A Surf Lesson With Tony Abbott
Riz Wakil was seventeen years old the first time he ever saw the ocean. Born in central Afghanistan - a landlocked country - his first view of the sea was in Indonesia whilst enroute to Australia as a refugee.
In Afghanistan his family was persecuted by the Taliban and his father deemed it to dangerous for Riz to stay so made plans for him to escape to Europe. In a mix-up with people smugglers Riz was taken from Pakistan to Indonesia, and from there he sailed in a boat with 72 other people heading for Ashmore Reef. He arrived in Australia on the 5th November 1999.
In the intervening 12 years Riz has been locked up in mandatory detention, learnt a trade upon his release, married, had two children, and is currently running his own successful business. He is also an advocate for the humane treatment of refugees.
Last year, during a charity night, a surf lesson with Tony Abbott was auctioned and community activist group, GetUp, made the winning bid. They put forth Riz as the recipient of the lesson
On Sunday Riz had his surf lesson with Tony Abbott and on Monday I spoke to him about it.
Swellnet: How long did the surfing lesson with Tony go for? Riz Wakil: With Tony...between thirty and forty minutes.
SN: That's a long time for someone who's never surfed before. Were you sore after it? RW: I'm still sore, Stuart!
SN: Whereabouts? RZ: All over my entire body. My arms, my ribs, my shoulders, my biceps. Everything is killing me.
SN: I heard that you got to your feet though, is that true? RW: Yeah, I did. What happened was, my friends at GetUp organised a pre-lesson before I went with Tony. So, in the morning the waves weren't too rough and I managed to get around seven rides in. Later with Tony, the waves were rough, but I managed to get up briefly on the board.
SN: Good on you. What surfing advice did Tony give you? RW: Tony did admit that he's not a good surf instructor so he brought along one of his professional surf instructor mates...
SN: So Tony didn't even do the instructing? RW: He himself admitted that he wasn't a good instructor but he gave me a couple of good tips before we got into the water, like how to jump to my feet. How to balance and everything. For someone like me that hasn't surfed it helped.
SN: After the surf lesson you spoke with Tony Abbott about his stance on refugees, what did you say to him? RW: Tony Abbot still believes that punishing people once they get to Australia will deter others from coming here, which I think is the totally wrong approach. We didn't do that to stop the flow of European refugees after World War Two and we didn't do that with the Vietnamese people.
I told Tony that what needs to be done is solve the problem at the source. That is, the country of origin where these people come from. If we tried to solve the problem...and when I say 'we' I don't just mean the Australian government, I mean the international community and the people of those countries themselves. So, if we try to attend to the source of the problem and get rid of it in those parts of the world then those people in countries like Palestine, Iraq, Sri Lanka...they will stop leaving their homes and coming to countries like Australia. Otherwise we'll keep spending millions and millions of dollars to lock a handful of people up in Nauru and Manus Island which I think is cruel and I think it's expensive.
SN: You quoted a figure after the surf lesson. RW: John Howard blew over a billion dollars just to lock up 1500 people on Nauru and Julia Gillard will spend over $800 million of taxpayers money if she goes ahead with her plans .
SN: OK, so let's say Julia Gillard was giving the surf lesson what would you have said to her? RW: I would've said exactly the same thing to Julia Gillard: Don't treat this issue as a political issue. Put the human face back on it because you are not dealing with numbers only, you are dealing with real human people. They are desperate people fleeing desperate circumstances. We don't have to read from the same book that John Howard read from and that Tony Abbott is now reading from.
SN: OK, do you think you made any impact on Tony Abbott? RW: Umm...I found him less tougher than I found him on the television. But I might be wrong, maybe all politicians are like that. Politicians can you give you an impression of whatever they want to. After I had my conversation with him he listened and he asked us what we think the solution was. We didn't come to any great agreements. Both sides will still have their differences of opinion but I'm happy that he took some time off his busy schedule to fulfill his promise.
(Photos Mark Tipple/GetUp)
In August 2010 I had a longer interview with Riz. Click to read.
Comments
Sick name. what would you go for? Rizzo or Wakky?
Surf lessons and a nickname, Viva Australiana! Sorry...I mean Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.
