While the numbers of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia by boat remains small, the political impact was growing. Seemingly every day, a new media alert would appear from Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor’s office announcing yet another boat had been intercepted.
The issue has yet to ignite with the public in the way it did in 2001, but the steady stream of boats gave the sense that a highway into Australia had been opened via Christmas Island and it was becoming packed with traffic.
The bulk of the arrivals were from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Last year, Afghanistan once again became the world’s biggest source of asylum seekers, with more than 26,000 Afghans seeking refuge outside their country, mainly in Europe.
The UNHCR’s review of circumstances in Sri Lanka has given the Government the cover it needs to send a signal that it is prepared to be tough on asylum seekers as well as people smugglers. Essential Research polling released earlier this week showed most voters thought the Government was too soft on the issue.
The Government’s announcement of temporary suspensions of processing of asylum claims by Afghans and Sri Lankans will induce a furious reaction from refugee advocates, the Greens, and perhaps even some Labor MPs. That will be exactly what the Government wants — criticism that it is mimicking the Howard Government on the issue will play well with mainstream voters who voted Labor in 2007, but who might be prepared to let their anti-refugee views sway their vote this time around.
The Government was justifiably proud of its amendments to remove the excesses of the Howard Government’s treatment of asylum seekers, which had in any event been softened over time.
But there is no way it will permit asylum seekers or their local advocates to endanger its re-election. This is straight-out, brutal realpolitik.
Fucking snivelling cowards will murder people instead of simply telling the truth and our fucking media have been goading them into it all along.
Jesus wept, the two people who really need our help more than anyone on earth and we do this to them.
It’s depravity of the highest order when we consider that 100% of Afghans have been granted status because they are genuine refugees and Evans whining that it sends some fucking message to smugglers like they give more of a shit about the refugees than we do.
Why don’t we suspend the claims of the thousands of other people who aren’t refugees but try it on? Because it is illegal and this country makes me puke.
So well done to the MSM for this disgusting depravity.
Yep — it’ll defuse the storm-in-a-teacup that the opposition has been brewing in the lead-up to the announcement of a DD. What fear factor will they use now?
It’ll be interesting to see what back-flip/spin Scott Morrison will put on this.
I note that the MSM is already saying that this line contradicts the govt. argument for push factors — blondie on SKY led with that within minutes — like many of her age, she obviously thinks everything in the world happens instantaneously.
No doubt the hate refugees lobby will be thrilled to hear the latest news that the government is suspending the processing of all new Afghan and Sri Lankan refugee applications after the sinking of a boatload of refugees of the WA Coast this morning. It appears that they may all have been rescued by the HMAS Wollongong. What happens next? Stay tuned.
Hope you’re right JENAUTHOR. The brakes had to go on, sadly. I had hoped that Rudd and Co soft pedalling on the issue would have lowered its profile with the public, but I guess if it’s the only issue the Opposition have left they’ll ride it all the way.
Marylin above has plenty of people like me who share her sentiments on refugees if not her language when expressing them. Ultimately though how does it help if Labour loses government and we have Abbott and Co. running the show?
and the opposition’s response today is that this is a cynical political response from the govt. Well one cynical political response in response to another, isn’t this what they wanted?
The gov has got the headlines they want now (Rudd shuts the door on asylum seekers, etc), instead of the headlines being driven by the opposition lately (Australian policies welcome asylum seekers) They will invoke the ire of refugee advocates but they don’t need their votes anyway (they are not going to vote for the worse alternative of the coalition) and their attacks will only make the govt look tougher. I can’t imagine what nightmares we are in for inside the detention centres in the coming months…people will simply be locked up to wait -we really are back to the Howard years and we can give big thanks to the coalition and News Limited for pushing it this far. But it might have the desired effect of stopping people getting on boats, people would now be better to wait it out in indonesia – I hope we have upped our funding to indonesia.
The last governemnt did this with Tampa and most were initially rejected and hung around in nauru for years until they went back under pressure or had their decisions overturned and ended up here anyway. The current government is actually already tougher than the past govt with rejections, they have already deported people. The last govt just applied pressure to people in Nauru and many returned out of fear that they would be deported with force, but they were never actually deported.