by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam
The Hon Julia Gillard, MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
Canberra – ACT 2600
08 December 2010
Dear Ms. Gillard,
(December 10, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I refer to news reports regarding your ‘judgment’ of fellow Australian Julian Assange. Prime Minister, to this simple minded Commoner, your honorable self has acted in breach of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers by calling Julian’s actions ‘illegal’. It is reported that ‘Mr Assange's lawyers have said they are considering defamation action against Ms Gillard after she accused the whistleblower of “illegal” conduct over the leak of US documents.’
As you may know, I brought legal action against Mr. Howard when he was Prime Minister, as per my belief that Mr. Howard was guilty of racial discrimination. Once our losses and pain go below the merit level to deny us the fundamental rights we believe in – the shape and form do not matter. All shapes and forms within that circle of belief would prove to be right if and when they are put through appropriate measures of merit based assessments. Through your experience in Workplace Issues, you may be aware that it is not uncommon for Australian employers including the Australian Public Service to tailor the selection criteria to fit the person they believe in.
Belief is the Foundation and Consciousness is the Crown. Hence, once merit is raised to the highest intellectual levels to benefit mankind, all forms are right. In a healthy society, Belief matures into Consciousness and Consciousness consolidates into belief with natural changes. As per my experiences with our University system, we are yet to attain that philosophical state. In fact, if we dared to share our wisdom we are likely to be threatened with imprisonment by the party that failed in its responsibility to ‘educate’.
Appendix 1 is an excerpt from an email I sent the senior Administrators of the University of NSW. I draw your attention to the following lines ‘At that time you said that Mr. Lidbury had said ‘what if the Auditors saw this?’. I then said to you ‘Why? Do we have anything to hide? Let us do it right and fear no one.’
Yes, Ms Gillard, we the workers have gone through much pressure to suppress our efforts to become more democratic. Now it is the turn of employers/leaders. Please ask yourself the value of my work that was ‘lost’ to the Australian system, due to inappropriate confidentiality by weak administrators. All this happened during Mr. Howard’s time.
You have confirmed through your above remarks, my discovery through Mr. Howard as Prime Minister – ‘As is the Prime Minister, so are the Dependent Citizens. ‘
You told ‘illegal’ and Mr. Howard told ‘Arrest her’ through his barristers who told the Judges who told the University of NSW who told the NSW Police - all without legal basis. The telling happened through their conduct. It is not uncommon in Australia to be arrested for merely ‘looking’ guilty if we as minority expressing independence, happen to be in a ‘telling environment’ . This often happens when the Executive fails to commit itself to the Doctrine of Separation of Powers between the Executive Government and the Judiciary. Hence the hasty judgment.
Julian is Family and therefore our belief as Australians needs to take priority over our contribution to Public opinion. We need to be there for Julian even if he were found guilty by those whose work has been damaged by Julian’s actions.
To me, using the laws of relativity, Julian is not guilty of any serious offense in regards to this. There are times when our privacy is invaded at the workplace and our independence curtailed by supervisors who are driven more by ‘control measures’ rather than Service. It is also a question of cultural differences in multicultural Australia. It is not uncommon for immature Australians to ‘see’ sex when one says ‘Love’; ‘Terrorism’ when one says ‘rebellion’.
As a leader who chose not to be bound by the legal or cultural confines of marriage, you may have the capacity to appreciate that at the workplace too – some of us are more productive the Natural way – using Truth. There is belief for local outcomes and there is consciousness for global outcomes. Laws are for the rich middleclass in-between. As an Australian I am driven by belief in this instance. As a leader, you may be driven by consciousness. If we are both genuine, we do not need particular laws to measure Julian.
During the height of the ethnic war in Sri Lanka, the Government expelled ‘foreigners’ towards ‘local’ outcomes. So long as they were belief based, they were ‘right’ in the court of Natural Justice. But the outcomes / wins were extended beyond that time and place and hence the ‘judgment’ through Diaspora Tamils who, with the partnership of British Politicians, successfully ‘punished’ the President of Sri Lanka and his entourage. To some of us, it is no coincidence that the numbers (300,000) are more or less equal – i.e. – the number of Tamils incarcerated in the camps and the number of British Tamils who felt the moral authority to punish the perpetrators. Some Sri Lankan leaders accused the British of doing it for votes. To me that is the right way – because votes are our way of expressing our faith in our natural leaders. Besides, to the extent Sri Lankan politicians punished for votes, their punishment would also happen through that path wherever that is the first available path.
