Julian Burnside is a good and decent person a lawyer who helps the Stateless refugees
The people who are in Australian Detention Centres the boat people from war zones overseas
Their only crime to look for a better life in any case this should not be a crime
Many of them back to where they came from deported after a few years of hard detention time
But Julian Burnside the one who defends them he pleads their case in the Immigration Court
One might say he is the voice of the voiceless to the dispossessed a marvellous support
He speaks on their behalf to the media one can say his heart's in the right place
The champion lawyer of the downtrodden such worthy causes he chooses to embrace
He speaks for and represents the Stateless a man who is well worthy of his fame
For his work on behalf of refugees his has become an Aussie household name
He takes on the might of the Australian Government on his quest of a fair go for all
In centuries from now the name of Julian Burnside is a name that historians will recall
As one who did his own bit for humanity people like him have always been so rare
On behalf of the dispossessed one can say of him he has done more than one person's share.

Francis Duggan

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/julian-burnside/