Steering Committee, Working Group

The committee meets regularly in the southern metropolitan area of Perth, in South Fremantle. Public meetings solely for Association members take place more infrequently, but in addition to its members' meetings or public meetings, Project SafeCom also organises public events regularly. Please check the Events page for details.

Committee members 2007-08

Below are some of Steering Committee members who were elected or confirmed at the 2007 AGM for the 2007-08 term, or those who were appointed to fill casual vacancies thereafter.

Jeff Strahan (Chair)

Jeff Strahan is a town planner working in private practice in Perth. Jeff lives in Fremantle and has two children Hayley (17) and Harry (6).

Project SafeCom provides Jeff the opportunity to channel his strong interest in human rights in an active and participatory way.

Protection of people's rights with dignity, particularly those who find themselves disenfranchised by environmental, cultural and/or political circumstances, is an area Jeff hopes to focus on intensely over the next few years. Jeff is enrolled in Social Justice Studies at Notre Dame University.

Jeff is passionate about the world and its peoples and travelling has provided him with the opportunity to experience other cultures, understand different ways of life and embrace an understanding of how circumstance shapes the destiny of people and societies, often beyond the individual's control.

In January 2007, Jeff travelled with his daughter Hayley for a month through Cambodia and Thailand, visiting Angkor Wat and the 'Killing Fields' of Phnom Penh, the south Cambodian/Thailand coast, Bangkok, the Thai-Burma railroad and time amongst Karen villages on the northern Thai/Myanmar border.

From May through July 2007, Jeff backpacked through Pakistan and Afghanistan, spending the majority of time in the Himalaya/Karakoram/Hindu Kush mountain ranges. Highlights of the trip included a two week trek around Nanga Parbat (8100m) and ascent of the main pass, the Hunza Valley in the Karakoram Mountains (fabled as the setting for James Hilton's 'Shangri La'), the Kalasha villages on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, Peshawar and the Khyber Pass.

Jeff has also travelled extensively throughout India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. A return to Pakistan is due in April 2008, with future trips to Cuba and Patagonia high on the agenda.

Jeff was appointed as the Project SafeCom Chair to fill a casual vacancy in January 2008.

Sally Wearne (Secretary)

Sally Wearne is a Registered Nurse (BScN) and a Midwife, and she has been working in Fremantle Hospital's Cardiology department for the last ten years. In 'times past' she has lived in the UK, Canada and Jamaica over a 15-year period. She is a Council and Executive member of the Australian Nurses Federation (WA Branch).

Sally lives in Fremantle with husband Paul and her 21-year old son Nick and her dog. She has been involved in Fremantle-based community campaigns such as the Leighton Action Coalition, where she is a core group member, as well as the Save Ningaloo and the Coogee Coastal Action Coalition campaigns.

Sally loves books and the beach, family and friends, ballet, theatre, movies, wine, art, new places, music, the dog and interesting people who behave with passion and integrity.

Joanne Thurman (Treasurer)

I am currently doing my honours in Anthropology and English and working as a Research Assistant. I've lived in and around Fremantle since the age of three, I went to local primary and high schools, and I've worked, played, shopped, been entertained, fed and 'watered' in Fremantle for pretty much all of my life. And although I've travelled and lived and worked in other places, Fremantle has never ceased to be the place that, for me, is strongly associated with words like 'home', 'community' and 'belonging'.

Since my twenties, mainly through travel and study, my interest, understanding and awareness of political, social and cultural issues (global and local) has been developing, with a particular focus on migration and refugee experiences. Likewise, I have been developing a stronger sense of my own values and priorities. So far I have found expression for this as a supporter of environmental and social / human rights advocacy groups and through activities like protests, letters and petitions. More recently, my decision to join the Project SafeCom committee was informed by my aspiration to be more actively involved with the (global) network of people working towards environmental sustainability and social, cultural and political justice.

I am, at times, confounded by the complexities of the world's problems, and feeling frozen or immobilised by the hugeness of issues - difficult to grasp let alone solve. But I am also inspired by the many individuals, groups and organisations who find their voice and mobilise. To that end, I believe very strongly in the importance of education and a well-informed citizenry, in communication and dialogue, and I believe greatly in the strength and importance of community based, 'grass roots' activities to bring about sustainable change.

