Calls for Australia to evacuate children from indefinite offshore detention in the tiny island prison of Nauru have gotten louder and louder in recent times,
(Fun fact: Nauru is slightly smaller that Melbourne airport – 21 square kilometres compared with Tullamarine’s 23 – and thanks to phosphate mining destroying a lot of the interior it has a habitable area around the same size as the terminal, only with nowhere near as good shopping.)
The recent expulsion of Médecins Sans Frontières from Nauru, followed by the deportation of the chief medical officer, has brought the crisis to public attention, with a crossbench bill demanding that the government evacuate children from the island expected to hit parliament this week.
But now some people with real power have weighed in: Anthony “The Blue Wiggle” Field and Emma “The Yellow Wiggle” Watkins: two people who, it should be pointed out, know a thing or two about making kids feel valued.
the yellow Wiggle AND the blue Wiggle have joined the #kidsoffnauru campaign
“We sing and dance with millions of children all over the world who have those opportunities – but there are more than 100 children trapped in detention on Nauru who don’t have this freedom" pic.twitter.com/gGnx4J8Fxb
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) October 23, 2018
Let’s be clear: it would be a brave, foolhardy government that stood up against the Wiggles. They have an octopus, a dinosaur, a pirate AND an army of actual children who literally do whatever they’re told to do, whether it’s rockabye their bear or storm Canberra and demand humanitarian change to failed border protection policies.
As of this morning the government were refusing to even accept Labor’s offer to agree to conditions that would see people transferred to New Zealand, so hopefully Anthony and Emma will succeed where politics has hitherto failed.