Immigration, refugees
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Morrison Government’s high risk visa switch for migrant meatworkers
We are on a very slippery slope with these visas towards the slavery-like conditions that have existed for migrant workers in North America and Europe for decades. Continue reading »
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Fixing Immigration: five things an incoming Labor government could do
Labor, if elected, has a big job ahead of it in fixing the immigration shambles that the Coalition has created in nearly 9 years of office. Continue reading »
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The repeated lie that Morrison stopped the boats. An updated repost from March 11, 2021
Our corporate media will not acknowledge that Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison did not stop the boats. Despite clear evidence, the Canberra Press Gallery fell for the spin. With a tame media and cooperation by the military, the big lie was repeated time and time again and became accepted as fact. This was all before Donald Trump Continue reading »
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Kenny Stancil: Copycat Cruelty – The Australian solution – Britain to send refugees to Rwanda
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s move to deport asylum-seekers to another country thousands of miles away will “only lead to more human suffering, chaos, and at huge expense to the U.K.,” said one refugee advocate Continue reading »
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The cry of refugees
The Coalition remains committed to detaining asylum seekers in Australia if they have arrived by boat without a visa. The Labor Party has not made any commitment to cease such detention. Continue reading »
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Home affairs misleads Senate on Djokovic case
The responses Home Affairs officials recently gave to Senate Estimates on the Department’s handling of the Novak Djokovic case were a mixture of smoke and mirrors overlaid by outright misinformation. Continue reading »
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A refugee deal with NZ after nine years of cruelty
The sickening cynicism of the Morrison government is never far from view. Continue reading »
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How many refugees will drown at Bhasan Char in Bangladesh?
Over 20,000 Rohingya refugees have been recently moved to Bhasan Char, and are at risk of drowning. Continue reading »
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Smoke and mirrors: Afghans neglected in Australia’s humanitarian program
Far from holding out a helping hand to Afghans left stranded by the withdrawal of foreign troops, Australia has been even less generous than normal. Continue reading »
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Long-term immigration detention has again become a pointless exercise in cruelty
The Howard government released long-term detainees into the community, but the current Coalition government refuses to do so for political reasons. Continue reading »
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The torture of asylum seekers has twisted our perceptions of right and wrong
A whistleblower on the horrors of Manus Island laments the passing of an Australia that was welcoming, kind and caring. Continue reading »
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Djokovic case highlights need for change in how we check vaccination status
With international travel ramping up, changes to passenger visa checks should already be in place — and could’ve prevented the Djokovic debacle. Continue reading »
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Don’t tangle with Border Force? Lessons from the Djokovic mess
Only the wealthy stand a chance of overturning the arbitrary rulings of Border Force officials. Ordinary detainees and their visitors stand no chance. Continue reading »
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Save the Kabul Peace House, save the people of Afghanistan
Australia has allocated 3000 places for Afghan refugees. In October, the number of applicants exceeded 100,000. So far no Afghans have been resettled. Continue reading »
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What a shambles: a tangled net for Scott Morrison and Novak Djokovic
The debacle surrounding the tennis ace is good media fodder. Chiefly, it shows that Morrison’s right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. Continue reading »
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Whether running immigration or being PM, Morrison fiddles the books
Using income tax receipts to offset departmental spending undermines good government. But that doesn’t faze this government. Continue reading »
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Australia’s incoherent visa system needs urgent repair
Strong jobs growth will hinge on high levels of net migration, so the next government must act to streamline the system and fine-tune the settings. Continue reading »
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Jailed Danish politician exemplifies growing anti-refugee populism
Denmark’s former immigration minister has been jailed for separating refugee couples — but her actions did not lack parliamentary approval. Continue reading »
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The West helped create the conditions that force asylum seekers to cross the Channel
Economic sanctions on Middle Eastern countries targets civilians and turns them into refugees — and they head for Europe, not the US. Continue reading »
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Our migration program: many questions with no answers
Consultations with the public on immigration have been rendered meaningless, and Home Affairs appears unable to provide any detail on its plans. Continue reading »
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A bitter fruit: wage slavery is alive and well in Australian heartland
In a regional city, an army of undocumented workers toil for dishonest labour-hire firms while the government turns a blind eye. Barbara Kelly explains. Continue reading »
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Government’s brazen disregard for non-discriminatory migration program
By fast-tracking migration for Hong Kong passport holders, the government is abandoning its long-time non-discrimination principle. Continue reading »
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Australia has a moral duty to the people of Afghanistan
As home to the fourth largest population of Hazaras in the world, Australia has a responsibility to protect the Hazaras in Afghanistan. Continue reading »
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The overseas student and immigration nexus: Where to now?
As the government faces pressure to bring overseas students back into the country, if it wants a high-quality education sector it should be wary of those only interested in maximising student numbers and short-term profits. Continue reading »
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Asylum seeker scam continues to drive down migrant workers’ rights
After sitting on the August 2021 report on asylum seekers for around a fortnight, Home Affairs Minister Alex Hawke at last allowed the report to be made public at the end of September. Continue reading »
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Reaching 80% vaccination isn’t the same for all communities. The vulnerable will continue to suffer.
The NSW government has made much of the promise that something good will happen when localities achieve 80 per cent of second jabs of eligible people. But not all numbers are equal. Continue reading »
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In Afghanistan, even good news stories raise questions about government failure
Heart-warming stories of people escaping Afghanistan to Australia keep coming. But why are we issuing urgent visas to athletes with no connection to Australia? Continue reading »
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Crocodile tears by Morrison over plight of Afghans
The Taliban advance was swift; that was the point at which the Australian evacuation of at-risk personnel and their families should have begun. . Hiding behind ‘intelligence’ is a poor excuse. US intelligence relating to Afghanistan has been as bad as their intelligence on Vietnam. Continue reading »
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The Americanisation of Australia’s agriculture labour market
Minister Littleproud will know that like their counterparts in the USA, farmers in Australia have become increasingly accustomed to using asylum seekers and the rapidly growing cohort of unsuccessful asylum seekers for cheap and easily exploitable labour. Continue reading »
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Bad laws, not lawyers, lead to injustice: a response to Stuart Rees
On 19 August, Pearls & Irritations published a piece by Stuart Rees titled “Biloela and Assange: compliance with governments, not justice”. While I generally agree with Stuart, there was a misconception at the heart of his piece. Continue reading »