Dear All,
The ever revolting Andrew Bolt is out dog whistling in the Daily Smellograph today. He has a blog you may wish to contribute to. It would be good to get some balance on this blog, as it seems to be full of the refugee haters, which seems to be Andrew’s purpose. But if you can’t stand the stench of their arguments, don’t go there!
Jenny Haines
“Andrew Bolt where have you been? Or do you have a hearing problem? There are plenty of organisations and persons having a go at Rudd and his inner cabinet over their treatment of asylum seekers. Take for example Pamela Curr who was on Lateline two nights ago talking about asylum seekers in an Australian funded detention centre in Indonesia being tasered and threatened with death. And Ian Rintoul of Refugee Action Coalition criticising Rudd transfering boat people to desert detention centres yesterday. And Labor for Refugees criticising Rudd in a front page newspaper article only 2 weeks ago. And Labor for Refugees Victoria printing off a very telling criticism of the Government for the Victorian State ALP conference which was very well received by conference delegates. And Project Safe.Com beavering away in Western Australia on all aspects of the injustices of the refugee and asylum seeker system in this country. For someone who is supposed to be an on the ball journalist, how have you missed all this, and more? Mind you, your column seems to have worked in being a dog whistle call to all the asylum seeker haters to come out and bray against the Rudd Government.
Jenny Haines of Newtown (Reply)”
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/andrewbolt/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/column_why_no_tears_now_for_dead_asylum_seekers/desc/#commentsmore
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Monday, June 07, 2010
MOST PREFER PACIFIC SOLUTION
Red News Readers,
What sobering reading, that two thirds of those surveyed would be happy with a Coalition Government re-establishing the Pacific Solution, and it appears, the same percentage favour re-introducing temporary protection visas. As a capuccino drinking city voter (I hate lattes!) I can understand that these voters want orderly entry into Australia by everyone, and that fishing boats bringing refugees to our shores is seen as a disorderly way to arrive in this country. I wonder how many of these voters realise the casual cruelty that the Howard Government Pacific Solution inflicted on those detained, and on those who lived for years with the insecurity of temporary protection visas, not being allowed to work or have access to Australian health facilities, reliant on the kindness of charities and strangers.
It is sobering that so few people in this country take the time and effort to understand international law on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees and asylum seekers have the right by whatever means of transport to seek asylum in a second and third country. Natural justice and procedural fairness, which all citizens of Australia claim for themselves, also applies to refugees and asylum seekers who arrive, and have the right to due processing of their claims. The refugee and asylum seeker world is not an orderly queue. It is desperate and disorganised. You do what you can to survive. We are not being swamped with refugees and asylum seekers. We are not being threatened by terrorists coming in by fishing boat. No self respecting terrorist would arrive by boat, they would come by plane. How many Australians would say to the Jews and refugees who came to Australia before and after WW2, go home, you didn't arrive in this country in an orderly way?
Jenny Haines
Most prefer 'Pacific solution', poll finds
PHILLIP COOREY AND YUKO NARUSHIMA, SMH.
June 7, 2010
ALMOST two-thirds of voters support the Coalition's decision to reintroduce the Howard government's ''Pacific solution'' for dealing with asylum seekers who arrive by boat.
The latest Herald/Nielsen poll also finds the Coalition the preferred party overall to deal with asylum seekers which is looming as a central issue in this year's federal election.
The poll of 1400 voters, taken between Thursday and Saturday, came after the announcement by Tony Abbott that a Coalition government would once more detain asylum seekers indefinitely in locations such as Nauru.
The Coalition would also reintroduce the controversial temporary protection visas which Labor abolished on humanitarian grounds.
The poll found 62 per cent of voters supported ''the Howard government's policy of processing asylum seekers in countries outside Australia''. A minority of 33 per cent opposed the policy.
Asked which party had the best asylum-seeker policy, 35 per cent nominated the Coalition while support for Labor and the Greens was 19 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
''A majority of Australians are likely to support policies presented as tough and uncompromising and are less likely to support policies perceived as soft,'' said a Nielsen pollster, John Stirton.
So far this year 133 boats have arrived in Australian waters and Labor MPs reported to caucus last week the arrivals were becoming a dominant concern among voters.
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said he would not engage in a policy race to the bottom with Mr Abbott but promised to explain the facts more often to offset some of the myths and fears being perpetrated.
For example, Australia took about 13,000 refugees a year, whether they arrived by boat or air. If boat arrivals increased, the net intake would not, he said.
The Opposition claims the government has lost control of the borders. It said the arrival of four boats in two days over the weekend showed the three-month and six-month processing freeze the Rudd government placed on Sri Lankans and Afghans respectively had failed to deter asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers found on the most recent boats were intercepted north of Ashmore Island and Scott Reef. They are en route to Christmas Island where 2436 people are detained in facilities with space for 2500.
