President's Message – August/September 2010
The Federal election for 2010 has now taken place and eyes are now focused firmly on the results from the ballot boxes and discussions amongst elected representatives for the formation of the next Australian Government.
With no clear result in sight, it is important now to reflect on some of the values whose expression were left out in the campaign process, but which are central to what this organisation stands for, namely the commitment to maintaining values such as justice, due process and the protection of the rights of all people, especially those who are considered vulnerable members of our community.
On Thursday 12 August we released a media statement that outlined our concerns about the big parties' refugee policies.
In response to our statement Lawyers Weekly ran an article entitled 'Politics confounding asylum issues'. We make that call again to the big parties and their potential partners in Government.
I would like to restate what I said in the media release: 'Refugees are simply people who are escaping persecution from some of the most terrible places in the world. It is incumbent upon our political leaders that, when legal and bureaucratic machineries of government are concerned, people are treated with the same degree of fairness and equity that we have come to expect from our legal system'.
If you have any questions regarding this media statement or would like to find out more, please contact me.
Pouyan Afshar
President
NSW Young Lawyers
CONTACT
- NSW Young Lawyers
- 170 Phillip Street
- Sydney NSW 2000
- T: (02) 9926 0270
- F: (02) 9926 0282
- DX 362 Sydney
- E: ylgeneral@lawsociety.com.au
- www.younglawyers.com.au
