Parley Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 He is enforcing the law Harpo. And has done an excellent job of keeping the illegals out. It would be tragic if we ever went back to an open borders situation. A country's law and sovereignty is very important. We agree on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 but bit by bit this government seem intent on chipping away at that perception. Certainly chipping away at something: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-warns-of-substandard-submarines-if-australianmade-prioritised-20141016-116v9x.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 He is enforcing the law Harpo.And has done an excellent job of keeping the illegals out. It would be tragic if we ever went back to an open borders situation. A country's law and sovereignty is very important. We agree on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Absolutely the most important law any government has is to protect the country - its borders and its people. The first and most important law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 http://www.tubechop.com/watch/3753565 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 [h=1]Anniversary of SIEV X sinking a time for reflection[/h] Courageous: Amal Basry was haunted by the sinking of the SIEV X, and the deaths of 353 of her fellow asylum seekers. Photo: Steve Thomas The notebook is blue, the spine reinforced with tape. The covers are fraying at the edges. The pages list every person assisted by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre since June 2001, the month it was opened. The notebook is full. It contains 7579 names. Pick any name at random and Kon Karapanagiotidis, chief executive and founder of the centre, knows the story. A second notebook is now being filled. In the 13 years since the centre opened, it has helped almost 10,000 people. Name number 1259 is Amal Basry. She was one of 45 survivors of a capsized fishing boat that became known as SIEV X. Three hundred and fifty-three asylum seekers drowned when the boat sank en route to Christmas Island on October 19, 2001. Amal was rescued after clinging to a corpse for more than 20 hours. She told the tale of the sinking many times, with audiences ranging from one listener to a Melbourne town hall packed with more than 2000. She would get out of her sick bed to tell it. She spoke of the "children like little birds floating on the water". She was condemned to bear witness. In a cruel irony Amal died of cancer in 2006. Her tale is a reminder of the courage it takes to risk the seas in search of a new life free of oppression. Advertisement It is also a reminder of the inhumane treatment by the Abbott government of asylum seekers who continue to undertake the journey. The boats may have stopped, but those who have made it here in recent years are living in hell. There were many tears shed in Federal Parliament over lives lost at sea, but no tears for those who remain incarcerated in brutal offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus islands. Nor for those imprisoned on Christmas Island and in centres on mainland Australia. No tears for the thousands in community detention and on various forms of bridging visa. No acknowledgement that indefinite detention is a recipe for depression, suicide attempts and insanity. Countless studies have reaffirmed this. Asylum seekers may no longer be dying at sea, but they are suffering on land. And some are dying on land: Manus Island detainee Reza Barati, beaten to death, and fellow detainee Hamid Kahazaei, a victim of medical neglect. And out on a bridging visa, in community detention, Leo Semmanpillai, who died of self-immolation. In all, more than 30,000 asylum seekers remain in limbo, stripped of hope. Denied a future. With Coalition government plans to reintroduce temporary protection visas, this uncertainty is set to continue. Even babies born to asylum seekers in Australia are to be deemed unauthorised maritime arrivals. Consider this: of the 45 SIEV X survivors, those who were resettled in other countries immediately received permanent residency. It was understood they had suffered enough. In contrast, the seven assigned to Australia were placed on five-year temporary protection visas. Amal Basry would wander the streets at night, unable to stop the recurring nightmares of her ill-fated boat journey and of the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein that claimed the lives of family members. As she told me many times, her state of panic was intensified by her temporary status. She had become a living ghost. In stark contrast to the actions of the Federal government, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre provided Amal refuge. She received trauma counselling, medical assistance, material aid and legal representation. Above all, her story was acknowledged, her courage recognised. The centre represents the other side of the equation. Refugees are welcomed. They are helped back on their feet in ways far too numerous to list in a column. Volunteers worked round the clock earlier this year to relocate the centre in the abandoned old City Mission in Nicholson Street, Footscray, turning it into a vibrant centre of refuge. The centre's services are expanding, with a shift towards empowering asylum seekers through innovative employment schemes and businesses. Its many donors, volunteers and staff are on the frontline in maintaining Australia as a vibrant, non-racist, multicultural nation. Yet, as Kon points out, many staff are in a state of grief and anger at government policies, and the despair they are inflicting. At the moment it's the worse it has ever been for asylum seekers, he says. October 19 is a day to reflect on their plight. And on the fact that despite talk of orderly processes, the Coalition government has cut its refugee intake by more than 30 per cent, at a time when the need is greater than ever. Australia accepts just 0.3 per cent of the world's refugees, making us 67th relative to our population, and 74th relative to wealth. The date should be designated boat people day, a time to share stories and acknowledge that apart from indigenous people, we are all, give or take a few generations, a nation of immigrants. