Phillip Ruddock now regrets the detention of children when he was Immigration Minister, according to John Lyons in today’s Australian. Kinda sorta. Not so much the detention itself, but “the speed and implementation” of the Howard Government’s policies. The problem, apparently, wasn’t so much with what he did, but the way it was done.
This is Ruddock in 2004, long after the effects of detention on children were being raised by a wide range of critics asked if children should still be detained, he declared: “I’ve taken the view that the law makes it clear that people are only released from detention on valid visas, or when they’re removed from Australia.”
Judging by his half-baked expression of regret, he now has a different view. It isn’t enough. And it wouldn’t be enough even if he came out and admitted straight up that it was wrong to lock up children at all.
Plenty of politicians in the comfort of retirement express regrets about how hard they played the game. With age comes wisdom, or at least a desire to not look like such a pr-ck.
Some acts in public life, however, are beyond regret. Some are so unforgivably cynical as to be beyond all limits of accepted political bastardry. Some are so demonstrably evil in their effects as to be unacceptable in any decent society. Mandatory detention of children was both. The Howard Government ruthlessly exploited mandatory detention as a critical component in its campaign to secure political advantage by exploiting anti-immigrant sentiment. Its efforts to exploit and demonise asylum seekers (legitimate and otherwise) were unremitting. In doing so, it locked up children, who suffered serious psychological injury from the process of incarceration.
Retirement and hindsight are all well and good. But it is what politicians do in the heat of battle that is the basis on which they must be judged. What decisions did they make when political advantage beckoned – when they were asked to balance basic morality and a chance to win votes? Ruddock and the Howard Government chose the latter and there is no regretting that decision later. Their character was revealed at that moment and there is no gainsaying that.
John Howard pre-emptively declared, while still in office, that you would never find him lamenting his political decisions in retirement like other conservative politicians. Howard at least understands that those in public life don’t get to revise or apologise for their own behaviour later. Their decisions have consequences for the rest of us that they and we must live with. Ruddock too.
When is child abuse not child abuse
When committed by Phillip (in the name of the law) Ruddock while being patted on the head by his abusive boss J. Howard and being cheered on by a flock of ministerial galahs.
Well, the law is not just for quoting and skiting about it’s for application and function so lets arrest the nerds guilty of child abuse. We sure go on about it enough. Well going on about it is far easier and less dangerous than acting on it.
When a man like Ruddock goes all the way to the HIgh court to clarify the right of the government to lock up innocent children for life without them ever being charged with any crime, who strips them of all welfare rights as he did with the Bakhtiyari kids and to declare children born in detention to be “migrants” through the birth canal then he is guilty of crimes against humanity.
Breathtakingly brilliant and acutely observed critique with witheringly supportive arguments by ‘dennis’………
Appropriate standard of comments above though for this quality of ‘editorial’.
I am almost speachless with anger at Ruddock’s part in the last decade of our history. It’s a close run thing with Peter Reith who was once described as so untruthful he could not fall straight down a mine shaft’ but ruddock did more than lie( as others have described) & did it for longer .
Even now he in his self reserection attempt he never approaches the truth. He belongs as an evil figure in a Goya picture. He deserves the greatest contempt that can be visited upon him. I wish him a long and painful life and the realization that what he visited on those children he imprisoned is something that even his God will not forgive.
At age 65 I hope I never see anything like his behavior enacted in my name again.Let us not forget,we may not all be to blame but we are all responsible.
Ruddock was then and remains today, a prized prik. He was another in the cabinet who did Howards dirty work without question. Not only did he look the part of the grim reaper, but seemed to come out of the same mould as the evil Geobles.
He used the same techniques Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Geobles used, which is to constantly repeat a big lie until we start parroting the same message. That the electorate certainly did in 2004. For him to come out with a semi ‘death bed type confession of regret’ will do nothing to erase the shameful legacy he left in his wake. Of course to this day we still do not know of his involvement in the disgraceful detention of Dr Haneef, it beggers belief as A/ General he was all unknowing and purity. His blind loyalty to Howard and the Liberals have ensured history will not look kindly on his political career. Not a nice person and looked the part.