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The Forum > Article Comments > Rethinking refugee policy > Comments

Rethinking refugee policy : Comments

By Noel Preston, published 9/9/2011

Government overboard or government back on track?

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Hi Noel,
Thanks for the sane article on this question of asylum seekers. You conclude by saying to the prime minister "Do the right thing! The consequences might not be so bad after all!".

While I also encourage her, I think we will need to offer more than such encouragement.

It's time for people who care about refugees to put their own concrete ideas out there for the experts to evaluate as it is obvious both the government and the opposition are at a loss. Indeed while the Greens have a policy to process asylum seekers here, they don't say exactly how they would house them, provide meaningful work or integrate them into society.

The idea I put out is once they are cleared for health and police, to offer asylum seekers 15hrs/wk work on public 'eco'housing & gardens in exchange for food and accommodation & pay them an income adjustment based on their eligibility for social support - see http://bit.ly/fAWRjc

I believe such an approach would help us and them to develop the new society we are all going to need.
Posted by landrights4all, Friday, 9 September 2011 11:15:21 AM
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'we've had enough of supine, me-too-ist governing'

It would seem that had both Rudd and Gillard adopted a fair dinkum me-too-ism, instead of their pretend variety, they would have not changed John Howard's Pacific Solution, and we wouldn'nt have had 9000 odd asylum seekers arriving here over the last few years. We wouldn't have had the drownings at Christmas Island.

We wouldn't be having the current debate.

I expect every person who proposes the onshore processing of future boat people agree to accept part of the responsibility should any further drownings occur
Posted by imajulianutter, Friday, 9 September 2011 11:17:06 AM
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ps

did anyone else see the 7.30 report last night?

I thought that Clarke & Dawe's answer to the lie that this is about leaking boats or breaking the smuggler's business model was a hoot!

They said we should just send in our own seaworthy boats to pick them up from Malaysia - that would break the smuggler's business model and would keep them safe from drowning. Let's start an honest conversation.
Posted by landrights4all, Friday, 9 September 2011 11:30:48 AM
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There are currently 153000 asylum seekers in the Islamic countries trying to get here, most from Afghanistan, others from Iran, Yemen, Tripoli,Libya, Pakistan and Iraq just to name some. Then there are Somalis and Sudanese,Rwandans and others from Kenya and the DRC about 30,000 approximately. Malaysia has about 15000 Burmese refugees.
They are all with rights for safety and a better way of life. To end the debate as to how many should betaken in how wouldit be if we took the whole lot in and the clamour.Is trhat too many? Then please someone put a figure to how many we should accept. There has to come a time when we can say to the bloody UNO we are now full up and fed up.NO MORE!!
Posted by socratease, Friday, 9 September 2011 2:42:52 PM
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How can people as naive as this bloke get to be academics, or is it mandatory for these ethics types.

If it’s not naivety, I’m just cynical enough to wonder if our elites, who favour this flood of unsuitable immigration, are hoping that the boat people may provide a supply of domestic servant they find lacking in Oz at the moment.

What ever it is, they most certainly show very little interest in, or respect for the great unwashed, who provide their income. Our interests are the least of theirs.

You could say they make me sick.

Yes Landrights, the boat thing is a furphy, there’s not much wrong with most of the boats, for the purpose. I have myself, & know hundreds of others, who have spent their entire wealth, & a number of years, acquiring boats much smaller, & definitely no more seaworthy, & preparing them for sea. Often this is for around the world voyages & for extended periods at sea.

Woe betide any of these should they turn up in Indonesia, or many other places, without the right paper work. The accommodation they will rapidly find themselves in would make our detention centres shine as the holiday camps they are.
Posted by Hasbeen, Friday, 9 September 2011 3:54:47 PM
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No one mentions the rights of those who have been waiting to come to this blessed country legally for years. Family members must be distraught or very tempted to tell their relatives to jump on a boat and rip up their paperwork.

