Last month, Priya’s dear friends Vashini, Margot and Marie brought Biloela to Mr Dutton’s Brisbane electorate. Over 100 people braved the rain to join them beneath a giant billboard calling on Mr Dutton to bring Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa home to our little Queensland town.
Singing “I am, you are, we are Australian” and waving the famous Bilo cockatoos, they marched on Mr Dutton’s office to honks of support from passing locals.
Today I have been listening to the stories coming from psychiatrists and psychologists who have been on the frontline working with asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru. They speak of the significant deterioration of mental health they have witnessed and of people losing all sense of hope and the spark to live.
In the 7 months since our lovely family was taken from Biloela and detained, I have listened to the exhaustion and despair grow in Priya and Nades' voices. I’ve listened to their concerns for their two girls, who are no longer displaying their normal cheeky, happy personalities but instead cry, pull their hair and beg for 'Bilo'.
This Saturday, the people of the Sydney electorate of Wentworth will vote in a byelection that could change everything for these kids. The Liberal candidate for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, says: “I want to help build a better future for Australia, for my daughters and all the other children out there like them.”
Will you help me ask Mr Sharma to speak up for three-year-old Kopika and one-year-old Tharunicaa by leaving a polite, respectful comment on his Twitter account and facebook page? Even better, if you live in the Wentworth electorate, give Mr Sharma's campaign office a call on (02) 8317 1163 and ask him to advocate for these two Australian-born girls to be released from detention.
Nobody should have to live in limbo, and especially not children. So I am not stopping there. This Tuesday 16 October, I’m joining Rural Australians for Refugees as we converge on Canberra to tell the government that Australians say NO to kids in detention.
If you are in Canberra I would love for you to join me at this event: www.facebook.com/events/259480451373392 and help hold the Biloela cockatoos, demanding that all these children and their families are set free.
Let's help these children reclaim their childhoods!
Forever grateful,
Angela