Since the end of the 20- year civil war between the Singhalese and the Tamils in 2009, there has been a surge in Sri Lankans who fear persecution by the Sri Lankan government seeking refuge in Australia. In response to the increase of Tamil Asylum Seekers in particular the government has implemented a policy of
Read more
When the government this week announced the federal budget for 2013/14, one set of numbers was always going to grab the headlines. Treasury has forecast an increase in spending on detaining and processing asylum seekers to the tune of $3.2 billion over the next four years. This brings the total cost to over $8 billion
Read more
In 1856 a worldwide achievement of the labour movement occurred in Melbourne. The ‘eight hour day’ was won by stonemasons working on projects at Melbourne University Parkville and the Victorian Colonial Parliament House in Spring Street. In 1934, the Eight Hour Day was renamed Labour Day and has been celebrated since then as recognising workers’
Read more
The front page of today’s Age demonstrates aptly the problem with the politicization of the asylum seeker debate – in a vain attempt to leverage the issue for political gain, we see Scott Morrison deliberately capitalizing on an allegation against one member of the asylum seeker community, blanketly applying it to all asylum seekers, and
Read more
A new year is often a time for reflection; to reflect on bad decisions made during the year past, and a time to plan how to rectify those decisions in the year ahead. Chris Bowen it seems, did not have this time for reflection on the practical costs of his ‘no advantage’ policy for asylum
Read more
