Boats for Votes -Time to Sink or Swim

Well it seems to have been a week of deposed leaders, despised past Opposition Leaders, former Prime Ministers, ex Prime Ministers who were so on the nose they lost their own seat and any fossil that could get their words on air. Today was the launch of the Liberal campaign and was a razzmatazz it all was. Tony was pretty fiery but Julie Bishop shone with her spiteful humour, sarcasm and vindictiveness shining through.


By the way do you realise that once a party has its ‘launch’ their campaign ceases to be publicly funded IE the officials, the campaign staff etc cease being paid for by us and become the party’s responsibility. So Labour not having its launch until just a few days before the election is one of the most cynical and money grubbing exercises in the election. Let’s hope someone will stand up after this election and get that changed so that from the day the election is called the funding stops apart from security and official aircraft/cars etc.

Something that sets my teeth on edge and upsets me as a humanitarian is the whole ‘boat people’ nastiness. In my opinion both Labour and Libs are vile in their approaches and so far removed from the real situation it’s obvious they are only interested into playing to the gallery, particularly the ignorant and the middle class Anglo voters (don’t tell me that if the people were English or white they wouldn’t be told ‘come in, we’ll look after you’).

Tony says he will stop the boats BUT he wants to re-open the detention centre in Nauru…but if the boats are stopped presumably we don’t need a detention centre. He will strengthen sentences for so called people smugglers (presumably they will be extradited from wherever) particularly going for a 10 year sentence for ‘repeat offenders’…but if the boats are stopped how would they repeat their offence? You will either stop the boats or stop SOME of the boats. Maybe he really means, look we’ll try to stop the boats BUT we might not actually be as successful as you want us to be. Or does he mean he won’t stop the boats just PREVENT them from reaching Australia. We know he can’t turn the boats around (not even in his severest of views he wouldn’t want the sinking of boats to be on his record), so he MUST mean stop them setting out on their journey. Or am I being a naive fool???

My take on refugees is simple, welcome and how can we make you comfortable? If someone risks their life and savings because they are fearful of their futures, have lost faith in their homeland providing them with a safe and secure existence and see us or any other country as their ‘refuge’ then it behooves us as a caring society to pick up the slack and fulfill the promise. By creating these artificial enclaves to allegedly ‘process’ people is a sick piece of senseless theatre. When 95% of asylum seekers end up receiving confirmation of their status why aren’t they welcomed upon arrival and given safe harbour in the community and processed whilst they establish their lives and start to get used to their potential new homes. If they are in the other 5% they go home. These are human beings who have a very simple right – to be treated decently and in the same way we would want to be treated. It is our responsibility to be decent to each other, to not exacerbate someone’s suffering, to do the right and proper thing. These constant attempts to label people and demonise them allows those most vulnerable to be ‘disappeared’ and just be seen as something other than what they are, they become a ‘threat’ rather than a mother or a father, they are a ‘flood of boat people’ rather than a terrified orphan or they are ‘illegals’ when, in fact they are nothing of the sort.

I’m going to put this one right out there. We are having a ‘null null’ debate about the number of migrants the parties want to take in each year. It’s pretty much 130,000 or 140,000. How about next year we all agree on 140,000 and instead of bringing in migrants let’s bring in 140,000 refugees (we can do the skill tests etc just the same). Imagine the difference that could make. Then we mentor other countries to do the same, just for one year…we could repeat it again in five years if needs be. Then we organize a UN or similar world body and start some dedicated effective work to find a way to create a world where there is no need for refugees, that we look at root causes and work to overcome them. But if there is an inevitable refugee situation there would be an immediate plan in place to prevent a build up of numbers or any more situations where those hideous camps are set up again. I believe this can be done and as with so many things it just needs an open heart and the will of good people for it to happen. I don’t think for a second that the resolution will happen overnight but the decision to give it a go can.

In the meantime I urge you to NEVER forget that behind every ‘another load of asylum seekers have been intercepted off Ashmore Reef’ story is another story – of a human being in need, in fear and our equal, not our inferior let alone someone who deserves to be treated less than humanely.