On the grounds of Weston Park where the hill slopes down towards Lake Burley Griffin, 353 painted poles dot the ground in what appears to be a random structure, but turns out to be anything but. Each one represents a life lost in the sinking of a boat crammed full of refugees that has come to be known as SIEV X. At the height of the Federal Election Campaign in October 2001, the dawn rose on what one survivor referred to as looking 'like birds on the water'.
The acronym SIEV stands for Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel. It was the tenth unknown vessel the navy had intercepted (hence the X), packed with refugees from Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Many of the passengers were women with children who had been travelling for years and to try and find a safe place to live; some attempting to join their husbands who had already gone ahead to Australia, only to be caught in the changing political tide and locked in detention or a newly devised Temporary Visa system which took away their rights to re-unite. Left without support, these mothers and young children were easy prey for people smuggling operators.
Armed Indonesian military supervised the boarding of the boat and a patrol boat escorted it from the port of Lampong. Crowded onto a fishing boat only 19.5 metres long, packed so tightly that teenagers had to climb on the roof and mothers hold children on their laps, the passengers were terrified even before they left port. The design of the poles is laid out to represent a procession of boats and the tiny size of the vessel itself.
There were forty survivors, but 353 souls were lost, either in the original sinking or in the 20 hours spent in the water waiting for fishing boats to come to their rescue. Each pole remembers one person who died; the smaller poles for children and the larger poles for adults. They were created by over 300 schools, churches and community groups, across Australia.
Images include rural, city and desert landscapes, native flora and fauna, and heartfelt poetry. Some of the names are known, but many aren't, and the effect of reading 'Unknown boy', 'Unknown baby', 'Unknown mother' on a plaque on the pole is incredibly poignant.
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| Ahmed Diya Al Saadi (Aged 6 months) - Ali, Ghazi, Mohammad, Vanessa and Sue, Perth, WA |
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| Naima Jawad, aged 31, by the students of Bateman's Bay HS, Bateman, NSW |
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| Rem Haidar, aged 4, by The Students of St Patrick's College, Prospect, TAS |
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| Ahmed Al Alawy by Port Melbourne Uniting Church |
This is a memorial and the thousand or so Australians who created it, many of them children, are paying their respects to those who lost their lives while seeking anew life. It is also, despite denials, a political statement. On the calm sunny shores of the capital's lake it begs to question how this tragedy happened and to attempt to ensure that it does not do so again. It is calm and peaceful, but it is a protest, and one which it is hard to ignore. An information panel alludes to these sentiments.
"You may feel the sadness of such an end for these families, and the grief of those fathers and husbands detained here in Australia, unable to help or protect them. But please also feel the hope and promise that young Australians cared so much to create this beautiful memorial."
The intention of the SIEVX Memorial is to affirm that these lives are sacred; we will not forget them. It is beautiful, haunting and very powerful. It suggests that Australia is not a country defined by fear and greed.
"Love is stronger than fear. Kindness is stronger than greed."
