I get a fair number of emails from people who dont much like my campaign to restore decency to our refugee policy. It seems like we are in denial, no matter how flagrant our human rights abuses become. Here is an email I received this morning: “Can I ask you a question... Say for instance Australia was 30km from central Africa... so we know what will happen next.. you are a QC you should be able to work it out... the test of the robustness of a argument/policy is to test it with an extreme.. if it stands it is solid... if it falls it is junk. If we follow your policies you are pushing down our thoughts via media and especially the tax funded ABC, Australia will be flooded with millions.. yes millions of asylum seekers.. just Rwanda alone would have produced that.. and that is just a drop in the bucket. So my question to you is... in the above scenario.. will you prevail with your policies/opinions? Regards, [xxxx]” My response: “Dear [xxxx] I disagree with your thesis that the test of the robustness of an argument/policy is to test it with an extreme. It does not test a theory to assume impossible facts. We are surrounded by an ocean; travelling across that ocean is difficult and dangerous. That probably explains why we do not have millions of impoverished Indonesians flocking here. Your argument is that we would be overwhelmed by refugees if we were 30km from central Africa. But we aren’t and even a billion years of tectonic plate shifting will not put us there. Maybe you should consider what our present policies are doing to our national reputation and (more importantly) to our national character. We are now a country which is willing (even eager, in Scott Morrison’s case) to be cruel to men, women and children who have done nothing worse than ask us to protect them from persecution. Is this the way we should be? Are you proud that (just in case central Africa is only 3o km away) we have about 1000 children in detention, as a warning to others not to come looking for help? If you and your family faced the risk of being tortured or killed, would you think it right or decent if another country jailed you for trying to escape persecution? Put yourself in the shoes of the refugees and ask what you would do if you faced the horrors they face. In short, ask yourself whether the fanciful scenario you put to me is just an excuse for selfishness. Very best wishes...”
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 01:46:54 +0000
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