Perth Voice Interactive

AN Inglewood man is hoping to kickstart a rational debate about refugee policy, based on fact not fears.

WA Humanist Society president Stevie Modern hopes his group’s event, Reclaiming a Welcome Australia, will also get people talking again about what sort of country they want Australia to be.

He says refugee policy is an ideal topic to study through a rational humanist lens, with policy to date centred on obfuscation and irrational fears.

“This is a faith that’s revolving around refugees being a danger to our country,” he says.

“It’s a faith not based on any evidence and it’s done a lot of damage to our country and our reputation.”

He says people complain about rumours of refugees’ welfare payments, without batting an eye at the documented fact it costs $900 a day to keep a refugee detained on Manus Island.

“[Offshore detention] isn’t a cost-effective way to go,” he says.

The 35-year-old interior designer describes the Abbott government’s quasi-military Operation Sovereign Borders as a “terrible misuse of our military forces”.

“This shouldn’t be a military operation,” he says, noting it’s allowed the government to get away with keeping the public in the dark about key facts, on spurious  “operational  security”  grounds.

He believes politicians are responding to what they perceive as an anti-refugee sentiment in the community and if community attitudes can demonstrably change then policy will follow.

Former refugee Carina Hoang will speak of her journey to Australia and the stories of the Vietnamese refugees.

The event’s at UWA on November 23 starting 10.30am. Contact ticketswa.com/event/reclaiming-welcome-australia for more.

Despite hosting a number of charitable events (the funds from this event go to legal help for refugees) the Humanist Society doesn’t qualify for tax breaks, unlike religious organisations.

Humanism is a secular movement emphasising rational thinking and the value of human beings.

by DAVID BELL