Asylum Seekers

"They've got to live somewhere you can't just put them in a paddock," another said.

Well yes, it has come as a surprise to us that we are taking on  a few hundred asylum seekers so that those with children can have a better place to wait out there assessment. Welcome to the real world. How many of us walk into work and on a regular basis find out that some major changes are in the pipeline and we just have to change? Flexibility has become the keyword for this new age. We have a pretty sad record on asylum seekers and no one is going to put them back in Baxter because that was awful What has happened to Baxter now is something we don't know and it would actually be good to see if it is being used well. It has some good facilities but the long term lock ups there were hideous. So now we are going to develop something a bit more humane in our hills area.  We are.  If Mr Rann doesn't know what this is about , now is his time to work out what our issues are, what we need and how we shall help develop the Inverbrackie community so it can sustain an influx of people. We have done it before. The school principal at Oakbank is very positive and then there is our biggest asylum seeker organisation to consult. Now is our chance to show how we think we should be treating asylum seekers because we have been very critical of how it has been done in the past. It was something we felt deeply about. The area will have to be redeveloped to cater to a bigger population and it will be important that things like schools and medical facilities can manage a much bigger number of people. So how are the medical facilities up near Woodside? Australia is taking on very few asylum seekers compared with other places and the world is at unrest and people are having to run. How would we want to be treated? If we look at community development rather than things for us and things for them then we shall all benefit. Many Australians are here because they have fled  places where they could no longer live. There ought to be some understanding and common ground here. How we do it has no magic formula. We have to work out what we need and ask for it, create it, manage it and just work our way through it.