Abbott And Greens Want It Both Ways On Immigration

Abbott and Greens want it both ways on Immigration

Thursday, 19 July 2012 05:36

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• The article below was published on the ABC's online blog, The Drum, 26 July 2012

During the House of Representatives debate that sought to prevent the further drowning of asylum seekers, I frankly admitted I’d been wrong. Wrong not to support at least an element of offshore processing. Wrong not to recognise the potential for a humane regional processing of asylum seekers, as Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke did following the Vietnam War.

Julie Bishop negotiates with the Greens to torpedo Asylum Seekers compromise (Oakshott Amendment) House of Reps 28th of June

The Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has cut a humane deal with the Malaysian Government where Australia would receive 4,000 refugees for resettlement and up to 800 boat asylum seekers would be transferred to Malaysia but would have legal status, the right to employment, and the right to education (among other rights).  Bowen’s successful negotiation promoted an effective disincentive to the ruthless business of the people smugglers.

The UNHCR approved the ‘Malaysia Arrangement’ and agreed to undertake processing and protection measures under it.  The International Organization for Migration also agreed to support returnees under the Arrangement.

Asylum seekers arriving by boat will go to the back of the 80,000 refugees’ queue waiting in Malaysian refugee camps there.  Wasting thousands of dollars on a boat then being returned to Malaysia would undo the attraction of people smugglers. This is not the case with Nauru where there are no other refugees. Most asylum seekers sent there in the Howard period ended up in Australia. Not much equity or deterrence there.

Given the stakes in human lives, it is indeed tragic that the intransigence of the Greens and Liberals has prevented the implementation of Prime Minister Gillard’s pragmatic response to the asylum seekers’ crisis and the unexpected decision of the judicial activists on the High Court.

It was more than a spirit of compromise that saw the government recently offer to reopen the processing centre on Nauru, despite the $350 million re-establishment cost. The Gillard Government accepted the dire need to address the deaths at sea of hundreds of helpless refugees with all means at hand. Our offer sought to build on the policy initiatives of ourselves and the Liberals, and so begin to rebuild the Nauru facilities whilst immediately implementing the Malaysian solution. This was roundly and peremptorily dismissed by Mr. Abbott. For the Liberals and the Greens, whose rejectionist opposition to the non- partisan compromise (the Oakshott Bill) thwarts any reasonable response to the loss of life at sea; it is their way or no way. If the Bill had passed, we would now be sending unauthorised arrivals to Malaysia and the people-smugglers’ incentive for asylum seekers to use would end. Please see Danby's speech, 'Abbott and the Greens Let Asylum Seekers Down'

For different motives, Tony Abbott (with support from the Greens in the Senate) wants to keep the “boat people” issue alive for the coming Federal election. The Liberals seems to mainly care only about the political consequences for the Coalition.

Senator Hanson-Young and the Greens are equally to blame for this intransigence.   Working closely with the Liberals, and yet again posturing the higher ground of humanitarianism. ”.  Shamefully last week the Australian Young Greens advocated the use of the “refugee issue” to boost its recruitment. Worse, the Green politician who was elected on Abbott preferences, Adam Bandt, extols the Green Political Party’s “humanitarianism” in a letter to constituents.  That letter states that the Greens’ plan is to “care for and save the lives of refugees right now”.  But right now people’s lives are being risked on dangerous boat journeys.  The Greens’ leader Milne and her buddy Hanson-Young now say they will ignore the expert panel’s advice if it includes any element of offshore processing.
Tony Abbott and the Coalition have broken a long-established convention of bipartisan policy on immigration issues. During a previous upsurge of boat arrivals, Labor supported the actions of the Howard Government, including his refusal to allow the hijacked Norwegian freighter, MV Tampa, to land in Australia.

Labor has voted with the Coalition in Parliament against the numerous motions on foreign policy, defence and other matters of national interest supported by the Greens. There have been more than 150 divisions on foreign policy, defence and immigration issues since 2002 in which Labor has sided with the Coalition against extremist Green positions. This obviously doesn’t accord with the Murdoch media’s mirage that Labor is supposed to be in Bob Brown’s pocket!

We must be prepared to separate contrived populist talkback hysteria from the facts. Of course a solution must be found to the appalling loss of life at sea and the increasing arrival of boats, but we should not succumb to lies that distort the foundation of the debate and any opportunity for reasoned compromise. Extra refugees are not flooding our country; in fact boat people are deducted from the 13,700 people slated annually by the humanitarian immigration quota. Yes, the government closed down the Howard Government’s detention camps on Nauru and Manus, but we replaced them with a centre on Christmas Island. It’s true that Labor scrapped the ineffective system of Temporary Protection Visas, which by cutting immigration detainees off from their families actually created an incentive for attempts to reach Australia illegally by sea.

These changes made no difference to the basics of our policy: interception at sea, mandatory detention, speedy processing. What was missing was regional processing to deal with the surge in refugee movements that are taking place all over the world – not just in our region. That was what the PM proposed at the 2010 election, and what we negotiated with Malaysia in 2011.
The Milne/Hanson-Young Green political party have the balance of power in the Senate. Legislation for offshore processing can only be passed with Coalition support. Tony Abbott claims to support offshore processing, but he has cynically used his parliamentary numbers to block the necessary legislation, on the spurious ground that sending unauthorised arrivals to Malaysia violates rights that have already been guaranteed by the Malaysian government when it agreed to the refugee swap.

The record shows that on the conservative side of politics, only Malcolm Turnbull and Greg Hunt ever cited the refugee convention or human rights in Malaysia before Bowen and Gillard brokered an arrangement with Kuala Lumpur. The bogus concern with human rights in Malaysia from Abbott and the Liberals came after Labor had formulated a viable policy, sabotaged by the Liberals to extract political advantage. They have done this by blocking any resolution and exploiting the fears of the swing voters such as the Howard battlers afraid of a “Muslim” boat people invasion.

Tony Abbott won’t stop playing wedge party politics. Now the carbon price is bedded down, Boat People are his principal electoral card. A dog whistle to the Howard battlers in Qld and NSW, Abbott is counting on the view that the punters don’t follow the detail that the Greens and Abbott are using their Senate majority to block effective action to legislate for orderly arrivals and hopefully move to stop the drowning. Australian’s just want the Government to fix it. Meanwhile the people smugglers smack their lips and hapless refugees drown.  Expect nothing of Abbott but let’s hope the unfavourable reaction the Greens are getting from voters will cause a reversal of their hard line. Abbott’s position is damaging to Australia’s reputation. My hope is many of the disaffected Labor voters who constitute the bulk of Green support will see through the consequences of their zeal. Let’s hope that pressure works before more Hazaras and others die in the Indian Ocean.