Julian Burnside – Home

All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why. - James Thurber

Learn about Liberty Victoria: protecting YOUR liberty

NATIONAL PRO BONO RESOURCE CENTRE: click here

The arts

ABC iview

Chamber Music Australia: Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition Jury members announced: click here

Art, music and theatre: what’s on at fortyfive downstairs (45 Flinders Lane Melbourne)

Wolfgang Sievers photographs for sale

Fine chamber music: Musica Viva Australia

Music and the City: an occasional soirée which is hosted to bring together musicians, amateur and professional, and music-lovers. It's a not-for-profit event where musicians get together to play chamber music in a gorgeous venue over a glass of wine. Starts in Melbourne 17 April.

Opinion: National Times

Today news headlines: SBS online, Age, SMH, Australian, ABC, Guardian,

Breakfast Politics

World clock graphically illustrating time zones

Current affairs and comment: Inside Story

Conscience

ASIO assessments and the profound unfairness of locking up people assessed as entitled to our protection.

Facts about refugees, compiled by the Centre for Policy Development. For some people, the facts have a bearing on their opinion. Unfortunately Abbott, Morrison and the Gillard government prefer to ignore the facts as they chase votes.

This is the information given to people carted to Nauru against their wishes: first we hijack them, then we threaten them, then we get Nauru to imprison them: that’s how we drive them to despair.

The Far West Community Legal Centre desperately needs financial help. Follow the link, see what they do, and please contribute if you can.

ASIO assessments: the Coalition shows its warm fuzzy side

A reflection on Australia Day, 2013

Mother and baby locked up, possibly forever, without being allowed to know why. This is not how Australia is supposed to be.

Censorship on Manus Island: obviously we are ashamed of what we are doing. And so we should be.

Voices from people detained on Manus Island. Think of their despair and ask whether this is how we should treat people, at Christmas or any other time.

A child detained on Manus Island tries to speak out.

Read the plight of a boy found to be a refugee but held in detention in conditions which the government knows are likely to result in his death.

Some small stories about the dreadful treatment of refugees right now.

The process of ‘screening out’ asylum seekers at the point of entry to Australia operates to create terrible injustice

The Golden Rule – the principle of reciprocity – the idea “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is nearly universal. Here are some examples.

As we increasingly demonise boat-people it is worth remembering the voyage of the St Louis in 1939: It was denied permission to land its cargo of 900 Jews, and as a result hundreds of them died in concentration camps.

UNHCR report condemns Pacific Solution, and here is their press release

A girl held on Manus Island writes to Minister Chris Bowen

Some ideas for a better, and much cheaper way of treating boat-people.

The cruelty of Temporary Protection Visas

Refugee policy: heading down the wrong track

Here is the Constitution of Nauru – note the Charter of Human Rights at the start of it - and the very recent Nauru Refugee Convention Act

Very important decision of the High Court in case M47/2012: the High Court held invalid a regulation which prevented the grant of a protection visa to a refugee if ASIO assessed the refugee to be a risk to security. Accordingly, a majority of the Court held that the decision to refuse the plaintiff a protection visa on the basis of that regulation had not been made according to law.

Some irresponsible people put around emails saying that refugees get more government benefits than pensioners. It is false, as this report from the Parliamentary Library shows. Spreading discredited stories despite the facts is the mark of bigotry.

DASSAN: Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network: doing a great job in the Northern Territory

The UNHCR does not seem convinced that Pacific Solution Mk II is a good idea. In particular, their letter to Minister Bowen suggests that Nauru does not have the ability to undertake refugee processing, and Australia does not have the right to side-step its Convention obligations. See UNHCR letter of 5 September 2012 to Minister Bowen

The $15 billion challenge: there are prizes to be won in this home-grown challenge. I am donating the prizes to find who has the best ways of spending $15 billion instead of throwing it at the Pacific Solution Mk II. See the challenge here.

A clash of national ideals is exposed by Go Back

National list of organisations helping Asylum Seekers and Refugees

There are two contradictions at the heart of Pacific Solution Mk II

On 8 August Barry Jones’ gave the 33rd Daniel Mannix Memorial Lecture

26 August 2012: eleven years on from Tampa

Tony Abbott on 7.30: can we believe what he says?

Latest developments in Assange case

A marvellous Letter to the Editor from Dermot Daley-really worth reading

A few simple questions for Julia Gillard and Mr Abbott

A brief response to the Report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers

The policy of deterrence: is it really who we are?

The evidence about asylum seekers, by Sharon Pickering.

All submissions to Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers:

A selection of the submissions to Expert Panel:

- Human Rights Law Centre submission

- Asylum Seekers Resource Centre submission

- Centre for Policy Development’s submission

- Greens submission

- Sev Ozdowski’s submission

- Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network submission

- my submission

- and The Conversation has put together an expert panel to make recommendations: see their findings here

Mr Abbott criticizes boat-people as unChristian. He is wrong. Read why.

Malaysian Solution or Nauru Solution: some choice.

Is Australia being swamped with refugees? No: look at this comparison

Detained, possibly for life, without charge, without trial, without appeal. this should not happen in Australia, but read about what we are doing to this mother and her two children

Asylum Explained. Asylum Seekers Resource Centre has a brilliant new resource about seeking asylum: this is useful to refugee applicants, community supporters of refugee applicants, and just about anyone not in the lock ‘em up brigade.

Senate Report recommends substantial improvements to immigration detention system

A Just Australia reports: 528 children remain in immigration detention facilities or alternative places of detention as at March 2012. Welcome to Australia…

Senator Brandis and Ron Merkel - why Brandis is wrong

50 refugees face lifetime detention without breaking the law, without reasons.

Offshore processing and the problem with Nauru

How do we respond to the fact of refugees drowning at sea trying to get here?

Public swearing

Excellent article by James Hathaway about asylum seekers being held by Indonesia

Have a look at the website of Welcome to Australia – a really beaut idea.

Myths about boat people – get the facts here

op-ed in Newcastle Herald 3 November 2011 (original as published here: slow to load)

Senate Access to Justice Report (Dec 2009)

Refugee facts from the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre

Download Uniting Church Human Rights kit ; get a useful factsheet on refugees and a useful summary of myths and facts from the Refugee Council of Australia; and a useful compilation of asylum facts prepared by the Parliamentary library

Australians All and The Justice Project

find a Community Legal Centre to help you

The Rendition Monologues: available here for any theatre group to perform

Interesting and diverse legal coverage on Stephen Warne’s website