INTERVIEW WITH DAWN

Preamble: 'The Galbally (1978) and Fitzgerald (1988) reports on the immigration system struck a balance between a rules-based structure which had enough compassionate flexibility to accommodate discretion in exceptional circumstances... The full extent of human devastation cannot always be captured within the black letter of the law. Unlike bureaucracies' apparatuses, [Government] ministers have a mandate for empathy while weighing often unique circumstances that were not anticipated when sections of the act were drafted.' ('Yes Minister, the buck does stop with you' by Mary Aldred, the Age, March 3, 2008). Update: Cornelia Rau, the German-born woman wrongly held in detention for 10 months, has accepted a compensation offer from the Federal Government for a reported $2.4 million. Note: A Government Department made a mistake, and paid compensation.

Dawn, what are you asking the Federal Government to do?

My needs, which I would like the Government to address are:

* Bankruptcy REMOVED from ALL MY RECORDS in the public & private arenas

* Commonwealth Government to deal with SA government, ABC & Channel 10 to get rid of ANY further action they might take

* FULL payment of my ACTUAL legal costs from the beginning of this disgusting saga. NOT what the COURT allows, which is 60% of 75% of nothing etc, etc. i.e. NOT the court / legal formulas for "taxation of costs", but the truth of the financial cost to me.

* Full payment of all my personal losses: income over 20 years, interest on line of credit ($40,000), superannuation, potential investment losses which would have been made for responsible quality of retirement life. I'll add more to this later...

* DECENT & HUMANE compensation for personal injury & suffering, making an HONEST assessment of what they would expect if this had been PERPETRATED on them.

* RECALL OF ALL COPIES OF "SHELTERS IN THE STORM" REPORT, by state & Federal Government, any records of this report in Government departments to be annotated with Justice Debelle's findings on the malicious lies deliberately included in it by Cornwall, Roberts, Whighton & Blake. Also annotated with a full apology to me for the brutal treatment meted out to me by State & Federal Governments for 21 years. (extracts of Debelle's judgement to be identified by me)

* Appointment to varies Government committees responsible for development of
appropriate services / responses to Family & Community Violence, including Child Abuse & Exploitation.

I regard the above list of actions necessary for me to be restored to some quality if life. However, it can NEVER compensate me for the torture imposed by evil doers in Government & their whores & the LOST years of my life.

I want to meet Jenny Macklin personally to explain the whole saga. Why won't she meet me? Getting a bureaucratic line won't necessarily represent the truth.

Dawn Rowan

13th March 2008.

Friends: You can email/write to Jenny Macklin. See here.

SAMPLE LETTER TO JENNY MACKLIN 7 March 2008

The Hon. Jennifer Macklin
Minister for Families, Housing,
Community services and Indigenous affairs
PO Box 316
Heidelberg 3084
27th February 2008

Re Dawn Rowan

I write to request your intervention on compassionate grounds in the case of Dawn Rowan of St Andrews. I consider Dawn's story to be one of the worst injustices I have heard of.

Dawn has been a kind and caring women’s advocate who while working unselfishly to support abused women and children was defamed in the course of her work. She heroically succeeded in clearing her good name only to find justice denied to her when costs were awarded against her including the costs of the guilty parties. I fail to understand in a democratic Australia how this can occur. Dawn always was and still is blameless.

Dawn is a counsellor and works from her home, a modest log cabin in St Andrews.
I have known Dawn for over 10 years during which time I participated in a support group she founded for a distressed family with a severely disabled child. My gratitude to Dawn for her help with my own family is immense and I would be happy to provide further information should you require, or attend your offices at any time to suit you.

There has been strong support for Dawn in our local community and I believe your Government has an opportunity to show common sense, compassion and right a terrible wrong.

I ask for your intervention to ensure her home which is also her livelihood will not be taken from her.

Yours Sincerely

Mary McDonald