This past week I had the opportunity to speak with a woman whose parents were Jewish immigrants. While she was born here in Sydney, her parents were chosen by the Australian government to leave a refugee camp to come and start a new life in Australia. She recalled stories her father told her of the brutal and incriminate evils he encountered at the hands of the Nazis. Her father was a farmer, and was good with his hands, so this meant that his work was that of hard labour once Nazi power took control. He saw many of his family members killed at the hands of the Nazi oppressors. He was forced at gunpoint to burn down the houses and fuel supplies of many farms in the middle of winter. This was a cruel form of murder as many country people could not survive the cold winter without fuel and housing. At one point a raid took place on a property, and the soldiers went to rape an elderly woman. He recalls that her father, risking his own life, said, “Stop!”
They left the woman alone and he only just survived the outburst. Years later when she asked her father why he said something, knowing that he could be killed for it, he said: “When your life is no longer your own, you become defined by your actions – whether you become an instrument of oppression, or whether you remain the kind of person who still upholds what is good and right.”
This lady I was speaking to was very proud to be living in Australia – in her words, a land of opportunity; a land safe from the kind of war and terror her parents once knew. Her family have done well for themselves in this land, as have many refugee families. I noticed a great generosity of spirit that wants to give back in gratitude and thankfulness.
One of the founding narratives of this land we call home is echoed in the Australian anthem I quoted above (which many of us don’t really know, and some don’t like). While it is true that the story of welcoming refugees has been politically challenging for some (I wish it were not the case), welcoming refugees is something that we as a nation should be proud of; something we should celebrate as being a defining attitude of modern Australia. The above story could be that of a Vietnamese family, Northern Ireland Catholic or Protestant family, a Lebanese family, an Iraqi family who now call Australia home.
In my faith tradition, hospitality and care for the alien, the refugee, as our own family members, is strongly communicated by the biblical writers (Leviticus19:34, Deuteronomy 10:28-29, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 12:2 and 1 Peter 4:9). This inspires me not to be afraid of, but to love those who seek asylum (all seeking a new life away from war, oppression and terror). I pray for a more compassionate Australia – one that, as this lady spoke of, embraces this new land for the good it has to offer with gratitude.
While on the one hand there is a reluctance to offer refuge to those who need it; on the other a reluctance to acknowledge the constitutional rights of our traditional inhabitants.
I feel compelled to acknowledge the injustice reflected in the non-constitutional recognition of our Aboriginal peoples; the great damage of Governor Phillip’s proclamation of Terra Nullius (land belongs to no one) – despite the presence of around one million Aboriginal people at that time; and the oppression of such peoples since 1788 at the hands of many newcomers. This is one of the dark sides of the story of this land and its peoples. This land in which we live is ancient Aboriginal land.
There is much I am thankful for living in this land down under, and there is much more that needs to happen to live truthfully. I hope you have the opportunity to reflect on what it means to live in this great south land.
