Reflections on a tragedy

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s disaster there is much to mourn.  At least 30 men, women and children died in the rough waters surrounding Christmas Island.   As yet, the authorities have not yet been able to ascertain the exact number of people on the boat.  Survivors have given estimates of 70-100 on board.  With only half that number accounted for so far, the final death toll could exceed 50.  Whatever the final toll, each one of these deaths is heart-breaking, a cruel testament to the ills of the world both at home and abroad.

It is at times of adversity that the best and worst of the national character is laid bare.  We saw the best of it in the rescuers, whether Navy or civilian, who risked their lives in treacherous seas to pull people from the water or stood on the rocks throwing life vests and ropes down to those drowning below.  For the residents of Christmas Island who witnessed this horror unfold, they will carry with them a scar that will last a lifetime.  It is a scar they needn’t bear and a scene they should never have had to witness.  And out of the same incident, a darker side of Australian sentiment is unveiled.  We heard it in the calls made to talkback radio and read it in opinion’s shared online, people callously dismissing the death of supposed ‘illegals’ as no great loss, before the final body has even been pulled from the water.  Whatever a person’s political beliefs, the loss of life is never a triviality to be simply shrugged away.

Mercifully, both sides of the partisan divide have refrained from opportunistic point-scoring, acknowledging that the loss of human life takes precedence over two-party politics.  Unfortunately this interlude may offer only the briefest of respite from the current debate on the issue of asylum seekers.  Given the sheer magnitude of the shadow this issue has cast over the political landscape since the beginning of the decade, the battlelines already appear to be carved in stone.  The trenches have been dug and people have chosen their sides.  However, to refuse to move the discourse forward in light of this disaster is to let these people die in vain.  It is time to bring a sense of calm and rationality to the discussion.  We must do better than we are now.

As the Greens have called for, there must be an independent inquiry into the chain of events that led to so many needless deaths.  It is not about apportioning blame, rather it is about understanding what happened at its very core, so that we may learn from this tragedy and do our utmost to make sure that it is not repeated.