Correspondent's Notebook

Inside the Canberra press gallery

5 September 2008

The Canberra press gallery is quite unique.

Located in the national parliament, journalists from the different news organisations rub shoulders in a highly competitive environment.

This is all done while observing the decision-makers and the different interest groups who are trying to influence the politicians.

This report from Michael Cavanagh in the Canberra Press Gallery.

As a Radio Australia correspondent I operate in a bureau housing my Australia Television Network counterpart as well as Australian Broadcasting Corporation colleagues who are reporting for the domestic audience.

All of this as the demands of Radio, Television and the Internet create an atmosphere of always having to look to the next story – how to cover it in an impartial credible manner while keeping an eye on the unforgiving deadline.

However every now and then, a story comes along that makes you reflect on more than just reporting the yarn.

Such as this week which involved what has to be a parent’s worst nightmare, the abduction of your child.

The Australian Labor Government has acted over allegations that some children adopted by Australians from India may have been kidnapped.

It’s claimed they were then sold and then made available to Australian families via supposedly credible Indian adoption agencies.

This one surfaced several weeks ago and with parliament resuming after the long winter recess the Government has acted.

It’s decided to freeze contact with Indian agencies where there are credible doubts about its operation.

Australia’s Attorney-general Robert McClelland has contacted India’s Minister for State over the concerns.

Now usually in these cases you report the story and await the outcome.

But this time it coincided with a woman having written about her experience of finding out that the two children she’d adopted from India had in fact been sold.

What makes it worse is that her investigations found that the brother and sister, had been sold for just 40 US dollars by their natural father unbeknownst to their birth mother.

Julia Rollings learnt in 2006 her two adopted Indian children eight years earlier had been trafficked.

She had mounted a private investigation subsequent to learning that the adoption agency that she had trusted had been implicated in the kidnapping of other children who were then adopted by overseas families.

As a journalist when the attorney-general made the announcement in parliament, my immediate reaction was to cover the story.

It had all the elements – kidnapping, children, politicians, and corruption.

I then recalled reading a review of Julia Rolling’s book and so I proceeded to track her down – given the recent publicity it did not take great investigative journalism on my part.

Ms Rollings who has two natural children as well as six adopted from various countries spoke about her experience in a clear but passionate manner.

She described how she tracked down the children’s birth mother and then with other family members set off to India to meet her.

Her two children were reunited with their natural mother who is happily remarried after divorcing the man who sold their children.

Julia Rollings proceeded to fund the education of the couple’s children and  some health care.

Ms Rollings feels a moral responsibility to the woman who concluded that her two children were more at home in Australia with their adoptive parents.

Living in Australia it is hard to fathom what would drive someone to sell their offspring.

This is despite my having lived and worked overseas reporting in areas where poverty is much worse than anything here in Australia.

You cannot help but think of the other Australian families who look at their adopted children and live in fear of what the present investigation may throw up over just how their loved one’s came to be available for adoption.

It’s a lot easier reporting on the power plays of national politics and national issues but a story like this makes you realise as a reporter you are privy to a whole range of people and events.