Asylum Seeker Rally

This afternoon Lorraine and I attend a rally to protest against the way we treat asylum seekers.  For those who are non-Australian you may not be aware that both our major political parties have managed to create a fear that asylum seekers are some kind of invaders and unless we repel them they will take over our country.
Australia prides itself on being identified as a top rated nation as far as sporting prowess, tourist destination or most livable place is concerned but when it comes to rating our ability to host refugees the UNHCR  rates us as 49th and when adjusted by our wealth we are as 87th.

In Australia our Prime Minister (who once trained as a priest) likes to use three letter catch cries like 'Stop the Boats' but as one speaker suggested it may as well be, 'Go and die elsewhere'.  Where has our generosity gone and why isn't the message to these desperate people, 'You are welcome here'?

The speaker you can see on stage is a young and most articulate Hazara woman who escaped Afghanistan when she was six.  The Hazara are severely persecuted by the Taliban, the group our army went to fight, but we seem unable to accept their plight.