Senator Andrew Bartlett
Monday, December 20, 2004
 
It's been an interesting couple of days since I announced I would fast in support of the asylum seekers in Baxter. I've had a lot of feedback - some negative, the majority positive. I might gather together a sample of some of the emails (without identifiers) so people can see what sorts of things others are saying.

I must admit it's something I did think twice about before doing. There have been a number of hunger strikes amongst detainees in the past and I've always supported their struggle for justice whilst encouraging them not to continue with hunger striking - our country's law and Govt policy already causes them immense harm and I don't like to see that harm added to.

I knew by fasting in support it could be perceived or portrayed as encouraging such behaviour, despite me making comments to the contrary, but - a bit like the detainees themselves I suspect - the situation for them is so desperate and with every other option explored to try to get greater awareness of their plight, it was worth giving it a try.

The worst that could happen would be that it would make me look bad, which I can live with, and if it gains greater attention for the plight of detainees then it’s worth it. At best it might also provide an opportunity to provide some hope to detainees and make them feel that they have enough support and awareness that they can call off their own hunger strike.

When you have followed the issue closely and have met with plenty of detainees, it is very easy to understand why they sometimes resort to such desperate actions. I've met with hunger strikers in Woomera in the past, including some women with stitches in their lips, and I visited the asylum seekers on Nauru not long after they ended their hunger strike at the very end of last year.

When people are denied freedom and hope and justice and can see no prospect of gaining it, it is not surprising they take such desperate action when they feel they have no other option, however much one might want to discourage it.

For me embarking on a short fast has aspects that are not too hard - after all the main requirement is to not do something. I've been taking it very easy, sitting around at home, trying to keep cool and drinking what feels like gallons of water and some juice. I've been catching up on watching DVDs, listening to some new CDs (new ones I've bought of old records as usual) and would have been watching the cricket if it hadn't finished so early. So despite the perception of some that I'm doing something dramatic, I feel like I've been lazing around doing very little - although I have done a lot of media interviews.

It's been a very long time since I can recall a serious level of media interest in things I want to say, which in a way is extremely frustrating. When I released policies on refugees or other fundamental matters like aboriginal issues or children or work & family during the election, I was lucky to get a paragraph or two in a couple of papers. Indeed, despite drawing attention to some extraordinary breaches of basic rights in the treatment of asylum seekers throughout the year, it has been hard to get much significant media interest, although there are a few journos who try hard.

As usual, the focus on the 'political scandal' angle of things, such as the unsubstantiated 'cash for visas' allegations against Philip Ruddock, or what seemed to be a redundant interest in the Prime Minster's truthfulness with the children overboard issue, claimed way more media interest than the huge injustice and suffering generated by the laws which lie underneath both these stories

The aboriginal issue is a parallel. Neither major party leader spoke at any length on this during the election and there was minimal media interest. It took a terrible death in custody on Palm Island and Michael Long walking from Melbourne to Canberra, and suddenly it’s on the front pages and the subject of extensive opinion pieces and analysis.

John Howard was quoted on the weekend saying he's ashamed of the state of aboriginal health. I guess it's good he's talking about it now, but it's hard to believe he's that ashamed if he didn't feel the need to give any priority to it during the election. Of course, the hard but essential task now will be to maintain the sense of priority and importance about indigenous issues once the front page splashes die away again.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, December 20, 2004
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