Bernard Keane offers the Prime Minister a few thoughts on how to resolve the Oceanic Viking stand-off.
Refugees
New York Times: Australia fears boat people from Asia
How does the world view Australians following to our treatment of refugees? Here’s the New York Times’s take: “Australia Puts Its Refugee Problem on a Remote Island, Behind Razor Wire”. Super.
Kerr: Rudd gets in a refugee spin
Rudd’s refugee media blitz is just confusing voters, because they don’t want confusing jargon filled explanations, they just want action. Kevin Rudd needs to dump the political cliches and rethink his media strategy, writes Christian Kerr.
Rudd throws water on the asylum seeker flames
Kevin Rudd isn’t fighting the Opposition over refugees, he’s battling the media, and desperately attempting to depoliticise the issue. Look for the telltale Rudd fear fuelled top lip disappearance.
Pilger: The great Australian silence
Australia would never treat a shipload of white people fleeing catastrophe the way we’re treating asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, said John Pilger in his City of Sydney lecture.
Let’s not abandon them to die at sea
Another boat has sunk, leaving desperate asylum seekers to drown in their attempts to get a better life. Amongst all the tough talking and negotiations with Indonesia, we mustn’t forget ourselves as a civilised nation, writes Tony Kevin.
Sheridan: Being hypocritical appears to be the Australian Solution
So, Indonesia did Australia a favour by agreeing to take boat people and house them in their detention centres and all they’ve got from it is a bunch of bad publicity? Time for the lefties to get over the fanatical hypocrisy and stop supporting people smugglers, writes Greg Sheridan.
Tough new restrictions on visits to detention centres
Serco — the company behind troubled UK immigration detention centres and prisons and now the contractor in Australia — has introduced a tough new regime to inhibit visitors to Australian detention centres, writes Trish and John Highfield.
Don’t kid yourself Kev, it’s not just the refugees
Yesterday’s damning Newspoll result wasn’t just because of the government’s “tough but humane” rhetoric on asylum seekers. What about all the other stuff ups by the Rudd government like climate change, Timor Sea oil spill and supporting a corrupt Afghan government?
Costello: I agree with Rudd on refugees, stand tough
It’s easy to criticise government policy on asylum seekers from the comfort of your middle class life, which will never see the inside of a leaky boat. We need to take a clear stand against people smugglers, says Peter Costello.
Eva Cox: Rudd losing high moral glow
There has been a lot of speculation about the causes of the big drop in the government’s popularity writes Eva Cox. Is it because it Kevin Rudd’s morals have disappeared and we see he’s just another expedient political animal?
Crikey Says: A late scratching for Abbott
Eleven people are missing, perhaps lost at sea, off the Cocos Islands. One is confirmed dead. Who does Tony Abbott choose to blame?
Why do we keep all the disabled kids out?
All immigrants to Australia must pass a health check. Fair enough, except the health conditions favour those from wealthy countries and disadvantage children. Australia views immigrant disabled kids as just a large medical bill.
Possum: The first big poll on asylum seekers
The long awaited polling on public perceptions of the asylum seeker issue is in, finding 52% think the Government is too weak on border protection and 66% support the decision to turn back boats. Possum Comitatus has more.
How will history judge Rudd?
Kevin Rudd cares deeply for his historical legacy, but it’s not yet time to pen History of Rudd the Great. Refugee policy, preventative health and tax changes will all mark his prime ministership, says Josh Gordon.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The distressing asylum seeker debate
Strong emotions about the asylum seeker debate brings out an ugly side of the Australian character, writes one Crikey reader on the refugee hysteria. Plus, how accurate were Brian Burke and Alan Carpenter comparisons?
Mungo MacCallum: Mungo: Tough stance on boat people borders on the ridiculous
“Border protection” — the very phrase is ominous. It evokes a country under siege, its frontiers threatened by the rampaging armies of Attila the Hun. No wonder our politicians feel that they have to be tough about it.
Sheehan: 10 reasons why Australia isn’t racist
After copping flack for a column on refugees, Paul Sheehan lists the top ten arguments for why Australia isn’t a xenophobic nation. Like, Howard let more Muslims in than anyone.
Hartcher: Rudd spears the centre while the Opposition misses the target
Kevin Rudd’s handling of asylum seekers is a pure numbers game, says Peter Hartcher. Rudd’s aiming at the centre because the lefties will just vote Labor anyway. Lucky for him, the Opposition have forgotten their audience.
Downer: The delight I feel watching Rudd mess it up
Alexander Downer is loving the schadenfreude of seeing Kevin Rudd battle Indonesia over asylum seekers. He should have learnt from Tampa that negotiating with Indonesia on refugees is never a good idea.
Best to stay on the boat and avoid Indonesia’s corruption
Indonesia has a notoriously corrupt justice system, yet we have agreed to send innocent people seeking asylum in Australia there. Angela Dewan explores the overcrowded, under funded and crooked Indonesian jails.
Sri Lanka inadvertently throws Tamils a lifeline
Disparaging comments about Tamil asylum seekers by the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia makes it almost certain they will meet the criteria of the Refugee Convention, even if they didn’t before, writes Andrew Bartlett.
Enough of the hysteria … refugees are good for us
Accepting more refugees and boat people into the country is one of the greatest contributions Australia can make to improving the world around us and enhancing our own living standards, writes Sinclair Davidson.
Electoral politics are more important than the Refugee Convention?
The Indonesian Solution is significantly better diplomatically, but significantly worse for refugees, writes Michael O’Keefe. Refugees won’t enter Australian waters and will be stuck at the same refugee processing point as when they left their homes.
No more Cronulla beach anti-immigration rage
It’s not Kevin Rudd’s immigration policies or public opinion that have changed, just the media’s treatment of the government’s actions. The media has bizarrely flip flopped this week into the morality police.
