To: Amanda Vanstone, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (www.vanstone.com.au)
November 10, 2003

Ms. Vanstone:
Your begrudging stand on the latest attempted landing by refugees, on this occasion a group of Turkish Kurds, truly is embarrassing and lamentable. Your claims to providing fair treatment to all people wishing to enter Australia are plainly bogus. You unfavorably compare apparent, or possible, refugees from Turkey's well-documented brutalization of Kurds, with people who have the ability to apply for admission in an orderly, safe fashion. The comparison is disingenuous and disgusting. How dare you! In addition, your belligerence towards the ABC and reporters in general - towards the public - is simply ignorant and boorish. I anticipate, in any case, that your far-from-plain dealing with the Australian public (me among them) will soon end in your disgraced departure from Parliament. Surely you can barely tolerate contemplating your own grotesque inhumanity. In the meantime, unfortunately, you put the country at risk of losing more and more of its reputation for common decency. Please resign before this occurs.
Sadly, and with appropriate disdain,