ID :
131328
Sun, 07/04/2010 - 17:39
Auther :

PM wants refugee debate without borders



Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants Australians to debate the issue of asylum seekers
freely, without the worry of political correctness.
Ms Gillard will announce new border protection measures this week, her next big
challenge after sorting out the mining tax.
Her cabinet is expected to meet and decide on a new direction before the
government's three-month suspension of Sri Lankan asylum seeker claims ends on
Thursday.
Ms Gillard on Sunday called for an open debate on the issue.
On a tour of bushfire-ravaged Marysville in Victoria, she told reporters the
discussion should be free of "self-censorship or political correctness".
"For people to say they're anxious about border security doesn't make them
intolerant, it certainly doesn't make them a racist, it means that they're
expressing a genuine view that they're anxious about border security," she said.
"By the same token, people who express concern about children being in detention,
that doesn't mean they're soft on border protection, that just means that they're
expressing a real human concern."
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was in Perth on Sunday to unveil a billboard showing
the latest number of asylum seeker boats that have reached Australian waters.
He told reporters Ms Gillard had helped shape Labor's "failed" policy and that only
the coalition could "stop the boats".
"I have a simple message to the Australian people, if you want to stop the boats
you've got to change the government," he said.
Authorities on Friday night intercepted the 75th boat to arrive in Australian waters
this year.
Its 34 passengers were being taken to Christmas Island.
Labor frontbencher Simon Crean said the government's new approach would focus more
on working with neighbouring countries and that Ms Gillard's tack would be
"sensible".
"She also understands it's terribly important that we develop a regional response;
we talk more effectively to our neighbours about how we address it," he told the
Nine Network.
His colleague Tony Burke hinted the government was unlikely to reinstate temporary
protection visas, as they had corresponded with a rise in the number of asylum
seekers.
"In terms of what the evidence would point to, there's some reasons why we went for
the policies we went for there," he told Sky News.
Also calling for more "honesty" in the debate was human rights lawyer Julian
Burnside, who urged Ms Gillard to be frank about the suspension of Afghan asylum
seeker claims, which has another three months to run.
Mr Burnside, in Adelaide for a forum on the issue, said most of the Afghan asylum
seekers attempting to live in Australia are fleeing the Taliban - whom Australian
soldiers are fighting.
"If they are fleeing our enemies surely we have an obligation to process their
claims for protection properly and treat them decently," he told reporters.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said she was "dreading" the
government's announcement this week.
"Julia Gillard is sending all the signals clearer than ever that she's prepared to
chase Tony Abbott down that low road of Howard-style politics and continue to beat
up on asylum seekers and refugees for political gain," she said.



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