AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION AND GREENS
Posted on July 23rd, 2010
Dr M D P DISSANAYAKE
I whole heartedly agree with ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sri DiasporaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for his comments in an article titled ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-If you are thinking of voting for the Greens in the Federal Election in August, think again. Posted on July 23rd, 2010 ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Lanka WebƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Bob Brown has been giant supporter of Tamils in Australia.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In Sydney, Tamils are dominated in suburbs of Homebush, Strathfield, Ashfield, and in manyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ western suburbs.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Bob Brown is pushing his agenda to allow bogus asylum seekers to obtain permanent residency in Australia. When Bob Brown had to pay a massive legal bill some years ago, one wonders who came into his rescue.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ TheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Greens have now signed a pact with the Australian Labour Party to exchange their voting preferences.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This would mean, a traditional Labour voter who is unhappy with the Labour Party for whatever reasons ( perhaps the way in which Mr Rudd was ousted), may vote for Greens in his Primary Vote, thus his preference will go to ALP, instead of Liberal lead Coalition.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This would work vice versa in the case of traditional Greens voter who is unhappy with the Greens.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is a way out for Sri Lankans in Australia, who are supporters of Australian Labour Party. In the Ballot Papers, there will be several candidates other than Greens in each seat, the voter can cast his/her vote to others, in numeral sequence, placing the Green candidate last, whilst voting for the Labour Party in primary vote.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is particularly relevant in the case of Senate, where Greens are likely to hold the balance of power, giving them enormous power to bring pressure on the ALP ( which is likely to win the Federal Election) to adopt a lenient attitude towards bogus asylum seekers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Winning both Parliament and Senate majority by Ms Julia Gillard lead ALP governmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is an ideal situation for Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Prime Minister Ms Gillard has already said that the conditions in Sri Lanka has improved for minority Tamils since the conclusion of the War.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ She also made it clear that those Sri Lankan Tamils who takes a difficult and dangerous boat ride to Australia, may have go back to Sri Lanka by return Plane.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Influx of Tamils is a major problem in Australia.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It has become a key political issue at the election.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Most Tamils have no love for Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In fact, they still call our country as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-CeylonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ never as Sri Lanka.
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Both Labor and Liberal have MPs who have been pro and anti Sri Lanka but it appears the party policy of Greens is to take a strong anti-Sri Lanka position. It is important that a clear message is delivered to Bob Brown – DO NOT VOTE GREENS!!
July 24th, 2010 at 1:40 am
Perhaps, Ajit Randeniya who told us some time ago that he worked as an advisor to the Greens, may care to offer a comment.
July 25th, 2010 at 8:56 am
A former Tamil refugee is one of the Green’s nominees for the Senate. However as she is an Australian educated lady it is hoped she would have a balanced view of the world and work for the benefit of ALL Australians rather than get into partisan politics, which may contribute to unpleasant activities in Australia.
Following are extracts from an article revealing her nomination and her views.
Lankan Tamil refugee, Brami Jegan, seeks Senate seat
July 12, 2010, 10:05 pm
AS an ex-banker of Tamil heritage, Brami Jegan has hardly been plucked from central casting for a life in Australian politics.
“I know, my background is a bit different,” the newly anointed Greens Senate candidate says with a laugh. “But I’ve got nothing to hide. I’m here because I want to contribute to our society.”
Ms Jegan, 30, was born in the northern Sri Lankan city of Jaffna. But with the civil war raging, her family moved to Somalia, Tanzania and Malaysia before finally settling in Sydney as refugees when she was eight. Her first career was as an investment banker with Macquarie Bank and JPMorgan for eight years.
But Ms Jegan determined to chart a more public-minded course after returning to Sri Lanka in 2002 for two weeks with her father.
Last year in England, her uncle, Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar — known as AC Shanthan — was jailed for two years for aiding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the notorious Tamil Tigers militia outlawed in Britain as a terrorist organisation.
The founder of the British Tamil Association, Shanthan was found to have acquired electrical componentry and military manuals for the LTTE. Three other charges were dismissed.
“Yes, it happened, but I don’t believe I have anything to apologise for,” the Greens candidate says, pointing to a transcript of the judge’s comments in which her uncle was called “a thoroughly decent man” who hadn’t sought to “assist (the LTTE) in war”.
“The fact is my uncle was trying to help Tamils in Sri Lanka. But he wasn’t a terrorist,” she says.
Unsurprisingly, Ms Jegan nominates refugee policy as her main political focus. She is a regular visitor to the 39 Tamil asylum-seekers held at Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney’s west.