In my role as chair of the Australian Multicultural Council, I provided a public submission (attached below) to the Inquiry titled “Issues facing diaspora communities in Australia” conducted by the Senate Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.

Terms of Reference for the Inquiry are as follows:

“To inquire into and report on: Issues facing diaspora communities in Australia, with particular reference to:
a. support offered to diaspora community associations and similar organisations, including government grants and other funding;
b. safety concerns among diaspora communities, and means for strengthening the protection and resilience of vulnerable groups;
c. barriers to the full participation of diaspora communities in Australia’s democratic and social institutions, and mechanisms for addressing these barriers;
d. opportunities to strengthen communication and partnerships between government and diaspora communities in Australia; and e. any related matters

On 15 October 2020 I appeared as a witness at the public hearing via teleconference. The following members were in attendance: Senators Abetz, Ayres, Fierravanti-Wells, Kitching, Rice.
Both the written submission and INTERNET Hansard transcripts of public hearings are made available on the internet when authorised by the committee. To search the parliamentary database, go to: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au SENATE FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE AND TRADE REFERENCES COMMITTEE Thursday, 15 October 2020.
An uncorrected proof of evidence taken before the committee on 15 October 2020 could be found at: https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/commsen/21e30a2e-a371-4dec-ab3f-b8bb44200019/toc_pdf/Foreign%20Affairs,%20Defence%20and%20Trade%20References%20Committee_2020_10_15_8200.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/commsen/21e30a2e-a371-4dec-ab3f-b8bb44200019/0000%22

2020-07-28 Submission to Inquiry into issues facing diaspora communities

On Tuesday 20 October 2020 I will be participating in the Multicultural Mental Health Forum. Each each speaker will discuss multicultural mental health (barriers, what is working, what is not, how we can make a difference etc.) in their respective states. I, as the Chair of the Australian Multicultural Council, will speak about multicultural mental health in Australia as a whole and how it tackles mental health in multicultural communities.

DRAFT AGENDA:
12:45 pm Allow attendees to be admitted into the webinar
1:00 pm MC, Hayriye Uluca – Welcome to country, and Welcome all for attending today’s event
1:05 pm Hayriye Uluca to introduce Mr Huss Mustafa OAM
1:06 pm Welcome on behalf of MHFA – Mr Huss Mustafa OAM, Secretary MHFA
1:10 pm MHFA Video—Our Journey
1:12 pm Address by Australian Unity: Ms Nancy Huang—Chief Medical Advisor IAL
1:22 pm MC to welcome Keynote Speaker—Prof. Harry Minas
1:24 pm Keynote Address by Prof. Harry Minas
1:29 pm MC to welcome Prof. Sev Ozdowski AM
1:31 pm Address by Prof. Sev Ozdowski AM
1:36 pm MC to welcome Ms Vivienne Nguyen
1:38 pm Address by Ms Vivienne Nguyen
1:43 pm MC to welcome Dr Kirk Zwangobani
1:45 pm Address by Dr Kirk Zwangobani
1:50 pm MC to welcome Dr Edwin Lourdes Joseph
1:52 pm Address by Dr Edwin Lourdes Joseph
1:57 pm MC to announce Panel Discussion
1:58 pm Commencement of Panel (Hayriye Uluca, Huseyin (Huss) Mustafa OAM, Vivienne Nguyen, Harry Minas,
Professor Sev Ozdowski AM, Sonia Di Mezza and @Edwin Lourdes Joseph) + Q & A from Audience
2:28 pm Vote of thanks and presentation of pens by MC to speakers and panellists
2:30 pm Close of Event

Registration link:
https://lnkd.in/gPr2ei8

Celebrating International Day of the Peace, see attached Video

Yesterday, Victoria Police arrested a pregnant woman, in her pyjamas, at her home in front of her children. She was handcuff and charged as part of an investigation into protest activity “in blatant breach of the Chief Health Officer’s directions”. See the footage of the arrest at https://www.facebook.com/100026703984987/posts/466893250877470/?d=n

I have found this footage extremely distressing; it looks like a scene taken from a movie about a totalitarian state. What kind of country I am living in now? I escaped communist Poland in search of liberties and democracy. I settled here because of Australia’s human rights record. And now this abuse of human rights.

The arrest and handcuffing were clearly unnecessary and cruel and represent a great miss-use of authority. It is a clear overreach of law and looking back at Victorian Government’s attitude towards earlier BLM demonstrations, the arrest demonstrates very selective enforcement of laws to suit political objectives. In particular, proportionality and even-handedness of law enforcement is lacking here. You do not usually send three police officers to arrest somebody for a minor offence; there is also the issue of freedom of expression involved.

Perhaps it is a time for the Australian Human Rights Commission to review this case and all lockdown laws across Australia from the human rights law perspective.

The Australian of today (Monday 10 August 2020) comments on submissions made to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee Inquiry into issues facing diaspora communities in Australia, including on submission I have made as Chair of Australian Multicultural Council (AMC).

It quotes, from our submission, that it is the responsibility of the government to “protect refugee communities from attacks on them by the agents of foreign governments”. If further quotes: “The relationship between the countries of origin and refugee communities in Australia may be tense on occasions…”. “It is important to allow refugee communities to challenge, within Australian law, the human rights abuse abroad and their actions to advance democratic institutions in their country of origin.”

For more about the Inquiry, see: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/Diasporacommunities/Submissions

My best congratulations to Elaine Pearson, Director Australia of Human Rights Watch on her opinion piece titled: “Critical test of academic freedom for Australian universities” – see: https://www.smh.com.au/national/critical-test-of-academic-freedom-for-australian-universities-20200804-p55iec.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed
Well done, Elaine.

It was a pleasure to be a part of a panel on ‘COVID-19 in Western Sydney: Priorities and Perspectives’.
The panel was hosted by Dr Andy Marks (Host), Chair of Western Sydney Community Forum and Assistant Vice Chancellor at Western Sydney University and included Mr Jihad Dib MP, Member for Lakemba, Ms Helen Loughlin, Member of Greater Sydney Commission and myself as participants.

Here is the link to the panel discussion – https://youtu.be/wV7BYwy0A3A

Welcoming Australia has just signed its 50th member for the Welcoming Cities network. See a media release in line with this achievement:
https://welcomingcities.org.au/50th-local-council-joins-welcoming-cities/

I use this achievement to ask you to support the work of the Welcoming Cities aiming at assisting migrant and refugee settlement in regional Australia.
For more see: https://welcomingcities.org.au

Recently the UK-based Henry Jackson Society think tank released a report that makes interesting reading. The report analysed the strategic dependence of the Five Eyes nations on China for critical goods.

To read a copy of the report, click: https://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Breaking-the-China-Chain.pdf

Benedict Rogers published an interesting paper titled: “Ten steps towards a more humane post-pandemic China policy”.

Benedict Rogers is co-founder and Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, founder and Chair of Hong Kong Watch and East Asia Team Leader at the international human rights organisation CSW. He is a former Parliamentary candidate and author of six books.
The paper could be viewed on: https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2020/05/benedict-rogers-ten-steps-towards-a-more-humane-post-pandemic-china-policy.html

See attached: 2020-05-03 Benedict Rogers paper on PRC

Recommended reading.