Further shame on then Australian government

The federal government is closing down the Manus Island detention centre for people who tried to get into mainland Australia by illegal boat entry.  Several months ago they told the refugees that the centre would be closed and that they would have to move to other accommodation provided out in the wider Manus community.  The refugees refuse to move even though water, power and food are now no longer supplied to the detention centre with the closing date having passed.  The refugees claim that they are not safe in the wider Manus community.

The alternative accommodation has been provided but the government seems to have failed to encourage these refugees to move to it over an extended period of time. Part of what the government should have done is to liaise with the Manus authorities to ensure that it was safe for the refugees.  Somewhere, somehow the Australian government seems to have botched the whole thing.  Now the UN is accusing it of breaching its humanitarian charter commitments.

Come on government and the opposition parties get your bilateral act together.  Both sides of parliament are to blame for this whole situation.

Of course the cynics will claim that the refugees are putting it on in a last desperate bid to be allowed to settle in mainland Australia or to take up the offer of settlement in New Zealand.  Maybe this is true, but if so it should have been part of the longer term strategy to move the refugees into the alternative accommodation.  Doesn't look good for the Australian government.



May the Force be with us all!



GD

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

China

 China you are the respected neighbour of Australia.  We may have a pollie or two who are not wise with words when communicating with other countries. Nobody is perfect.  Forgiveness is the ultimate human virtue and a characteristic of mature countries.  We are way past the days of colonial imperialism when countries like Britain got too big for their boots thinking that they would make the world in their own image. China suffered from this as did the Australian Aborigines. We are moving in Australia to right the wrongs of this shameful past and China I am sure you observe this.  I am sure you understand The Uluru Statement from the Heart and the healing of Makarata as we understand and applaud how you have worked so hard to bring a higher standard of living to your people. China at the moment you seem bent on being punitive with your neighbour Australia. We are concerned about the loss of your friendship more than we are about any economic hardship you can crea...
Read more

Australia -China relationships

 What can one say as Australia's relationships with China plunge to new depths. Not sure that politically Australia's pollies understand fully the nuances of communicating with Asian nations, especially China. We made the mistake of setting off a chain of events by going out on our own and calling for an independent investigation on how the COVID19 virus got going in China.  We should have left this to the World Health Organisation.  I am sure China would have felt then and still does, concerned that the virus broke out in Wuhan.  They did not need to be reminded, but rather we should have embraced them with offers of concern and assistance if they needed it, offers to share genome sequencing of the virus rather than being seen to blame, even though blame was not part of the call we made. Having noted the above we have made decisions that have riled China in the context of national security, eg, banning Huawei from participating in the development and roll out of the...
Read more

Ex PM stirs the Liberal pot

Tony Abbott, who was ousted as Australian Prime Minister by the incumbent Malcolm Turnbull, declared after his defeat that he would not stir the pot.  He was quiet for a while but now is hard at his activities that can only be seen as undermining the Turnbull government.  Abbott claims that he is only trying to bolster the right wing conservatism of the Liberal party to keep it true to its foundation principles. Be that as it may our country has already been through this destabilisation with the Rudd, Gillard Labor Prime Ministerships.  We the great unwashed have had enough.  I for one don't want Tony Abbott back as he does not display the statesman like qualities that our PM should have.  Malcolm Turnbull has the statesman like qualities and deep down a real empathy for the Australian people.  He is hamstrung from within the right wing conservatism of the Liberal party room.  He is a successful businessman turned politician and still has a lot to le...
Read more