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Wondering Pilgrim

~ the ramblings of a perambulent and often distracted sojourner

Wondering Pilgrim

Monthly Archives: August 2011

High Court quashes Malaysia deal

31 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in refugees

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Malaysia, postaday2011, Refugee, UN Refugee Convention

Parties to the Convention Relating to the Stat...

Image via Wikipedia

… but I fear it’s not time to break out the champagne yet.

My feeling right now is one of relief at expectations vindicated. The Malaysia deal was immoral even before it was illegal. Today’s High Court decision that effectively prevents the government from proceeding with the Malaysia refugee swapping deal presents at least one occasion where Australian law reveals, or at least, syncs with, a moral underpinning.

I have another feeling of trepidation. What next? Today’s decision could not have been unexpected by Immigration. What irons do they have in the fire for Plan B and Plan C that may yet erode the basic human rights for asylum seekers to have their claims heard in a country that has endorsed the UN Refugee Convention?

Or will the unimaginable occur  – that our political parties will clear the decks and engage some creative, compassionate and sustainable collaboration in working out a way forward in dealing with the issues that have led to a world refugee surge? Stranger things have happened!

(Map shows signatories to the UN Refugee Convention in green)

Related Articles
  • High Court sinks Malaysia deal (heraldsun.com.au)
  • Malaysian swap deal ruled unlawful (news.theage.com.au)
  • Court sinks Malaysia asylum deal (theage.com.au)
  • Asylum Seekers “at risk of persecution in Malaysia” (godsmustardseed.com)
  • Australian High Court rules Australia cannot send asylum seekers to Malaysia – Washington Post (news.google.com)
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Riding the winds of change

30 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in environment

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

postaday2011, Wind power

wind power
Image by twicepix via Flickr

 

 

Just as one of the biggest mining corporations canes our state government for not entertaining the possibility of nuclear power (vested interests?), we see this announcement: Japanese breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear | MNN – Mother Nature Network.

Renewable energy becomes more viable and more accessible as each day passes.

That’s all!

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Fooling around with themes…

29 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Blogging, Personal

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

postaday2011, WordPress

Screenshot of the blogging system WordPress.

Image via Wikipedia

It must be a sign of the Monday blah’s. A busy weekend capped off with a burst hot water system leaves one in  the “spaced out” zone and difficult to focus on anything. Preparation work sits on my desk thumbing its nose at me. I just stare at it uncomprehendingly.

Only one thing for it – experiment with WordPress‘s blogging themes. So far we’ve had bananas, grunge, cogs, and exotic Javanese designs. For now I’ve settled for something rather minimalist – suits my mood right now. So regular readers, just bear with me, it will settle down soon and you won’t have to dread being hit between the eyes with some bizarre combination of colours and images when you click Wondering Pilgrim. 

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The art of tidy/untidy…

28 Sunday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

compulsion, Organization

Keep tidy
Image via Wikipedia

Last week my desk was under a motley arrangememt of piles of assorted papers, books and projects.

This week it is as barren and featureless as any Antarctic waste.

In a few days, I can guarantee it will once again be as it was last week. And so it goes.

But I haven’t got this bloke’s problem! – The Compulsively Tidy Ursus Wehrli Visually Organizes Life in His Latest Book, “The Art of Clean Up” | Colossal.

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Church Board Retreat

27 Saturday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Wembley Downs

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

postaday2011

What sorts of things does a local church board discuss at it’s annual retreat?

The flower roster?
The need to cut the length of the Sunday morning harangues … I mean … sermons?
The leaky roof?

Not likely, at least not at the one I’ve been involved with today. On our agenda were:

  • brainstorming closer work with the six other congregations in our suburb
  • working on our indigenous reconciliation agenda
  • advancing our environmental care policy with an energy audit
  • creating opportunities for enhanced cross generational engagement with the local community
Some good grist for the mill. Now to put legs on it all.

 

 

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Religion and republicanism in Australian politics – Eureka Street

26 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in local politics

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Eureka Street, Politics of Australia, postaday2011

Australian Coat of Arms (adopted 1912)
Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

It’s blog-lite today as this weekend’s heavy schedule descends. Eureka Street often comes in to fill a gap at such times as it often is the medium that reflects most closely my own position (with some exceptions). I would probably want to spend some time, should it be available, reflecting on how religion and politics have danced around each other in this week’s parliamentary debates. Instead I offer this video interview with John Warhust, ANU Emeritus Professor of Political Science – Religion and republicanism in Australian politics – Eureka Street. Maybe his observations find some reflection on how MPs have answered some questions in this week’s parliament.

