2 years ago i sent this cheeky tweet… it "blew up" & some very good people encouraged me to start a crowdfunding campaign on @Chuffed.

a week or so later i'd raised $118,262 to project an image of a child (born into detention) on @SydOperaHouse.

one problem…

#kidsoffnauru https://twitter.com/simonahac/status/1048863282331705344

in keeping with its #WorldHeritage status, @SydOperaHouse's guidelines prohibit the projection of logos…

(it didn't stop the racehorse owner #AlanJones from using his bully pulpit to force @GladysB to override the rules for the #Everest horserace.)

the opera house rejected my request to project "george" onto to the sails.

i lobbied @GladysB, who took many weeks to punt me to then arts minister @Don_Harwin, who took weeks to respond before similarly rebuffing my request.

(i respected the decision… contrary to @ScottMorrisonMP's glib comments at the time, the @SydOperaHouse is *not* the sydney's "biggest billboard" — it should never have advertised a horse race!

donors were advised from the start that this was a likely outcome.)

i was stuck with $118k of other people's money, & more than a little anxiety.

thankfully, i met many extraordinary "ordinary" australians who dedicate their time to refugee issues

…and they gave me great advice for how to apply the funds in keeping with the original intent.

over the past 2 years that pot of money has funded more than a dozen strategic projects…

one of the last launched today, and, as part of that effort i wrote up my experience here: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/10/funded-by-extraordinary-ordinary-australians-the-people-who-supported-this-series

on #WorldHumanRightsDay please take a moment to check out this amazing project by @GuardianAus.

…a real credit to @lenoretaylor, @HannahD15, @NickEvershed, @pixelpioneer, michaelbgreen, #NellGeraets & @alexspring.

check out the "asylum seeker census":

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2020/dec/10/timeline-australia-offshore-immigration-detention-system-program-census-of-asylum-seekers-refugees

…and check out this "sankey diagram", providing a clear view for the first time of where the unfortunate asylum seekers came from and where they are now.

#LifeInLimbo

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/10/lives-in-limbo-more-than-1500-asylum-seekers-still-face-uncertain-future

and there are a tonne of the human stories behind the numbers on the #LifeInLimbo page… more coming soon.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/lives-in-limbo

many more projects were funded by the 1170 australians who donated to my #KidsOffNauru fundraiser — but those projects are for another tweet.

while this is one of the last projects enabled by those donations, our work is not done while #IndefiniteDetention continues.

#ashamed