By Mikayla van Loon
Casey Grandmothers for Refugees held somewhat of an irregular meeting this week, inviting people from both the Casey and Deakin electorates to join the discussion.
Co-coordinator Valerie Mayer said the meeting on Monday 12 September at the Yarra Ranges Council offices was about offering a different and perhaps more central location for people.
“The Casey electorate is very big and we wanted to encourage people who aren’t usually able to get to meetings, when they’re in those different parts of the electorate, to have an opportunity to come along,” she said.
While usually a group of 15 people meet regularly every fortnight, Ms Mayer said there were at least 30 people at Monday’s gathering.
“Often people, they’re on our list, but for various reasons they can’t come to meetings, but they want to be involved and want to learn more. So there were some new people who’d come with friends and that was really good,” she said.
Having reset their policies and advocacy efforts after the May federal election, Ms Mayer said the meeting was a good opportunity to have a discussion about the new direction of the Grandmother’s cause.
“We want to be consistent with our international obligations, have a national tradition of welcome for those seeking asylum and basic rights to enduring protection for refugees with safe settlement support.”
Ms Mayer said the invitation was extended to Yarra Ranges councillors and staff to open up that conversation with local people. A councillor and a representative were present on the day and Ms Mayer said she was very grateful to have had their support.
Moving forward Ms Mayer said because of the success of the event, Casey Grandmother’s will look at hosting their meetings at different locations across the electorate to ensure more people can attend should they wish.
“Our aim was to spread the word about what we’re doing and how we advocate [for refugees] and give people more opportunity to see what is possible.
“Advocating is writing, ringing, vigils to politicians and to people who might be able to help and joining with community programs where we might be able to help refugees settle in.”
A common theme from Monday’s event was that people were “enthusiastic about and were inspired to join in with some vigils and advocating by contacting people who have the power to make change like politicians and working in the community.”
Ms Mayer said although titled Grandmother’s, the group is open to anyone and everyone who is passionate about the state of refugees, calling it “grandmother’s and friends”.
Information on Grandmother’s for Refugees can be found at www.grandmothersforrefugees.com
