What's news today

Hi,

Well today is kind of peculiar. I was driving along this morning and got a text message while stopped at traffic lights, telling me to check out the front of the age. i quickly indicated and pulled into a servo, where i made a beeline for the papers, and stood there reading about the new reforms to the detention policy that have been predicted early by the Palmer inquiry. (i did buy the paper, too, for any disgruntled newsagency owners who might be reading...!) They include the introduction of a proper review body with actual power (yippee!!), a bridging visa for long-term detainees (meaning they can be out of detention while their claims are being processed), the closure of the isolation facility at baxter, and other good things. I'm so glad.

Also, today I found out that a guy we've been visiting this year got out of detention on friday. which is SO amazing! i'm so relieved and happy. but he's got a temporary protection visa, which means that unless the TPV is abolished, he will have to relive the badness of his RRT hearings and 're-prove' his refugee status again in three years. hmm. let's abolish TPVs

I'm also gearing up for the trip to baxter. There are a lot of people coming so it'll be really fun on one level, but i know that the 2 days we spend there will be pretty nasty. there will be 5 visit sessions of 2-3 hours each, and i'm just not really looking forward to the fallout from those. by all accounts baxter is an absolute crazy-factory, and we will be the first visitors to some of the people since they got there. and then the saying goodbye and leaving part will be awful too! hehe when one of my friends got moved from Maribyrnong to Baxter, we only had 12 hours notice, and i went to say goodbye to him. at the end of the visit, i gave him a hug and he left, and i cried my eyes out! I'm not good with goodbyes. :c)

That's enough for now.
Catch you soon