Federal Immigration Minister Scott Morrison is guilty of child abuse and should be reported to the Department of Child Protection, says the Australian Medical Association (AMA) of the Northern Territory. The legality of making such a report is being investigated by the AMA, “not as a political stunt but as an important medical intervention”, said AMA NT’s president...
What’s a parent to do? A murderous tyrant sits upon the throne and ruthlessly crushes all opposition. Drunk with power, he even assassinates three of his children whom he fears will try to usurp him. The message is clear: no-one is safe. The tryant maintains a network of informers, which means a loose word can see a person disappeared. People in this country have consequently learned the art of...
The infographic says it all.
When it comes to sport I am an unabashed nationalist. There is something delicious about beating the English in cricket, the All Blacks at rugby and the US at anything- not that we’ve been doing much of that lately. But there lies the problem with nationalism. While it may be relatively harmless when applied to sport it is not so benign in other ways. Nationalism is part of identity. Who am...
Finally a politician has admitted it-asylum seeker policies are quite intentionally cruel. Malcolm Turnbull was quoted in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald as saying Our policy is a harsh one, it really is. All of the policies to deal with asylum seekers and people smuggling are harsh, cruel in fact. But the problem is the status quo is cruel. It is analogous to what people say about the...
The map above shows signatories to the Refugee Convention/Protocol. Countries in gray are not signatories. So if you were fleeing persecution from Sri Lanka, the tiny island off the coast of India where would you flee? You’ve basically got three nearby options if you want to go somewhere who’ll accept you – Cambodia, Yemen and Australia. Mmmm, bit of a no-brainer…oh sorry...
The problem with the current debate on refugees and the Government’s policy that no boat arrival will be settled in Australia is that it sees the problem as how to prevent people making the trip to Australia by boat. As I listen to the rhetoric it seems that boat arrivals are considered problematic on four counts: 1) safety – some of the boats sink and their passengers drown; 2)...
As we move toward a Federal election I will post comparisons of some key policy areas held by Labor, the Coalition and the Greens. In this post I look at refugee policy. The world faces a global refugee crisis. Over 15 million people have been forced to flee their country due to a well-founded fear of persecution. That is, if they return to their home country they will face unfair imprisonment...
How would you expect Australia to treat someone who has fled from a dictatorial, violent regime? They have seen loved ones murdered and realised that their only hope is to leave their place of birth, their home, the place all their hopes and dreams have centred on, their family, their friends. Leaving their community and all their earthly belongings behind, they make the arduous and dangerous...
Here’s the chart that might change your mind about refugees and our national refugee policy. Despite all the huffing and puffing from our pollies there is no emergency, no crisis in which we are being overrun by refugees. The simple fact is that we have long welcomed refugees at levels similar to those at present, and have indeed often welcomed more into our communities. What’s...