The government has budgeted for the arrival of 2000 asylum seekers by boat in the year to June 30 next year. This is a drop on the year before but costs will double as more people fight their deportation and spend longer in detention to do so.
The rates of rejection are increasing, with almost half of the 480 who arrived last year rejected as refugees by the Immigration Department in the past two months.
As the government postponed the transfer of about 30 families to the remote mining town of Leonora yesterday, it prepared the detention centre in Curtin to receive hundreds of asylum seekers affected by the April 9 suspension.
''The policy has been as ineffective as it is discriminatory,'' the opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, said. The first transfer of 90 people to Leonora, scheduled for yesterday, was cancelled.
Source: The Age
What sobering reading, that two thirds of those surveyed would be happy with a Coalition Government re-establishing the Pacific Solution, and it appears, the same percentage favour re-introducing temporary protection visas. As a capuccino drinking city voter (I hate lattes!) I can understand that these voters want orderly entry into Australia by everyone, and that fishing boats bringing refugees to our shores is seen as a disorderly way to arrive in this country. I wonder how many of these voters realise the casual cruelty that the Howard Government Pacific Solution inflicted on those detained, and on those who lived for years with the insecurity of temporary protection visas, not being allowed to work or have access to Australian health facilities, reliant on the kindness of charities and strangers.
It is sobering that so few people in this country take the time and effort to understand international law on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees and asylum seekers have the right by whatever means of transport to seek asylum in a second and third country. Natural justice and procedural fairness, which all citizens of Australia claim for themselves, also applies to refugees and asylum seekers who arrive, and have the right to due processing of their claims. The refugee and asylum seeker world is not an orderly queue. It is desperate and disorganised. You do what you can to survive. We are not being swamped with refugees and asylum seekers. We are not being threatened by terrorists coming in by fishing boat. No self respecting terrorist would arrive by boat, they would come by plane. How many Australians would say to the Jews and refugees who came to Australia before and after WW2, go home, you didn't arrive in this country in an orderly way?
Jenny Haines
Most prefer 'Pacific solution', poll finds
PHILLIP COOREY AND YUKO NARUSHIMA, SMH.
June 7, 2010
ALMOST two-thirds of voters support the Coalition's decision to reintroduce the Howard government's ''Pacific solution'' for dealing with asylum seekers who arrive by boat.
The latest Herald/Nielsen poll also finds the Coalition the preferred party overall to deal with asylum seekers which is looming as a central issue in this year's federal election.
The poll of 1400 voters, taken between Thursday and Saturday, came after the announcement by Tony Abbott that a Coalition government would once more detain asylum seekers indefinitely in locations such as Nauru.
The Coalition would also reintroduce the controversial temporary protection visas which Labor abolished on humanitarian grounds.
The poll found 62 per cent of voters supported ''the Howard government's policy of processing asylum seekers in countries outside Australia''. A minority of 33 per cent opposed the policy.
Asked which party had the best asylum-seeker policy, 35 per cent nominated the Coalition while support for Labor and the Greens was 19 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
''A majority of Australians are likely to support policies presented as tough and uncompromising and are less likely to support policies perceived as soft,'' said a Nielsen pollster, John Stirton.
So far this year 133 boats have arrived in Australian waters and Labor MPs reported to caucus last week the arrivals were becoming a dominant concern among voters.
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said he would not engage in a policy race to the bottom with Mr Abbott but promised to explain the facts more often to offset some of the myths and fears being perpetrated.
For example, Australia took about 13,000 refugees a year, whether they arrived by boat or air. If boat arrivals increased, the net intake would not, he said.
The Opposition claims the government has lost control of the borders. It said the arrival of four boats in two days over the weekend showed the three-month and six-month processing freeze the Rudd government placed on Sri Lankans and Afghans respectively had failed to deter asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers found on the most recent boats were intercepted north of Ashmore Island and Scott Reef. They are en route to Christmas Island where 2436 people are detained in facilities with space for 2500.
The government has budgeted for the arrival of 2000 asylum seekers by boat in the year to June 30 next year. This is a drop on the year before but costs will double as more people fight their deportation and spend longer in detention to do so.
The rates of rejection are increasing, with almost half of the 480 who arrived last year rejected as refugees by the Immigration Department in the past two months.
As the government postponed the transfer of about 30 families to the remote mining town of Leonora yesterday, it prepared the detention centre in Curtin to receive hundreds of asylum seekers affected by the April 9 suspension.
''The policy has been as ineffective as it is discriminatory,'' the opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, said. The first transfer of 90 people to Leonora, scheduled for yesterday, was cancelled.
Source: The Age
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