Nauru: The latest child welfare case …

Dear Mr Cassidy,

I’m so moved by your care and your accurate retelling of the latest child welfare case on Nauru on the Insiders clip.

You have a big soul Barrie Cassidy and I salute you.

I know that there is much political and budgetary pressure on the ABC NOT to run refugee stories. And still you have done so.

The lawyers involved do incredible work, most of it pro bono or crowd funded.

Before I succumb to the inevitable nagging about the remaining refugee kids trapped in mouldy accommodation on Nauru and the 5 other acute kids on Nauru, please know how amazed and grateful I am.

Strategic Geopolitics is so complex, as you know. Yet there are opportunities to improve the situation in Myanmar for Rohingyans, to improve our strategic status in SE Asia, Indonesia, the Pacific, to enhance development AND to help vulnerable refugees. We need to get past our racism and near sighted domestic and foreign policies, to become a bit bigger.

Grasping these nettles is worthwhile. We stand for so little if we let human rights bypass suicidal 10 year olds anywhere.

I want my sons to grow up in a nation with compassion for the vulnerable. You just improved the chances of that.

With deepest respect and thanks, Mr Cassidy.
Jane Salmon Refugee Volunteer Graduate, International Relations