Comments for Andrew Bartlett

Comment on Libs’ low hopes displayed in Dutton pre-selection tangle by Brenton

Brenton — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:09:02 +0000

Who cares? Dutton is one of those socalled ‘clean cut’ in appearance types who make me cringe! What I would like to see is the Liberals split! The arch Conservatives can join with the ignorant Nationals and the ‘wets’ can reform the true Liberal Party which has conservative economic values but ‘in the real world’ social policies! There are thousand of votes for the taking and when I hear a true Liberal leader say, ‘we support same-sex marriage and every, gay, lesbian and transgender person is welcome to join and visit a Liberal Party branch meeting , then I know that the Liberals have returned from their sad sell out to the religious fundamentalists who will ultimately destroy their party!

Comment on Libs’ low hopes displayed in Dutton pre-selection tangle by peter obrien

peter obrien — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:29:13 +0000

Dutton’s angry and ignorant performance always made me squirm……..perhaps he can rejoin the Police Force.

Comment on Death of Democrat co-founder Jack Evans by Tom the first and best

Tom the first and best — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:18:15 +0000

Had the 1984 increase been to 14 Senators per state instead of 12 then the Democrats would have done better because they would have faced an even smaller quota and been far less subject to being squeezed out by the major parties winning three Senators each. Peter Garret would also have been elected in 1984.

Comment on Libs’ low hopes displayed in Dutton pre-selection tangle by Bartlett: Libs’ low hopes tangled in Dutton | Opinions.com.au

Bartlett: Libs’ low hopes tangled in Dutton | Opinions.com.au — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:12:19 +0000

...] more from the original source: Bartlett: Libs’ low hopes tangled in Dutton Related Posts:Coorey: Turnbull can’t shift the dead weight of Iron BarTurnbull puts it all on [...

Comment on Libs’ low hopes displayed in Dutton pre-selection tangle by frank

frank — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:03:02 +0000

The current Liberal Party is currently looking like roadkill. Dutton a rising star dosen’t have the b…s to run for pre-selection in a seat that isn’t a foregone winner. Malcolm Turnbull is looking for an exit strategy that dosen’t make him look like a whiny kid. The selection of either Abbott or Hockey as the future leader would be an early xmas present for the Labor party. Where do they go from here? damned if I know.

Comment on Refugee priorities by Rebekah_T

Rebekah_T — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:24:40 +0000

Public debate about ‘illegal immigrants’ seem to be related to fear of the minority seeking entry to Australia who are criminals rather than concern for the majority who are genuine refugees suffering persecution.

The use of metaphors such as ‘swamped’, ‘flood’ etc is misleading. It’s interesting to note that these words seem to be used in place of actual statistics including the numbers of refugees in other countries in comparison to Australia. This makes it difficult for Australians to see our situation from its’ global context.

If news media provided more in-depth coverage on the current situations overseas then the public would be more informed of the horrific circumstances the people find themselves in and hopefully more sympathetic towards those seeking asylum.

The Australian-Tamil Rights Advocacy Council was established in Victoria in response to concerns that the new anti-terror legislations would lead to discrimination (such as racial profiling) in the Australian Tamil community. One of the Council’s objectives is to participate in law reform campaigns. In 2007 the council lodged a submission to the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security.

The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA) has spoken out regarding the ‘resettlement’ of IDPs (internationally displaced persons).They have called for the Australian and New Zealand media to make the public aware of the realities of their situation. The media is a powerful forum for advocates of human rights. Whose stories are being told and how they are told can make a considerable difference in public perception.

Those in the health and human services sectors see first-hand the effects on refugee communities. If more organisations in this field were to collaborate with refugee advocacy groups, it would strengthen the opportunities for social change and reform of policies that have proved to be discriminatory towards refugees.

Comment on Refugee priorities by Rebekah_T

Rebekah_T — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:35:00 +0000

The Australian government has been found to be in breach of international law – both the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Refugees. This includes the continuing practice of detaining asylum seekers.

Under Howard’s government, policies regarding refugees were stringent. Since Rudd’s abolishment of temporary protection visas, there has been significant improvement, but the fact is that asylum seekers (including children) are still being kept in detention camps. The political and public debates on this issue are often about a perceived threat to Australia’s security rather than the human rights of these people and the situations that are leading them to flee their homelands.

Despite lobbying by organizations such as Amnesty International and the Refugee Council of Australia, media coverage tends to portray refugees in a negative light by focusing on ‘people smugglers’ rather than the people exploited by them. Definitions used in the media also in effect de-humanise asylum seekers, for example by referring to them with terms like ‘boat people’ and ‘illegal immigrants’.

Chris Evans, Minister for the Dept of Immigration and Citizenship, mentions the ‘forgotten refugees’ and the commitment of Australia to accepting refugees from Africa and Middle East regions. There is no mention of the situation in Sri Lanka. This could be due to the lack of media reporting and of public campaigning. Evans has stated that “the size and composition of Australia’s humanitarian program is guided by the UNHCR’s world resettlement priorities and the views of the Australian community.”

If Australians are not receiving unbiased media reflecting the problems facing Sri Lanka then they are unlikely to bring this issue to the government’s attention. The consequence is a humanitarian program without significant assistance to Sri Lankan people, despite an urgent need for humanitarian aid. It should not be underestimated how essential public debate and activism is to political decision making regarding human rights issues.

Comment on Early candidate for 2009 person of the year by Refugee priorities – Andrew Bartlett

Refugee priorities – Andrew Bartlett — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:05:27 +0000

...] that all atrocities were the fault of the LTTE, and there is no substance to any allegations of wrong doing by the Sri Lankan government. Comments (3) | [...

Comment on Death of Democrat co-founder Jack Evans by rationalist

rationalist — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:45:54 +0000

A great read and tribute to Jack Evans.

Comment on Death of Democrat co-founder Jack Evans by Jack Evans: Another Democrat obituary

Jack Evans: Another Democrat obituary — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:43:57 +0000

...] Evans’ contribution to the Democrats, spanning virtually the entire life of the party, at my blog at Crikey. This of course was only one part of his long and varied life, but it’s the only part I feel [...