Senator Andrew Bartlett
Monday, April 18, 2005
 
New CDF (number 2) & hoping for some miracles
The election of the new Pope is also getting a lot of news coverage at the moment. I'm not sure if it's my general interest in politics and elections, or my upbringing as a Catholic, but I've been following this closely. The Pope will not just be Chief Defender of the Faith, but also head of Vatican City. The process must be one of the most unusual ones in the world for electing a Head of State, and it certainly takes the notion of a secret ballot to extremes, as anyone who leaks the voting figures risks eternal damnation. Of course Vatican City is not a normal nation, but it clearly plays a political role in world affairs well beyond the purely religious. The election process may be idiosyncratic, but the outcome will have important ramifications for the future.

To quote Nick Cave, I don’t believe in an interventionist God (and, much as I love the symbolism, I think the notion of the Holy Spirit is even sillier). However, I hope whatever is working on the brains of the Cardinals works in a good way over the next few days. For some reason I've developed a keenness for the Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes to get the job. I doubt very much that this is due to my receiving some sort of divine message (ref Nick Cave quote above), but I might place a small bet anyway.

I'm in Adelaide today meeting with a range of people who are active in various ways in supporting refugees, prior to heading to Baxter detention centre tomorrow with the Joint Migration Committee. Some people are fond of making the political point that Jesus was a refugee, although it's not my favourite analogy. However, I'd settle for a few minor miracles for all the desperate souls who continue to endure such torment in Baxter, Nauru, Christmas Island, other detention centres and in the Australian community. I received a phone call late on Friday informing me that two African women I had advocated for were likely to be getting visas. This is the sort of phone call you can get never get too many of. . I hope it is a good omen for some of the people I'll be seeing in Baxter.

There is another welcome sign in another article about the Nauru refugees in today's Age, following on from the important stories from Saturday's edition which I mentioned here.. It is an indication of a new round of pressure building on the Australian government – although to keep it in perspective, the UNHCR has been pushing Australia to resolve this situation since at least 2003 (with partial success).

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