Liberal party members (or any one for that matter) constantly defend the current asylum seeker offshore processing policy on the grounds that a) its Labors fault that people are living in such horrid conditions and b) their previous policy saved lives by stopping the boats and the deaths at sea that come along with such a perilous journey. The major problem that I see with this argument is the fact that lives arent being saved by stopping the boats - these people are just dying / being tortured in other parts of the world that arent in our jurisdiction. Simple as that. And the only party with a holistic policy that takes in to account this fact is the The Australian Greens whos policies reflect the advice of human rights policy experts that argue the only humane way to tackle this issue is to raise the refugee intake amount in order to stop the boats and focus on regional processing - ie putting processing centres in regional areas where they can create jobs for the local economy and entice new Australians into the country life where labour could be put to good use. Either way, the debate is stifled by such simplistic sloganeering in the face of such a complex humanitarian issue and the secrecy surrounding the handling of the current situation on Manus island (and Nauru for that matter) exemplifies this governments poor understanding of what Australians want from their leaders.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Feb 2014 13:48:48 +0000
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