If you therefore seek genuinely, you would find similar connections through Julian’s actions. So long as we are not guilty of similar offense, we have the right to share our strengths with fellow Australians facing legal action through merit/legal basis, outside Australia. It is not uncommon for us to do this with drug traffickers.
Confidentiality is a useful tool towards preserving this peace until the Public are mature enough to share in the value of our findings. Like the Courts said about me – Julian may be a nuisance but that does not entitle us to call him a criminal, unless each one of us is ready to judge and punish ourselves when we invade others’ privacy using our official positions. Churchill calling our Gandhi ‘Half naked fakir’ was/is also invasive. Did the West punish Churchill for that?
Ms Gillard, as Geoffrey Rush said yesterday, during his interview with SBS Reporter Janice Petersen, ‘we like to present ourselves at our optimum to the world’. All anti discrimination laws are towards removing any blocks in that path. Australian government is yet to achieve a good standard in this clearance work. The work done by Julian in this regard is likely to have cleared that path for many who until now, may not have been able to identify themselves with their political leaders.
Truth is without time or space borders and hence is far more powerful than being ‘right.’ We pray during funerals to clear the blocks to this Truth of the person – so we could cherish the person forever as our soul-mate. Let us learn from this experience to be more transparent in Australian Public Service and fear no one.
Yours sincerely,
Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam
Appendix 1
On Monday, 19 April 1999 I wrote to Kerry with copies to Phil Kringas (who was no longer my supervisor because I was employed by Sports Medicine as a contractor ), Jeff Bateman - Director, Human Resources, Alan Pettigrew – Deputy Vice Chancellor and Chris Lidbury – Director Business & Finance:
Dear Kerry,
The students who pay you deserve better. I don’t know about you Kerry but I am determined to service the schools any way I can. All you have done is made it difficult for me to get the figures. But I will satisfy the rules – even though you don’t apply the rules for all equally. As I asked you then – do you go through the same process with all the Admin Officers in all the faculties? If so – how come I was not instructed to do this when I was part of FSD? It is a clear case of discrimination to me and through this communication which is being copied to the Director of Human Resources – I am lodging a formal complaint – not just about what happened today – but also what you did back then. You even wanted to check with my former employers just because I had criticized the FSD systems. I was not just critical – I gave you the answers. At that time you said that Mr. Lidbury had said ‘what if the Auditors saw this?’. I then said to you ‘Why? Do we have anything to hide? Let us do it right and fear no one.’ The Auditor General did not need my memo’ to find out – he found out himself – as was confirmed by his report that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald of 05 November ’98. Had your department heard me and discussed matters objectively – we would today have progressed well in the direction of true Accrual Accounting and effective Budgetary and Reporting Systems. Despite all this – this is exactly what I am giving the schools – and more. I give them Cost Benefit Analyses by Subject and by Staff – so they can operate more efficiently and effectively. You and others within FSD will not stop me from helping the schools. All you are doing is to slow down the pace of progress. But despite your hindrance progress will take place – whilst your department adds to the cost of bureaucracy that brings little or negative value in some instances. If your department had given the service – the schools would not have called me back. Back then you wanted reference checks even though it was all done when I was first recruited – as Jeff Warnock confirmed. If you had gone ahead – you would have only heard good things about me Kerry – as you would from the schools again. In your vocabulary – when someone suggests some progressive ways – that person has an attitude problem. I hear that FSD is now considering Grant Reporting on Accrual basis – the issue over which all my problems with FSD started in the first instance. Ironical isn’t it? That you harass me and I resign and then you propose to adopt the very system I recommended in the first instance. That’s justice for you. What will you do this time – harass me enough so I leave and then adopt Cost Benefit Analyses? One needs wisdom in these systems Kerry. If you had contacted my previous employers this is exactly what they would have told you – that I turned them from Cash Accounting to fully Fledged Accrual Accounting Business Units with monthly Reporting which included Cash Flow Statements and Variance Analyses – using Key Performance Indicators. That is what I am trying to develop within the schools and I am succeeding. The Heads of Schools are very interested and have started using the reports. If you want to hinder the process – please go ahead and make it more difficult for the likes of me who want to do an honest job. At the end of the day that is what you carry inside you – not your money not your position – but the satisfaction that you have done an honest job and helped the needy. I have faith in the Australian system of democracy – I know it will help me achieve this.
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