The support for a minute silence to be observed out of respect to Mr. Nguyen can be found in both church and state. Kevin Rudd the Labour foreign affair spokesman said he will stop wherever he is in Sydney to observe a minute silence if “Singapore proceeds with this appalling decision to execute Van by hanging.”
Bruce Baird from the Liberal party has called all Australians to observe a minute silence to “Express our compassion for this young Australian and our opposition to the imposition of this barbaric sentence.”
There are deep reservations about capital punishment held by some Australians. The Prime Minister John Howard was precise in expressing to his Singaporean counterpart Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong this sentiment saying “Australians' anger would linger if Nguyen was executed.”
Attorney General Philip Ruddock stated his lifelong opposition to capital punishment saying “I don't think in a civilised society it has any place. I would be very concerned at what I regard as barbaric behaviour."
The reservations are not only confined to politicians. President Dean Drayton from the Uniting Church in Australia supported a public statement opposing capital punishment and saying, “The Uniting Church has constantly supported the move worldwide to abolish the death sentence. The issue is the value of human life, even when the person has done wrong."
Archbishop Francis Carroll from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference supports the one minute silence and further added: “"The community has had an extraordinary interest in this and it is not a bad idea. We are opposed to the death penalty in general. We simply don't think it is an appropriate response to crimes."
As the execution day is slowly approaching many options is being pushed by supporters of Nguyen to try to avert it. Professor Rothwell called on our government to ask Singapore to refer the case to the International Court, while Mr. Beazley has requested to the Prime Minister for a bipartisan delegation consisting of both Mr. Downer and Mr. Rudd to make a final appeal to Prime Minister Lee.