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Mar 13, 2012

What is Oakeshott up to?

Independent MP, Rob Oakeshott has put forward a Private Members Bill to, in his words act as a 'circuit breaker' to the major parties and their political games around asylum seeker policy. So, what's it all about... Well we respect the intention to stop the game playing on this issue and we can only hope that what Mr Oakeshott has put forward is simply a talking point and not something he actually believes in. 

What would the Bill mean:

  • The Immigration Minister of the day gets to pick a country where all asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australia by boat would be taken for processing -  just not Australia. Both countries, the UNHCR, the Red cross and the Internaitonal Organisation for Migration all have to agree. However the only 'safeguard' is that the country be part of the Regional Coopreration Framework (more on that later), and they allow a refugee determination process to occur. There is no reference to their human rights record, treatment of asylum seekers and refugees etc.
  • Changes to the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 resulting in Australia absolving itself of responsibilities to unaccompanied minors. There are no safeguards built in of whom would be the childrens' guardian, who would monitor their detention conditions, who would ensure they were educated, provided with health care and kept safe from trafficking, sexual slavery and other abuses common to 'informal' refugee and asylum populations across our region.
  • Huge expense. Australia would be funding a giant processing centre in another country. When Nauru and Manus Island detention centres were operational we saw costs rise to hundreds of thousands of dollars per person detained. 
Oakeshott is hanging alot of this on the Bali Process and says that it has been a policy mistake to date not to focus on this process. The problem with this, is that the Bali Process is a group of meetings involving countries with very diverse opinions and even more diverse actual treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. Malaysia, for example is a member of the forum, as are refugee producing nations such as Myanmar. Furthermore, unlike many internaitonal forums, including those on refugees run by the United Nations, there is no involvement of civil society, no side meeting of NGOs, no presentation of papers by the expert organisations who are on the ground in these countries actually working with asylum seekers and refugees, filling gaps left by government practices and policies. Overall, the Bali Process has looked at issues of people smuggling and the notion of regional processing. Commentary has regular asked 'how can one giant processing centre paid for by Australia constitute regional coopreration on the issues of asylum and smuggling?' Australia needs to take a lead in this forum and altering our legislation to send the issue firmly back to our neighbours does not send a message of pulling our weight, setting the standard, upholding human rights or acting as a financially stable nation can and should. 
Here's Oakeshott's explanation of it all including a link to the text of the proposed Bill. 
We urge you to contact Rob Oakeshott and let him know what you think of the Bill. 
Does ending a political impasse in Australia need to result in human rights abuse and endangering the lives of children?


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