To Hon Tony Burke MP and Hon Anthony Albanese MP

Dear Everyone Who Believes in Justice,

I am Hiroki, a long-term resident of Australia since 2016, and I am calling for justice and fair treatment for victims of hate crimes.

Why am I not recognized as Australian? Despite fighting for equity for over nine years, my rights to education, career, and health have been taken away—simply because I was assaulted for not being white enough.

 I’ve given my heart to Australia—a land I dreamed could be home, a place where I’ve fought to build a life with hope and love, even as racial hate and neglect tried to pull me down. I came here with dreams that still flicker inside me, shining through nine years of tireless work in restaurants, as cleaning staff, and at a community cafe during the COVID pandemic, serving meals to a struggling community when others couldn’t, volunteering with Multicultural Australia to pack clothes for refugees, and imagining a future where I’d study towards my dream career. I paid my taxes, held others up, and believed in this country—now, I’m reaching out to you, not with despair, but with a fragile, stubborn hope that together, we can make things right.

A violent assault for not being “white enough” tested my spirit, but it didn’t break me. Brisbane doctors diagnosed me with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a wound from hate I’ve carried with quiet strength—paying for every psychiatrist, every pill, every hard-fought step forward until my savings slipped away. Now, with no health insurance or Medicare, I’m struggling to hold on to the medication that keeps my dreams alive. In Japan, where I’ve got no one left after nine years here, those medications aren’t even authorised—if I’m sent back, I’d lose the treatment that keeps me going, far from the friends, doctors, and father figure who’ve become my family in Queensland. The Department of Home Affairs threatens to detain and deport me, brushing aside nearly 100 medical records I sent them, their words sharp but unwritten. Yet I believe in a better story—one we can write together.

This isn’t just my journey—it’s a chance for us to heal Australia’s heart. Billions go to government promises, but I’ve found real kindness in charities that feed me and strangers who care when the Department took my work permit. Legal Aid and the Human Rights Commission dismissed my assaults as “jokes”; I had to abandon my education at TAFE and my job, my panic attacks a heavy load—but I’m still here, dreaming of a day when no one feels this pain. I’m not a criminal—I have not committed any crime or offence, I am only speaking up for justice and compassion. I’m a man who loves Australia enough to ask for more, who stayed even when my parents passed; I didn’t go home because we didn’t have a positive relationship like some other people do, and I have no friends there—after nine years of life here, I’ve lost all contacts, no support system back home. If I get deported, I will lose everything—my fragile Queensland family, my treatment, my hope—but I refuse to give up, not with you by my side.

I’m fighting for justice—not just for me, but for everyone who believes we can rise above hate. I ask with all my heart for these five changes to light the way forward:

What I’m Fighting For

I am petitioning for the following five critical changes to ensure justice for victims of hate crimes and government neglect:

1. Recognition of Human Rights

• Acknowledge racial discrimination and hate crimes as serious issues in Australia. Implement stronger measures to protect individuals from such abuse.

2. Support for Hate Crime Victims

• The government must provide appropriate and comprehensive support—including access to healthcare, mental health services, and financial aid—to all victims of hate crimes, regardless of visa status.

3. Visa Applications on Compassionate Grounds

• The government must evaluate visa applications case by case, particularly for individuals who have suffered racial abuse and trauma.
• If mental or physical health issues caused by racial trauma significantly impact their lives, the government must offer compassionate visa options in recognition of their struggles and contributions.

4. The Australian Government's Full Responsibility for Hate Crimes Against Non-Citizens

• The Australian government must take full responsibility, without exception, for crimes and hate crimes committed against foreign nationals or those who do not hold Australian citizenship or permanent residency.

5. Establish Charitable Organizations to Support Hate Crime Victims with Government-Covered Costs

• To establish specific organizations dedicated to supporting victims of hate crimes, regardless of race, nationality, country of origin, or visa status, and ensure that the Australian government fully covers all associated treatment, healthcare, hospitalization, medication costs, any loss of income or expenses incurred due to the mental and physical effects of hate crimes, as well as any legal issues victims may face.

How You Can Help

Sign my petition: One signature could spark a brighter tomorrow, a single act of kindness rippling into a wave of change. Please, sign and share my petition with your friends, family, workplace, and community—your voice could keep my hope burning:

Hiroki's Change.org for Justice

Optional support: If you can, I’d be so grateful if you’d lift me up with a donation to my GoFundMe. Even a dollar—like a warm meal —carries me closer to that tomorrow, every cent a step toward staying strong. If you can’t give, that’s okay—your time reading this, your willingness to share, your quiet wish for me is already a gift I cherish. 

Hiroki's GoFundMe 

I’m tired, aching without my medications, but with you, I feel a strength I thought I’d lost. Please, sign, share, donate if you can—together, let’s turn my love for Australia into a story of healing, not heartbreak. I ask you, with a heart still beating and eyes still dreaming, to stand with me and make this home whole again.

With all my gratitude and a hope that grows with you,

Hiroki Goto