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Canberra Today 20°/22° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Letters / ‘Unprincipled’ asylum-seeker policies

HISTORY is replete with the long-term catastrophic consequences of democracies abandoning moral positions for short-term gain or expediency.

quillInternational rule of law, like domestic, only survives when those most expected to uphold the laws do so. In implementing its current asylum-seeker policies, Australia has paid little regard to international laws on human rights and refugee conventions underwritten by the UN.

It has also disregarded the long-term interests of several of its neighbours. It will suffer long-term consequences.

It is not difficult to stir up resentment against Australia within less-privileged countries in our region. We increasingly need collaboration with these countries on a wide range of issues critical to Australia’s interests.

It is a terrible fact that many refugees die at sea. But as long as inequalities, poverty, wars, persecution, climate change, famine, natural disasters and the like occur, people will willingly risk their lives to come to countries like Australia.

Politicians would be misguided to think that the current refugee pause into Australia is anything but temporary.

No one can deny that sudden large-scale and unregulated migration causes social disruption, that it is costly to the Australian taxpayer, that those seeking to migrate to Australia outside the official channels undermine the orderly migration intake, and that refugee and asylum-seeker issues are usually political dynamite in Australia.

But these considerations do not justify the unprincipled asylum-seeker policies currently supported by both of the major political parties in the Australian parliament.

It defies imagination that our very capable intelligence services, police services and the new Australian Customs and Border Protection Service cannot hunt down and neutralise at source many or most of the real criminals in this arena, the people smugglers.

These agencies serve us so well in regards to such things as international terrorism and the trade in drugs, illicit firearms and such like. One can only imagine that there is a lack of will (or possibly imagination) on the part of these agencies’ political masters to task and resource them to really go hard after these people smugglers.

One suspects that Australia’s political parties either deliberately set out to use the refugee issue for political advantage (on the one hand) or (on the other hand) are cowered into supporting such policies in order to avert political disadvantage. Perhaps it is both?

Ross Sydney, Bruce

Don’t tell anyone, but…

I’d like to offer a comment in response to an item in “Canberra Confidential” (CN, May 14) in relation to dining critic Wendy Johnson struggling to find somewhere to lunch in Canberra on a Sunday afternoon.

Wendy could have tried the best thing happening in the food scene in Canberra at the moment, Two Before Ten in Aranda.

She would have found a lively café with outdoor seating to soak up the sun, and great food.

We don’t want to let too many people know about this great new place, though, in case there’s no room left for the locals!

Julie Hotchin, Aranda

Intrigued by Moore’s columns

I HAD been out of town recently and had missed the more recent Michael Moore columns. So I was intrigued by his “Thinking small’s big price” (CN, May 14), and his one on Cuba on April 30.

My public finance studies lead me to be sceptical of various claims. The book “Governomics” is more polemical than most. Yes, as I have often pointed out (from PPL to super and so on), there is scope for good policy, but comparing countries needs some allowances.

Australia’s public sector is smaller than many developed countries, but if you adjusted for the superannuation contributions, we are not that much smaller than many of them.

We are virtually alone in not having contributory social insurance or pension schemes. These differences are significant, and mean our systems are much more targeted and we don’t pay pensions to millionaires (which briefly happened under the Whitlam government).

Michael may want to fund things of all sorts so they are apparently “free” but, as the ALP found, the biggest beneficiaries of free tertiary education were the people from high socio-economic groups that would have gone anyway, but then paid nothing.

HECS was a product of a former university lecturer of mine, Bruce Chapman. It might take a long time to introduce some equity into the superannuation system, given the Labor Party’s construct of it, but cost may demand it eventually.

As for Cuba, they may have made their health system work well apparently, but their economy is virtually non-existent. Their share of government in GDP is some 67 per cent (although given the lack of market elements, who would really know).

Will there be more polemics next week?

M Gordon, Flynn

All the lonely people…

A GROWING number of our neighbours will face a lonely winter this year with as many as 7 per cent or 1.5 million Australians predicted to be considered isolated or very isolated this year.

Having friends around us makes us more resilient to life’s knocks and challenges.

Red Cross helps people of all ages who are doing it tough. We help isolated people reconnect with their communities by assisting them to join social groups and build new friendships. Red Cross also provides free phone calls to thousands of elderly Australians each day just to check they’re okay.

We help people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, those with mental health issues and disadvantaged families who want a better future for their children.

Across the Asia Pacific region we are working to provide clean drinking water and better sanitation, and help rebuild lives after major disasters.

All of our work relies heavily on the generosity of people like you who donate to Red Cross.

I’m asking everyone to dig deep before June 30 to make sure Red Cross will always be there for our friends and neighbours.

To make a tax-deductible donation call 1800 811700 or go to redcross.org.au.

Robert Tickner, chief executive, Australian Red Cross

 

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