Politics at its Best

Some really good things happen in the Australian Parliament at times.  But sadly they receive little media coverage, because the stories aren’t as immediately exciting as some of the more tawdry events.

For example, how many column-inches, how much air-time has been wasted on the “Ute-Gate” saga about fake emails, and prime-ministerial favours to political donors?

One story worthy of far more attention than it received was the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill.

In 1992, the then Labor Government, with the support of the Liberal / National opposition, introduced a law which placed Assylum Seekers (men, women and children) in Mandatory Detention, and made them liable for the cost of that detention.  This meant when a detainee was eventually deported, or released, he or she was presented with an invoice for the cost of that detention.  An amount which could easily run into tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes even exceeding one hundred thousand dollars.  This, in a country where we don’t charge rapists, murderers and other criminals the cost of their detention – regardless of their nationality.

These people came to our shores for help, and we were treating them worse than criminals.

The mandatory detention policy continued under Coalition Governments througout the Howard Years.  It wasn’t until 2009 that the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill 2009 was introduced by the current Labor government.  Sadly, the bill wasn’t supported on a bi-partisan basis, and the Liberals and Nationals did not support it.

But to their credit, four Liberal members voted against their party, and supported the bill: Petro Georgiou, Russell Broadbent, Judi Moylan and Danna Vale.  Although you might not often do it, I’d recommend you read their speeches.  It’s good stuff, and helps underline the fact that we do have decent human beings in the parliament, who care about justice, and doing the right thing:

At Home At Last

Full marks to new Labor Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, for granting permanent residency to Robert Jovcic

Jovcic was a victim of the previous goverments heartless immigration policy, which left him homeless and sleeping on the steps of the Australian Embassy in Belgrade.

Minister Evans says that this was “one of a number of regrettable immigration matters the new Government is rectifying”.

It’s great news.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/23/2170552.htm

Deport McGauran, not the Vaingolos Family

Peter McGauran must have rocks in his head to deport the Vaingolos family for visa infringements that occurred almost 2 decades ago.

Mafi and Hiki Vaingolos came to Australia just under 20 years ago on tourist visas. Since then they overstayed, married and have had 4 children. The eldest, Keliti, is a 14 year old boy who has shown outstanding sporting and acedemic achievments at Sydney’s prestigious Newington College.

Their last chance to stay in Australia was an appeal to junior citizenship minister, Peter McGauran, who said “The Government is not going to reward people who knowingly and deliberately flout Australia’s immigration laws and avoid detection for many years.

My guess is that unlike his relatively articulate predecessor, Philip Ruddock, Pete is finding the job a bit challenging. Rather than use scarce brain cells thinking about the issue, it’s much easier just to say “no”. Almost all the time. In fact of the 740 cases that have come to is short little span of attention since the election, he’s only intervened 27 times.

And so, the junior minister who prides himself on the “Pro Family” policies of his party is breaking up the Vaingolos family. Mafi, Hiki and their two youngest children have to leave the country by the end of March, while the older children Keliti and Na’a are now Australian citizens and are allowed to stay.

Good on ya Pete. It’s a literal “no-brainer”. No need to think about it. Say “no” and send those illegals back to where they came from. Split the family up even though they paid their taxes, supported their local church, and (in Keliti’s case) were chosen to play sport for Australia.

Brilliant! Especially considering the government is raising its skilled migrant intake because of a local skills shortage. (See ABC news article http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1315485.htm)

Obviously there’s a skills shortage in competent citizenship ministers. Perhaps we should deport the current plodder and get a real one.