Ship of Fools: Australian government sinks even lower

Thread: Australian government sinks even lower Board: Hell / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by St Deird (# 7631) on :

Oh, fuck you, Malcolm Turnbull. What the hell are you doing?

Some of these people have already been confirmed as genuine refugees. How dare you do this to them?

[Mad]

Posted by Patdys (# 9397) on :

What can we do?

Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :

The treatment of refugee seekers is appalling, and you would not expect common decency from this govt.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Patdys:
What can we do?

Elect human beings to our government. Rather than the shit-filled bags of pus that so many western countries seem to have.

Either that or accept that we in the west are now totally morally bankrupt, we don't care about anyone else's suffering (despite being the cause of much of it). And that we are no longer Christian.

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Patdys:
What can we do?

Shove him in an undersized, overcrowded, leaky boat in the middle of the ocean for a couple of days.

Then ask him how bad life must be for people to consider that sort of journey to be worth it.

Posted by Uncle Pete (# 10422) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:

quote:
Originally posted by Patdys:
What can we do?
Shove him in an undersized, overcrowded, leaky boat in the middle of the ocean for a couple of days.

Then ask him how bad life must be for people to consider that sort of journey to be worth it.

With one paddle, which gets snapped off halfway through the journey.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

Throw in a few pirates, like the ones that went after Mr. Lamb in that situation?

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

It makes one wonder that citizens of one country were ever allowed into another.

Posted by Patdys (# 9397) on :

I was rather hoping for practical solutions.

Posted by jugular (# 4174) on :

The Senate will be the deciding factor. There are two key lobbying tasks:

1. To make sure Labor doesn't cave in
2. To make sure Xenophon team doesn't cave in

Shorten has indicated today that he is unsupportive. We need to call every Labor member and Senator and discourage them from supporting the bill.

Xenophon is trickier, because he/they might be looking for a trade-off. South Australians who actually voted for XNT need to call and express their views clearly.

It's a numbers game now.

Oh, and because this is Hell, those fucknozzles can go eat a bag of dicks. Not tasty dicks, horrible dicks.

Posted by Dark Knight (# 9415) on :

What jugs said. I have phoned and emailed my MP and the Labor Senators in my state (W.A.).
Might you be in S.A., Pure as the? I thought that might be the case. There are not Xenophon Team senators here, but you might be able to get on to yours, if so.

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

This is partly a standard-issue wedgie for labor from the John Howard playbook, and partly a sheep-stealing exercise aimed at the loopy right, also straight from the John Howard playbook.

Mind you, this is from the other side of the announcement about settlement of the detainees in the United States. My reaction when it happened was "I'm already too distressed right now, I'm going to ignore this and hope it goes away." I think Peter Dutton must have temporarily overloaded my moral fibre by his quick-fire evil announcements.

Posted by RuthW (# 13) on :

quote:
Originally posted by simontoad:
Mind you, this is from the other side of the announcement about settlement of the detainees in the United States. My reaction when it happened was "I'm already too distressed right now, I'm going to ignore this and hope it goes away." I think Peter Dutton must have temporarily overloaded my moral fibre by his quick-fire evil announcements.

And my reaction was first, "Really? The US State Dept is going to get all these folks through the refugee resettlement process in two months? Because I don't see Trump thinking we should take on Australia's problem." And second, "Do they really want to come here? Do they have access to news sources? We have Ugandan refugees where I live busy trying to make their African accents sound African American so people will think they were born here."

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

Yep, there is that. Mind you, other potential resettlement destinations included Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. Also, when the refugees ventured out of their camps into Nauru, some were set upon and beaten and others just abused. So Trump's America might not be so bad. At least some of the people on Manus Island and Nauru have close family members in Australia, so there is that particular gut-wrench to take into account too.

[ 15. November 2016, 22:10: Message edited by: simontoad ]

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

And now Peter "the Zombie" Dutton reckons it was a mistake to accept migrants from Lebanon because 33 of their children and grandchildren have been convicted of terrorism-related offences. Still, the PM has his back. What a wonderful immigration minister. I'd threaten to kill him if he wasn't undead.

Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :

There is still no explanation from the Government why refugees cannot be treated with even a modicum of human decency.

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :

I think "Because we can get away with it" is the unspoken reason behind this kind of behaviour.

Bastards.

Huia

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

I think "because this might win us another election" is a major factor behind people like Turnbull and that bloke who got into trouble with ICAC but whose name escapes me's view. For people like Christianson, Dutton and Bernadi it's party time. The muzzle is off.

Let us not forget that racism is hardly the preserve of the conservatives in this country. Labor has a shameful history, and it hardly covered itself in glory the last time it held power.

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

The Zombie digs out Now we can see his arm protruding from his grave, just like in the Thriller video. Seriously though, as the Dutton supporters come out of the morgue at least Get Up can expand its hit list for the next election. I just hope they learn to play dirty, not earnest. Kicking these guys back into hell matters.

Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :

It's finally happened. Australian politicians have driven me to childish behaviour. I always email my local MP about refugee issues, but know it is useless as he is a Liberal and though he loves turning up at Multicultural events and Citizenship Ceremonies, he is a strong a supporter of the draconian measures against refugees.

When Dutton made his comments about Lebanese refugees from the 1970s I had a slight hope my local MP might actually oppose him, as he is of Lebanese ethnicity himself. But no, he is from a Christian background, so is quite happy with those of Muslim Lebanese heritage being racially stereotyped and blamed for crime and terrorism.

