Join the National Day of Action, Sunday 5 June

Add your voice to the many thousands of others calling for the government to resist the pressure from the big polluters, put a strong price on pollution and use the funds to help householders and invest in making clean energy cheaper.

• SYDNEY: Prince Alfred Park, 11 am
• MELBOURNE: Outside the State Library, 11 am
• ADELAIDE: Victoria Square, 11 am
• BRISBANE: Riverstage, 1pm
• PERTH: Perth Cultural centre - Wetlands stage, 11am
• HOBART: Franklin Square, 11am
• CANBERRA: Regatta Point (near the bridge), 1.30pm

A few weeks ago we asked for your urgent help to counter Tony Abbott’s fear campaign against putting a price on pollution. Thousands of you responded and within hours we had raised enough money to commission independent polling from Galaxy Research¹.

Thanks to the generous support of people like:

• Shannon from Albany, WA, who donated $10;
• Ben from Brighton, VIC, who donated $25 and
• Meg from Lake Conjola, NSW, who donated $25

The polling results received widespread media coverage, including on ABC’s 7.30 Report and newspapers like the Herald Sun.

Galaxy Poll Results

All sides of politics agree there is a need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help address climate change. Do you believe the best way to achieve this is to tax the big polluters or pay money to polluters to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions?

Do you support or oppose a price on carbon that would tax the biggest polluting industries, returning all revenue to compensate households and business, and provide investment in climate change programs such as renewable energy?

The government currently provides subsidies to fossil fuel companies worth more than $11 billion a year. In your opinion, is the appropriate or would this money be better spent on the development of clean, renewable technologies?

¹Galaxy Omnibus, 18-20 March 2011, 1036 people (18yo+). Interviews were conducted using CATI (computer assisted telephone interviewing) with telephone numbers randomly selected from electronic White Pages. All interviewers were personally trained and briefed on the requirements of the study. Age, gender and region quotas were applied to the sample. Following the completion of interviewing, the data was weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.

As we gear up for World Refugee Day next Monday, it's time to remind the Gillard government why it should not be exporting Australia's humanity to third countries.

Australia signed and ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention because the government of the day agreed with the international community that it should never again turn away vulnerable people, as happened to Jews and others during the Second World War.

For nearly four decades afterwards, Australia honoured its international obligations under that convention until 1992, when the former Keating government introduced the policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers. The former Howard government ramped up the policy after the 'Tampa' vessel sought Australia's help in 2001. Today, with more than 6,700 people in detention on Christmas Island and the Australian mainland, the Gillard government maintains a policy its leader once condemned as inhumane.

Late last week Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Immigration Minister Chris Bowen were still insisting there would soon be signatures on the final agreement following their Malaysia announcement of May 7. Australians wondered why the government would publicise a deal which had not been finalised. We know it was desperate to show it was trying to counter negative headlines and attacks from the Opposition that it was "soft" on asylum seekers. Instead of ending mandatory detention - as advocated by the Australian Greens and independent groups such as the Australian Human Rights Commission - the Labor government is heading in the other direction. The UNHCR also says there is no evidence mandatory detention has proved a deterrent to asylum seekers, yet the government dismisses such advice.

When Lateline last week published leaked documents from the UNHCR over Australia's proposal to reopen the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea, the governor of Port Moresby stood up for decency. Powes Parkop said he thought "it's immoral of us to try to be seen to be making money out of misery of some people who are trying to seek a brighter future in Australia." His remarks join those of everyday Australians who disagree with the Gillard government's plans to send unaccompanied children to Malaysia.

Instead of talking about the need for a regional protection framework, the Australian government is cutting side deals with countries such as Malaysia and PNG. Maintaining a failed mandatory detention system, and trying to export it, betrays Australia's reputation as a place which treated people fairly and with humanity. Australia should be using the Bali Process to help create a genuine regional response to an international problem.

This month around 15 Australian refugee groups issued a joint statement condemning federal political leaders for arguing asylum seeker policy was a choice between reopening Nauru or a new detention centre in Malaysia. The groups, like the Australian Greens, condemn that choice, arguing neither is acceptable. The groups also said: "The question Australian and international policy makers should focus on is not how to stop the boats but how refugees in Asia-Pacific can receive effective protection."

The Greens argue the Gillard government could be encouraging "transit countries" such as Malaysia and Indonesia, which are the countries of first asylum, to sign and ratify the conventions on refugees and torture. If the government and Coalition were serious about trying to discourage people from boarding boats, they would bolster efforts by human rights groups in Southeast Asia to ensure the rights of asylum seekers and refugees in these countries were protected, because people fleeing persecution don't stop running until they feel safe.

People who have run and now live in Australia will be sharing their stories of survival at rallies in capital cities around the country this Sunday, June 19, and during celebrations on Monday, World Refugee Day. I encourage you to attend one if you can.

First published on June 14, 2011 in the National Times.

I love driving. While some readers may find that shocking, it's true. Like many everyday Australians, I relish the chance to jump in my car, a hybrid, with my daughter in the back and her favourite music on the stereo as we barrel through the Adelaide Hills.

This is a privilege I enjoy whenever I can. But it's a basic daily ritual women in Saudi Arabia cannot. Their government refuses to let them drive - an outrageous stance that their conservative religious leaders say is justified because husbands should be providing for their wives. Reports say it's not so much that it is a criminal offence for a woman to drive, more that authorities won't issue a woman with a licence.

A Saudi woman is not allowed in a car without a man present. So this means even though she can buy herself a car, she can't drive it. Saudi women must wait for their husbands or brothers to drive them, or they hire a driver, who is often a foreigner, or pay for a taxi. Paying for a driver or a taxi, of course, means less money for the household budget. There are also reports of some women being attacked by their drivers, so there's a security risk involved.

But, thankfully, Saudi women are saying enough is enough. It started with one woman, Manal al-Sharif, a 32-year-old who learned to drive while studying in the United States. She was fed up having to wait on others so she could go about her day. Last month she was arrested for driving unaccompanied. Ms al-Sharif was later released and has since uploaded a video to YouTube showing her driving. That's encouraged other women to drive alone and use social media technology - which Arabs helped create with their Arabic numerals, don't forget - to overturn a great injustice.

These women, some of whom are driving at night to minimise the chance of being arrested, have a front-seat passenger to record their illegal act and post the "crime" on Facebook or YouTube, and send Tweets about it. Last Friday, June 17, organisers of the Saudi Women to Drive Facebook page say 40 women drove in protest, one of whom was arrested for not having a licence. The organisers say they are expecting more women to protest this coming Friday because they argue there will soon be too many women behind the wheel for the police to react.

There's been an explosion online in the number of women around the world showing their support for their Saudi sisters. A petition has been sent to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for Washington to publicly show it backs the actions of Saudi women. There have also been demonstrations outside Saudi embassies. I do hope Australian women will join with me in showing solidarity for the women of Saudi Arabia in our own way. Viewing the videos, reading the Facebook posts and writing to the Saudi embassy in Canberra are all simple steps we can take. Together we can make a difference.

First published on June 21, 2011 in The National Times