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Retired diplomat Bruce Haigh at the microphone at the Mudgee Conference of Rural Australians for Refugees
Retired Diplomat Bruce Haigh, speaking at the 'Mudgee Muster', the Rural Australians for Refugees' first Annual Conference. For details click here.

Dark Horses: unexpected Candidates

Surprise candidates for the 2004 Federal Election

"As leader of the National Party, John Anderson has thrown his lot and that of the party into the Liberal Party kraal.

"This total identification with the Liberal Party includes the US/Australian Free Trade Agreement, which offers nothing to rural Australia, the sell out on Telstra, the sell out of Medicare, te sell out on education to private schools and expensive university courses, the sell out on aboriginals, the sell out on children and women in immigration detention and the sell out on truth in government."

"Loyalty is one thing, craven subservience is another.

"John Anderson, who declared that he wanted to leave politics, was forced to stay by the Prime Minister.v

"The challenge for John Anderson is to explain what he has achieved for the electorate of Gwydir over the past three years."

"Railways have remained closed and roads continue to deteriorate - and this from a representative who is nominally the Minister for Transport."

About this page

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. Because Bruce is a close associate of Project SafeCom, links to other pages on this website with writings by Mr Haigh have been included on this page.

Also with Bruce Haigh:

 :::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.

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...

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.

Click to visit the pages of our 2003 Symposium
The Cost, the Carnage and the Bill - a weekend symposium on asylum seeker policies, issues and implications at University of Western Australia with Julian Burnside QC, Dr Carmen Lawrence, Hassan Ghulam, Dr Louise Newman, Senator Andrew Bartlett, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle and lawyer Elizabeth Lacey. Moderated by former diplomat Bruce Haigh. Here's the link to the page.

Related Media Releases:

Bruce Haigh opposes John Anderson in Gwydir

MEDIA RELEASE
31 August 2004
Bruce Haigh
Independent in Gwydir

Bruce Haigh of Mudgee will stand as an independent in the electorate of Gwydir at the forthcoming election scheduled for 9 October.

Formerly a diplomat, Bruce Haigh served in senior positions in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka over a twenty-four year career. Bruce was featured as the Australian hero in the film "Cry Freedom" which dealt with events relating to the Black South Africa of Biko's friend Donald Woods and the role that Bruce played in that escape as a diplomat in South Africa.

Over the length of his career, Bruce dealt with the issue of refugees in South Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka. Bruce also worked on the Refugee Review Tribunal from 1995-2000.

On the basis of his experience Bruce is very aware of how badly formulated and executed the government's policy relating to refugees has been.

Bruce is from a farming background and has been farming in Mudgee since 1997. He grows grapes and olives and produces award-winning olive oil.

Bruce was conscripted for National Service in 1965 and served in the Royal Australian Armored Corps in 1966-67. Bruce is an honours graduate in politics and history from the University of Western Australia. Amongst other undertakings Bruce was a jackaroo in the Kimberleys of WA and worked on an oil rig out of Broome and drove taxis in Port Hedland. He is married with five children.

Bruce stood fo election in Gwydir in 2001 and along with many others was gazumped by the lies peddled by John Howard and John Anderson over Tampa and Children Overboard.

The major issues in the electorate of Gwydor are health, education, infrastructure, water management, drought and the credibility of the incumbent member, John Anderson.

As leader of the National Party, John Anderson has thrown his lot and that of the party into the Liberal Party kraal. This total identification with the Liberal Party includes the US/Australian Free Trade Agreement, which offers nothing to rural Australia, the sell out on Telstra, the sell out of Medicare, te sell out on education to private schools and expensive university courses, the sell out on aboriginals, the sell out on children and women in immigration detention and the sell out on truth in government.

Loyalty is one thing, craven subservience is another. John Anderson, who declared that he wanted to leave politics, was forced to stay by the Prime Minister. The challenge for John Anderson is to explain what he has achieved for the electorate of Gwydir over the past three years.

Railways have remained closed and roads continue to deteriorate - and this from a representative who is nominally the Minister for Transport.

Ineffective is a term which springs to mind, and this is not a quality which rural Australians need from a representative. Gwydir and other rural electorates need strong and committed members. They need fighters with energy and vision. John Anderson and the National Party have failed rural Australia. He has failed to show leadership and failed to move with the times.

Why for instance hasn't John Anderson proposed a National Water Authority that would undertake a study of past, current and projected usage, storage and movement of water, the effects of climate change and the efficiences that might be applied? This information is vital to the national debate and policy making on water.

As we used to say in the Army, John Anderson can't cut the mustard. It's time for a change in Gwydir. For that reason I offer myself as a candidate to those who sensibly feel they can't vote for the National or Labor Party.

Bruce Haigh
Phone/fax (02) 6373-3307
Phone (02) 6373-3455
mobile 0417 037 988
guneemoo(at)winsoft.net.au