Wonder if he knows Don Bradman's average?
Tony Abbott has a board and takes it in the water. That doesn't make him a surfer . It makes him an idiot weekend warrior. he drops in , gets in the way , runs people over and has no control over his board or his mouth. He is a social and political chameleon . A politician is never true to themselves RIZ. He is what it suits him to be at any given moment to buy popularity. He is not a chameleon in the water . He stands out like a p***k at a pu**y party. I'm surprised Riz could stomach him. The only thing he could instruct is being a racist bigot with a one dimensional party line when we all know the issue is not with the boats and this is a minor percentage of asylum seeking migration. STOP THE BOATS TONY. Why don't you bring a real issue with a real solution to the table and people may actually take you seriously . I reckon Barry o Farrel have your job within the year anyway ..
'I told Tony that what needs to be done is solve the problem at the source' - isn't that what our soldiers are doing in Afganistan and Iraq for the last 9 years at MASSIVE expense to the hard working people of this country?
Isn't sending troops overseas also what the Labor party campaigned against when John Howard was in power? Obviously there is no easy solution to this issue, but fair is fair, Australia, and Australians have done more than enough to help people like Riz, and the countries they come from.
Congratulations Riz on your new life and success you have achieved here, but in terms of illegal immigrants/refugees, you are a minority.
Also, on a lighter note.....how do you get to Indonesia without seeing the ocean?
Sending soldiers into Afghanistan doesn't really "solve the problem at the source imo, Mr Yub. Supplying far more extensive humanitarian support at the "source" such as proper hospitals, decent accommodation and plentiful food and clothing might help though.
I can't imagine 99.9% of refugees really want to leave their homelands or nearby lands but do so out of sheer desperation.
I always imagine how many people can be supported and for how long for the cost of one drone/cluster bomb/airforce carrier.
As far as the refugees being a minority then it is not too much of a burden to help, I personally reckon. And as an Australian I am happy to have monies from my "hard work" go toward such help. Maybe tax those multi-billion dollar profit-making mining companies and bankers a wee bit more also to cover the cost? (ahh, I know, I am living in lala land if I think that would ever happen but I can dream)
Enjoyed the interview, Rizzo and Stu. Thanks.
Cliff, not lala land, communist Soviet Union is closer to the mark!
What I suggested is pretty far from "communist soviet union" lol
@ the-yub socialism is already a huge part of australia(eg, nationalised health-care). to further incorporate some of those ideals wouldn't hurt. socialism and democracy can exist(most obviously in sweden). i wish an 1/8 of australians understood half of what rizzo understands regarding this issue.
@ the-yub
To answer your question about the ALP and campaigning against sending troops overseas.
No. They supported the campaign in Afganistan. I think they also supported the campaign in East Timor but I'm not sure on that. It was only the invasion of Iraq that the ALP opposed.
Regarding Riz being a minority among "illegal immigrants/refugees"...
That's rubbish mate. Firstly illegal immigrants and refugees are not the same thing. Secondly, most refugees who live in Australia make a great effort to integrate and do quite well for themselves. Remember the Vietnamese refugees from the 80s? They have integrated very well. Remember the kerfuffle about the Victorian police minister complaining about African refugees being overrepresented in crime stats? Turned out to be a load of bollocks. If my memory serves me well, I think Clif wrote a long post about it at his own blog back in the day.
How many millions get thrown at this problem, and for what result? What a disgrace. I recently learned about the plight of some poor souls living on a rubbish dump in Papua New Guinea. Little kids finding scraps of food to survive. Most just want the chance of an education so they can escape the poverty cycle. Dozens sleep huddled under a caretakers hut at the local school, totally unprotected (this is a dangerous part of the world), just for a chance to go to school. A fraction of what is wasted by Gillard would save all of these kids from their agony. We can't save the world, but at least do something effective, Gillard.
Millions, Rushy?
Try billions. As in the interview, Howard spent over a billion dollars to lock up 1500 people just at Nauru. By my rudimentary mathematics that's $666 666 per person. That's a lot of taxpayers money getting wasted, so where's Alan Jones and Ray Hadley when you need to get the public outraged over misappropriated funds?
