More than 250 people gathered at the Buddies’ Rally for Compassion' outside Mal Brough’s office on Thursday afternoon. The sun shone brightly on a colourful throng of people, banners, placards and balloons. John Brinnand welcomed the crowd and read the poem There are no words for this. He then introduced guest speaker, well-known refugee advocate Freddie Steen, who inspired listeners with her impassioned plea to end offshore processing and to return to a more humane approach towards asylum seekers.