Racism is a “festering sore” on Australia’s national psyche, former Socceroo and human rights activist Craig Foster has told the National Press Club.
In a forceful speech, Foster said the nation had failed on indigenous and refugee rights and on climate change.
“Our torture of innocent refugees, failures on indigenous rights and intransigence on global warming has twisted our own humanity,” the SBS broadcaster said in his address on Wednesday.
Australia had profited from suffering, fed racist politics and contributed to exposing the planet to extreme risk of damage wrought by climate change, Foster said.
Yet the country was unwilling to accept its responsibility to the world on human rights and climate change and “crying out for authentic leaders”.
“We’re failing ourselves, our children, our grandchildren, and the most vulnerable people both here and around the world,” he argued.
Foster said racism underpinned the colonisation of Australia, yet still “infests” policy and media coverage today.
“It’s a festering sore on the national psyche that manifests in dehumanisation and mistreatment of innocent people and ongoing indigenous disadvantage,” he said.
“Australia has been so bombarded by decades of dog whistling, xenophobic and racist portrayal of other, that we literally are willing to let innocent people rot and die. The most vulnerable people on earth – refugees.”
Foster became a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Australia Day Honours List in January for his work on multiculturalism and refugee rights.
He has been involved in several high profile campaigns including to free Bahraini refugee Hakeem al-Araibi from a Thai prison.
Foster on Wednesday said it was weak to “beat up” on innocent refugees, the family from Biloela as they fought in immigration detention to stay in Australia, along with gays, the homeless and unemployed.
“Lying about asylum seekers to justify shameful policy is weak,” he said.
“Legislating so medical professionals can’t tell the truth about torture is weak. Leveraging asylum seeker lives as political capital is weak.”
Foster pointed to several hundred asylum seekers and refugees stranded offshore in Papua New Guinea and more than 50 refugees onshore Australia under medevac laws, all in their ninth year of incarceration.
“It’s rightly said that Australia treats animals with greater care,” he said.
“It’s staggering actually, to think what we’ve done to innocent humans. it’s a stain that will live with us forever.
“The boat people who tortured boat people – immigrants who tortured immigrants. It’s insanity on every level – financially, humanitarian, global citizenry and reputationally.”
He referred to the “agonising” death of Iranian refugee Omid Masoumali, 23, who set himself on fire in Nauru in 2016, feeling “so traumatised, hopeless and broken”.
His injuries were survivable if he was treated adequately but it took 31 hours for him to receive medical treatment or painkillers.
“The problem is we’re now at the point where we’ll do literally anything to keep people out, including killing them,” he said.
Foster also referred to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s comments about taking in refugees from Ukraine who would be front of the queue, sxjmtzywaying it was a “cynical lie”.
“There is no queue. Only a human lottery,” he said.
During question time, Foster added there was “no morality in killing people and destroying lives”.
“Are we not capable of designing a system that doesn’t result in people killing themselves, burning themselves alive?’
