The Xenophobic monster in Australians stirred up by former Prime Minister John Howard and then Attorney General Phillip Ruddock in 2001 with the infamous ‘children overboard’ and their barbaric ‘Pacific Solution’ is still alive and well within the Liberal party.
The sentiment is no less nauseating today and that the Liberals still hold these ideals is incredulous to me. It is evident that the Liberals do still see political mileage in whipping up paranoia over border protection and the arrival of hoards of asylum seekers by boat, otherwise known as boat people.
The Liberals are claiming that Labor has gone soft on border protection.
The Liberals claim is deplorable opportunistic politicking. Here are the facts.
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Total number of asylum seekers who arrived in Australia last year: 4750
Number who arrived by boat: 179
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Thats right, right 96.24% of asylum seekers who arrived in Australia last year came by plane.
Just look at what we are spending the detention centres on Nauru, Christmas Island, Manus Island as part of the Howard governments ‘Pacific Solution’.
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Amount of money spent on the Pacific Solution from 2002 – 2007 : More than $1 billion
Cost to process an asylum seeker in Nauru, Manus and Christmas Island: more than $500,000 per person
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This is the money we are spending now on detention centres:
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Australia spent$142 million on detention in 07-08:
Australia will spend $120 million on detention in 08-09:
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On top of that we spend 10’s of millions of dollars on naval patrols. So far in 2009:
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Number of refugee boats intercepted this year coming to Australia is just 6
Asylum seekers found at sea off Australia so far this year is 221
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While this number is up, we are hardly being overrun by asylum seekers, in fact it just reflects what is happening globally.
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The latest report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says asylum applications in Australia increased by 19 per cent last year, from 3980 to 4750. ….. total refugee flows to Australia are much smaller than those experienced by other countries.
The UNHCR statistics show the Australian increase is part of a global trend. Refugee numbers started rising again in 2007 and last year total asylum applications in industrialised countries went up by 12 per cent. The increase for Australia of 19 per cent was above the average but much smaller than Finland’s 181 per cent.
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The only story in the Ashmore Reef disaster is the tragic plight of the asylum seekers hurt or killed.
Liberals and any politician who seek to revive the ugly Australian Xenophobic monster & gain political mileage out of this event – exclude themselves from what I’d categorize as a ‘ decent human being’ . Contemptible is the word that springs to mind.
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