As the government’s veil of secrecy is slowly being prised off we are now starting to hear of our wilful neglect of sick children, of babies kept in scorchingly hot dormitories with not even enough room to learn to crawl, of the removal of medicines, spectacles and hearing aids, the reports of torture, piracy and imprisonment in inhumane conditions. With the UNHCR up in arms over such barbarity, and even China is waving a disproving finger at our flagrant disregard for human rights and international law, the reality of what we are doing is starting to feel deeply and profoundly wrong, even to the most ignorant and cruel among us. Never in my life have I heard so many people declare that they are ASHAMED to be Australian; although this is hardly surprising, given our current treatment of refugees there is no measure by which we can convincingly place ourselves on the right side of history/humanity, and deep down we all know it. People are waking up to the fact that we have, with our unbridled selfishness and cruelty, stabbed deeply at the heart of our nation; and in so doing we have inflicted a wound so egregious that our national sense of decency is now slowly bleeding out. What both Abbott and Shorten fail to realise however, is that their current refugee policies are firmly aligned with yesterday’s spin, a story born of Howard’s post 9/11 political opportunism, and supported, up until now, by fear mongering, ignorance and misinformation. But the tide is turning, today that story is vacillating, tomorrow it will be outright rejected for the shamefully barbaric atrocity that it is. While I hold little hope that the coalition will shift on this issue, there is still time for Labor to cast a finger to the wind and feel the coming change in public sentiment. I for one hope that Labor can find the courage to come out swinging with a strong policy that favours decency, coupled with a powerful rhetoric that dispels the fear and economic irrationality that has surrounded the issue. yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/28888
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 02:05:31 +0000
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