A group of three MDC officials,
currently touring major Australian metropolitan capital cities ahead of the
October 6 - 9 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Brisbane say they
have been overwhelmed by the breadth of public interest in developments in
Zimbabwe, half a world away.
On Tuesday and Wednesday this week in
Melbourne - Australia's second-largest city - the team of Nelson Chamisa, MDC
secretary for youth affairs, Sekai Holland, secretary for international
relations, and Roy Bennett, MDC Member of Parliament for Chimanimani met with
leaders of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, student unions, women's
forums, business groups and the electronic and print media. They were also
invited to a private function at the state parliament of Victoria where they
were earlier officially welcomed to the Legislatative Assembly by the speaker
of the house on behalf of members of parliament on both sides of
politics.
Bennett, who was singled out by the speaker as a fellow
parliamentarian of the assembled MPs, said he was humbled by the reception he
and his MDC colleagues had received in the chamber from the Victorian MPs,
and later when they met at the private function. "The State Parliament of
Victoria is one of the oldest democratic institutions in the world,
representing as it does the values of democracy and good governance that we
Zimbabweans are striving so dearly to achieve," said Bennett. "It came as a
pleasant surprise that members of both major political parties were so
informed about the grave crisis in Zimbabwe. They expressed their concerns
at developments and wished us well in our fight for
democracy."
Earlier, the group presented an outline of the MDC's economic
policy to a large group of senior business executives, many of whom with a
decade or more of business dealings with Zimbabwe, across a wide range of
trades and industries. "Without exception", said one council executive who
requested anonimity, and is involved in the travel industry, "we have seen
the value of our investments in Zimbabwe over many years dwindle to almost
nothing and we fervently hope that the restoration of democracy in that
country will swiftly bring about a resumption in trade and investment for the
good of all concerned - not least the ordinary men and women - especially in
the rural communities - where my company has been trying to maintain
overseas interest in the awesome natural resources and tourism
potential."
On Tuesday, MDC secretary for youth affairs Nelson Chamisa
addressed an audience of more than 600 Melbourne University students on the
general situation in Zimbabwe and the aims of the MDC. Chamisa said that he
was overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety of questions from
the undergraduates. "I was prepared for some interest in Zimbabwe but
these young Australians were much more informed than I had been told to
expect."
Chamisa went on to add "One of the first matters I was asked to
explain was the presence of whites in the party as some had believed ZANU
PFs propaganda line that whites were organising us. When they heard our side
of the story that white people are such a tiny part of our population and
that it is the Zimbabwe masses who are driving change, they were clear on
this matter."
Sekai Holland, MDC secretary for international affairs,
married to Harare-based Australian Jim Holland, is well-known in Australia
where she attended university, for her work with the anti-apartheid movement
in the 70s and 80s. She and Bennett took to the airwaves yesterday and
Tuesday, conducting eight joint radio interviews on public and commercial
radio stations with a total estimated listenership of almost 1,4
million. Holland said that the interest from the Melbourne media and radio
talkback callers eager to hear about Zimbabwe's plight had been quite moving.
"The Australian government and people were at the forefront of the fight to
help liberate Zimbabwe in the 70s and I was very proud of my friends here
that they have again expressed their solidarity with Zimbabweans in our hour
of need." We have taken very strong encouragement from this, the first leg
of our Australian visit, and we are looking forward to speaking to the
media and ordinary Australians on our next two stops." She continued "We
were able to draw the stark similarities between the genocide of Gukurahundi
in the 80s with the recent unbelievable atrocities in New York and
Washington. Terror is terror, wherever, and by whomsoever it is committed "
she added. Many listeners agreed with the comparison when the lines were
later opened for callers. Some expressed surprise that the MDC did not agree
with sanctions against Zoimbabwe. As Holland explained "We are totally
against sanctions as they will hurt the masses - not ZANU PF. Instead,
the president himself, and his close confidants, must bear the full brunt
of the devastation they are inflicting on our people." In this
Holland referred to the MDC's position on the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill, which
is shortly to be tabled for final conclusion by American lawmakers.
A
common theme brought up most interviewers was the matter of the Abuja accord
which, as has been reported in Australia and elsewhere is meant to bring farm
invasions to a halt. Bennett shocked many listeners with his harrowing
personal accounts of confrontations on his property in Chimanimani, and the
fact that as he spoke, his carefully-nutured coffee lands were being ploughed
using DDF tractors while an army unit camped on the property looked on.
"This clearly highlights the lie of the so-called Abuja accord", said
Bennett. "Mugabe seeks to buy time with the accord, but no-one can now deny
the evidence" he said. "I intend providing the media in Australia with
irrefutable photographic evidence of the uninterrupted and ongoing invasion
of commercial farms in Zimbabwe and the world will know the truth." One
talkback caller said, like Bennett, he was a fourth generation "settler' in a
farming community and he felt ashamed that his (Australian) government, and
the world at large had allowed Mugabe to "literally get away with murder for
so long".
On Wednesday morning, Bennett was asked by Ross Stevenson,
co-host of the "Breakfast Show" on 3AW, Melbourne's highest-rating radio
station, what he would say to President Mugabe if he saw him in Brisbane or,
if indeed, Bennett might feel the desire to make a statement of a more
physical nature. Bennett chuckled, but then became serious. "We're past
that... if you get physical and violent you are just endorsing his sort of
regime."
The MDC roadshow next travels to Sydney, Australia's largest
city with six million inhabitants, where Chamisa, Bennett and Holland will
also brief recently-arrived MDC president Morgan Tsvangarai, and then to
Brisbane for a further round of formal and informal meetings in the lead-up
to the CHOGM conference.
Even if CHOGM is cancelled, and President
Mugabe's imminent visit evaporates, they believe they will have more than
succeeded in their task of informing the Australian public about current
events in Zimbabwe.
Photo caption MDC delegates to Australia
pictured Tuesday 25 September outside Victoria State Parliament, Melbourne.
L-R Roy Bennett, MP. Nelson Chamisa, Sekai Holland.
