Nick Everett, Canberra

“We got it wrong” on refugees, Kel Watt, the Labor candidate for the federal seat of Eden-Monaro, told an August 12 public forum in the south-east NSW town of Braidwood, organised by the local branch of Rural Australians for Refugees.

Attended by 200 people, the forum was also addressed by Gary Nairn, the Liberal MP for Eden-Monaro, ALP federal president Carmen Lawrence and Professor William Maley, director of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Maley told the meeting that the federal Coalition government's requirement for a majority of immigrants under its ``humanitarian program” having an Australian sponsor meant that asylum seekers most in need were being discriminated against. He pointed out that only 13% of those entering Australia under this program had ever lived in refugee camps. Maley also cited examples of refugees with disabilities facing discrimination under the program.

Nairn defended the government's detention of children, arguing that this arose from their parents' “free choice”. He argued that the government's 50% increase in its annual refugee intake — from 4000 refugees in 2002-03 to 6000 in 2003-04 — was “generous”, as was the contribution made by the federal government to settling refugees and to United Nations programs.

Lawrence stated that “both political parties were responsible for this... both parties had got it wrong and both have a responsibility to fix it”. Lawrence's comments were backed up by Watt, who apologised to those who had turned away from Labor after the 2001 Tampa election. However, he argued that while it was necessary for the campaign against mandatory detention to continue, Labor's pledge “to process 90% of applications in 90 days” was a significant improvement over previous ALP policy.

From Green Left Weekly, August 18, 2004.
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