>> To Greg Barns, E.Sykes, Bruce Haigh, CJ Morgan and next.

huh. no bushbasher. obviously i'm not pulling my weight. i'll try to work harder.

Greg leads with the line:

"Philip Ruddock's policies led to some of the grossest abuses of human rights in Australian history"

Perhaps someone might enlighten me as to what was done that contravened the international charter of human rights. I think you will struggle.

Greg Barns is one of those bleeding hearts that wants to take on all the ills of the entire world, and is quite happy to spend everyone else's money to do so.

Bushbasher,

you've done far too much pulling already

Cheers
:-)

Examinator,
My failings? I support humane treatment of asylum seekers, somewhat qualified, as you could note from reading my letter on the Get tough or prepare for a flood article. I also recognise that human rights apply to humans, all humans. If Australians are to be treated with such hate and contempt and labelled racist by knee jerk extremists when they have valid concerns, then I understand their fear at being left unprotected whenever a race hate crime is committed against them.

Also, Australians have every right to a political opinion, every right to say they reject all migrant inflows into the country if they so wish. Some left wing would prefer no skilled migrants and only humane resettlement. Perhaps we should argue this angle? Oh no the capitalist only want so many to look good. I see Australians outraged at young Jessica sailing into the sunset, claims she is doing it for money, for fame and how much is it going to cost the taxpayer to rescue her. Where are the shouts of racist, bigot, bogan. Australians are consistent if nothing else.

If the abuse continues toward Australians then I understand, not share, their concern and my loyalty will lay with them first and foremost. If we do not offer protection or understanding of Australians right to have a voice then we have no business giving such a promise to anyone else.

I think political asylum seekers need political extremists, who love nothing better than hate speech, to be their spokesperson like a hole in the head, and would be better served by a better PR firm. It is not the asylum seeker people are rejecting; it’s the messengers of malice. I see the same personality traits of the designers of dysfunctional societies that give rise to human suffering. Both sides have been extremist, dishonest and have played asylum seekers and Australians against each other like fascist pawns. One side no more humane than the other.

“Neurosis or mental illness (fear of hoons) is hardly a justification for anything except your own failings”. But a reason for asylum?

Bikesusenofuel
quote: “I hope that one day all those espousing tough treatment on the poor sods putting their life on the line to come here, will themselves be victim of the types of situations that make people decide to jump on a boat. Only then will you begin to realize that behind the faces you loathe are people with aspirations and dreams of a safe life...something EVERYONE is entitled to.”

Refugee movements of this type have historically been the domain of the wealthy, relatively speaking. Those without wealth are the ones left behind and face the greatest struggle. So I certainly will never find myself in that situation, no money!

Go back to plague times still the same story, the rich flee the rest of us suffer our fate.

Many do realise they have grounds to claim refugee status and use that as ticket to a country of choice. This is obvious and the reason they want to come to Australia is financial. I do not see this see as a noble endeavour at all, as safety, which is a basic human right, can be satisfied closer to home. However where I veer of course with those that oppose this intake is that I find this greed trait, aspiration to be rich and oh so corporate, a better match for our tedious corporate sponsor approved culture and increases chance of integration into our material society. We certainly do not offer too much in freedom anymore, where jokes even need the approval of suits and universities slaves to business instead of servants of the people.

The people left in camps around the world with no overriding desire to find money, only safety and the comfort of a familiar culture pull at my heart strings to a far greater extent, though I concede resettlement to our shores not always the best outcome for them. Australians have no issue generally with welcoming refugees so this childish sob story of my refugees are more worthy than yours is pathetic, especially given the almighty dollar sign is central to us being the destination.

Under Australian Law and International Law a person is entitled to make an application for refugee asylum in another country when they allege they are escaping persecution. Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution".

People who arrive on our shores without prior authorisation from Australia, with no documents, or false documents are not illegal. They are asylum seekers - a legal status under International Law.

Many Asylum seekers are forced to leave their countries in haste and are unable to access appropriate documentation. In many cases oppressive authorities actively prevent normal migration processes from occurring.

'Illegals' are people who overstay their visas. The vast majority of these in Australia are from western countries, including 5,000 British tourists.