Why are our academics to thick to see that billions would rather live in Australia than elsewhere. They never put a number on how many they think should be allowed to come on the Manly ferry before we deter this method of transport. They are usually the first to scream the over population mantra. Why don't they publish how much it cost to take in illegal immigrants. They know those struggling to pay bills would be horrified.

Most Australians are fair minded and are happy to accept refugees. They are smart enough to know that we need some sort of order in doing so rather the rhetoric of the left who ideoligal dogmas work to destroy this great nation. Obviously Dr Noel is not happy to accept the wishes of the vast majority of Australians.
Posted by runner, Friday, 9 September 2011 4:15:30 PM
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Why are our academics to thick .
Runner,
They're not naturally thick, they're educated to get thicker by semester after semester.
Imagine if they were to start thinking all of a sudden. Unemployment figures would hit the roof.
Posted by individual, Friday, 9 September 2011 7:26:07 PM
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I'm going to try another tack.
Notice how the pro refugee argument is based on the concept of debt?
White people are, according to the advocates indebted to Afghans, Sudanese, Burmese and all, we "owe" them our protection.
The whole materialist "Human Rights" movement is debt based, just like the Christian humanism from which it sprang. Judeo Christian (and to a lesser extent Islamic) revelatory theology, which has at it's core a debt which can never be repaid is the underpinning of the current closed, debt based system that's killing the planet.

Pro vs Con is just the materialsts vs the primordialists,the god of Debt vs the God of Corn one side seeks to dominate nature the other seeks communion with nature, sustained growth vs growing for sustenance.
Posted by Jay Of Melbourne, Friday, 9 September 2011 9:03:04 PM
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Rethinking refugee policy!

Bowens plan just for a stark moment was a first regional step. Many of us were sure the government had heard the demand for on-shore 14 day health and security checks [shorter humane detention] and the need to strengthen regional locational access throughout the Asia Pacific, so asylum seekers have an opportunity to make a reasonable claim for Asylum in Australia without risking boarding leaky boats.

Alas however, Bowens polices became one sided and ostentatious as he stubbornly grabbed the wrong end of the stick at the "cost" of the flow of individual Refugee maritime arrivals. It is as though they have paid not regard to the Mental Health issues or the causes for the overwhelming backlog of claims causing the debacle. The issue reminds me of Mal Brough masterminded mock shift force used in the NT Intervention that failed to acknowledge the true causes or long-term consequence.

Bowens 'arrangement overall was always too cute an avoidance of the need to fundamentally revise our miserable commitment to the global challenge of displaced persons'. The ALP lost a constructive opportunity here.

Now, after the High Court finding only two weeks ago we have heard radio voxpod sound bytes from [carefully chosen] individuals from overseas about how they will all board boats. Note we haven't heard from the fisherman who are hired as crew on these boats. You would think, given Bowens worldly press on how he intends to catch the people smugglers, that they would know [from the media' that they are heading into a front-on battle with Bowen's policies and possibly to be gaoled through Australian courts? Yet they still come.

Something is very "fishy" here. Our intelligence gathering appears to be bias, willful. Counteracting against common sense efforts in reality by truthfully targeting the facts in this cause.

I appreciated the detail in this artlcle Noel Preston. I will pass it round and hope others take the time to reflect their comments.

http://www.miacat.com/
Posted by miacat, Friday, 9 September 2011 9:08:16 PM
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The naivete of the author beggars belief. Contrary to his opinion, most Australians out in the real world couldn't give a stuff what happens to the boat people, if they sink on the way, too bad, is what they think.

If we wish to be completely pragmatic about it, we should just give them a temporary protection visa upon arrival, preferably at Darwin or Broome, give them a health check, and then turn them loose to be cared for by what ever community to which they may belong. We have probably just about reached saturation point as to the available boats there are out there and if we destroy the ones that arrive and put their crews in prison the numbers will surely diminish. That should save us millions of dollars running detention centres and free up money to help all those others who want to make Australia their home.

