Mr Turnbull, Mr Shorten, I condemn you policies about our most vulnerable people.

‘Examine almost any contemporary political problem, from Australia’s growing economic inequality to the declining performance of our school students relative to the rest of the world, to our dying coral reefs, and you will find the fingerprints of John Winston Howard.

Having lived through the Little Winston years, I'm entitled to feel enraged at the way he entrenched the Right in this nation.’

Mike Seccombe “It’s all John Howard’s fault.” in The Saturday Paper Edition No. 188 December 23, 2017 – January 26, 2018 p 1

Seccombe is correct. Howard’s destructive legacy, even though he is not dead, still infects all that is good. For example, he more than any other prime minister, codified the vilification of people who are refugees or seeking asylum with us.

A 32 year old man who fled the ‘stans’ region lives in Melbourne’s east where buses run every hour in daylight and where flats are cheapest.

“My brother worked in the garage that serviced US vehicles. Terrorists bombed it and killed him.

Then they looked for me.

Why?

Because he was my brother and he had co-operated with the Americans.

I was scared of every man who came towards me in the street – going to the shops, walking to the barber, going to visit my friend.”

People have the right to live without fear.

I see the issue as about fundamental human rights; they are universal.

Our political leaders see it as about political advantage.

A 26 year old woman fled the middle east. She lives as far west in Melbourne as you can and still find a regular commuter bus – on weekdays.

“My brother found me in bed with my girlfriend.

He said something like, ‘Sister, I’ll give your four choices. Pick one. Would you like to be stoned to death buried up to your neck in the middle of a soccer pitch? Would you like to be beheaded? Would you like to be hung? Would you like to be pushed off a six-storey building?’

People have the right to marry the person they love.

I did nothing in the Howard years.

I’m not going to do nothing now.

Even if it's only a few hours a week, I’ll try to undo a few fragments of Howard's legacy.

I can think.

I can write.

I can manage projects.

So:

I’ll write a blog – one that I know  the monitors of political parties will pick up.

I’ll volunteer to paralegal with Refugee Legal – even if only one day a week.

How to get help