This wall of silence serves no one

The new Australian government’s agenda when it comes to asylum seekers and their rights is both far-reaching and regressive. Slashing the overall refugee intake, for example, is a travesty given Australia’s developed economy, while removing rights of appeal and legal assistance for asylum seekers already in Australia flies in the face of this country’s ‘Fair Go’ culture. Expanding offshore detention centres carries on an unjustified, expensive, and so far unsuccessful response to the risks asylum seekers take to reach Australia, and forcibly towing boats only adds a demeaning, dangerous, and internationally-murky element to these strategies.

But all that aside, there’s one overarching issue that should have everyone concerned, even those not yet convinced of asylum seeker rights in Australia.   The new government’s disregard for public information and transparency can only be seen as a precursor to further infringements of human rights and Australia’s international obligations.

The decision to cease publicly reporting new boat arrivals is the most obvious, but certainly not the only, manifestation of this. Immigration Minister Scott Morrisson says the leaders of “Operation Sovereign Borders” will provide only weekly briefings on asylum seeker arrivals by boat, not the immediate press notices of the previous government. That’s not as big a problem when it comes to boats that do make it to Christmas Island – there are certainly people, journalists and non-government organisations that can, and will, keep track of arrivals there. But when it comes to events that take place at sea, the new Government looks set to keep the Australian public well out of the loop.

“That (things that happen at sea) goes to operational matters (and) whether they affect current or future operational activity you will not be getting commentary from this podium or that podium (Lieutenant General Angus Campbell in charge of Operation Sovereign Borders) either way on those matters,” Morrisson said.

Previously on this blog’s pre-election coverage, I’d suggested there was little difference between the Labour and Coalition policy proposals in relation to asylum seekers. “These just boil down to whether the guy ultimately in charge is wearing a uniform or a public service lanyard.” That was flippant of me – it disregarded the fact that the military leadership of Operation Sovereign Borders does have a different, far lower level of public accountability.

Don’t be fooled. There are no real security concerns at play here. The wall of silence is a politically-motivated strategy that seeks to further dehumanise the people involved, and carry on the myth that asylum seekers are a security threat to Australia. It also allows the Government to disingenuously “spin” asylum seeker events to that same political end.

We’re seeing it now in the very vague and non-committal response to this week’s tragedy in Indonesian waters (more on this later this week). And, much more worryingly, we saw it in the outright lies and manipulation of evidence and witnesses to the Children Overboard scandal in 2001.

Then, using the word ‘security’ to hush things up was an effective, even politically clever strategy. But today it’s part of an old playbook that the Government will soon see people aren’t buying anymore.

Scott Morrisson – you’re about to find yourself on the wrong side of history. You can try, but even a military-coordinated war will not “stop the boats” as you have promised the electorate.

You can, however, stop the drownings.  Asylum seekers need a safe, and unrestricted avenue to Australia’s shores to apply for the internationally-recognised, permanent, asylum that this country has promised to provide. They need their families to be able to join them, also safely and unfettered. And they need access to legal, health, and material support while their cases are heard.

The wall of silence serves no one – not asylum seekers, not Australia, and certainly not your Ministerial legacy. For the good of all three, just stop it.

About the author:

Paul Howell is a freelance business journalist and communications consultant, based in Melbourne. 

Disclaimer:

All posts are the opinion of the individual author. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre does not edit or review posts prior to publishing.