The Editor,
SMH.
The Gillard Bowen Government is in an real mess on asylum
seekers now. Having walked away from their own party to making policy on the
run to appease the ever more right wing calls of Tony “the No Man” Abbott, they
have now walked themselves right in to Howard territory from which it is going
to be hard for them to retreat.
We now have mass hunger strikes on Nauru and at least one
asylum seeker close to death. There will no doubt be mass hunger strikes on
Manus Island soon as the people placed there realise they may be there for up
to 5 years. Immigration goon squads are raiding houses in Australia again,
Gestapo style, to pick up asylum seekers whose poor English in their
application to stay here (because they didn’t have any interpreter assistance
with making a proper application), has not passed some DIAC officers assessment
for being allowed to stay in Australia.
Now we are to release new arrivals into the community while
their legitimate claims are lodged and processed but they will not be allowed
to work, and so reliant on the kindness of churches, charities and strangers,
none of whom having seen these people’s need will ever vote Labor again. What a
terrible mess! And none of it is stopping the boats because none of it
addresses the push factors.
What is needed now is leadership and sadly I don’t think it
is there on either side of parliament. Minister Bowen is now totally captive by
his department . Where are the Greens and Independents? I did hear Oakeshott
say that there are no short term solutions here and that we need to concentrate
on a longer term regional solution. We can’t do that with 2 major parties
running short term, short sighted agendas up to the next election only.
Jenny Haines
