Consultation news
Bumper crowd in Brisbane
Conditions were fine in Brisbane, not just for the weather but for our roundtables too, which attracted bumper crowds at both sessions. In fact, our first session for Brisbane saw our largest crowd to-date. There was barely a seat to spare and a lively discussion was shared by all.
In this session we saw many impassioned people sharing their experiences and advocating their causes. Discussions flowed in many directions, from disability and mental health support to accountability and the transparency of governments. The question of how we can better protect human rights was discussed in-depth and there were advocates for a number of different options. Some of these options included establishing citizen watchdogs, while others discussed how to incorporate cultural and family structure awareness into the school curriculum.
The evening consultation was also attended at full capacity. At this session, there were many discussions about refugees and their treatment upon entry into Australia, as well as their eventual settlement. There was also very meaningful discussion about inadequacies within the mental health system and how these can allow people to fall through the cracks, to the absolute dismay of families, friends and carers.
There was also lively discussion about the responsibilities that relate to our human rights. This ranged from the responsibilities of police to act beyond their role as law enforcers and consider individual human rights in dealing with their work, to the lack of responsibility being taken about mass fluoridation, a recent development for Queensland’s water supply.
We would like to thank the Brisbane participants, not only for their time, but for some thoroughly thought-provoking discussions.
Frank Brennan, Mary Kostakidis, Tammy Williams and Mick Palmer