David
Posted by VK3AUU, Friday, 9 September 2011 9:15:32 PM
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"the chance to show their benevolence to individuals and families who generally will give back much to Australian society."

That would depend what the individuals or families would be "giving back".
If an individual or family only had its extreme religious views to "give" to my society- I would take the opportunity to turn them away and spare myself their "gift".

And really that's all we should be doing for all our arrivals before we even bother getting to their refugee status- assessing whether they actually WOULD at least settle in, or pose a risk.
Posted by King Hazza, Friday, 9 September 2011 10:22:46 PM
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"Give back to society'
More debt, there's no "one good turn deserves another" it's an expectation that the debt will be called in at some point.
I posted in a similar thread the view that it's probably unwise to trust anyone who is beholden unto the government. Let's be realistic refugees in a lot of cases owe the government their lives, that's a tricky position to be in, it makes them susceptible to manipulation and duress.
When we break the debt model which underpins our current state we'll be able to make a real judgement on the value to society of refugees, as it stands their intrinsic value to the rest of us is zero, these people literally belong to the government and the government is anything but a reflection of the will of the Australian Nation.
Posted by Jay Of Melbourne, Friday, 9 September 2011 11:07:11 PM
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In the making of any refugee policy the SOLE guiding factor is eventually a case for national autonomy. Pause the debate and take a close and honest analysis of the conditions refugees have created in countries like the UK, Holland, Belgium, France and Germany.
There was a time 6000 Libyans wanted asylum on the island of Lampedusa which has an island population of 3500. Give the newcomers not only shelter but also democratic voting rights and what will be the result ?

Now it may be a hell of a long time before Australia faces a loss of national autonomy by allowing thousands more Muslims into the country but consider this: Australians have virtually reached ZPG or near enough. The Muslim families have on an average 6 0r 7 children. You do the maths.

Whatever the so called immigration/refugee policy will eventually be in framing it we must keep an eye on what sort of Australia we want to see emerge down the line. What are we handing our future generations? Will blood have to be shed because we allowed do-gooders and the UN to steamroll us into a sort of political hari kiri?
There wont be any use wringing of hands and crying of mea kulpa then when its too late.

socratease
Posted by socratease, Saturday, 10 September 2011 12:48:52 AM
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Sorry, but I just can’t get past the enormous ethical disjunct in Noel’s reasoning. Only five years ago, Australia had what he pretty unequivocally defines as an immigration nirvana: no boat people, nobody in detention, a humanitarian immigration intake second only to Canada on a per-capita basis, and widespread national acceptance of the policies which kept immigration uncontroversial. Yet I can’t seem to find even one of those venting outrage today who put their hand up in 2007 to defend the very thing they so earnestly demand now. I have yet to hear anyone sympathetic to genuine asylum seekers admit they got it wrong.

That’s worrying, in the extreme, and I can’t grok a reason for it. If it’s a matter of despising John Howard and all his works, then some very vulnerable people are paying a huge price for some noisy first-worlders’ pique. If it’s a matter of following the Party Line -- Rudd’s, Gillard’s or Brown’s, or Howards -- that doesn’t say anything good about our democracy, or our ethics. If it’s a just a way to separate ‘intellectuals’ from ‘bogans’ we desperately need to import better intellectuals.

It’s not that hard to forge a consensus around immigration policy: Fraser, Hawke, Keating and Howard managed well enough. These days, though, I don’t see much interest in consensus. The national conversation is pretty much confined to highlighting the errors of others -- listening isn’t a priority. Nuances, compromise ... they’re just not on. When Noel urges us to ‘Do the right thing!’, he’s calling on the True Believers to berate the Great Unwashed. It isn’t going to be that easy.

We had an immigration nirvana for a few years. Through hubris and sanctimony, we’ve lost it. Wouldn’t it make sense to at least consider how a solution was achieved in past? The consequences might not be so bad after all.
Posted by donkeygod, Saturday, 10 September 2011 1:30:03 AM
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Rethink Refugee Policy.

