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In a move that defies belief, Labor is set to side with the Greens in the Senate against TPV's.
And that they have done.In a move that defies belief, Labor is set to side with the Greens in the Senate against TPV's.
29 passengers and 2 crew offloaded on Xmas Island yesterday afternoon.Meanwhile, we could have another boat.
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/201...arrott-is-at-the-helm-of-ocean-protector.html
THE government has banned new permanent protection visas for asylum seekers already in Australia, slamming the door shut on permanent residency for the 33,000 boat arrivals held in detention centres or on bridging visas.
The Daily Telegraph has learned Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has used powers under Section 85 of the Migration Act to put an immediate cap on permanent protection (class XA) visas for asylum seekers who arrived by boat. The legal order was issued yesterday to the Department of Immigration to cease approving PPVs to circumvent the move in the Senate by the Greens and Labor on Monday night to reject the Coalition's attempts to revive the Howard-era temporary protection visas.
Mr Morrison has also used provisions under section 46 of the Migration Act - which apply to ministerial discretion to allow applications to be made by asylum seekers offshore - and has placed a self-imposed ban on allowing applications to be made for permanent protection visas.
All other humanitarian visa programs remain in place, such as those which apply for asylum seekers in UN-administered refugee camps overseas.
Mr Morrison said the effect of the Greens-led roadblock in the Senate - supported by Labor - would be asylum seekers in Australia would be denied any access to work rights or welfare payments other than what is allowed under the bridging visa program.
He said the move was necessary to ensure people smugglers did not use the Labor-Greens Senate alliance to "re-open the door to asylum seekers" as propaganda to encourage more people to get on boats.
He said the freeze on permanent protection visas would remain until the Senate changed its mind.
I know who's having the hissy fit.11:11am: There are reports today that Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has decreed that asylum seekers who arrives by boat and are already in Australia will be left on bridging visas.
This is in response to the Senate (Labor and the Greens) blocking the Coalition's re-introduction of TPVs earlier this week.
It means that 33,000 asylum seekers will not gain permanent residency and will not have work rights.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is furious.
She says that Morrison and Tony Abbott are "drunk on power" and have chucked a "hissy fit" over the TPV knock back.
29 passengers and 2 crew offloaded on Xmas Island yesterday afternoon.
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/12/arrival-of-the-attitudes-on-christmas-island-yesterday.html
Yes - "arrival of the attitudes" as shown by the photo below found on Michael Smith's site. Interesting how well fed and muscular this bloke is too - like other photos we have seen of arrivals. Genuine refugees with little or no money in squalid camps are most unlikely to look anything like the picture of health below, imo:
I suggest we all write to Sarah Hanson-Young for her support on a name change.
The publisher today succeeded in having those arguments struck out.
Justice Lucy McCallum also disallowed claims that the piece suggested Senator Hanson-Young was too emotional and immature to make a serious contribution on asylum seekers.
The flow of boat people from Sri Lanka and Iran has reversed for the first time in three years, with more being sent back than arrive, The Australian website reported.
The net decline in asylum-seekers from two of the biggest source countries in the past three years coincides with the lowest November total for asylum-seeker arrivals since Kevin Rudd repealed the Howard government border-protection laws.
Last month, there were 207 arrivals and 66 people were sent back, including more than 40 Iranians. All Sri Lankans who arrived illegally since mid-September have been sent back or volunteered to return to Sri Lanka.
This month is expected to see more people who have arrived illegally from the two countries sent back than those still arriving on boats.
This will mark the tipping point in attempts to stem the flow of illegal boat arrivals and deal with the backlog of 33,000 asylum-seekers in Australia.
It appears the decline in illegal boat arrivals, particularly among Iranians, is a result of combined actions by the Indonesian government, the second Rudd Labor government and the Abbott government.
Tony Abbott and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison have both this week cited a reduction in the number of boat arrivals under the Coalition’s Operation Sovereign Borders since September 18 of between 80 and 90 per cent, compared with the last months of the Labor government. The 86 per cent reduction is based on the 5463 illegal arrivals in the last 72 days of the Labor government and the 751 illegal arrivals in the first 72 days of the Abbott government.
The decline in illegal arrivals from a peak under Labor began after July when the Rudd government reopened the Howard government’s arrangement with PNG on Manus Island for offshore processing and regional resettlement.
