Transcript
Labor welcomes the withdrawal of the controversial Migration Bill.
Every member of the Labor Party was lined up to vote against it and it seems at least one Liberal was prepared to cross the floor in the Senate.
The withdrawal of this appalling Migration Bill relating to the processing of asylum seekers offshore and without the protections of Australian law is a victory for all Australians who opposed this Bill.
It is also a victory of Australian sovereignty over John Howard’s eagerness to pander to pressure from Indonesia.
Everything about this Bill was wrong. You don’t lock up children offshore. You don’t detain people indefinitely and you don’t deny people access to appropriate mental health care. If every country did that to potential refugees and asylum seekers, there would be chaos.
The Prime Minister has made a habit of appealing to the worst human instincts and the withdrawal of the Bill is a sign that even some on his own party members are no longer willing to stomach his callous approach to vulnerable people in need.
3 Comments
Reply | Subscribe
Hey there Kate…and staff. Stumbled across this blog this arvo. Wonderful stuff. I’ll keep on coming back to have a squizz. Good onya. Talk to you again soon.
Hi, just came on over the Senator Andrew Bartlett’s blog. It’s great to see more Australian pollies “getting online”. Good luck with your blog!
Senator – Congratulations on the Blog – I hope it is a habit that spreads within the senate. Andrew Bartlett’s blog has always been an excellent source of information and stimulus for debate and I hope your will be too.
It was good to see the withdrawal of the bill and to see some independance from individual senators on the issue – a good reminder of what proper function of the senate I thought.