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre is a house of stories. Even the walls speak. They are adorned with larger-than-life photos of asylum seekers' faces, accompanied by accounts of their journeys. In mid-2005 Amal was in hospital receiving treatment for cancer. The nurses heard her screaming. When they ran to her bed, she was clutching her mobile. She had just been informed of receiving permanent residency. She was ecstatic. "I am a free woman in a free society," she kept repeating. She was finally at home, her brave journey completed. Meanwhile, the names in Kon's second notebook are rapidly mounting. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/anniversary-of-siev-x-sinking-a-time-for-reflection-20141016-116xng.html#ixzz3GXNoL4FQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 Consider this: of the 45 SIEV X survivors, those who were resettled in other countries immediately received permanent residency. It was understood they had suffered enough. In contrast, the seven assigned to Australia were placed on five-year temporary protection visas. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/anniversary-of-siev-x-sinking-a-time-for-reflection-20141016-116xng.html#ixzz3GXOEh6SZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Isn't the reason obvious ? Any advantage given will encourage another 350 to get on a boat and potentially also drown. Why do we keep having to go over this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 Pick any name at random and Kon Karapanagiotidis, chief executive and founder of the centre, knows the story. A second notebook is now being filled. In the 13 years since the centre opened, it has helped almost 10,000 people. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/anniversary-of-siev-x-sinking-a-time-for-reflection-20141016-116xng.html#ixzz3GXQZboEA This guy is my hero! He spreads a message of love and hope rather than hatred and despair. http://www.asrc.org.au/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 sorry parley, for you: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I'm really not so sure about that I hope I'm wrong mate and it's just a perception arrived at from reading PIO and the Murdoch press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 I hope I'm wrong mate and it's just a perception arrived at from reading PIO and the Murdoch press. What of the people you know? What would they think? I'm not talking about people who view the world through the prism of the Bolt report and shock jocks, but normal people with kids and lives to live. Do you really think they would accept that the immigration minister should be above the law? The problem IMO is apathy, coupled with the paucity of reliable media, so dominant are the 'usual suspects' of the paranoid fascist right, to paraphrase Brandis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 What of the people you know? What would they think? I'm not talking about people who view the world through the prism of the Bolt report and shock jocks, but normal people with kids and lives to live. Do you really think they would accept that the immigration minister should be above the law? The problem IMO is apathy, coupled with the paucity of reliable media, so dominant are the 'usual suspects' of the paranoid fascist right, to paraphrase Brandis. In truth, being a Social Worker, most of my colleagues are horrified at the actions of this government and embarrassed at how it is impacting upon how Australia is seen internationally. The clients we work with though will often talk about asylum-seekers in the most disparaging and racist terms. I attribute that to the fact that they are some of the most disadvantaged people in society, the homeless, and so I guess it's pretty hard to display empathy for the situations of others when you have nothing yourself. I always think that my colleagues represent a shrinking group within Australian society, in that they're not willing to simply assume that their government is doing the right thing whether it be about issues like asylum, the environment, public health and education. I describe that group as 'shrinking,' and I hope that that's not the case, but whether they're a minority or not, it does show that not everyone in Australia is willing to endorse what this government are doing. And you're right, apathy is a huge problem. It takes effort to remain informed and to drill down into the detail of what governments (not just this one) are doing, and then to register dissent. Those Australians who attended the 'March in March' events are often described by the political right as being some kind of lunatic fringe, the 'enemy within' so to speak. Personally I see them as concerned citizens who love their country, who treasure it's environmental beauty and who value their freedoms, and don't want to see those things jeopardised by the vicious, small minded, callously cynical group of people who are currently running the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 In truth, being a Social Worker, most of my colleagues are horrified at the actions of this government and embarrassed at how it is impacting upon how Australia is seen internationally. The clients we work with though will often talk about asylum-seekers in the most disparaging and racist terms. I attribute that to the fact that they are some of the most disadvantaged people in society, the homeless, and so I guess it's pretty hard to display empathy for the situations of others when you have nothing yourself. I always think that my colleagues represent a shrinking group within Australian society, in that they're not willing to simply assume that their government is doing the right thing whether it be about issues like asylum, the environment, public health and education. I describe that group as 'shrinking,' and I hope that that's not the case, but whether they're a minority or not, it does show that not everyone in Australia is willing to endorse what this government are doing. And you're right, apathy is a huge problem. It takes effort to remain informed and to drill down into the detail of what governments (not just this one) are doing, and then to register dissent. Those Australians who attended the 'March in March' events are often described by the political right as being some kind of lunatic fringe, the 'enemy within' so to speak. Personally I see them as concerned citizens who love their country, who treasure it's environmental beauty and who value their freedoms, and don't want to see those things jeopardised by the vicious, small minded, callously cynical group of people who are currently running the place. I too work with a number of colleagues who are appalled at the current govt's policies, MAINLY those around the asylum issue. The rest I would say are