Thursday, June 29, 2006
GetUp! - Action For Australia - www.getup.org.au
"No getting around a bad law
In a last-ditch attempt to pass changes to Australia's migration laws before his trip to Indonesia, the PM offered a number of proposed amendments - including promises of time limits for overseas processing and community housing for women and children on Nauru.
But he admits the Australian Government has no authority over the treatment of refugees in another country, so these promises cannot be guaranteed. What he is proposing is to offload asylum seekers onto the uncertain hands of another government, one which has not signed the Refugee Convention.
Furthermore, it has now been revealed this plan will cost the Australian public $40 million, on top of an estimated $240 million already spent on the failed Nauru experiment.
Here are our additional concerns:"
In a last-ditch attempt to pass changes to Australia's migration laws before his trip to Indonesia, the PM offered a number of proposed amendments - including promises of time limits for overseas processing and community housing for women and children on Nauru.
But he admits the Australian Government has no authority over the treatment of refugees in another country, so these promises cannot be guaranteed. What he is proposing is to offload asylum seekers onto the uncertain hands of another government, one which has not signed the Refugee Convention.
Furthermore, it has now been revealed this plan will cost the Australian public $40 million, on top of an estimated $240 million already spent on the failed Nauru experiment.
Here are our additional concerns:"
