Border Protection
Did you ever play “chasey” as a child? If you ran around in the wild blue yonder, you were fair game for any roving pursuer, but usually, there was an area which was “safe” (in my school yard it was...
View ArticleSeasons Grievings
Australia is launching a criminal investigation into the Christmas Island shipwreck that killed at least 28 people, under people trafficking laws. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said more bodies may be...
View ArticleJulia uses the F-word
THE Christmas Island detention centre will be significantly scaled down as a result of last week’s violent protests, as the government continues to be lashed by local residents who say they warned of...
View ArticleMalaysian refugee “solution” on hold after legal action
In May this year, our government proposed a “solution” to the increasing arrival of refugees: deport 800 asylum seekers who arrive by boat and swap them with 4000 refugees from Malaysian camps over...
View ArticleBreaking News: High Court declares Malaysian “Solution” illegal
Just handed down at 2:15pm today: the High Court has declared the Malaysian “Solution” to be illegal in Plaintiff M70/2011 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2011] HCA 32. I shall shamelessly...
View ArticleMalaysian Solution Post Mark II
[This is (I hope) a more polished take on the High Court's Malaysian Solution case, with the benefit of further reflection. It also attempts to explain just why the Federal Government thought they had...
View ArticleProcessing While U Wait
The sinking of a boat carrying 200 asylum seekers last week near Christmas Island has reignited debate over Australia’s policy deadlock. The government has renewed a call for a refugee swap deal with...
View ArticleCredit where it's due
A few days ago – via a friend’s Facebook news feed – I learnt that a thread concerning asylum seekers on Perth Now’s Facebook page had spiralled out of control in a particularly virulent way. Based on...
View ArticleWhat’s left out
In a his excellent The World Is Not Enough blog, Charles Richardson comments on an essay by Israeli journalist Yossi Gurvitz. Gurvitz’s essay applies the analogy of Germans expelled from the...
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