The Guardian has published interviews with refugees who set out for Australia by boat only to find there was no welcome for them here. Rather, under a policy introduced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, they were packed off to Nauru, where their claim for refugee status was found to be valid and they...
Abbott and Turnbull: contrasting responses to children in detention, but both wrong
The response of the federal government to the children in detention report has shocked me. The report reveals the shocking abuse of children in detention, yet the Prime Minister’s response is to shoot the messenger. The complete lack of empathy on display was chilling. On Q and A last night...
We are a nation that abuses children. The ugly truth exposed
This week our Prime Minister promised that good governance would begin again. Perhaps he could start by releasing children from detention on Nauru. Also released this week was the report of the Human Rights Commission inquiry into children held in detention. It is sobering and disturbing reading...
Don’t be fooled. Children will remain in detention.
In the wake of the agreement between the crossbench Senators and the government, many are under the impression that no children will be held in immigration detention into the future. This is a misunderstanding of what was agreed. Children are currently held in immigration detention centres on the...
What the changes to the migration act mean
This week the Senate passed the “Migration And Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving The Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014”. The bill results in sweeping changes to Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers. Reintroduction of Temporary Protection Visas When asylum seekers...
Australia. How we bludge off the rest of the world
I opened the Australian newspaper today to read a vigorous defence of the government’s policy of turning back boats filled with asylum seekers. Australia has not only succeeded in stemming the flow of people coming by boat to Australia, we have apparently also reduced the flow of refugees...
Sometimes we don’t get to decide who comes to this country
This week Scott Morrison invoked John Howard’s famous dictum “We will decide who comes to this country and the manner in which they come.” We should decide whether to turn back boats filled with asylum seekers and we should decide who gets a visa granting them the right to enter...
The death of the wisdom of our youth
When I was growing up there were two pieces of wisdom frequently imparted to me: “the ends don’t justify the means” and “think about how you would feel if that were done to you”. These two pieces of ethical guidance were designed to help me act with clarity and...