The ALP sets a dangerous political precept if it thinks it can just "kraft" a change in the law to suit itself.... to over-ride the UN Convention and get away with it. Again the government preaches that it has full confidence but do "we" have full confidence in the government? Where is the discussion?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-09/government-close-to-new-asylum-policy/2879016

IT'S TIME FOR A NEW CONVERSATION says Kon Karapanagiotidis
http://au.news.yahoo.com/opinion/post/-/blog/konkarapanagiotidis/post/9/comment/1/

Expert analysis: what on-shore processing means for Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2011/3312711.htm

As Professor William Maley, and former Liberal Leader Bruce Baird say. The approach by this government is doubtful, dangerous it has serious cultural implications. It is a destructive approach bordering the formerly abolished White Australia Policy.

“The illiterate of the future are not those who can’t read or write but those who
cannot learn, unlearn, and re-learn.” said Alvin Toffle.... How a nation treats men, women and children fleeing persecution and seeking its protection is a mark of its own humanity.

http://www.miacat.com/
Posted by miacat, Saturday, 10 September 2011 2:01:07 AM
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What if those "demonise(d) poor, frightened and desperate human beings" bring values and problems that are not only not compatible with Australian values, but even inimical to the institutions that have served this country so well (mostly) for well over 200 years?

I am talking about Muslims. Any country that permits mass immigration of Muslims is committing national suicide. The values of Islam are not those of the West, and Muslims will not integrate nor live in peace with a people their god considers "lower than animals" (aka, non-Muslims). One or two, maybe, but not massive numbers...

Am I being harsh? dishonest? evil? racist? or just telling it like it is? Take a look at Muslim societies and tell me I am wrong? Where exactly do these people respect and grand equality to infidels? I dont believe that Muslims coming to Australia are any different from those in Islamic nations. Given what Islam's own traditions (hadith) say about the morals of Mohammad (raids, plunder, lies, murder, torture, enslavement, rape, etc...)I do not trust anyone, moderate or radical, that says "praise be upon him" after this man's name and considers him a great moral example (per the Quran)- and that is all Muslims.

Better the harsh reality of facts than fuzzy feel good words that will case suffering, pain and death later. Refugee policy is complex and polemic, but "no Muslims" is a rational start.
Posted by kactuz, Saturday, 10 September 2011 7:46:55 AM
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What Julia needs to rethink is why Australia is a signatory to a convention which encourages desperate people to risk their lives, treats refugees unequally, and supports criminals. There is no doubt about the desperation of people taking life threatening voyages, but where is the humanity in encouraging such behaviour? Surely the more humane approach is to say to such people "Dont deal with criminals and risk your lives, because it will give you no advantage over the millions of other refugees in the world.".
Posted by Fester, Saturday, 10 September 2011 8:46:53 AM
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Quite fair Kaktuz- though we wouldn't even need to do so on that basis; a few simple questions to the potential immigrants about their values, possibly their reaction to a Danish Muhammad cartoon, opinions on gay rights (merely Gays having a right to marry or exist), shariah, secularism, separation of church and state, lack of sacredness of religion, as well as questioned on their morality etc.

Seeing their reactions to these would tell us enough about whether they are deserving to live here or not.
Posted by King Hazza, Saturday, 10 September 2011 10:32:15 AM
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King Hazza

Such questions would eliminate many Australians from having the right to live here;

George Pell, Fred Nile, any Shock Jocks, in fact anyone who feels their belief system is the only truth.
Posted by Ammonite, Saturday, 10 September 2011 11:05:43 AM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz8pzG02oxU&feature=related minority rule, closet communism.

