BY SARAH STEPHEN
The ALP shut down its working party on refugee policy on November
12, after only two meetings. This is a substantial blow to Labor for Refugees,
which agreed to its members’ involvement in the working party in return
for a commitment not to discuss refugee policy at the special national
conference held October 5-6.
The October conference was billed by Labor leader Simon Crean as a step
towards democratising the party, reducing the influence of unions and factions
and giving members more of a say, so gagging any discussion about refugees
seemed a little odd. Crean got around this by arguing that as this was
a “rules” conference, it should not discuss policy.
Labor for Refugees ran a concerted campaign within the party to have
the refugee issue discussed at the conference. It collected over 2000 petition
signatures, and argued that, given a majority of state ALP branches had
passed motions supporting a different policy, members should be able to
discuss this at a national gathering. In mid-September, the Queensland
ALP administrative committee passed a motion, ignoring Crean’s pleas not
to, which called for the conference to debate the refugee issue.
On October 4, the day before the conference began, intense negotiations
between Crean, NSW left-wing frontbencher Anthony Albanese, NSW Labor Council
secretary John Robertson and others resulted in the compromise deal — to
include Labor for Refugees on a new policy committee and delay a final
decision on asylum-seeker policy until after a vote at the next national
conference.
While Robertson’s initial proposal was for a far more democratic committee,
set up from the conference, the national temporary working party of eight
members was appointed by the national executive, including Robertson and
Nick Martin from Labor for Refugees, the remainder made up largely of MPs.
A motion passed by the national executive committee on October 4 stated
that the “working party meet for the purposes of identifying and considering
the principles upon which the party’s refugee policy be formulated.”
ALP immigration spokeperson Julia Gillard told the November 8 Canberra
Times: “I always assumed it would be a very short-term job that would
take one or two meetings... The committee is not there to go through policy
... This process was to give Labor for Refugees and others with views and
expertise in this area an opportunity to make a contribution”.
The November 8 Canberra Times quoted Labor for Refugees sources,
who did not want to be named, saying, “We’re really hopeful that the leadership
will move” and “We didn’t go into this to be patted on the head or sidelined.”
In an article on the Canberra Refugee Action Committee (RAC) web site,
Martin wrote “mounting pressure created headlines right across the country
and forced the leadership into an historic compromise with its own rank
and file... Those who want to paint this as a loss are incorrect... [The
working group] was a huge win for the refugee rights movement.”
Green Left Weekly tried to contact both Robertson and Martin
for their reactions to the closure of the working group, but neither returned
our calls.
As Public Servants for Refugees activist Andrew Hall noted in a reply
to Martin, also on the Canberra RAC web site, “The committee is a sop to
distract Labor for Refugees activists from pursuing a more effective strategy:
maintaining and increasing mass pressure for policy change through public
displays of opposition to mandatory detention alongside the growing refugee-rights
movement.”
Canberra RAC expects Gillard to announce Labor’s refugee policy some
time in December, and will organise a snap protest against the policy on
the day it is released. Check their web site for details <http://www.refugeeaction.org/rac/labor>.
From Green Left Weekly, November 27, 2002.
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