Roderick SchneiderMale, 29, from Brisbane
works as a financial planner.
He is the Vice President of the Australian Young Liberals and a former president of the Young Liberal Nationals in Queensland.
His concern about asylum seekers arriving by boat is that we’re not properly dealing with issues that drive them here in the first place.
He says:
“if they really are that distressed to risk their lives and get on a ridiculously unsafe boat, what’s making them endanger their lives to come here? There are UN camps on the way, what is so bad at these camps? Surely if they’re set up by the UN, people should be able to stay there and not feel threatened.”He is troubled by the issues some asylum seekers have had integrating into Australian society. Roderick has never been overseas before. His biggest fear about participating in the program is he’ll be perceived as a left leaning bleeding heart. “I’m a government-hating, freedom-loving, centre-right winger,” he says.
Besides politics, Roderick’s passions are Cricket, Australian Rules Football and going to the pub.
Adam HartupMale, 26, from Cronulla, NSW
a lifeguard who was on the beach on the day of the 2005 riots.
Seeing people standing up for the country made him proud to be Australian but when random Middle Eastern looking people were being beaten up, it disturbed him.
He has zero tolerance for asylum seekers arriving by boat.
“Instead of harboring them, we should just put them straight on a plane and send them back. Don’t worry about giving them a feed or shower.” He thinks Australia should help its own first.
Adam has lived in Cronulla all his life and travelled through Asia and Europe. Last year he worked as a lifeguard in Greece during the Australian winter. Adam’s brother is a fireman who fought the Villawood Detention Centre fire in April 2011.
Gleny RaeFemale, 39, from Newcastle, NSW
a part-time schoolteacher and singer.
She performs solo (as Gleny Rae Virus) and in several bands that play around Australia.
"Asylum seekers who arrive by boats are the most desperate of all and we should treat them humanely." She believes there should be a home stay program to accommodate asylum seekers while their applications are processed. She would be delighted to host one, if not two.
Not withstanding her environmental concerns about overpopulation, Gleny thinks Australia should accept more refugees.
Raquel MooreFemale, 21, from Sydney
Currently unemployed
A self-confessed racist, Raquel is highly critical of refugees, especially Africans.
She says she’ll never be friends with a refugee.
She lives near Blacktown, describing it as a really "black town". She believes Australia should not accept any refugees:
“You don’t know what diseases they’re carrying, We need Pauline Hanson. She’s really strong about asylum seekers not coming to Australia.” Raquel left home at 13, moving around between relatives, before moving in with her partner at 16.
Darren HassanMale, 42, from Adelaide.
runs an import/export business with his Taiwanese wife
He is staunchly against people coming to Australia by boat, subsequently
“jumping the queue”.
As an aspiring politician he ran unsuccessfully for the Democrats at the last two Federal elections. He has since joined the Liberal party.
Darren served in the Australian army for almost 10 years as a radio operator. His ancestors were in the first group of Muslim families to arrive in Australia in the late 1800s as cameleers, but Darren is a practicing Christian.
His nickname at school was “ref” (as in refugee) which confused him. He feels his family integrated into Australian society but claims that generally multiculturalism is not working. He thinks many migrants and refugees haven’t integrated well.
Darren doesn’t understand why asylum seekers travel through numerous countries before arriving here and suspects they “country shop” for economic benefit.
Raye ColbeyFemale, 63, from Adelaide
currently retired,
have spent 22 years working with intellectually disabled children whose plight she believes is being neglected while the refugees are cared for.
She is angry about the money spent on the residents:
“They get given everything; all they do is complain; we’re rolling out the red carpet with a glass of champagne at the end of it.” She has no sympathy for the asylum seekers who died in December 2010 as a result of their boat hitting Christmas Island.
“It served the bastards right,”“People don’t understand people with a disability. They fear them. Bringing them into a community and trying to get the community to accept them is rewarding.”