60% to 80% of the population dont want ANY processing at all, ON or OFF shore, they want muslim terrorists "returned to sender" ASAP.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5871651411393887069# migration worsens third world poverty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwsrt2tlzcU&feature=related migration causes poverty in the first world as well, that is what it is for, POVERTY CREATION.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE its getting worse, because the trotskyist/SWP, closet communists want it to get worse, they are trying to foment revolution.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12587#217556

runner, have you seen these BTW?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIHeBJNFS1g islam? false prophets.

http://media.causes.com/1050799?p_id=175393267&s=request dhimmitude, islamic slavery for you

islam is a completely, totally, utterly, evil cult. it has NO place in Australia at all & yet these closet communists dare to question Christianity.
Posted by Formersnag, Saturday, 10 September 2011 12:51:56 PM
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"Such questions would eliminate many Australians from having the right to live here;

George Pell, Fred Nile, any Shock Jocks, in fact anyone who feels their belief system is the only truth."

Ammonite I wish that could be done too- however, keeping them would be the same reason we would be forced to keep Martin Bryant (homegrown citizens who were the products of our own society's influence and thus our responsibility)- so character checks in migrants would only ensure they we don't get the problems imported from abroad and increased over here; which would hopefully include fanatical Christians- who could be asked their opinions on abortion and turned away on similar grounds.
Posted by King Hazza, Saturday, 10 September 2011 2:19:09 PM
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What truly amazes me re the immigration debates is the utter silence of the indigenous. I mean they have been telling the world for many decades now how much they object to the original european invasion but there's a stoney silence about the new invaders. I have actually asked this question here before on OLO but no-one's answered. If the indigenous people of Australia are indeed so against invasion then what is their stance on the new invasion & if not against another invasion then which ethnicity would they prefer these new invaders to be ?
Posted by individual, Saturday, 10 September 2011 2:53:06 PM
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Individual,
I remember some Aboriginal Commies issuing symbolic Indigenous passports to those Sri Lankans who were being held on the customs ship up in Indo' a few years ago.
I've heard Sharon Firebrace speak at a pro immigration rally and come across other Aboriginal people at other such events organised by the Stalinists and Trotskyites of Socialist Alternative and Socialist Alliance.
Commies of all kinds support illegal immigration because their aim is to destroy all societies, in their minds if it hurts Whitey it's all good.

Muslims actually bother me less than people like Fred Nile and George Pell, I have absolutely nothing in common with "Xtians" and Christian Zionists, Muslims don't usually make an issue of race, Christians and Jews always do.
Posted by Jay Of Melbourne, Sunday, 11 September 2011 9:09:23 AM
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I hope this post will end the need for this off-topic attempt to bash Aborigines;

1- the government would never attempt to dump refugees on an Aboriginal community and expect to get away with it (rightfully so)- so it's rarely a problem that is shoved in the faces of Aboriginal communities like it is for the rest of us.

2- obviously, Aboriginal people already ARE displaced from land they previously had title to by us anyway- so the damage is already done. Instead, they might try to relate our bad experiences with asylum seekers displacing us, to their bad experiences of US displacing them and hope we might at least be a little more understanding of their (Aboriginal) plight.

What you are proposing would be the same as if our country had been overrun by Muslims, and then later started to get an influx of Russian people- and the Muslims complained that we weren't doing enough to oppose the Russian influx.

Hopefully we can get back on topic, rather than act like complete hypocrites.
Posted by King Hazza, Sunday, 11 September 2011 10:29:37 AM
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King Hazza,
just one example please when playing ostrich has ended with a positive result ?
Posted by individual, Sunday, 11 September 2011 11:32:24 AM
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Individual

I would say playing ostrich has never ended in a positive result;

And I would define 'playing ostrich' as refusing to address the reasons I placed as to why Aboriginal Australians wouldn't be so inclined to share in our indignation against the latest arrivals we're receiving- at the very least acknowledge that to expect them of all people to get indignant when WE are experiencing the same problems as them, is the pinnacle of hypocrisy.

