Know the Facts

RAR National Conference February 6-8th 2004

History of RAR

Address by Helen McCue AM, RAR Co-founder

Rural Australian for Refugees emerged in late September 2001 as part of a national response of moral outrage, anger and shame at the Federal Governments actions against asylum seekers. We were horrified at the response of the Government to the Tampa crisis; the Children Overboard Affair, and the shocking drowning of 353 mostly women and children, after the sinking of SIEV X in October of that year.

These horrific events were a culmination of Government action on so called Border Protection, and a reflection of Government policy on refugees and asylum seekers that had developed over several years. Our response was a part of the growing national consciousness about the human rights violations of refugees seeking asylum in Australia.

We had all been aware of the so called "boat people" of the 1970's and of the ALP's establishment of detention centers and its policy on mandatory detention. We had been aware too, of a hardening of government attitudes toward asylum seekers. But, we had also been witness to the compassionate national response in 1999 to the plight of the Kosovars, and to the open hearted response of the community especially in country towns such as Albury Wodonga, Brighton in Tasmania and Puckapunyal in Victoria.

However, parallel to this compassionate national response was the orchestration of public panic by the government about a new group of asylum seekers, mostly Iraqi's and Afghanis arriving in northern Australia by boat. A small number, no more than 3,700 in 1999-2000. This sense of national danger was fueled by Immigration Minister Ruddock's persistent statements about a 'national emergency; a new assault on our borders; an invasion and, as he painted it, with clear racist undertones, ' of whole villages in the Middle East packing up', determined to come to Australia in leaky boats.

Along with hundred of thousands of Australians our compassion and concern deepened as conditions in detention centers deteriorated and as asylum seeker desperation grew.

We were shamed and sickened at the conditions endured by children in detention, and at the increasing number of distressed and desperate people who were self-harming. Iraqi and Afghani asylum seekers at the Curtin detention center, some with their lips sewn together, went on a hunger strike in February 2000. There was a mass break out at the Woomera detention centre in June, followed by a riot, where for the first time in Australia, water cannon was used as crowd control. Malcolm Frazers public response at the time spoke for us all. Was this the Australia that we valued and loved? An April suicide outside Parliament house in Canberra, of a desperate refugee seeking family reunion, and TV images of more riots in the detention centers in May and June 2001 divided the country but heightened our anger and shame. Across Australia this moral outrage galvanised thousands of people into taking action.

For Susan Varga, Anne Combs and myself met in early September 2001 and felt we had to do something. Susan had personal experience as a refugee. Ann is an experience journalist and I had had several decades of experience working with refugees in South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. While rural Australia had a reputation for conservatism, we knew that country people had responded earlier to the Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees and more recently to the Kosovars. We knew also that in the 1950's country Australia had been part of nation wide 'Good Neighbour' movement, welcoming refugees from Europe. We felt that there was a rural voice of compassion and concern over the refugee issue, which was not being heard.

We coined the name Rural Australians for Refugees, RAR and called together a small group of local activists. We prepared our 10-point plan, our RAR platform. We developed a fact sheet on refugees, which sought to dispel the myths and lies of the Federal Government. We wrote an open letter to the local paper, and set up our trusty card table in the main street of Bowral. We then planned for a public meeting to be held 5days before the Federal election in November. Brigadier Adrian D'Hage, at that time a local resident, and a high profile outspoken critic of the war in Afghanistan, agreed to speak. We also invited the local candidates to address what we thought would be a small audience. Bowral, after all is located in the heartland of the conservative Southern Highlands of NSW. To our amazement 500 people turned up to the public meeting and we were able to get considerable national media coverage. Rural Australians for Refugees was born.

What followed was overwhelming and totally unexpected. A combination of email, the development of our RAR web site, and in particular early coverage on the ABC's so aptly named 'Bush Telegraph', resulted in a flood of requests from rural Australia to be a part of RAR. Some established groups, such as those in Armidale and Bellingen, wanted to a part of a national rural refugee movement, others were inspired to set up their own group. We had emails and phone calls from as far away as from Goondiwindi on the NSW Queensland border and from Port Headland in Western Australia.

Older women, mother and grandmothers like Betty Dixon in Goulburn, became involved for the first time in political activism. In a very short time there were over 50 RAR groups across Australia. The message that came back was that identification with a national, rural, refugee rights movement gave people a sense of identity, a sense of unity and confidence to face an often small, mostly conservative rural community. RAR did not align ourselves with any one political party so people across the political spectrum felt that they could unite on the issue of refugee rights.

RAR's various initiatives have included what we called "welcome towns" actively supporting refugees to settle in rural Australia. There was a call for extensive lobbying of local councils and MP's; a call for an end to mandatory detention and the TPV system, with its devastating psychological and social consequences. RAR groups have supported and encouraged people to write to or visit refugees in detention, to seek legal help for detainees, to gather household goods to help refugees where they are released, to send toys or phone cards. There are vigils and rallies and town hall meetings and educational and awareness programs with school children across rural Australia and there was the famous rural Tiger 11 soccer tour initiated by Camila Cowley in Queensland. Eileen and Geoff Smith of Hastings RAR have done wonderful work supporting asylum seekers on Naru and we will hear more from other groups soon. What action each group takes often depends on their physical location so that we support each other, an example of which is the nation-wide support given to the front line groups in Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Perrie.

We believe that there were a number of factors that have affected the success of RAR. The first was the name. Country people identified with it. Second was the movement's profile that we were able to establish through national media and email through which we were able to co-ordinate and harmonise existing energy on the refugee rights.

In addition, one of the keys to RAR's success has been the resistance to be formally structured. Groups who wanted to be part of RAR were often doing their own thing appropriate to their town. Through email and the web RAR groups were able to share our various ideas and actions and soon we were plugged into the various city based refugee groups as well. Susan played a key role in harmonising and encouraging people through email to set up groups while Ann worked hard to keep RAR in the public eye through the national media. RAR's newsletters were a great source of group inspiration and motivation.

The national administration for RAR was originally located in the Southern Highlands but following the first national conference in Mudgee in Dec 2002, this responsibility was transferred to Central Victoria. The National Steering Committee was supported by Lara McKinley, of the Bendigo group, who took over national media work. A highlight of this over the past year, has been the excellent TPV awareness and action campaign, with the theme "refugees deserve a better future". RAR administration is now physically located in the north coast town of Bellingen in the hands of long time refugee advocates Anne and Rob Simpson, who are both working hard to keep all RAR groups well informed.

This second conference, so excellently organised by the Albury Wodonga RAR, is a demonstration that the rural voice for refugee rights, an estimated 12,000 people or more, is solid and heard. Your activism has kept this movement alive and expanding. The original 10-point plan is still relevant and the four key points of that plan remain our key objectives:

To receive all asylum seekers in accordance with Australia obligations under the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees;
To abolish mandatory detention, close all detention centers and process all claims for asylum in a humane and compassion way under our UN obligations;
To abolish the TPV system;
To increase our refugee intake and at least double our quota.

Finally, the essential vitality of Rural Australians for Refugees is that is has become a platform for political activism. RAR groups across the country are inspirational in the work they do. RAR has tapped into a strong, vibrant and active sense of social justice that is alive and well in country Australia. It is this sense of social justice that drives our present struggle.

We know that we will eventually succeed and that Australia will one day regain its place in the world community as a compassionate, humane and caring society. We all know that with continued effort we will continue to ensure that Australia meets it international obligations. That we once again, welcome to our shores, with compassion and humanity, people who are seeking refugee from war and persecution, people who are seeking to find shelter in this beautiful land of our a "land with boundless plains to share"

Thank you and congratulations RAR.

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