Jack H Smit (Executive Officer since 2001)

Ex-officio member of the Steering Committee

Before migrating to Australia in 1980 I worked in Europe as a Residential groupworker and facilitator in open institutions for child protection and disability care. In Australia I worked as a social worker, as a training and policy development consultant and as a teacher, also in remote areas with the Indigenous community. In the years leading up to Tampa and the formation of Project SafeCom - a process I initiated as its main founder - I taught community work and community development at TAFE colleges where I lectured skills in project management and tasked my students with the formulation of a cross-culturally sensitive hosting and open residential program for 'unannounced' refugees arriving in Australia by boat, and challenged them to respond to Australia's treatment of boatpeople under the Howard government.

I think the future in Australia needs to include a fiercely independent civic voice and response to human rights issues and social policies, and an approach to the way we assist also climate refugees in the context of an increasingly upset planet Earth that groans under the weight of how we've been treating our environment in the last century, and that's why I think Project SafeCom's environmental and sustainability mandate in the context of refugees and displaced people will grow and develop in relevancy in the next decade.

Victor Hoisington (member)

Victor Hoisington is a Singapore National who has lived in Australia since 1987 - since 1994 as a permanent resident. After a career at sea on merchant ships he now works in the WA Off-Shore Oil and Gas industry.

He is currently employed in marine operations off the coast of Western Australia on a floating oil and gas production facility.

Victor's interest in Project SafeCom and other similar organisations springs from the fact that in Singapore, where the political climate is oppressive, citizens' voices of dissent have virtually no chance of survival. He values the fact that there are voices in other civil societies like Australia that counter and challenge mainstream opinion.

Victor's involvement in civil society in Western Australia includes his support for Amnesty International Australia, where he values his indirect support for vulnerable people and in Amnesty's addressing of human rights abuses, his involvement as a member and volunteer for the Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation, and his role in the Union movement: he was recently appointed as the WA Branch president of the Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU).

Bruce Haigh (remote online member)

Bruce Haigh is a retired diplomat, who has also worked and lived in South Africa under Apartheid, where he was part of the resistance movement, and a close friend of Steve Biko. As a result of also this strong connection to Steve Biko, Bruce was amongst the cast of the movie Cry Freedom. He has also worked as a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal. He now lives and farms in Mudgee. He formed the Mudgee Rural Australians for Refugees group and has served on the national committee of Rural Australians for Refugees. He was in Perth, WA, as the Moderator of Project SafeCom's Symposium Forum "The Bill: Restorative Justice post Howard" on 28 September 2003. Around this time Bruce became part of Project SafeCom as an adviser to the steering committee, especially on political directions.

After his career as part of the Australian foreign desk in several countries, amongst them Indonesia and Pakistan, he returned to Australia and settled in Mudgee (NSW), where he grows "award-winning juices" from olives and grapes, while he remains a prolific commentator on Australia's international and domestic politics. Bruce has his website at www.brucehaigh.com.au. Below is a selection of his contributions to the human rights and open democratic debate as found on our website.

 :::UPDATED Febr 2008:::: 26 September 2007: Oskar Schindler and the people smuggler - Under Australia's interpretation of what constitutes a 'people smuggler', the young man who sold the donkey to Joseph and Mary would be prosecuted and imprisoned by law ... So would the priest who helped the Von Trapp family ... this page is about Ali Al Jenabi, one of those people smugglers.

24 January 2008: Howard Mandarins and Labor Ministers - while some advocates seem to ride a wave of euphoria that followed the November 2007 Federal election that saw John Howard assigned to the political scrap heap, Immigration Minister Chris Evans' trip to Indonesia has called forth some critical comments for more senior commentators amongst our ranks.

9 March 2006: The fall-out from the Cole Inquiry - former diplomat Bruce Haigh, who's from a family of farmers in WA's Western wheatbelt, ponders about the Cole Royal Commission into the Australian Wheat Board and it's mainly negative fall-out that will not help the farmers in Australia.

4 December 2004: Escape from Australia: WWII role models mix with civil disobedience - This week refugee activists in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane had their homes raided as several were charged with passport forgery offences, allegedly committed to assist asylum seekers with their escape from Australia to countries such as Canada and New Zealand...

