Abbott and Morrison Playing God

Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison are trying to bring in laws* that deny people access to justice and send people back to danger.

Laws that let them play God with people’s lives.

These laws attack our Australian values – like helping people in trouble, like giving people a fair go, like keeping a check on political power.

With these new laws, Abbott and Morrison want to demonise people who have shown immense courage and determination to escape harm and persecution in their home country.

These are people who were forced from their homeland because they stood up to dictators.

Because they fought for their daughters’ right to be educated…

Because they stood up for democracy and equality…

They are the go-getters of the world, the freedom fighters.

These are the kinds of people who helped build this country – resilient, hard-working, family-focused.

They are people who want the same thing as us – a safe future for their kids, a peaceful life and to be part of a community that values democracy and a fair go.

The Minister wants to make himself judge, jury and executioner and send people like this back to danger.

He plans to give himself an unprecedented level of power to make life and death decisions about people and stop the courts from acting as an independent umpire.

One of the ways he plans to do this is by putting people through a ‘fast-track’ refugee application process.

It’s like putting them in the hot seat for a game show-style mad minute interrogation.

It will see people fall through the cracks and sent back to danger.

People like Maryam.

Maryam is a young woman from Iran who spoke out on women’s rights and democratic freedoms.

At a protest, the authorities detained her for questioning and violently beat and raped her. She was released after two weeks and told to stop her activism, or she would end up in prison forever.  Maryam was so afraid, she fled for her life.

Now Maryam is seeking asylum in Australia and she is frightened, ashamed and does not understand the system.

Under Abbott and Morrison’s laws, Maryam would need to tell her story immediately, in detail, to a stranger, with no legal advice, no understanding of how our law works and limited English.

Could you reveal your most traumatic experiences in these circumstances?

And if the decision-maker gets it wrong, there’s nothing a person like Maryam can do.

The Minister wants to make it so only he can decide if a case gets a review – and he’ll conduct the review.

But he won’t give someone like Maryam a chance to state her case; he’ll just judge it on the paperwork.

There’s other ways Abbott and Morrison want to send people back to danger.

They want to say that if you’re being tortured and threatened with execution for being gay you don’t need Australia’s protection.

They want you to ‘modify your behaviour’ by pretending you’re not gay and just go back to where you came from.

We have seen time and again what happens when politicians give themselves too much power – they become corrupt and forget that they are here to serve the community, not their own interests.

If Abbott and Morrison are prepared to interfere with the legal system and life and death decisions when it comes to refugees, where will it stop?

We need to stand up to Abbott and Morrison’s cruel plans.

We need to #StandUpToProtect people from harm. 

We need to #StandUpToProtect our strong, independent legal system from political interference.

Morrison is pushing for these laws to go through Parliament before the end of the year – let’s push back.

Join our campaign and #StandUpToProtect refugees and checks on political power.

*Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014