Runner>> Labour certainly could not give a stuff about the elderly. No wonder those who can still think don't vote for them<<

I keep on posting this, but it is well worth remembering:

Gillard when Education minister under Rudd>>
Don't give the pensioners a pension rise, they don't vote for us anyway<<

There you have the mind set, there you have the sense of obligation, there you have scheiser.

Dear SPQR,

Whether or Hicks was a terrorist, a bad guy or an Islamic dupe is not the issue. The issue is that he was treated unfairly, tortured and denied the rights of a prisoner of war. Terrorists, bad guys and Islamic dupes are entitled to be treated fairly even if they would not treat others fairly. He was imprisoned, tortured and denied the rights of a prisoner of war, and the Australian government did not protest at the treatment of their citizen.

Regardless of Mr. Burnside's statements in other areas, it is not a crime to be an undocumented alien in Australia. Like the stopped clock that's right twice a day Burnside was right in the statements that Lexi cited.

Dear SPQR,

I gave the Julian Burnside link because the gentleman
is a barrister, a prominent Queen's Counsel, and one
of Australia's leading experts in relation to the law
and Australia's treatment of asylum seekers and the
protection of human rights. In 2009 he was awarded the
Order of Australia for his work in this area. The man
knows the law in regard to this topic. You may not like
the law - but it remains the law.

Dear David F.,

Thank You.

Lexi, lawyers and barristers don't make the law, they simply try their best to either interpret it, or distort it, depending on who they are defending.

It's funny to think arriving illegally here is not breaking the law, as you and your supporters say, but driving off without paying for your fuel is a criminal offense. Go figure!

As for the state of the buildings they are going to be housed in, our shout of cause, what about some of the conditions many of our own have to live in, maintain and clean at their expense.

We waste so much money, that we have to borrow, yet we let our own live in squalor.

What a fiasco this whole thing has become.

I think it's time we adopt the big stick approach.

Dear Davidf,

<< The issue is that [Hicks] was treated …>>

Mr Burnside said ““Well look I do not believe Hicks was a terrorist”
Now, try as I might, I cannot read(or twist) that into being anything other than a judgment as to “Whether or (not)Hicks was a terrorist”!

But be that as it may, the role David Hicks played is only a side issue. The real issue here is whether Mr Burnside saying something makes it so (as Lexi seems to think).There are clear grounds to doubt his judgment as to David Hicks role

And there are solid grounds for also doubting his judgment on the issue of the status of “asylum seekers” At the present time we are still in the fortunate position where we make the laws in this domain. And the ruling as to their status is best described by the Dept of Immigration—see below:

"The use of the word 'illegal' or 'unlawful' to describe asylum seekers entering a country without authority is standard international practice, not least by signatory states to the Refugees Convention. This is because the Refugees Convention (Article 31) explicitly refers to the "illegal entry or presence" of refugees who arrive in the territory of a country "without authorisation"."

http://www.immi.gov.au/media/letters/letters04/Press_Council_28_June.htm

Dear Lexi,
Ditto.

Dear SPQR,

It is an odd contradiction that an act is called illegal, and there is no punishment prescribed by law for the act. To call an act illegal when there is no punishment by law for the act merely misuses the word, illegal. It is accurate to call them asylum seekers. All people have the right to seek asylum. However, governments or other entities can decide whether they will grant asylum. That is precisely what happens in Australia. After examining their claims the government either grants the boat people asylum or deports them if there is a place they can deported to. If not they will remain in detention. People have been killed after being deported so it seems their fears were justified. It also seems that using the word, illegal, to describe an act for which there is no legal penalty is merely using language to denigrate.