As part of their "No Way" asylum seeker campaign, the Abbott government has published a horrific graphic novel 'targeted' at Afghan asylum seekers. It has no words, "'because Afghans are not as educated as Australians". [Link to: The Guardian - Australian Government Targets Asylum Seekers]
Regardless of one's stance on the actual 'problem' of asylum seekers, surely we can agree that the methods of the Abbott government are becoming more and more extreme as our Prime Minister has unilaterally declared a 'war' at the cost of billions of dollars to the Australian taxpayer, in direct violation of international law, because we're being 'invaded' at the rate of around 3,000 genuine refugees a year, a rate that if continued for THIRTY years would STILL not fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
'And it's working', the PM says, 'no boats have arrived in Australian waters in 55 days'. What they don't tell us is how many boats have left Indonesia or Malaysia! If the aim is to stop the boats arriving in Australia apparently it's working - we turn them around! But if the aim is to stop people dying on boats in an attempt to get here (which is what both governments told us it was) then evidence suggests that it's not.
Regardless of one's stance on the actual 'problem' of asylum seekers, surely we can agree that the methods of the Abbott government are becoming more and more extreme as our Prime Minister has unilaterally declared a 'war' at the cost of billions of dollars to the Australian taxpayer, in direct violation of international law, because we're being 'invaded' at the rate of around 3,000 genuine refugees a year, a rate that if continued for THIRTY years would STILL not fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
'And it's working', the PM says, 'no boats have arrived in Australian waters in 55 days'. What they don't tell us is how many boats have left Indonesia or Malaysia! If the aim is to stop the boats arriving in Australia apparently it's working - we turn them around! But if the aim is to stop people dying on boats in an attempt to get here (which is what both governments told us it was) then evidence suggests that it's not.
