Dear Foxy,

The pugnacious lack of transparency has really gotten completely absurd.

Annabel Crabb gave us the following verbatum piece correctly referring to it as Pythonesque, a very apt description.

“What follows is the edited transcript of an actual doorstop press conference given by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison last Saturday:

Q: Minister, is there a boat in trouble off Christmas Island?

A: It is our standard practice as you know, under Operation Sovereign Borders, to report on any significant events regarding maritime operations at sea, particularly where there are safety of life at sea issues associated, and I am advised I have no such reports to provide.

Q: Is there a boat?

A: Well, I have answered the question.

Q: … So are you saying that boats are not leaving (for Australia)?

A: We are always ready for boats that may arrive and we always anticipate that they may seek to come and we are always ready. We are ready today, we were ready yesterday and we will be ready tomorrow and the government’s policies will continue to prevail.

Q: So Mr Morrison, you are not even going to confirm there is a boat, you are not going to say what is happening if people are in the water? Their boat is leaking, we are told – leaking oil – and you are not going to say anything about that situation?

A: What I have said is that it is our practice to report on significant events at sea, particularly when they involve safety of life at sea. Now there is no such report for me to provide to you today. If there was a significant event happening then I would be reporting on it.

Cont..

Cont..

Q: So what does that mean?

A: You are a bright journalist. I’m sure you can work it out.

Q: No, we are asking you, Sir. You are the minister.

A: And I have given you my response.

Q: So could you clarify, Sir, for us – at what point does an event become a significant event involving a boat on the water?

A: When you see me here standing and reporting on it.

Q: And you are standing here reporting.

A: I am not. I am saying there is no such report for me to provide to you today.

Q: Are you saying that it could be a hoax that people are saying they are in trouble?

A: I am not saying anything of that at all. I am not confirming any of these matters. This should come as no surprise to you. This has been our practice now for the entire period of this operation. This is another day at the office for Operation Sovereign Borders.”

http://m.smh.com.au/comment/scott-morrison-interview-takes-on-pythonesque-proportions-20140704-zsw9n.html?skin=dumb-phone

Astounding.

Thinking about the 153 aboard the Customs vessel, SM, I think it was,
suggested that as the ship was in international waters no Australian
law could restrict what was done with the passengers.

Not being a lawyer, I think that might be wrong.
If you commit murder on an Australian registered ship you would be
charged under Australian law.
The same with any ship, the country of registration sets the rules.

SteeleRedux <For those touting here Sri Lanka as being all warm and cuddly to assuage their own guilt about Australia's actions may I remind you that less than a year ago both the Indian prime minister and his Canadian counterpart boycotted CHOGM in protest about past and continuing human rights abuses.>

Well then, India won't mind accepting the Tamils back into the
Tamil community in India then, or is the Australian government
coming up against a barrier with the Indian Authorities and that's
why they have to hand them back to the Dri Lankan government instead.

maybe the Indian government is a hypocrite when they protest against
human abuses not wishing to take the tamils back themselves?

Foxy <The Sri Lankan Government is one of the most brutal
regimes in Asis. A regime currently being
investigated by the UN for war crimes. We are handing the
persecuted back to the persecutors.>

Dear foxy,

I do agree that the Tamils would be safer being handed back
to the Tamil community in India. The bitter resentments from
the recent civil war in Sri Lanka are no doubt there on both sides.
Families killed by one side or the other still harbouring great hostility to the other side and with the Tamils being the
losers they will be at more risk of reprisal.

I have not seen however the Indian government putting up their hands
to take this ship load of 100 or so Tamils back to their bosom.

My heart went out to that beautiful little girl on one of the Tamil boats and I feel such sadness when I see the terror on the faces
of the little Syrian children as the bombs rain down around their
shelters and homes. The awful part is they know Mummy and Daddy can't protect them and they are terrified. I can picture myself as a child and the faces of my own grandchildren in the faces of those children.

Then the other side of the coin:-
This has been the way of mankind since time memorial. I know saving these people will not change
the nature of mankind and that saving the world poses a huge threat
to the countries that do it in the long term. We have already lost
10's of thousands of our young sons and daughters in peacekeeping
operations around the world, Maybe it is time to let other countries
sort out their own messes at their own cost in blood and mayhem instead 0f us trying to do it for them and failing.

It also changes the course of history which is something that couldn't
be done in past conflicts on the planet and I wonder what the
future consequences of that might be in centuries to come.

Dear Cherful,

Instead of blaming India why don't you ask Mr Morrison
if the Australian Government has even approached India
regarding taking these asylum seekers back.

Good luck with getting an answer from him though.
He can't comment on "operational matters!"

That's his excuse and he's sticking to it!
Which the Australian public is supposed to simply accept.
And we're supposed to be a democracy - not a totalitarian
state.

Dear SteeleRedux,

The way things are headed is very worrying.

The way the Government's message is dressed up to
attract us with the simple slogan of "We will stop the boats!"
is a smoke screen behind which lurks a philosophy that is
both hard to swallow and is causing this country a great deal
of harm. What's happened to social equity, compassion, or the
idea of an egalitarian society. That uniquely Australian
quality of, "We're-in-this-together-and-no-one-should-be-
considered-to-be-anything-other-than-equal" that's been an
integral part of politics in this country for decades.
It seems to be one that's rejected by
the current Government