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1 is too many

25 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in refugees

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Tags

postaday2011, Refugee, World Refugee Day

Australia’s asylum seeker detention culture is very much under scrutiny.

The High Court deliberates whether it is in the government power to alleviate pressure on the system through a ‘people-swapping deal’ with Malaysia.The outcome of the case will also have an impact on some backup strategies for warehousing refugees in other off-shore centres.

And in a few days we will observe Refugee Sunday. Most of the rest of the world observed it on June 2oth, but for some reason it runs a little late here. But it is not untimely.

Here’s a reflective contribution from the Disciples of Christ 

Congregations that have resettled refugees in the past are encouraged to celebrate that ministry and the accomplishments of the refugees they have resettled. Congregations are also encouraged to reflect on all the thousands of refugees stuck in refugee camps around the world who are awaiting an opportunity for resettlement and a chance to begin their lives again.

The 2011 theme for World Refugee Day is “1 is too many.”

1 family forced to flee is too many;
1 refugee without hope is too many;
1 refugee returned to danger is too many;
1 refugee longing for home is too many;

1 child without a nationality is too many;
1 family without shelter is too many;
1 refugee denied a safe haven is too many;
1 child growing up in a camp is too many;

1 family torn apart by war is too many;
1 girl raped at gunpoint is too many;
1 refugee child behind bars is too many;
1 refugee without schooling is too many.

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Appealing to the ‘better angels of our nature’

24 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal, refugees

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Tags

Australia, Eureka Street, postaday2011, Refugee

British people attach vinegar, when eating Fis...

Image by petitshoo via Flickr

As we head towards refugee Sunday, Eureka Street offers some worthy material for reflection, e.g. Improving the refugee debate – Eureka Street.

It well makes the point that multiculturalism, the so called bête noir of our times is really of little account. This reflects a lunch-time conversation from which I have just emerged, where a bunch of us good-solid-British-heritage-stocked fourth-and-fifth generationists were comparing our ancestries and remarking how much more mottled our lines were than we realised. The makeup of this country has been thus varied for the last 200 years. Certainly, the ruling class were decidedly British in demeanour if not ethnicity, but those they ruled  reveal a variety of cultural backgrounds. And in a land where Jack/Jill is as good as his/her master, the program is set for distinctions to either fade or be mutually celebrated. The politically manufactured zeitgeist of fear cannot and should not prevail given our collective story. But alas it has and it does but it need not. Just read this inspiring article in the same issue of Eureka street.

So one hopes that law interpreted by the High Court of Australia, as in the Malaysia case now awaiting determination, and the reasoned voices from the middle ground that are now being given some airplay, might begin to turn, or at least soften, the political perception of public opinion. Hope springs eternal!

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A story in six words

23 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Blogging

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

postaday2011

The "Tusculum portrait", possibly th...

Image via Wikipedia

“Tell a story in six words,” he says, probably guessing it can’t be done.

Plutarch’s Julius Caesar did it: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
(Technically it was three words “Veni, vidi, vici.”)

Descartes did it in five: “I think, therefore I am.” And such is the font of a million stories.

So here’s my effort: “I think occasionally, therefore I blog.”

All else is commentary!

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What on earth are they thinking?

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Australia, Boat people, Malaysia, postaday2011, Refugee

A hulk in Toulon.

Image via Wikipedia

Why can’t our government get it right with asylum seekers who arrive by boat?

The lawfulness of the disgraceful Malaysia deal is being tested before the full bench of the High Court today.

This morning’s headlines in the West Australian were like a breeze of fresh air through the stench of indifference and acrimony that usually surrounds this issue. A group of eminent Australians representing, among other professions, business and the arts, have called for a rethink of the detention strategies, advocating minimum holding for security and health checks and release into the community while asylum claims are ascertained. More humane, less expensive, win-win. They echo recent representations made by senior officials in Immigration to their political masters.

But how does our government respond ?  “Let’s build floating detention centres.” Have they completely lost the plot? What kind of blinkered thinking seeks to take us back to the time Britain used floating hulks to imprison its burgeoning underclass. The irony is that when this strategy became unwieldy transportation to the great south land was deemed the solution. That’s right – they were sent out here as “boat people.” Go figure! Granted these $150 million vessels are intended to deliver intercepted asylum seekers swiftly to unnamed off-shore locations – but really?

I guess things have to reach the zenith of the point of ridiculous before uncommon common sense can break through.

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