Posted by Kevin Bates Some stories of heroism, gentle care and big hearts, have surely touched all of us. In the midst of all this generosity and goodwill, in the midst of holiday celebrations, the Bakhtiari family were smuggled out of the country in a manner befitting a police state. We then sent them a bill for $3m to cover their costs during their time in Australia!! The disgrace of this performance, the removal of a family who had demonstrated that they could become fine Australian citizens, is beyond belief. The mean-spirited politics of this government are never far from the surface, while our leaders burble on about our being a more compassionate community, they behave in a way that is more typical of the tyrants they so rage against. This Australia Day approaches, I suppose as always, with a certain joyfulness, and a profound need for healing, reconciliation and re-generation. And so we continue to work and pray.
on January 24, 2005, 9:50 am
We approach Australia Day this week with a sense of pride and excitement, a sense of good health and thanks for our nation. We approach this day knowing that as a nation we have done well in our response to the people devastated by the Boxing Day Tsunami.
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