Vale Dr Graeme William Starr

Hanna and I are terribly saddened by the passing of Dr Graeme Starr on 24 March 2021. Graeme was a truly great and inspirational Australian and a close friend of our family.

Dr Starr was a highly accomplished political scientist, former Director of the NSW Liberal Party, Research Officer at the Federal Liberal Secretariat, chief of staff to a senior federal Coalition cabinet minister, Ian Sinclair, and to John Howard. He was also the author of many books including the well regarded, “The Liberal Party of Australia. A Documentary History” published in 1980. A short article about Dr Starr’s life by Dr Scott Prasser can be found at https://www.menziesrc.org/news-feed/graeme-starr

We first met Dr Starr and his family in Armidale, NSW where he was a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of New England. At the time I was working on my Ph.D. thesis in the neighbouring Department of Sociology and we immediately found a common interest in the governance of Communist Poland and the emerging “Solidarity” revolution, the politics of, and social trends in, the United States of America and closer to home, the Whitlam dismissal. Beverley and Graeme were also the first Anglo Australian family who kindly invited us (a very new migrants) to their home for a dinner. Over the years we built a strong friendship living nearby to each other in Armidale, Canberra and then Sydney.

Graeme will be sadly missed by his family, friends and all those he inspired alike. His contribution to our nation is timeless. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, in particular to Bev, Kimberley and Sam.

It was a great honour to have known him and we will cherish his memory forever.

Graeme’s funeral service was held in the beautiful St Pauls Church in Burwood NSW on Wednesday, 31 March – a very appropriate place as Graeme had just finished documenting the history of the Church. His contribution to Australian political discourse, his love of democratic principles and the Liberal Party and perhaps most importantly, his generosity of spirit, will not be forgotten.

Starr and Ozdowski families, Armidale, NSW, 1979

Dr Sev Ozdowski, Dr Graeme Starr and Dr Scott Prasser in Vincentia, NSW in 2017

Prime Minister Morrison has today addressed the issue of temporary postponement of flights from India (until 15 May) because of the COVID-19 situation over there.

See the link:
https://lnkd.in/gZFtiCX

Let’s hope that all Australian citizens will be able to return home soon, should they wish to do so.

My best wishes for the annual World Falun Dafa Day that will be celebrated on 13 May.
In 1999 communist leader of China Jiang Zemin ordered the Falun Dafa practice be “eradicated”. Since then, over 100,000 Falun Gong followers have been tortured or abused in custody, and thousands have perished in custody from torture. Killing of Falun Gong practitioners so their organs could be sold by China’s booming organ transplant business is a particularly disgusting crime.
On 13 May let us celebrate Falun Dafa’s remarkable contributions to our society. Falun Dafa practice focusing on how-to live-in peace with ourselves and in harmony with the universe contributes to Australia being an open and tolerant society. The Chinese “eradication” practices also serve as a warning to all of us about the real nature of the Chinese Communist Party.
My best wishes to all Falun Gong practitioners!

Enclosed is a copy of an article I have published in Minghui journal in February 2021 about Falun Gong movement and its contribution to building democracy in China. See the link below:

Chair of the Australian Multicultural Council: Falun Gong Will Win in the Long Term | Falun Dafa – Minghui.org

Hon. Mathias Cormann next Secretary-General of the OECD – see attached Congratulations

On 29 July 2019, the Senate referred an inquiry into nationhood, national identity and democracy to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee. Information about the inquiry is available on the committee’s webpage at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Nationhood

The Australian Multicultural Council (AMC) has lodged two public submissions with the Inquiry. All submissions, including both AMC submissions, can be found on:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Nationhood/Submissions

On Friday 13 November 2020 between 9.30am – 10.15am (AEDT) I was invited to provide further evidence as Chair of AMC at a public hearing conducted by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Reference Committee at Parliament House, Canberra. The hearing was public, and it was broadcasted and recorded. A Hansard transcription was made of the hearing, which will become official records of the Australian Parliament.
I look forward to reading the Committee’s report on that important subject matter.

This morning I participated in a teleconference with multicultural community leaders in Australia that was addressed by Hon Scott Morrison MP, Prime Minister of Australia, Hon Alan Tudge MP, Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs and the Hon Jason Wood MP, Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural organised by Australian Department of Home Affairs with Multicultural Community leaders from across Australia. Few hundreds of community leaders attended, including FECCA Chair Mary Patetsos, Hass Dellal, CEO, Australian Multicultural Foundation and many others leaders across Australia.

Prime Minister and Ministers responded to questions dealing with development of vaccine for COVID-19, return of international students to Australia, a range of budget issues including lowering of taxation and support for small business, return to previous migration levels as well as access to free English language tuition by all those who need it, including fiancés arriving in Australia on temporary visas. It was interesting to learn that only 11% of people in Australia with no English language are in employment.
Great initiative. Congratulations Minister Tudge for hosting it.