Yesterday I was sitting in the back of my parents' car on the way to visit my sister and family. Who should we drive alongside of, but my local MP, standing out in a car emblazoned with his face, name and Liberal Party logo. I just couldn't help making a face at him and shaking my fist. I have seriously lost it! He didn't see me (I don't think).

Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :

Article.

quote:
An Iranian asylum seeker in Australia's offshore immigration detention system has died on Manus Island.

...

Another asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani, who identified himself as a friend of the Iranian, said the man's calls for help were ignored.

"I have this information that four days ago he wanted to kill himself," Mr Boochani said.

...

Mr Boochani said the man had received no medical treatment in the community despite his condition being known among fellow asylum seekers.

FFS. It's not bad enough we lock people up in hellish conditions with no chance of ever setting foot on this island, we now have 6 deaths in our offshore "detention" [a weasel word if ever I heard one...infinite detention] centres. And mental health issues, surely exacerbated or brought-on by these conditions, are seemingly ignored.

A pox on both parties' houses.

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

hear hear. Can you believe we are jockeying for a position on a UN human rights body? More front than Myers, as we say in Melbourne.

Posted by stonespring (# 15530) on :

In the transcript of his January call with our glorious President, Turnbull is asked by DT "Why do you discriminate against boats?" When Turnbull explains the no-admission-if-you-come-by-sea policy, DT praises him and says that Australia is "even worse than we are" on refugees.

Because of Labor's similarly draconian stance, are the Greens the only ones able to make political hay of this? Are they? Is anyone? Anywhere else in the world (ok, with the possible exceptions of Russia and Israel, where DT is popular), a PM being called "worse than we are" by DT is Christmas come early for any opposition.

Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :

I can't see Labor or any other parties, except the Greens, mentioning this. Labor is stuck to the Coalition here because they are afraid of any sign of distance between them being seen as being weak on border protection - something that frightens Aussies far more than it should, and where the nonce term "illegal refugee" is thrown around as if it means something.

But SSM is playing big here at the moment. Immigration and refugee issues are taking a back seat, way back in row Y with the rest of the issues currently (except possibly one of our biggest banks money-laundering). We'll just let desperate people rot in gaols overseas until the Americans take them or they get fed up and go back home to be persecuted. What a great country we are.

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :

quote:
Originally posted by stonespring:
Anywhere else in the world (ok, with the possible exceptions of Russia and Israel, where DT is popular), a PM being called "worse than we are" by DT is Christmas come early for any opposition.

Methinks Israel should consider what T would've done about Jewish refugees...

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:

quote:
Originally posted by stonespring:
Anywhere else in the world (ok, with the possible exceptions of Russia and Israel, where DT is popular), a PM being called "worse than we are" by DT is Christmas come early for any opposition.
Methinks Israel should consider what T would've done about Jewish refugees...

IMO, the Israeli government has the same ethos as the American religious conservatives. They don't give a shit about the trivialities of hypocrisy if they think it serves them.

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

True enough. T would have done what every country (I don't think I have to say almost) did with Jewish refugees from Germany prior to the outbreak of the second world war - told them to get lost. Yad Vashem has a room devoted to remembering what the rest of the world did for the Jews in the 1930's. Australia features of course, turning boats around...

Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :

We have a new visa for refugees.

A "final departure Bridging E Visa". I think the name says it all. Fewer than 100 people presently in Australia, most or all here origially on medical grounds, will have their welfare support removed and given three weeks to move out of government-supported accommodation. They will be released into the community, free to work [!], on the condiiton they’ve signed up to a Code of Behaviour.

Lovely.

Posted by Dark Knight (# 9415) on :

Dutton is a cunt. Get up are doing all they can to get rid of him at the next election.

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

If Dutton becomes PM, I'm going to do what I threatened to do if Abbot became PM but didn't. The world now knows that my threats are hollow and that I love living here too much, dammit.

On the Prince Frederik thread, Golden Key mentioned strine. I wanted to post something that showed how immigration had influenced the way we speak, and thought about posting something from Housos or Fat Pizza. I am concerned that they are a little too provocative though. I also thought Kath & Kim, but its a little too white bread, no?

Any ideas?

Posted by Doc Tor (# 9748) on :

I'm not convinced that has anything to do with Hell, though. Heaven, maybe...

Posted by Dark Knight (# 9415) on :

Definitely a Heaven thread.
Meanwhile, my government has spent nearly $10b being very very cruel to asylum seekers.
I am so ashamed. [Waterworks]

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

yeah. The moment's gone. If I had 6 months to do the research...

Posted by Dark Knight (# 9415) on :

While the Troglodyte formerly known as Prime Minister Abbott is continuing to agnotologize, a sixth asylum seeker has died in Australian care.
Will these hands never be clean?

Posted by Dark Knight (# 9415) on :

Are there are other countries blessed with a terrorist for a foreign minister?

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

Dutton is not the foreign minister.

Posted by Dark Knight (# 9415) on :

You are right. He is the Minister for Immigration.
And a terrorist.

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

I think there probably are a few terrorist foreign ministers, but the fact remains that Dutton is OUR terrorist immigration minister, although with the recent operational mergers you'd be forgiven for thinking he was minister for everything.

Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :

And still fellow humans suffer.

And a great first comment (at this time of writing) telling them to go back home.

Posted by Dark Knight (# 9415) on :

Love Makes a Way are doing good work as always - Jarrod Mckenna and Delroy Bergsma were abseiling down the actual Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's office earlier this week.

Still - really hard not to feel hopeless about this.

Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :

Indeed.

quote:
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for the Federal Government to allow independent doctors and other health experts to help more than 400 asylum seekers languishing inside the recently-closed detention centre on Manus Island.

Article

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