Recycled Asylum Policy
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard outlined a recalibrated recycled asylum seeker policy today as she looked to appease nervous backbenchers and reclaim voters in marginal seats.
Among the changes to Labor’s asylum seeker policy was a long-term approach to “take on unauthorised arrivals” by “wrecking the people smuggling trade” and “removing the incentive to leave their port of origin in the first place,” Ms Gillard said.
That was last years plan as reported in October 2009
AUSTRALIA will send police and hi-tech gear into several Asian hot-spots in a frantic bid to stem the flow of asylum seekers. Taxpayers are also likely to stump up millions of dollars in extra assistance for border protection as the Rudd Government tries to deal with the growing political storm. With secret intelligence warning of a continuing surge in illegal arrivals, Australian Federal Police commissioner Tony Negus held emergency talks with his Sri Lankan and Indonesian counterparts this week.Having canned the Abbott’s “Pacific Solution” she has come up with a “Timor Solution” Geographical semantics at its best.
Ms Gillard rejected the Coalition’s promise to return to the Pacific solution of the Howard years, in which asylum seeker boats were taken to small Pacific nations such as Nauru to be processed. Instead, she announced something which sounds pretty similar, saying talks were underway to establish a processing centre in East Timor to assess claims there. She had spoken to New Zealand and UN refugee agency on the idea.Ms Gillard also ended the three-month freeze on processing of Sri Lankan asylum seekers (who aren’t at risk). and send back Afghans (who are) She took an hour to say the ALP are taking the Coalition’s Pacific Solution and morphing it into the Timor Solution and that they are going to get tough on the source of origin of boat people which they supposedly did last year. Just like she changed Tony Burke’s title from Minister for Population to the Minister for Sustainable Population to stop people panicking about overpopulation she now changes the Asylum Policy name from Pacific Solution to Timor Solution. There, that should fix it. I doubt it.
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“There – that should fix it”.
What’s to fix? This is a non-issue, and both Gillard and Abbott know it and are pandering to fear and ignorance with an eye on the polls. Quite simply – Populism 101.
As Julian Burnside said, It would take 25 years to fill the MCG with asylum seekers at the rate at which they’re currently arriving.
About the only thing that Gillard (or Abbott) said about this issue that makes sense is “We’re bigger than this”.
Once again, fear and ignorance triumph over common sense and reason. These gutless jackboot policies betray the principles and values that our soldiers are fighting and dying for in Afghanistan.
Of course you don’t need to fill the MCG with queue jumpers to get a bunch of criminals or terrorists into the country the easy way, do you?
Still, Julian makes rather a lot of money off the issue so at least his reason for supporting it isn’t sheer stupidity.
I don’t think it’s fear and ignorance rather there is an orderly way to run a society and letting people come and go as they like is not the way.
The fact that there are not many boaties when compared with our refugee intake of 13,000 plus has no bearing on the issue and both Burnside and Gillard are being ingenious to go on about “there are only a few of them”.
If there is one of them the system needs fixing.
It only takes one of them to blow up the MCG or has 1735099 forgotten the terrorist threat in Melbourne 2 year ago..?????
BTW, have any of you noticed the Halal sign on a lot of our food products lately..
Haven’t you heard? It’s important that we pander to minority groups roly…Don’t ask me why, that’s just what I heard some leftist say!
God I hope that people see through this rubbish and don’t vote this farce of a Government back in…
Julian Burnside is a prize hypocrite
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/julian_burnside_is_a_prize_hypocrite#72508
Having the cake and wanting to cake and eat it too?