Failing to acknowledge this will of course continue to alienate our indigenous Australians, or- if you're not concerned about that- will be doing the pro-refugee advocates a huge favor.
Posted by King Hazza, Sunday, 11 September 2011 12:31:49 PM
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King Hazza,
I'm not getting the gist of your comment. I can't recall reading or hearing any objections from any indigenous source regarding more invaders. To my knowledge all criticism is aimed at the past european invasions. My question to those who claim to represent the views of the australian indigenous was simply, do they object to more invasions or are they only objecting to european invaders.
Posted by individual, Sunday, 11 September 2011 12:57:36 PM
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Tonite: "Turning the Lens Back on Community"! Some interesting Media

Just as "we" may feel defeat, in all that we are or believe in.... along comes Sunday Profile. See why Tonight ABC Radio Local Sunday at 9.05pm with Presenter Julia Baird. This is a brillant interview!

http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/

Sunday SBS 8 30-pm Open Prison - Now this is Interesting..... "Far from locking up prisoners and throwing away the key, Greenland’s authorities give inmates the keys to their own cells."

http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/about/id/601320/n/Open-Prison

http://www.miacat.com/
Posted by miacat, Sunday, 11 September 2011 2:27:27 PM
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On racism:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4I8XzuXC6g&feature=related
Posted by Ammonite, Sunday, 11 September 2011 2:30:00 PM
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What's with all this racism crap ?
Posted by individual, Sunday, 11 September 2011 3:53:57 PM
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http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12587#217654

KH, actually i know a few aboriginal & Torres Strait islanders who are NOT happy about invasion #2 either.

it is just as uaual that the lame stream media & major mistakes political parties are not publicising any of their concerns.
Posted by Formersnag, Sunday, 11 September 2011 4:48:43 PM
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DIMA projections are that onshore processing will result in 600 refugees coming here every month that is 7,200 per year. Our migration programme brings an extra 1500 people to our shores a month. (Treasury budget estimates show that they have factored in 180,000 migrants pa.) If we were smart we would bring migration to zero and allow on shore processing - make it clear that anyone without papers will be deported so that we can do the checks quickly and efficiently. Assuming that 80% of asylum seekers are approved that would mean that population growth due to migration would be slashed from 180,000 to about 14000, 5000 of whom would have arrived by boat.
Posted by BAYGON, Sunday, 11 September 2011 6:44:16 PM
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Ammonite,
He's right, sort of, but anthropologists don't study White people (or if they do they don't release their findings) and there's no White race based "industry" other than anti Racism, which as we know is just a code word for Anti White.
Individual.
A colourblind society would be nice but it won't happen until Whites are accepted as a race, which is problematic since we're not really the same as the other 90% of humanity.
Anti Racists have to invent their Strawmen, the "Racist" and the "White Supremacist" to prove that we're not a Race and therefore cannot be allowed to exist.
Yet we Whites all know we're not "Pure" like the other races, it's a constant theme in our history, "We're not worthy", some of us even question our right to exist and side with the Anti Racists who work toward White Genocide.
It's a big can of worms, I'm not surprised that the study of White people is discouraged and suppressed. It's bad enough as it is with people trying to wipe us out because we're "subhumans" and "mongrels", imagine if they had proof that we're something other than fully human?
Posted by Jay Of Melbourne, Sunday, 11 September 2011 8:39:40 PM
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Formersnag, you are definitely correct in what you say about the Indigenous opinions you mention.
I don't think anybody would be particularly comfortable about the potential for what kind of people are knocking at our door at the moment.

Individual- is that a good enough answer?
Posted by King Hazza, Sunday, 11 September 2011 10:09:24 PM
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Individual- is that a good enough answer?
King Hazza,
Are you indigenous ? I think Jay of Melbourne commented realistically. I'm still waiting for an indigenous group spokesperson to lay out the indigenous' view on further immigration, especially on the boat people influx. Considering that many people already living here don't get half the assistance the boat people get. Pensioners are the forgotten lot in Australia unless of course they have accumulated enough to be worthy of consideration of being fleeced.
Posted by individual, Monday, 12 September 2011 6:54:04 AM
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Individual- sadly that's a pointless exercise- you've had Formersnag cite some Aboriginal people clearly against boat arrivals, which I have no reason to doubt. And as far as web anonymity goes, for someone else to come here, claim to be Aboriginal, and then claim to the be the voice of all Aborigines, would have to be judged by the rest of us.

