This is a speech transcript that was written by stand up comedian and regular on The Project TV, Lehmo after speaking at the “Light the Dark” rally in Melbourne. “Light the Dark” vigils were organised around the country as a protest to Australian immigration policies and particularly in response to the death of an Iranian asylum seeker at Manus Island last week.
I was in Sydney this morning and I got a cab out to the airport. My cab driver was an Italian guy called Vince. He would have been in his 60s and had been driving cabs in Sydney for over 30 years.
He was a funny guy. I really warmed to him. And we got talking about how the cab business had changed, how safe it was, how it was tough to make a good living and the types of people he has through his cab.
I asked if he ever refused to pick people up. He said to me, “Everyone is welcome inside my cab and once they are in my cab I treat them like a family member.”
My first thought was, ‘surely you’d drop a family member to the airport for free’.
My second thought was, ‘what a beautiful sentiment’ and how nice would it be if Australia could give that guarantee to anyone arriving here. To be able to say, ‘as soon as you cross into Australian waters, no matter who you are, we will welcome you, put our arm around you and treat you like family.’
That’s a country we all want to live in. That’s an Australia we could all be very proud of. Not the Australia that deprives people of their human rights, offers no care and detains them in horrific conditions in places like Manus Island.
Vince went on to share a story about a girl he picked up late one night during the week. She only had $20 on her. They drove and they drove and the meter hit $20 but they still weren’t at the girls home.
He said ‘how much further are you?” She said, ‘about 2 kms’. So Vince turned the meter off and took her the rest of the way home. He said he did it because it was the right thing to do.
And that brings us back to the right thing for Australia to do, most specifically when it comes to helping vulnerable people who come to our country seeking help.
Closing the Manus island detention centre is the right thing to do.
Protecting people like Reza Berati (the asylum seeker who died on Manus Island last week) is the right thing to do.
Treating people humanely is the right thing to do.
And welcoming new arrivals onto our shores is the right thing to do.
Those Australians who came along to nighttime vigils over the weekend to show their support for the right to seek a better life peacefully, did so because it was the right thing to do.
And they will continue to lobby government because it’s the right thing to do.
They will continue to support groups who help asylum seekers and support the humane treatment of refugees, like GetUp and Amnesty and Welcome to Australia ,because it’s the right thing to do.
They will write letters to the editor and call in to talk back radio because it’s the right thing to do.
But I also urge them and you to personalise the battle.
When you come across friends, family members, work colleagues and even strangers who believe in our current policies… make it your mission to put an end to their ignorance.
Convince them there is a better way. Open their minds, open their hearts and convince them to be a part of a culture of welcome……because it’s the right thing to do.
Please share this post to show your support for humane and generous asylum seeker policies.
Follow Lehmo on Twitter @lehmo23
Top Comments
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What is your thoughts on Janet's article today?
Can post the article in full if you can't see it?
I don't agree with everything but do I think most Australian's view border protection as an integral to building long term support for increased immigration.
Millions of dollars have been wasted on detention centres when they have been burnt down, but money is not wasted if refugees are resettled safely and successfully in Australia.
Therefore there IS a need for safe secure detention facilities where those seeking refuge are provided with free shelter, food, medical attention and their children educated. It is logical to make them offshore to discourage people smugglers. I think an inquiry into the Manus Island detention facility is warranted. However before Get Up start raving on they should remember it was their Labor party who set it up!
Get up aren't pro-labor. The matter of whose idea this was has nothing to do with why it's inhumane and wrong to send people there. Tony Abbott just gets the attention from Get Up now because he's in power now and he's the one who could close it down.
Get Up receives funding from the Labor Party.
I think that we're forgetting two things in this debate. It's not difficult to realise that people who are mistreated grow to resent that treatment, and people who are welcomed will not. It's also not difficult to realise that people who are making this dangerous passage have chosen Australia because they like our country and want to take part in our society, which in turn would lead to a more productive economy and better communities. I'm sure some people might have some "imaginary" reasons to disagree with the second sentiment, and this is what troubles me. When people start to invent scenarios that don't happen, and indeed have never happened, we stop dealing with the reality and for some reason start treating invented hypotheticals as if they are real world cases - such as the potential for allowing in a member of some unknown terrorist group or ideology that would then go on to "bomb" Australia; it's never happened, it's not going to happen, and it's a shitty reason for locking people up in detention centres for "background security checks". Did we not say that we, as a nation, believe in innocence until proven guilty? A democratic country stands for open government by elected "representatives" (not leaders) and the freedom for any citizen (including a national broadcaster) to criticise its own government? Did that change somewhere in the last two decades, because I didn't get that memo. Are we, or are we not, a democracy?