The Hon Anthony Albanese MP

Prime Minister

Parliament House

Canberra

31 August 2023

Dear Mr Albanese,

A Voice for Australian Indigenous Tamils

I refer to your last night’s discussion with Ms Allison Langdon, on ‘A Current Affair’. I was very impressed by Ms Langdon’s questions and the concluding ‘advice’ from Ms Langdon that at the end of the day, the only opinion that ought to matter to us is our own. This is interpreted by me as ‘you make your own karma.’

I am an active practitioner of the laws I believe in. One of them is the Racial Discrimination Act  1975. As per section 9(1) of this Act:

 9(1)  It is unlawful for a person to do any act involving a distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of any human right or fundamental freedom in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.

 

Given that the Racial Discrimination Act  is effectively to prevent Discrimination on the basis of Race, the Voice would be in breach of this Act, unless you have a ‘voice’ for all communities that have recorded experiences of racial discrimination. The Australian Tamil Community that shared in my pain,( including imprisonment and being listed as mentally ill person), is also entitled to a Voice in Parliament, on the same footing as Indigenous Australians.

Mr Albanese, during the interview, you stated words to the effect that all former colonies of Britain, except Australia, have constitutionally  recognised their indigenous communities. This is factually incorrect in the case of my country of origin – Sri Lanka/Ceylon whose indigenous community is the Vedda community.  As per my knowledge, the Vedda community do not have any special recognition in the Sri Lankan constitution. Tamils and Sinhalese who have developed ethnic conflict were migrants from different parts of India. More to the point is my knowledge that according to some experts, the Sri Lankan Vedda is connected to Australo-Melanesians who are reported to be indigenous groups in Melanesia and Australia.

During Tsunami Reconstruction period in Sri Lanka, I had the opportunity to live with Vedda community in Eastern Sri Lanka. I believe that the opportunity happened due to our common belief in Hindu Lord Skanda-Murugan, presented by American researcher Patrick Harrigan as follows:

….Mankerny, a remote coastal village north of Valaichchenai in Batticaloa district whose residents, some 400 families of indigenous Tamil speaking Veddas, nearly all lost their homes and livelihoods in the tsunami.

…Gaja’s style also tells you something about her motivation in wishing to serve the poorest devotees of the inscrutable god of Kataragama, Lord Skanda-Murugan’ - Chapter 2, Naan Australian/ I am Australian. I recently shared my belief in the power of declarations of belief, as follows:

‘Each time the Federal Courts of Australia, in Sydney,  failed me and I felt hurt, I went to St Mary’s Cathedral and asked ‘why’.  It took me a long time to realise that my pain, without a single thought of revenge was also prayers in ‘Reserve’. They strengthened my soul-power. The ultimate manifestation was that the book ‘Naan Australian’ (I am Australian) , came to National Library of Australia, via Congress Library, without my knowledge or effort. To me, that is a miracle.I believe that that is how Truth balances human karma.’

 

Mr Albanese, if the Voice gets majority yes votes, we the people would have effectively voted against the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. This would seriously damage our investment in Democratic laws. This seems to be natural to Australian businesses. This was confirmed by our Coogee View (Strata) Management committee who upheld that Majority vote despite breach of law was valid. The result is lower standards of civilisation. This confirms to the world that in Australia, University Education is for a living and is  not for life.

As per my experience, the loss of intelligence resulting from unjust discrimination, makes the victim who peacefully opposes , more intelligent.  In a sovereign circle, one’s loss is another’s gain.

 

Yours sincerely

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

CC: All concerned