Julia Gillard’s speech on boat people was a masterstroke in walking the line between left and right, hostility and empathy. But it moved way, way past a political dog whistle to something…wolfish, says Michelle Grattan.
Boat people
East Timor fix: costly & cruel
Julia Gillard’s asylum seeker announcement today is heavy on rhetoric and light on actual new policy — but the one announcement of substance is likely to cost taxpayers a lot.
Refugee lawyer: we can’t have a blanket approach to Sri Lankan asylum seekers
The federal government shouldn’t use the revised UN assessment of security in Sri Lanka to push for a blanket approach to the claims of asylum seekers, a leading refugee lawyer has warned.
graph pr0n Boat people: this is what you are “anxious” about
This week refugees, boat people and population growth have hit the headlines again. But what are the boat people statistics compared to the rest of the Australian population?
Bob Ellis: Some words of advice to Gillard’s chief of staff
The nation looks to the leader to see how to react to the boat people issue. So let’s not vilify them, burn their boats and lock them up, when we let others in with open arms, writes Bob Ellis.
Burnside: Who really needs protection in the asylum seekers debate?
Border control has long been a hotly contested debate in Australia, but the number of people who arrive by boat remains small and they may be people who desperately need our help, writes Julian Burnside.
Bartlett: Who exactly has been holding back in the asylum seeker debate?
It is very dispiriting to see yet another asylum seeker debate being driven by the same disregard for the human cost and the same disinterest in connecting the ‘debate’ to facts or reality, writes Andrew Bartlett.
Mungo MacCallum: Mungo: The fix is in, thanks to Gillard’s populist adhockery
Gillard is offering not leadership but populism, not vision but adhockery, not policy but fixes: whatever it takes. She has had her boost in the polls, and that, for the moment, is all that really matters.
How will Gillard deal with boat people?
Daily Media Wrap: In the latest attempt by Labor to mollify contentious issues in order to ‘clear the decks’ before this year’s federal election, the government is expected to announce this week - possibly as early as today - a rejigged policy on boat people.
Gillard’s first weekend on the job
Daily Media Wrap: The Australian media was littered with commentary over the weekend from an overstimulated press gallery as Julia Gillard began to settle into her new job as Australia’s first female PM.
Milne: Penrith loss is about boat people hate
If you think the swing against Labor in the Penrith by-election is just about NSW ALP and not Kevin Rudd and co, then you are a fool, says Glenn Milne. Western Sydney is worried about asylum seekers.
Bartlett: Lies and leaflets from the LNP
The Liberal National Party is constantly labelling asylum seekers and refugees as “illegal immigrants”. No point letting accuracy get in the way when an extra few votes can be won by inciting hatred, writes Andrew Bartlett.
Shanahan: The five problems niggling Rudd’s election itch
Rudd has five major issues threatening his re-election chances: asylum seekers, the insulation program, wastage in the BER, the mining tax and himself, writes Dennis Shanahan.
Hudson: Abbott tougher than Howard on boats
Tony Abbott wants boat people to be an election issue and his asylum seeker policy is a modified — and tougher — Pacific Solution. Abbott smells the votes, writes Phillip Hudson.
Will voters board the HMAS Border Control?
Daily Media Wrap: Tony Abbott wants to bring back Howard’s “Pacific Solution”, but will voters get on board? And will the Liberal Party’s moderates finally jump ship?
Memo, ‘Cockroach’ Kev, show some leadership on asylum
If people arrive here from Sri Lanka, there is a good chance they have fled a well-founded fear of persecution. They deserve a helping hand; not a deaf ear, writes Jake Lynch.
Here come the towelheads
The Coalition’s coordinated campaign to exploit xenophobia has hit its stride, with Cory Bernardi calling to “ban the burqa” and a new asylum seeker attack ad.
Keane’s analysis: asylum seekers dog the Government, and forget about tax rises
New polling data from Essential Research undermines the claim that people support higher taxes if they like what they’re spent on, and finds Australians rate the government’s management of asylum seekers very poorly.
Christmas Island a ‘ghetto’, but ‘dire’ Curtin could be worse
The “ghetto-like” Christmas Island detention centre is bursting at the seams as boat arrivals swell. But housing asylum seekers at the long-defunct Curtain facility could make conditions even worse, writes Elizabeth Redman.
How to stop Australia being racist
From Afghan refugees to Indian students, race issues have hit the headlines questioning Australia’s multiculturalism. But can a new official Cultural Diversity Statement, penned with the help of Don Watson, help address institutional racism?
Tamils vote for independence — and will vote against Labor
Australian’s Tamil community want an independent homeland in Sri Lanka. And they want respect from a federal government here that is now denying visa applications to their people.
Crikey Says: Classy, real classy Tony
Tony Abbott isn’t a big social media user. He doesn’t tweet much. But he was quick to tweet the Coalition’s border protection billboard. Oh good, a return to grubby politicking over vulnerable people.
Sheridan: Stop the boats!
The old Howard classic “We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come” is still the best refugee policy for this country and Kevin Rudd is slowly realising it, writes Greg Sheridan.
Hating Alison Ashley and all of the other young people
with the Fox News Interpretive Dance Armadillo
Why did the Merak asylum seekers get off their boat?
Yesterday saw an end to the stand-off between Indonesian immigration officials and over a hundred Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have been on a boat at the port of Merak since October. So how were they convinced to leave? asks Crikey intern Elizabeth Redman.
