The Right Track
Agroup striving for a compassionate and humanitarian approach to Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers has invited Wimmera residents to learn how to engage with people on the issue.
Grampians-gariwerd Rural Australians for Refugees group will host a Right Track session with Stawell and Pomonal Uniting Church members on Saturday, the final day of Refugee Week.
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre runs the Right Track campaign, which aims to change attitudes about the rights of asylum seekers by having strategic, values-based conversation with family, friends and people who influence communities.
Grampians-gariwerd Rural Australians for Refugees group president Carly Parsons encouraged people to attend the Halls Gap session, at Baptist Church Centre.
She said issues surrounding people lawfully seeking asylum – particularly punishing fellow human beings asking for Australia’s help – had deeply touched many of the region’s residents.
“Members frequently refer to the difficulty of talking about concerns for fairness for people seeking asylum with friends and family who reply with undeniably sound conviction: comments such as ‘charity starts at home’, ‘our workers need to have their jobs protected’, ‘border security is essential for our wellbeing’ and ‘inviting terrorists to our land’, are difficult to look at objectively,” she said.
“How do we talk about personal convictions and beliefs, while acknowledging the good values and worth of people who do not agree? It is not always possible to reach agreement, however, thoughtful discussion is healthy.”
Mrs Parsons said the Right Track workshop would offer ways to engage with people using language that is respectful and effective.
“The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has done some great research with language, which means workshop participants will have the opportunity to advance their own skills with a new confidence that allows for polite, frank and respectful conversations around a topic that has managed to divide our nation.”
Mrs Parsons said she hosted a refugee family for a weekend through the group’s ‘Home among the Gum Trees’ program. “The time was just so special,” she said. “The family were such beautiful people and so happy to be with us – the experience was life changing for our whole family.
“We want to help others who are currently suffering through no fault of their own.”
Advocate visit
A visit from barrister and refugee advocate Julian Burnside in 2013 sparked Ararat and Stawell residents to create a Rural Australians for Refugees group.
The Grampians-gariwerd group meets bi-monthly and members have organised and participated in several events, including visiting refugee centres in Melbourne to see imprisoned people seeking asylum.
Members have also hosted Folk for Refugees concerts and donated items to Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Footscray.
“Most importantly the group has liaised with like-minded organisations, particularly local churches, and also other refugee support agencies at both state and federal levels,” Mrs Parsons said.
She said the group was organising a camping weekend in October in conjunction with a youth group based in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. The weekend is for Somalian teenagers recently arrived in Australia.
The Halls Gap Right Track session is free and includes lunch.
Organisers have asked people to book online at https://bit.ly/hallsgap or call Rosalind Byass on 5358 1125 or Helen Francis on 5356 2223 for catering purposes.