Question 100 – Anni Moss

This piece was sent to me anonymously by a person with legal training who works within the asylum seeker  processessing chain.

This is question 100 of the 102 questions on the 866 protection visa form that all asylum seekers applying for refugee status must complete. I can fill these forms out in my sleep, but I can’t read this question and ask people to sign without wanting to vomit and feeling a bit of my soul shrivel up and die.

  1. AUSTRALIAN VALUES STATEMENT

You must sign this statement if you are aged 18 years or over.

I confirm that I have read, or had explained to me, information provided by the Australian Government on Australian society and values.

I understand:

  • Australian society values respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual, freedom of religion, commitment to the rule of law, Parliamentary democracy, equality of men and women and a spirit of egalitarianism that embraces mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need and pursuit of the public good;
  • Australian society values equality of opportunity for individuals, regardless of their race, religion or ethnic background;
  • the English language, as the national language, is an important unifying element of Australian society.

I undertake to respect these values of Australian society during my stay in Australia and to obey the laws of Australia.

I understand that, if I should seek to become an Australian citizen:

  • Australian citizenship is a shared identity, a common bond which unites all Australians while respecting their diversity;
  • Australian citizenship involves reciprocal rights and responsibilities.

The responsibilities of Australian citizenship include obeying Australian laws, including those relating to voting at elections and serving on a jury.

If I meet the legal qualifications for becoming an Australian citizen and my application is approved I understand that I would have to pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people.

Signature of applicant –

Date

 

Every day I meet incredible resourceful people who have sought asylum in Australia because they thought it was a good country where people were fair and welcoming – a place that “values respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual.” A free country that “embraces mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need and pursuit of the public good.” People have lived through incredible hardship and risked their lives, and sometimes the lives of their families, to come here. They have not come for Centrelink or Medicare or to take Australian jobs. They have come for a better life, for what they thought would be freedom.

It is time to stop deluding ourselves. If we really believed in the “Australian values” that we made people seeking asylum swear to, we would stop torturing children by putting them in detention. And adult men, too. Women and children always gain sympathy, but let us not pretend that we are not traumatising nearly everyone we detain: people in need who have come to us for compassion. In the 2014 Lowy Institute poll, 59% of Australians said they wanted asylum seekers processed offshore. Trauma, sexual abuse, death – not happening in Australia, not our problem. We spend billions outsourcing the misery to contractors who profit by exploiting our indifference and complacency. We say we care about people drowning at sea, and don’t give a rat’s ass about people dying anywhere else.

Australia does not value “equality of opportunity for individuals regardless of their race, religion or ethnic background.” We all know some races and religions are more equal than others in Australia. For decades, the Catholic Church played a game of pass-the-paedophile while authorities looked away, and even assisted in covering it up. Why would we treat foreign children any better than our own?

I cannot even begin to imagine what “commitment to the rule of law” might mean to the current Government or Opposition. Fucked if I know. They make the laws, they make the rule.

I am trying to take the long view, as Malcolm Fraser recommended in matters of social policy, but it is getting more difficult by the day. We are doing too much damage in the short-term, damage we may never be able to undo. People talk of the ineptness of this government, but after a while, it begins to look like cruelty by design. The consequences are the same, whether we intended them or not.

Pledge my loyalty to Australia? Tell him he’s dreaming.

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