Pondering the changes to the Asylum Seeker refugee policies. Is it a cruel and racist reaction to the flow of boats or is it a genuine humanitarian attempt to dissuade refugees from paying people smugglers and risking their lives at sea. There have been (we think) at least 1100 deaths at sea. The Greens reactions have been as predictable as that of Abbott. Neither are prepared to contribute to a solution in any meaningful way. Both seek political advantage only and seem indifferent to the drownings. Labor is, at least, I hope, trying to find a way to fulfil the demands of the convention on refugees and not tempting people to risk death at sea in the hope of resettlement. At the same time trying to provide safe haven to genuine refugees while weeding out those who are telling lies about their status to gain citizenship in a wealthy country. This is a problem in that each step meets intransigent political opposition. It has been simply impossible to have a rational national debate about this issue. It is time our representatives (and the rest of us-the voters) grew up and put our minds to finding a collective solution to what has been made into a problem by the childish political point scoring at the cost of real peoples lives.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 06:50:05 +0000
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