It's a free country and humanitarian conservationist Malcolm Fraser can campaign for whoever he wants to.
And to his credit, Mr Fraser stands almost alone as the one true leader, who demanded and got a regional solution that processed and resettled tens of thousands of "genuine refugees"; and, with none of the hysteria and political circus, that compounds today's very different problems!
In Malcolm Fraser's day, the pirates attacked the boats, now they just seem to want to smuggle undocumented economic migrants to the soft touch countries, with bleeding heart leaders?
For heavens sake, tens of thousands of forgotten Aussie kids, live in far worse conditions, [tin sheds, tents and car bodies], than those found on Mannus Island or Nauru.
And there are around a hundred thousand homeless, and thousands sleeping rough!
The people we do let in, ought to be put to work immediately, doing the hardly ever filled, dirty dawn to dark gut-busting jobs no Aussies wants; and for minimum pay and conditions! [Been there, done that!]
With every move they make, the anti nuke, anti dam, anti development, anti jobs, "irrational" tree hugging greens, seem to be slipping back in the polls; and, many greenish conservatives no longer preference them!
Perhaps those conservatives tired of they way the highly manipulative greens split their preferences?
Perhaps the greens thought with a moral moderate like Farmer Fraser backing them, they might have a better chance of getting some of the other bleeding heart Liberals back on side?
And lets face it, they do need preferences, to continue to occupy seats!
Rhrosty.

David Leigh

What an insightful and accurate evaluation. All of most of what you have highlighted is in fact the very essence which brings the party well into the 21 century. When it comes to stopping the boat people or as colourfully illustrated, is to simply fly them back as soon as they arrive. That cost compared with the current Governments philosophy…well ….the smuggles in question will soon see the no cash card and Australia will have the cash savings in the long run. At the moment, our country is accumulating massive amounts no relevance as people will be adding wisdom and the larger picture, which the Greens have known for quite some time.

Planet3

What is this nonsense? Malcolm is rightly supporting Sarah Hanson-Young as the Greens are the only party who defend human rights, the Australian co-authored refugee convention and the rule of law.

The public might look on asylum seekers as people who have the money to pay to escape death, but why the hell is that a crime?

Would any of the morons who think it is a crime sit around with money in the bank and wait to die rather than find some form of transport and leave?

There is nothing in any law anywhere in the world that only poor people can be refugees, if that was the case the 2 billion people living on less than $2 a day would be refugees but under the law they are not.

This sort of ignorant racist drivel has to stop. Asylum seekers who come here are doing not one thing different to asylum seekers all over the world and they are not breaking a single law in doing so.
OLO has really sunk into the gutter with this garbage.

Marilyn,

The government has set an annual refugee quota of around twenty thousand.

Questions: are those who come 'irregularly' by boat counted as part of that quota ?

If so, do they displace the refugees who have done all the right things, applied properly, and waited their turn ? Are these refugees pushed further back down the queue ?

If not, is the actual refugee quota closer to forty or fifty thousand, not twenty thousand ?

Should people be rewarded for coming by boat, rather than by applying and waiting ? Or should there be 'no advantage " gained ?

I certainly think it is grossly unfair, even improper, not to allow people to work once they are here - that is a prescription for social disaster. BUT if people are not taken back as soon as possible to their point of departure, surely they are displacing other, equally worthy refugees ?

No happy endings :(

Joe

It's old timers disease. Some have memory trouble, some just go dotty. Obviously Fraser is one of the latter.

As we all remember he was a dreadful PM, not much better than the dill Whitlam he replaced, & he is now a slightly worse ex PM.

I wonder if he ever found his trousers, he's obviously lost his mind.

Loudmouth, do you understand that you are mouthing ridiculous nonsense? There is no such thing in the world as setting a quota for refugees, only Australia tries on that delusion.

Everyone has the right to seek asylum, no-one has the right to be granted asylum in one country and then try it on again as a sponsored migrant to a third country.

Wouldn't Jordan love to set a quota of 20,000 a year instead of receiving quite lawfully the 20,000 a week.

There is no quota for asylum seekers, that is the lie they spin.

IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP PORTFOLIO
(80) Program 2.1: Refugee and Humanitarian Assistance
Senator Fierravanti-Wells asked:
In relation to the number of places allocated to non-UNHCR-registered asylum
seekers, please provide a breakdown including:
a. the number of places allocated to unauthorised arrivals by boat;
b. the number of places allocated to unauthorised arrivals by air;
c. the number of places allocated to persons who had arrived on a valid visa and
then sought asylum;
d. the number of places allocated to over-stayers who subsequently claimed
asylum.
Allocations, targets, or limits are not made in relation to Protection visas for asylum
seekers. If all the criteria for a Protection visa are met, the visa will be granted and no
distinction within the Program is made regarding the lawful status or arrival means of
the applicant.