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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/20/rudd-asylum-seekers-day-of-shame
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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Asylum seekers: Australia's day of shame | Asylum seekers: Australia's day of shame |
| (2 days later) | |
| Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? | Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? |
| Expediency ask the question, is it politic? | Expediency ask the question, is it politic? |
| Vanity asks the question, is it popular? | Vanity asks the question, is it popular? |
| But conscience ask the question, is it right? | But conscience ask the question, is it right? |
| - Martin Luther King Jr | - Martin Luther King Jr |
| Australians think of themselves as decent people who give others a fair go. We shine when we help each other after disasters. Everyone feels good about pitching in to get through a bad time. | Australians think of themselves as decent people who give others a fair go. We shine when we help each other after disasters. Everyone feels good about pitching in to get through a bad time. |
| That’s why Friday was a day of national shame. | |
| Our prime minister abandoned the fair go for desperate people seeking asylum in our country, and instead made his election pitch by outsourcing their suffering to Papua New Guinea, one of our poorest neighbours. | Our prime minister abandoned the fair go for desperate people seeking asylum in our country, and instead made his election pitch by outsourcing their suffering to Papua New Guinea, one of our poorest neighbours. |
| Far from “boundless plains to share”, Australia has sent a message to the world that we are a closed community willing to pay off anyone to get rid of an electoral problem. It’s Labor to the rotten core. It shames us all, because we are better than that. | Far from “boundless plains to share”, Australia has sent a message to the world that we are a closed community willing to pay off anyone to get rid of an electoral problem. It’s Labor to the rotten core. It shames us all, because we are better than that. |
| But who cares about people fleeing persecution and sending them to Papua New Guinea – a country with the second highest maternal death rate in the world – when the result is the wrong footing of Tony Abbott? Abbott doesn’t know what to say. That’s because Rudd has well and truly leap-frogged him in a race to the bottom. | But who cares about people fleeing persecution and sending them to Papua New Guinea – a country with the second highest maternal death rate in the world – when the result is the wrong footing of Tony Abbott? Abbott doesn’t know what to say. That’s because Rudd has well and truly leap-frogged him in a race to the bottom. |
| The agreement the prime minister has signed with Papua New Guinea is ruthless. Dangling cash in front of a desperately poor country to do the impossible is wrong. As if Papua New Guinea can resettle refugees safely with its high levels of corruption, violence and its low per capita income of around $2,000. | The agreement the prime minister has signed with Papua New Guinea is ruthless. Dangling cash in front of a desperately poor country to do the impossible is wrong. As if Papua New Guinea can resettle refugees safely with its high levels of corruption, violence and its low per capita income of around $2,000. |
| A rich country like Australia paying off our poorest neighbour to take desperate refugees is passing the buck, and a legally questionable abrogation of our responsibilities to people and the international community. It’s not a regional solution, but a radical, hard-line response. | A rich country like Australia paying off our poorest neighbour to take desperate refugees is passing the buck, and a legally questionable abrogation of our responsibilities to people and the international community. It’s not a regional solution, but a radical, hard-line response. |
| The government can't have it both ways. Papua New Guinea can’t be both a deterrent and an appropriate and safe place to permanently resettle refugees. | The government can't have it both ways. Papua New Guinea can’t be both a deterrent and an appropriate and safe place to permanently resettle refugees. |
| Last night I was asked what message the new policy would send to people smugglers. The very question highlights how distorted the debate has become through a slinging match between the Labor and Coalition parties. The right question to ask is, what message is it sending to the rest of the world and to refugees? | Last night I was asked what message the new policy would send to people smugglers. The very question highlights how distorted the debate has become through a slinging match between the Labor and Coalition parties. The right question to ask is, what message is it sending to the rest of the world and to refugees? |
| The whole point here is that the old parties are talking about this as a problem of border security. It is not. Our borders are not threatened. | The whole point here is that the old parties are talking about this as a problem of border security. It is not. Our borders are not threatened. |
| This is about Australia taking care of people who are seeking asylum in our country. The heart of this problem is the well being of fellow human beings. People like us. People with children and families. People who have a hope for a better life free from violence, persecution and fear. These people should be at the centre of the debate. Remember our young Australian of the year, Akram Azimi. Refugees like him have helped to make our nation as prosperous as it is today. | This is about Australia taking care of people who are seeking asylum in our country. The heart of this problem is the well being of fellow human beings. People like us. People with children and families. People who have a hope for a better life free from violence, persecution and fear. These people should be at the centre of the debate. Remember our young Australian of the year, Akram Azimi. Refugees like him have helped to make our nation as prosperous as it is today. |
| This cynical and heartless policy will cost Australian taxpayers billions, but the greatest expense is to people’s lives, to our values of fairness and compassion and to our future. | This cynical and heartless policy will cost Australian taxpayers billions, but the greatest expense is to people’s lives, to our values of fairness and compassion and to our future. |
| What Rudd should have announced is an end to deterrence and an admission that it does not work. He should have committed to a genuine regional approach that cares for refugees with the kind of political leadership shown after the Vietnam war. | What Rudd should have announced is an end to deterrence and an admission that it does not work. He should have committed to a genuine regional approach that cares for refugees with the kind of political leadership shown after the Vietnam war. |
| We should commit to an emergency humanitarian intake from Indonesia and Malaysia of at least 3,800 as recommended last year by the Houston Panel. Resettling up to 10,000 refugees from there would help desperate people understand that there are safer options than leaky boats. | We should commit to an emergency humanitarian intake from Indonesia and Malaysia of at least 3,800 as recommended last year by the Houston Panel. Resettling up to 10,000 refugees from there would help desperate people understand that there are safer options than leaky boats. |
| Rudd's announcement is a rush to the right, a rush to refugee cruelty and a rush to the polls. But let's remember we are facing a global humanitarian emergency, not a national emergency. The Greens will treat it as such. | Rudd's announcement is a rush to the right, a rush to refugee cruelty and a rush to the polls. But let's remember we are facing a global humanitarian emergency, not a national emergency. The Greens will treat it as such. |