Refugees and immigration are THE issues of our time if only because of their political volatility. After Tampa, Howard and the Libs realised they could split Labor's constituency in two with the traditional working class voters on one side and the university educated left-leaning voters on the other. By putting refugees in the public spotlight and forcing people to take sides the Libs effectively kneecapped Labor. The working class Labor voters don't want refugees yet the university educated Labor voters sympathise with their plight (generalisations of course).
This tactic gave Howard two more terms (2001 and 2004) and it's why Tony Abbott persistently tried to bring it up during the last election. The refugee issue weakens Labor.
Yet while Labor is weakened the Greens are getting the overflow of voters who would otherwise have voted Labor. The Greens are now the only party with a real progressive social stance, Labor is having a crisis of identity, while the Libs are playing amoral Machiavellian politics and moving ever further from their stated philosophy of liberalism.
“The freedom is always that of people who are different from youâ€, you will never live at ease without other people enjoying freedom as well.
- Ai Weiwei
Stu, the problem is (or was at the last election), a vote for the Greens was a vote for Labor anyway.
No political party is really interested in helping the mug Aussie voters or anyone else (like refugees) unless it keeps them in power. Be nice if they put their efforts into making sure we don't pay too much for our food, fuel, electricity, could drive on decent roads, get easy access to decent medical/hospital treatments etc, etc, etc. I live in hope (but not much)
Nice rushy. You want all the services but don't want to pay the taxes, you have swallowed whole the Alan Jones line about waste from this government, seemingly unaware that John Howard and Peter Costello got a $300 billion dollar tax bonus over the last 5 years of their government and wasted all but 5% of it.
And because you are ill informed and have no intention of getting more informed, you will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are, wherever Rupert Murdoch wants to take you.
You are the problem.
Mr Yub, your line about illegal immigrants says it all. Refugees are not illegal immigrants at any stage of the process. You too are the problem.
Illegal immigrants are visa overstayers and they are invariably white, english speaking, and usually from USA, Ireland and Britain.
But don't let the facts interfere with your prejudice.
Cheers
Yeah, Batfink, I'm the problem, the reason why things aren't so good. Good one comrade. Let's hope China has a few good years so we get back into Surplus, hey? Time will tell.
The reason why things aren't so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After 18 years of economic expansion, wage rises exceeding inflation for every year, Australia avoiding recessions that really should have floored us, and just about every bugger owning a car that is less than 3 years old and a flat screen TV as big as my lounge room wall.
And virtually without question the only buggers whinging are the ones who got themselves into financial trouble by borrowing too much and maxing out the credit card, and are now blaming the government for their woes, or superannuants who listened to crooks who told them to borrow and put all their eggs in the stockmarket basket. No brains, no responsibility.
Australia is going bad rushy, but not because things are tough economically, but because individuals who have made bad decision after bad decisions for years are now looking to the government to bail them out, all the while tying the governments hands by not supporting good policy like a mining tax, because those poor multi-national behemoths might make a few billion less dollars selling our minerals, and Rupert told them that would be bad.
Rupert calls the tune and the majority of the Australian public dance. People are happy to be fed bullshit, and Alan Jones and News Ltd are here to feed you.
Yep, while government is culpable, it isn't the problem.
thanks for this stu! nice to see people getting the real story out there. listen up prime time tv viewers!
@batfink we agree people are ignorant? well whats the governments role if not protecting the ignorant?
my main beef is with the continued purposeful misinformation and/or manipulative information peddled by the GOVERNMENT and the media.
ive never invested simply because making money from money just dosent sit right with me. saved me lots of coin not listening to jonny a few years back.
our whole system is based on money. people will never come first if things stay the same. politics is a business. all business is morally corrupt. for your small business to do well you are taking money from somewhere ie;another business.
australia a bad example to see this problem clearly. though it will become one.
perpetual growth is unsustainable.
Over simplified, ol' mate. We certainly could be a lot better off in the Lucky Country - no doubt. But we're the way we are because of a lot of factors (internal & external), some that you and I seem to agree on, and others I reackon we'd "debate" ad nausium.
