Over the past few days, we have had a number of conversations about Mum and Craig and what can realistically be done to help bring this nightmare to an end. I wish I could say those conversations had left us feeling reassured. In truth, they haven’t.
Too often, the underlying message has felt like there is very little more that can be done. After more than 600 days, after months without proper contact, after a prolonged hunger strike and everything they have endured, that is incredibly difficult for us to hear. It is even harder to accept.
Mum and Craig have shown extraordinary strength throughout this. They have endured separation, uncertainty, deteriorating conditions and long periods where their family has barely known how they are. They have now ended their hunger strikes and are trying to rebuild their health, yet the fundamental situation remains unchanged. We still need consistent contact. We still need proper access to them. Most importantly, we still need a serious route towards bringing them home.
As a family, we have tried to approach every conversation constructively. We have listened, worked with people and given every possible process the opportunity to work. We will continue to do that. But there comes a point where accepting the limitations of the current approach is no longer enough.
That is why, alongside continuing to press our own government, I am beginning to speak more openly to our friends and allies abroad. I will be speaking to audiences in Canada and the United States, not to criticise for the sake of it, but to ask a simple question: if the existing approach is not moving this forward, who else is willing to help?
We are asking our allies, our friends and anyone with influence to stand with Mum and Craig. To raise their case. To ask questions. To use the diplomatic relationships and channels available to them. Sometimes progress begins because somebody is prepared to make the call that others have stopped believing will make a difference.
There is naturally some pessimism in our family at the moment. It would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. But pessimism is not surrender. We still have strength, we still have courage, and we still believe there is honour in continuing to fight for two people who cannot fight this battle from the outside themselves.
The support you have given us throughout this campaign has helped keep their names alive and has reminded us repeatedly that we are not doing this alone. Our petition is continuing to grow, people are still sharing their story, and this week hundreds of people came together once again to show that Mum and Craig have not been forgotten.
So our message now is not one of defeat. It is one of determination.
If one door will not open, we will knock on another. If one avenue has been exhausted, we will look for another. And if we are told there is nothing more that can be done, we will keep asking until we find someone prepared to prove otherwise.
Thank you, as always, for standing with Mum, Craig and our family.