In July there was an average of 10 illegal boat arrivals a week, carrying an average of almost 1000 people.
In mid-July, just before calling the election, Kevin Rudd announced the regional resettlement program and Indonesia did away with visa-free arrivals for Iranians, who had previously been able to come to Indonesia without a visa and board boats bound for Australia.
In August the average dropped to six boats a week and the average number of people arriving illegally dropped to about 400 a week.
During the uncertainty of the election campaign in August and September, there was a spike in boat arrivals, but since the election the average has dropped to two boats a week carrying an average 78 people.
In the last week of November, despite tensions between Australia and Indonesia over spying allegations, there was only one illegal boat arrival with nine passengers. During the peak week in July, 12 boats arrived with a total of 1036 people on board.
While campaigning for the restoration of temporary protection visas, Mr Morrison conceded in parliament that some of Labor’s policies before the election were starting “to head in the right direction”.
“Before the last election the previous government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to put offshore processing back in place,” Morrison said.
“They previously said it had no role in stopping the boats under the Howard government. But they were forced, as the political winds blew hard against them, not out of conviction but out of political fear, to reintroduce offshore processing.
“At the last election, the people of Australia made a judgment. They said that they did not trust the Labor Party with border-protection policies, even if some of those border-protection policies were starting to head in the right direction.”
In the last week of November, despite tensions between Australia and Indonesia over spying allegations, there was only one illegal boat arrival with nine passengers.
SCOTT MORRISON: Welcome to the thirteenth briefing on Operation Sovereign Borders. At earlier briefings I have referred to the underfunding of offshore processing under the previous Government that has been inherited by this Government. I can confirm today that the funding shortfall for offshore processing at Nauru and Manus Island from the former Government is $1.2 billion for both capital and operational expenditure over the forward estimates including $370 million in the current financial year.
And this has been confirmed by the Department of Finance and my own department. Service contracts on Manus Island and Nauru are due to expire at the end of January of next year and there was no provision for my department beyond the expiry of those contracts.
Pics,Another boat with an estimated 70 arrivals.
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/201...al-entrants-and-we-discuss-indonesias-co.html
A measure of the success of this government's approach to border protection is how much Sarah Hanson-Young screams.There's also speculation on a turn back,
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/201...report-about-a-certain-maritime-incident.html
Indonesian water police told Fairfax Media that two boats have been turned back by the Australian Navy, one on Monday and one in December.
The boat from Monday carried 45 passengers, 36 of whom were male and nine female, mostly asylum-seekers from Africa though with several from the Middle East, according to Indonesian police sources.
The boat from December carried 48 asylum-seekers from Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea and Iran.
The Jakarta Post says a boat carrying 45 ''illegal immigrants from Africa and the Middle East'' was about to enter Australian waters on Monday but was ''immediately forced into Indonesian waters''. The ABC quotes Indonesia's government newswire Antara as reporting that a boat carrying 47 asylum seekers was intercepted by the Australian navy on December 13 and ''forced back'' to Indonesia.
Both news reports are attributed to the Indonesian police chief Hidayat.
“The Australian Navy sent the illegal immigrants back to Indonesia,” Rote Ndao Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hidayat said as quoted by news portal Antara.
Quoting one of the boat people, Hidayat said that the Australian Navy provided the immigrants with life vests and communication equipment before repelling them into Indonesian waters. “The Australian Navy knows that the local ship crews will usually put leaks in boats that aim to enter Australian waters, thus they took the initiative to anticipate it,” Hidayat added.
Minister’s office spokesman Agus Barnas said that even though the government had suspended cooperation with Australia, including on the boat people issue, the government’s decision to accept the immigrants was justified for humanitarian reasons. “Where else should they go if Australia repelled them?” he said.
Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Moeldoko said he understood the Australian government’s decision to turn back a boat of undocumented boat people attempting to reach its shores.
Speaking to the press at the Defense Ministry on Tuesday, Moeldoko explained that both the Indonesian and Australian governments had earlier agreed to the action: Repelling any migrants who attempted to reach Australia from Indonesian territory and push them back into Indonesian waters.
“Following [our] halted military cooperation with Australia, the country’s Defense Force Chief called me to discuss several issues, including how to deal with the boat people,” Moeldoko said.
“Therefore, we do not need to feel offended,” he added.
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