Thursday, November 25, 2010

The Greens effectiveness on gay marriage and euthanasia: why not on boat people!

While the Iraqi asylum seeker, Ahmad Al Akabi, was swimming in his blood inside Villawood detention centre after giving up on humanity of department’s officials and the total lack of courage inside the federal parliament to end his and his fellow detainees ordeal.

And while Ahmad’s fellow detainees were protesting inside Villawood detention and in other detention centres around the country over the gross negligence that led to his death, by declaring hunger strike or burning some furniture.

And while we were busy trying to mobilise public opinion, inside Australia and around the globe against the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers inside Australian detention centres that led to death of 2 detainees in the last 2 months only.

While we were all busy in doing all this, the Greens MPs were busy fighting for gay marriage.

As if the Greens MPs are living in another country or on other planet.

During these extremely sad moments, The Greens MPs were jumping up and down inside and outside the federal parliament demanding approval of same-sex marriage.

The blood of detainees could not move any feeling with the Greens MPs.
The lips sewing of many and the hunger strike of hundreds protesting the inhumane treatment inside detention centres, did not win them any sympathy among the Greens MPs.
The dead body ready to be sent to homeland did not convince the Greens MPs that solving the impasse should be the absolute priority to prevent catastrophe from happening within the detention system.

During the last week we only hear the Greens MPs talk about one issue: same sex marriage.

As if the homosexuals will be extinct if the marriage will not legalised.
Or as if the homosexuals will face detrimental fate or total psychological collapse or jail for long time if the marriage will not be legalised in this week.

All this despite the reality that if all facts are taken into account, the Greens MPs should have camped outside detention centre day and night, with deep threats to the minister if he does not change current regulations to prevent deterioration of situation inside detention centres.

We should all remember that the issue of boat people and the Greens empty rhetoric of promising of supporting their rights and working on relieving their suffering was the single issue that increased the popularity of this party and brought it out of wilderness inside Tasmanian forests to the point of controlling the balance of power after this year’s election.

And the issue of boat people was the issue that gave the Greens some credibility as serious political party and diminished the perception of being one-coloured party that supports only environment and anti moral and anti family agendas.
To the opposite of this, the issue of gay marriage and euthanasia did not win the Greens any federal seat since the foundation of the party in the mid of seventies of last century to the first year of this century.

The issue of gay marriage (even if it has a support from large sections in the society) is not concerning many Australians and not many would change their pattern of voting merely on parties’ stance on it.

Political pragmatism should have seen the Greens uprise and demand immediate action to release detainees immediately after they were successful in increasing their representation in the parliament.

We expected that the Greens should have respected its voters who voted for this party after they swallowed its deceptive promises to take action against mandatory detention system. Even if it would threaten of withdrawing from the government which could lead to government collapse and going to very early election.

We have expected that the Greens will treat the highly humanitarian issue of indefinite detention of boat people as important issues, on the same level of importance as the issue of gay marriage and euthanasia. And we have witnessed how the Greens were successful in changing the Labor stance on these issues and now considering allowing continuous vote to pass these legislations.

We have expected that all Greens MPs and members will go the streets to show the Labor party the Greens deep commitments of this issue, to enforce immediate fundamental changes.

But if we take into account the shy response of the Greens party to the many deaths in detention, we can realise that the Greens has no real commitments towards this highly humanitarian issue. On the contrary. We would realise that the Greens is indeed enjoying these sad events to torture and exhaust the Labor party and extract more voters from it. It is very clear that Greens know very well that closing the chapter of boat people suffering would deprive the party from high-profile platform that could win it more seats in the next election.

We do not know how the Greens would face its voters from highly progressive people who support multiculturalism and human rights in society if it could not enforce changes to the harsh treatment of asylum seekers inside detention centres. While it could knee the government on issues of gay marriage and euthanasia.

May be the Greens will resort to its usual of climbing our back and the back of highly progressive people who campaigned very hard and will enforce the government to change its harsh treatment of boat people.

And the Greens have strong record of doing this on this issue and other human rights issues.

Related link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrqDjE6BmXI&feature=related

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