31 August 2004: Dark Horses: Surprise candidates for the 2004 Federal Election - This page was created in order to list unexpected candidates for the 2004 Federal election, who may well become surprises, influencing the final outcome. Independent candidate for Gwydir, Bruce Haigh, is just one of those. Below is his press release announcing his candidature.

3 September 2003: Bruce Haigh: Target Your Enemy - This short article by retired diplomat Bruce Haigh puts the attention and focus back on to "Ruddock's puppet master": Australia's PM 'Honest John' - John Winston Howard, and it was written with the hope that many human rights advocates would take note.

7 December 2002: The Mudgee Muster: Rural Australians for Refugees, its Mudgee National Get-Together - 'We might have had the idea, but unless you'd turned up in your numbers and proved to be the energetic, dedicated, passionate people you are, Rural Australians for Refugees would still be just an idea.' The Events' Program, Report, and Presentations of various speakers at this event.

7 December 2002: The Mudgee Muster photos: RAR Supporters and Friends in Mudgee - Some casual shots, by Grace Gorman, of the Mudgee RAR get together: From politicians to refugees, they were all there!

Other Project SafeCom people

Some, but not all, past committee members are below. The list also includes volunteers with special duties.

Cedric Beidatsch

Chairperson 2006-07

Cedric Beidatch was the Chair during 2006 and 2007, and he retired from this position at the AGM in October 2007. In addition to Project SafeCom, Cedric belongs to the Greens Party, the Gaia Foundation, the National Tertiary Education Union and he is a faculty representative on the committee of the UWA Post Graduate Students Association. Earlier Cedric was involved in organizing the April 2005 Perth Social Forum.

Cedric joined Project SafeCom because he was very worried about the backwards developments in human rights and civil liberties in Australia and in the world. Cedric is South African born.

Lynn MacLaren

Chairperson 2004-05

The excerpt below includes adapted material from the WA Greens website.

After her resignation from the Project SafeCom committee, Lynn moved on to join the WA Council of Social Services policy officers team in 2005. She is standing for Greens preselection for the Senate ticket at the 2007 Federal elections.

Previously a small business owner/operator, Lynn has worked with many organisations, including the Environmental Defender's Office and the Community Housing Coalition. She is an instrumental supporter of many community campaigns focusing on Saving Leighton Beach, stopping the Fremantle Eastern Bypass, giving communities a right to appeal planning decisions, and ensuring the safe cleanup of contaminated sites. She also led local campaigners to put live animal exports on the public agenda.

As an Electorate Officer for 7 years working with Jim Scott, MLC for the Greens in Western Australia, Lynn has a keen sense of issues throughout South Metro. In addition, Lynn has worked with Giz Watson, MLC, expanding her knowledge across a range of portfolios from planning and transport to health and multiculturalism.

Lynn uses her skills and experience as a campaigner and Electorate Officer to train others in accessing and lobbying Parliament. She is a champion of those whose voices are ignored by mainstream politics, with ongoing efforts to promote community consultation and involvement in decision-making.

Justine Brosnan

Secretary 2004-05, member 2005-06, Products manager 2006-07

I was appalled with the Government's behaviour towards refugees and became actively involved primarily through letter writing to those detained in Port Hedland. I also, for the first time, wrote letters to politicians of all parties. I became involved with Project SafeCom in 2003 when I attended Project SafeCom's Symposium -The Cost, The Carnage and The Bill. Shortly after, I became a member.

In 2005, I became a member of Project SafeCom's steering committee and also became its Secretary. Unfortunately I have resigned from the secretary position for 2006 due to work and home commitments but I hope to stay on as a committee member as I feel I can contribute positively to the organisation. With the Howard Government winning a fourth term, it is imperative that Project SafeCom continues its hard work of getting the truth out to the Australian people. I am currently studying a Dip Ed to add to my degree in Japanese studies and I work part time at one of Perth's Universities.

2006 Volunteer Of The Year

Justine Brosnan was also the Winner of our 2006 Volunteer Of The Year Award. During that year she held our Volunteer Tropy (click to open).

Members' meetings

Members' Meetings are irregular but periodically, including the Annual General meeting. All members are notified by email or by postal mail.

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