The fact is, you could just as easily get Marylin Shepherd, Frank Brennan or some other loopy pro-refugee advocate declare themselves the "voice of white people"- but you'd know they wouldn't represent very many white people at all because you'd know that plenty of white people have other opinions in direct contrast to theirs;

Why would it be different for Aboriginal people? They may be facing the issue under different circumstances, but the fact is they'd have different opinions on it just like any other person. Uniformity doesn't exist in any race (particularly as there are approximately 400 Aboriginal races in Australia).
Posted by King Hazza, Monday, 12 September 2011 10:22:29 AM
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KH & individual, forgot to mention it before but the aboriginal & torres strait islanders i know personally are not just black fellas but respected tribal elders whose opinions are shared by a huge majority of their tribes.
Posted by Formersnag, Monday, 12 September 2011 11:14:57 AM
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I have to admit, after reading and participating in debates on this subject, my views have changed somewhat. While I have always advocated treating others with courtesy and compassion, we do have some right to reciprocal consideration.
It's one thing to welcome visitors into your home, but quite another to have strangers show up on your doorstep uninvited, expecting and demanding hospitality. I'm imagining that scenario in real terms. If the person on my doorstep was fleeing persecution or was in genuine need, then of course I would help them in any way I could.
But what if they just showed up expecting me to house, clothe and feed them, simply because they preferred my lifestyle to their own?
At the end of the day, these people are illegal invaders. No smugglers, of any description, should be allowed into our territorial waters.
All boats not having a legitimate and legal right to enter our territory should be turned back.
I agree with Baygon. Instead of continually increasing our legal immigration intake of 'skilled and professional' workers (to keep wages down), we could increase our refugee intake many times over, and still be better off. If our companies need more skilled workers, let them train more, instead of stealing them from countries who need them more than we do.
Let the refugees apply for hardship visas at our embassies. Let them be processed in their country of origin, before making the journey here.
Let them be allocated by local governments, rather than Federal or State governments. Many rural and agricultural areas would welcome them, -provided they comply with certain standards, as Hazza suggests. (I certainly wouldn't mind swapping Alan Jones for good farm labourer.) The Greeks and Italians who flooded to our shores after WW2 were welcomed and treasured in agricultural communities.
As to the 'whitefella/blackfella thing, I asked a mate about that many years ago. He said “mate, you're all bloody boat people as far as I'm concerned.”
Posted by Grim, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 8:01:11 AM
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Formersnag- definitely an important point

Grim; I would probably disagree with cutting our skilled/regular intake of migrants, as these are usually our best (and skilled persons we are desperately short of). The rest I much agree with.
Posted by King Hazza, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 9:03:55 AM
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Grim

Not so sure about your analogy, although I find many points with which to agree.

To put people smugglers out of business, how about Australia set up processing in Indonesia? And ship out those who prove to be genuine refugees - nothing like cutting out the middle man. Any people who do manage to arrive by boat can then processed on shore. Effective, practical and cost effective. Oh, forgot to mention - HUMANE.

Alan Jones, Andrew Bolt et al, I'd swap for solar panels - useful and needed.
Posted by Ammonite, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 9:18:48 AM
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as web anonymity goes, for someone else to come here, claim to be Aboriginal, and then claim to the be the voice of all Aborigines..
King Hazza,
My point was exactly that, that I have yet to see an official comment on that subject i.e. a TV interview or newspaper article.
Posted by individual, Friday, 16 September 2011 8:55:49 PM
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