Sometimes It's Important to Make a Statement of Principle

In my younger days, I heard the excuse 'but what can one person do' more often than I care to remember. I thought then, and I still do, that it smacked of an abnegation of individual responsibility rather than being an objective statement about reality. If we really believe something, we should be willing to stand up and be counted - and the more of us that do so, the more likely it will be that you will, individually and collectively, make a difference.

Anyone who doubts that should look at the influence that GetUp had on the most recent Federal election.

So - what has this to do with the Town of Vincent?

On Tuesday 22 April, Councillors will be asked to rescind two policies on the basis that what Vincent does or says will make no difference to the bigger picture.

One of these (Policy 4.1.8 - Nuclear Free Zone) is a simple philosophical statement that has little practical application (I doubt there would ever be a proposal to build a nuclear power station in Vincent). It nevertheless has a potentially powerful supporting impact for communities that might be faced with a nuclear power station in their backyard - just imagine if GetUp hadn't been instrumental in getting rid of John Howard!

The other (Policy 1.1.8 - Selective Purchasing - Burma) is definitely of practical - and humanitarian - concern. It might well be the case that, even in the absence of such a policy, the Town of Vincent would not purchase products from Burma - but that isn't the issue. The political situation in Burma hasn't improved since the policy was first adopted in 1999.

The military dictatorship still refuses to transfer power to the rightfully-elected government under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military dictatorship still refuses to restore to Aung San Suu Kyi freedom of movement, freedom of association or freedom of expression.

The military dictatorship still oppresses the Burmese people and denies them basic human rights, that you and I take for granted.

I believe the policy makes a valuable statement and should be retained.

It would make a very unfortunate statement if we were to rescind the policy, as it could be taken to mean that we no longer objected to the Burma military regime and its oppression of the Burmese people. It would be doubly unfortunate to do so when the United Nations has just reiterated its condemnation of the abuse of human rights in Burma:

The UN Human Rights Council on Friday 28 March strongly condemned systematic abuses of human rights in Burma by the Asian nation's military rulers, including the holding of a high number of political prisoners. The 47-nation body also passed a separate resolution extending for another year the mandate of the UN investigator for Burma. The Council expressed "deep concern at the situation of human rights in Myanmar (Burma), including the violent repression of the peaceful demonstrations of September 2007 and the failure of the government of Myanmar (Burma) to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of these violations.

Let us not, even inadvertently, give succour or encouragement the perpetrators of this violence against a peaceful people.

You can find these policies on the Town of Vincent website (http://www.vincent.wa.gov.au/2/209/1/policy_manual.pm). Let's hope they are still there after Tuesday's Council meeting.