What I was pointing out was ALL Govt's (current, past and future) will and have done what keeps them in power, with little except. That's what get up my nose. They're more adept at keeping the reigns in hand than making sure monies are used for the betterment of people.
BER, insulation, carbon tax - struth even set tops for pensioners who don't want them. How about taking on the banks and getting them to be fair dinkum about their fees (look at their bloody profits), or telling the oil companies what's a fair price for petrol. Govt's are our elected reps supposed to look after us, not themselves. Try sending a small part of the wasted funds to starving masses. I'd have no problem with that!
Mate, I do take responsibilty for my actions and bear the load for my own failures. No, I don't need a govt to do that for me. And I agree that the Libs wasted heaps before the current mob. But that's my point. When are they going to do what is best for those who vote for them, and stop P***ing our taxes away on dumb stuff?
I'm going for a lie down.
"A lot better off"Rushy?
Are we ever going to be satisfied with what we have?
If those kids under the caretakers hut could see the way you live & hear you whinge about what you think you should have,what would they think?
Didn't know I was whinging - sorry if that's what you hear. Just commenting in general. I know that I'm more than blessed with what I have, and not just material possesions. And I make sure I share what I get. Do you??
Lots of people come from modest backgrounds, me included - I know what it's like to be hungry, and wear second-hand clothes I don't mean hand-me-downs: I had 3 older sisters). Lot worse off than me, I know. But I do feel for those who can't get the basics, yet here we are with money to throw away and dumb stuff.
Hey, aren't we singing the same tune? Don't give a toss if you don't agree with me, but I don't think I'm saying what you're making out.
Did someone mention making out??? Finally, something I think I understand. Wish I was better at it, but....
I'm hearing you rushy. It does get kind of annoying that you work your 50 hour week just to get ahead a little. I hate it that you/we/us are made to feel that there is something so inherently wrong as wanting to buy a house, drive a decent, reliable car, send our kids to a better school than we went to, take a holiday every now and then.
Waste? Million dollar flag poles, billion dollar offshore detention facilities, a billion dollars so Indonesians can build moderate schools for their kids with less emphasis on Koranic studies, 50 million so they can 'study' the effects of deforestation, 100 million + annually in Afghanistan, 500 million between PNG and the Solomon Islands annually, lifetime gold travel passes etc etc etc.
But that's cool, rent paid for being a child of the 'Lucky Country'. That couple of billion or so would have come in pretty handy for the floods, or bushfires, or even upgrading some of our run-down schools and hospitals. Maybe the big mining companies, giant supermarket chains, bloated banks might like to really chip in? Dreaming.
Your probably right Rushy we might be singing the same tune.I miss took you for a hardliner on refugees.You know what a loose cannon I am,once Im loose I roll around the deck taking anybody out.
Peak oil has come & gone so theres only one way petrol prices can go.Yes I know they tax the shitter out of it,but if they dont get the revenue from fuel they will take it from somewhere else.We will pay through the nose for the privilege of burning the last of it.
Electricity same deal with or without a carbon tax.Lack of investment,ageing infastructure & growing demand.
Food same thing,increased production costs,increasing global demand.
Roads,small population outside cities & long distances=shitty roads.
Hospitals well not great but ask someone in the U.S what they think of the level of health care for the average Australian.
And here we are after a global economic meltdown with an economy that is the evnvy of many developed nations.With a deficit that most would consider laughable & a dollar to prove it.The world is beating a path to our door for resources & we cant get it out the ground fast enough.Now we are told we need to import labour to keep up with the demand!
But for all that we still cant afford to take in a couple of thousand refugees turning up on our doorstep.Just give them a temp visa,if their genuine they stay if not they go back.
Me?low income,blue collar shit kicker,3 kids,been down to eggs on toast fibro mortgage survivor.
So just your average spoilt Australian.
Well said, SB. I'm just a baggy-arsed firie, in the trenches with you, mate. But I bet there's heaps of people who'd gladly swap our "misfortunes" for theirs.
My daughter's done some o/s missionary work. The kids that do this work come home changed. Takes a while to re-adjust back into the "normal" way we live here. Even though I said earlier that things could be better, this really is The Lucky Country, isn't it?