ambivalent, at worst. I can't think of ANY who would agree to signing a blank cheque for the current immigration minister to do as he pleases with vulnerable people and with absolute impunity. The problem with reading threads like this is that it gives a very skewed impression of the zeitgeist: a few empty vessels make way too much noise and give the impression that the vast majority of Australians are as callous as them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 I go with wise monkey rather than empty vessel but I agree with the sentiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 No acknowledgement that indefinite detention is a recipe for depression, suicide attempts and insanity. Countless studies have reaffirmed this. If this is true, then surely we should close all our prisons and detention centres? I thought that ship was the one that sank during Gillard's years of misrule. Either the boats continue, and people continue to drown, and of course people smugglers continue to profit from their crime, or you stop the boats. What is the alternative? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 No acknowledgement that indefinite detention is a recipe for depression, suicide attempts and insanity. Countless studies have reaffirmed this.If this is true, then surely we should close all our prisons and detention centres? I thought that ship was the one that sank during Gillard's years of misrule. Either the boats continue, and people continue to drown, and of course people smugglers continue to profit from their crime, or you stop the boats. What is the alternative? It is true. You know that. Don't play dumb. If you don't understand the difference between immigration detention and prisons, let me spell it out for you, because you may not have heard any of this before: 1. prisoners have been charged with an actual crime, convicted and sentenced; immigration detainees haven't been charged with a crime because, you know, its not illegal to seek asylum, therefore they face no charges, therefore there is no definition of their sentence, so under the current system, it could go on forever, who knows? 2. prisons don't lock up small children, immigration detention centres do. Whilst I'm at it, have this, for free!: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 So indefinite detention in detentions centres is a recipe for depression, suicide attempts, and insanity, but indefinite detention in prisons is not because prisoners have been sentenced for an actual crime? But surely the experience of being imprisoned is exactly the same? And presumably the refugees in official camps are subject to the same things, because they do not know when they are going to be resettled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 I'm not sure if the Pacific Solution itself is unravelling, but I'm getting the distinct impression that Scott Morrison's world is [h=1]Scott Morrison ignored departmental advice on visas for boat arrivals[/h] http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/27/scott-morrison-ignored-department-advice-on-visas-for-boat-arrivals?CMP=soc_567 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akiralx Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 So indefinite detention in detentions centres is a recipe for depression, suicide attempts, and insanity, but indefinite detention in prisons is not because prisoners have been sentenced for an actual crime? But surely the experience of being imprisoned is exactly the same? And presumably the refugees in official camps are subject to the same things, because they do not know when they are going to be resettled? No, because convicted prisoners are very rarely given indefinite detention - as I am sure you know. The tiny number who are have been convicted of the most serious offences, usually involving multiple murders. Unlike those who have been kept in detention centres indefinitely who have not been convicted of *any* crime - nor will they be as arriving by boat seeking asylum is not an offence, contrary to the belief of many Australians despite it being clarified numerous times. As far as I am aware refugees in official camps are not given indefinite detention - in fact I'm not sure if they are detained at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 I'm not sure if the Pacific Solution itself is unravelling, but I'm getting the distinct impression that Scott Morrison's world is Scott Morrison ignored departmental advice on visas for boat arrivals http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/27/scott-morrison-ignored-department-advice-on-visas-for-boat-arrivals?CMP=soc_567 What do the actions below have to do with 'stopping the boats'?? The high court case in December concerns a Pakistani boat arrival who has been in immigration detention on Christmas Island since May 2012. He is an ethnic Hazara and a Shia Muslim. Australia has found he is a refugee, with a well-founded fear of persecution by Sunni extremists in his home country. He has passed all security and character checks. It is illegal for Australia to send the man back to Pakistan. Immigration authorities are obliged to grant him a visa, the high court said. The man was initially allowed to apply for a visa, but legislative changes and Morrison’s imposed cap on visa numbers have stalled the process. After the high court ruled the government was “bound to … grant him a protection visa”, Morrison issued a “conclusive certificate” – which cannot be appealed – ruling it was not in the “national interest” for him to have a visa. The man remains in immigration detention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I see the ALP Opposition has ADMITTED that the Libs have 'stopped the boats!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 ALP are going to keep the turn back the boats policy if they are elected at the next election. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted November 2, 2014 Author Share Posted November 2, 2014 Not sure if Morison is going to get his bill through. Basically he is relying on a few cross bench senators for it to pass. Can't see this report helping his cause. [h=1]Human Rights Committee finds Australian immigration proposals violate international law[/h] Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/human-rights-committee-finds-australian-immigration-proposals-violate-international-law-20141101-11f6xv.html#ixzz3Ht83yz9l Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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