Teleconference – Hon Scott Morrison MP, Prime Minister of Australia

Teleconference – Hon Alan Tudge MP, Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

Teleconference

In my role as chair of the Australian Multicultural Council, I provided a public submission (attached below) to the Inquiry titled “Issues facing diaspora communities in Australia” conducted by the Senate Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.

Terms of Reference for the Inquiry are as follows:

“To inquire into and report on: Issues facing diaspora communities in Australia, with particular reference to:
a. support offered to diaspora community associations and similar organisations, including government grants and other funding;
b. safety concerns among diaspora communities, and means for strengthening the protection and resilience of vulnerable groups;
c. barriers to the full participation of diaspora communities in Australia’s democratic and social institutions, and mechanisms for addressing these barriers;
d. opportunities to strengthen communication and partnerships between government and diaspora communities in Australia; and e. any related matters

On 15 October 2020 I appeared as a witness at the public hearing via teleconference. The following members were in attendance: Senators Abetz, Ayres, Fierravanti-Wells, Kitching, Rice.
Both the written submission and INTERNET Hansard transcripts of public hearings are made available on the internet when authorised by the committee. To search the parliamentary database, go to: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au SENATE FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE AND TRADE REFERENCES COMMITTEE Thursday, 15 October 2020.
An uncorrected proof of evidence taken before the committee on 15 October 2020 could be found at: https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/commsen/21e30a2e-a371-4dec-ab3f-b8bb44200019/toc_pdf/Foreign%20Affairs,%20Defence%20and%20Trade%20References%20Committee_2020_10_15_8200.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/commsen/21e30a2e-a371-4dec-ab3f-b8bb44200019/0000%22

2020-07-28 Submission to Inquiry into issues facing diaspora communities

On Tuesday 20 October 2020 I will be participating in the Multicultural Mental Health Forum. Each each speaker will discuss multicultural mental health (barriers, what is working, what is not, how we can make a difference etc.) in their respective states. I, as the Chair of the Australian Multicultural Council, will speak about multicultural mental health in Australia as a whole and how it tackles mental health in multicultural communities.

DRAFT AGENDA:
12:45 pm Allow attendees to be admitted into the webinar
1:00 pm MC, Hayriye Uluca – Welcome to country, and Welcome all for attending today’s event
1:05 pm Hayriye Uluca to introduce Mr Huss Mustafa OAM
1:06 pm Welcome on behalf of MHFA – Mr Huss Mustafa OAM, Secretary MHFA
1:10 pm MHFA Video—Our Journey
1:12 pm Address by Australian Unity: Ms Nancy Huang—Chief Medical Advisor IAL
1:22 pm MC to welcome Keynote Speaker—Prof. Harry Minas
1:24 pm Keynote Address by Prof. Harry Minas
1:29 pm MC to welcome Prof. Sev Ozdowski AM
1:31 pm Address by Prof. Sev Ozdowski AM
1:36 pm MC to welcome Ms Vivienne Nguyen
1:38 pm Address by Ms Vivienne Nguyen
1:43 pm MC to welcome Dr Kirk Zwangobani
1:45 pm Address by Dr Kirk Zwangobani
1:50 pm MC to welcome Dr Edwin Lourdes Joseph
1:52 pm Address by Dr Edwin Lourdes Joseph
1:57 pm MC to announce Panel Discussion
1:58 pm Commencement of Panel (Hayriye Uluca, Huseyin (Huss) Mustafa OAM, Vivienne Nguyen, Harry Minas,
Professor Sev Ozdowski AM, Sonia Di Mezza and @Edwin Lourdes Joseph) + Q & A from Audience
2:28 pm Vote of thanks and presentation of pens by MC to speakers and panellists
2:30 pm Close of Event

Registration link:
https://lnkd.in/gPr2ei8

Celebrating International Day of the Peace, see attached Video

Yesterday, Victoria Police arrested a pregnant woman, in her pyjamas, at her home in front of her children. She was handcuff and charged as part of an investigation into protest activity “in blatant breach of the Chief Health Officer’s directions”. See the footage of the arrest at https://www.facebook.com/100026703984987/posts/466893250877470/?d=n

I have found this footage extremely distressing; it looks like a scene taken from a movie about a totalitarian state. What kind of country I am living in now? I escaped communist Poland in search of liberties and democracy. I settled here because of Australia’s human rights record. And now this abuse of human rights.

The arrest and handcuffing were clearly unnecessary and cruel and represent a great miss-use of authority. It is a clear overreach of law and looking back at Victorian Government’s attitude towards earlier BLM demonstrations, the arrest demonstrates very selective enforcement of laws to suit political objectives. In particular, proportionality and even-handedness of law enforcement is lacking here. You do not usually send three police officers to arrest somebody for a minor offence; there is also the issue of freedom of expression involved.

Perhaps it is a time for the Australian Human Rights Commission to review this case and all lockdown laws across Australia from the human rights law perspective.