for reflection, assessment and asking ourselves the question 'How can we be better Australians?'

I've titled my talk 'A fair go for hope'. It applies something we all believe is an essential part of being Australian - a fair go - to one of the biggest challenges we face - offering hope. This is my cry from the heart on Australia Day, for right now, I am concerned that we are seeking to squash the hopes of people who need it most - desperate people heading for Australia, an island of hope.

Over two centuries, people have come here in many different ways for all sorts of reasons. We should not lose sight of the fact that this has contributed to our greatness as a nation.

Hope is something we carry in the soul, that extraordinary, indomitable spirit that allows us to press on when the odds seem stacked against us, to achieve beyond our expectations and triumph over adversity.

We all need hope. From a young person looking for work, to indigenous communities dealing with alcohol and drug abuse, a farmer battling low commodity prices and drought, a family trying to make ends meet, or someone fleeing an oppressive regime hoping to find a new life in Australia.

Along with Australian of the Year, Pat Rafter - recognised for his charity work - one of the people honoured as Achievers of the Year was a man by the name of Tuong Quang Luu. He is head of SBS radio - a station that talks to the diverse people of this nation and reminds them of their heritage, as well as the way forward in a new land. Almost three decades ago, Mr Luu was a Vietnamese boat person having fled a country Australia had been at war with.

Given the chance, he has made a major contribution to this country, building on the things that unite us. We offered him hope and he has returned that gift a thousand times over.

Australians are magnificently generous. We saw it in the recent bushfires - from the volunteer bush firefighters who gave of their time and risked their lives, to the everyday people who have donated money and goods to help those who've lost their homes rebuild shattered lives. In tragedy, Australians show an astounding spirit. It makes me proud of what we can achieve.

My plea is to maintain that generous spirit in every day of our lives. To offer compassion and understanding when it is most needed.

We live in a constantly changing world where up to 30 million people are refugees at any one time, from war, oppressive governments or natural disaster.

That's one and a half times the Australian population cast adrift, in search of hope and a future. Some will make it to Australia, by whatever means, in the hope that they can find peace and prosperity for themselves and their families.

This is not a devious intent, but a basic human desire.

We must find a way to help them and offer them hope, quickly, and with dignity. It is not good enough for Australia to lock up children for months on end in the desert. It is not good enough for us to take more than a year to process refugee claims. It's not good enough for Australia to be the only western country that imposes mandatory detention from the moment people arrive seeking refugee status.

It is not good enough to only beat New Zealand in the cricket. New Zealand has processed the applications of nearly the asylum seekers it took in from the Tampa. The rest are still waiting. I want to beat the Kiwis as the country with the biggest heart off the sporting field as well as on it.

We should aspire, along with being world champions in the sporting arena, to being the most humane and compassionate people on this planet.

As an Australian, I want to be able to say to other nations 'Look at us if you want to see the world's greatest country when it comes to looking after the dispossessed and disadvantaged - for we are a truly generous nation.' That generosity should continue when we doubt ourselves the most and we are threatened by fear. We must not give up on what many know in their hearts is the right thing to do.

Some four generations ago, my ancestors came to Australia from Sweden, Norway, Scotland and Ireland. If nothing else it gives me someone to cheer on in the Australian Open final. Yet it's also a reflection of the delightfully mongrel nation we are. It's also worth noting that 12 years ago, Sweden tried Australia's current hardline approach to refugees. Five years ago, they had a change of heart. The problems they experienced with the detainees - the same ones currently causing this nation anguish - ended when they began to treat humans seeking hope with respect and dignity.

I spent four years travelling around the globe, making friends. My conversations with them in the last six months leave me in no doubt that the world is watching us and the way we are treating asylum seekers.

They are questioning whether their perception of what it means to be Australian - that fantastic, proud vision we gave them at the 2000 Olympics - is the right one. They are starting to doubt us. I don't want to lose the faith I have in this country and its people to show the world our own special fellowship of the ring, which overcomes dark challenges with courage and compassion.

We deserve the reputation for being one of the most open, multicultural and peaceful nations on the planet. We try to understand our place in the world, seeing how we stack up. I think we are a brilliant people in so many ways.

My other plea is for all of us to be generous to ourselves. You may disagree with what I've said today. The debate over asylum seekers will continue for some time and it will be a passionate debate. But I promise to listen to you and treat you with respect and ask for the same.

Don't call me unAustralian or part of the elite. I'm just another Aussie with a family trying to cope with enormous economic change. And I also worry when Adam Gilchrist loses his wicket cheaply in a one day game, and cheer our Australia Day ambassador, Olympian Petria Thomas, when she turns to swim the last 50m, willing her home to first place with all my heart. Being Australian does not mean we always have to agree. But we should try and find a common understanding of our core values and what it means to be a valued citizen. Is there anything more Australian than challenging authority and the status quo?

Lets put an end to the insult of calling someone a 'bleeding heart'. When did a desire to show compassion and love for other humans, strangers, become a sin or a weakness of character?

I think that love for someone we don't know - but can happily call a mate - is one of the truly great gifts of the Australian people.

If you want to talk to me some more about this, then I'm happy to do it over a beer, for it is the Australian way to solve the problems of the world over a schooner in the pub.

And whenever two people get together to talk about their differences and find common ground, there is always hope.

I wish you all a happy Australia Day.