Note to readers: I started this post two days ago which is an eternity in the on-going back and forth in Australia over the illegal alien boat people seeking asylum, so by now this may not be the latest news. However, it is still worth posting because Americans, just for a moment, imagine having a political leader who speaks as frankly as Abbott!
Australia is ahead of America in coming to the crisis point on immigration (both parties want to curb it because the voting public has had it!).
In the upcoming election, what to do about the boat people arriving by the thousands and asking for asylum is, as far as I can tell, THE pivotal issue in determining who will be the next Prime Minister.
Labor Prime Minister Keven Rudd recently instituted the PNG plan, go here for our coverage, and now the opposition coalition has a potentially more effective plan.
Those determined to be legitimate asylum-seekers will be regularly reviewed and eventually returned to their home country when things calm down there—they will never be given permanent residency in Australia. That should slow the flow!
Here is the story at the Brisbane Times. It is a long article and I’ve just selected a few bits that interest me and might encourage you to read the whole thing.
The Coalition has ramped up its hardline stance on refugees, announcing on Friday that almost 32,000 asylum seekers who have already arrived in Australia by boat will never get permanent settlement as well as stripping them of the right to appeal to the courts.
The Coalition would also introduce indefinite work-for-the-dole obligations for those found to be refugees.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott channelled former prime minister John Howard from 2001 when announcing the change to the policy in Melbourne.
”The essential point is, this is our country and we determine who comes here,” Mr Abbott said.
Boat people will NEVER be granted permanent residency!
According to Department of Immigration figures compiled last Friday, 31,986 asylum seekers are either in the community on bridging visas, in community detention, in mainland detention centres or on Manus Island and Nauru.
Mr Morrison and Mr Abbott said on Friday that a Coalition government would deny them the right to ever settle in Australia, creating a crucial point of difference between the two parties, now united on stopping the boats.
As part of the toughened policy, a Coalition government will scrap the right of asylum seekers to appeal to the courts, which in the March quarter brought the number of asylum seekers who were granted refugee status from 65.3 per cent to more than 90 per cent.
[….]
Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop said that on the contrary, the Coalition’s policy took away the people smugglers’ ”product” – which was permanent residency in Australia.
”We won’t be offering permanent residency,” she told Channel 9. ”When the situation improves [in asylum seekers’ home countries], they can go home.”
There is more, read it all.
For our complete Australia archive, click here.
Endnote: When you visit the story at the Brisbane Times, note the photo of the cute “refugee kids” playing behind a fence, then contrast that photo (the type always used by the media) with these photos of ‘asylum seekers’ in Australia at Bare Naked Islam.