children overboard incident

Refugees protest in Manus Island detention centre. Photo: Abdul Aziz Adam

Australia’s cruel, immoral and illegal refugee policy is supposedly being carried out in our name. Janet Parker argues we must do everything within our power to bring it to an end.

In a moment of devastating irony, former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, the man responsible for “children overboard” and the architect behind what became the anti-terror laws, has been nominated as Australia's UN Special Envoy for Human Rights. On July 12, Ruddock was given a platform at the Wheeler Centre — which claims he has “been a vocal advocate on several human rights issues” — to talk “human rights, the death penalty, and the changing Australian political landscape”.