THE Bega Valley Shire Council unanimously voted on Tuesday night to support the efforts of the Bega Valley Rural Australians for Refugees to bring a more humane response to the treatment of refugees currently held in detention centres.
Council also supported in principle the Welcome Towns proposal, subject to a Federal Government policy change permitting asylum seekers to be released into the community while their applications are determined.
The third part of the motion was that the Bega Valley Shire Council encourages the Federal Government to review its policies connected with asylum seekers/refugees with the aim of reducing the time people (particularly asylum seeker children and their families) are held in detention centres until relevant health and security checks are completed.
Cr Keith Hughes moved the motion, saying that the previous day had been the anniversary of the day the Norwegian ship, the Tampa, "through an act of humanitarian decency brought immense shame to our country and embarrassed us in the eyes of the world".
"Many of those rescued by the Tampa are still languishing in detention centres under Australia's now notorious refugee processing system."
He said Australia was a country of immigrants, many of whom had fled war, persecution and suffering in many parts of the world.
"Refugees have made an enormous contribution to our country in business, education, arts, science, medicine - even sport. They have been good for our country.
"There is no reason to expect that the current wave of refugees will be any different," Cr Hughes said.
"We must not degrade people fleeing injustice, persecution, torture and repression.
"Asylum seekers who have suffered at the hands of dictatorial governments or intolerant societies elsewhere in the world have already suffered trauma beyond our fortunate experience.
"It is our shame that we compound such suffering with mandatory detention - particularly for women and children."
Cr Hughes said his motions were largely symbolic.
They imposed no costs on ratepayers, and immigration and refugee policy was a Federal Government policy, but they were important as a signal of the humanity and the ethical values of this shire.
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Cr Joyce McGill said she supported the motions from the heart.
She recalled her own childhood in England where her family fled to from Egypt after the outbreak of the Second World War.
"English people were not kind to refugees then and called me a 'dirty little Arab kid'."
She said her treatment by the English was minor compared to what the present refugees were suffering and she commended Cr Hughes for his motions.
Cr Vicki Wootten also recalled family history going back to the Jewish diaspora
when her ancestors fled the Middle East and went to Poland,.
After the persecution started there, they fled again this time to England, then again to Jamaica.
They left Jamaica because of treatment of the slaves and came to Australia.
Cr Wootten said her ancestors had not been locked up on arrival.
"But she said that's what we do today to these people who have fled torture and persecution or just starvation," she said.
"Many now revel in a convict family heritage where their ancestors stole food to feed their families, and yet for present day people fleeing starvation we keep them in the desert and then charge them for their accommodation."
Cr Bill Taylor also told of his family's history and how one of his ancestors came as a convict but was freed four days after he landed at Port Jackson.
He said he was proud to support the motion and hoped it would stimulate public sympathy for the plight of the refugees that they be given more humane treatment.
Cr Tony Allen said it was an appalling sight to see little children behind barned wire and it made him cringe.
He said that some years ago Vietnamese refugees had settled in Cobargo and Bega and although they left later he still received cards from the Cobargo family who were now leading useful lives in Australia.
Cr Janette Neilson also spoke of the children and said that even those who had been released with their families would suffer traumas from their time in the camp.
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