En Passant

The Moss Review exposes the sexual and physical brutality on Nauru and all Tony Abbott can say is ‘things happen’.  His government released the review an hour after news that Fraser has died hits he airwaves in the hope that the rape, self harm, beatings etc are ignored by the Australian media and public in the frenzy over Fraser’s death.

Let’s be clear. This sexual and physical brutality on Nauru is part of the government’s plans to stop asylum seekers seeking refuge in Australia. Rather than discouraging this brutality the government wants to ignore it while knowing it happens to further its rotten political aims.  In fact subdued publicity about it in refugee hotspots is what the government may well want. It is the tactic of plausible deniability so beloved of Richard Nixon. Maybe it is time for the Australian Federal Police to investigate whether any government members have committed any crimes in their oversight of the offshore concentration camps.

Let’s build the demonstrations against this brutality and for refugees this coming Sunday, Palm Sunday, in capital and other cities across Australia. See you there.