Two significant news items about asylum seekers came in the past week. Hamid Kehazaei died in Brisbane from an infection acquired on Manus Island detention centre, and the Red Cross had to lay off five hundred workers after losing its contract to provide support to asylum seekers living in the community. The incidents attracted only passing notice. They simply restated and reasserted existing policies and values.
Mr Kehazei's death emphasised what was already clear from reports and leaks about conditions in the Manus Island detention centre. It is a dangerous place that affects people's physical and mental health.
The transfer of support of asylum seekers from the Red Cross to Centrelink and other agencies means that vulnerable people will lose the relationships they had built with dedicated and experienced workers. They had been able to trust an organisation with a humane ethos and wisdom in meeting their needs. That is now gone. Its loss will add to the misery of already fragile human beings.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison explained that the new system would give better value for money. From the perspective of Australian policy, both Mr Kehazei's death and the loss of the Red Cross contract do indeed give value for money. The misery and loss suffered by people who have applied for protection in Australia are an essential part of preventing other people from coming by sea.
No new ground is broken in these events. Nor will arguments change our readers' attitudes to them. Still, it is important for journals like ours to record them for the judgment of future generations. But it is worth reflecting on the Minister's phrase, 'better value for money'. For him the value at issue was simply economic efficiency.
When we are dealing with people, however, values other than economic efficiency may also come to mind. Respect for our shared humanity, for example, helping people in need, building good relationships, acting with decency and encouraging human flourishing. Some people, perhaps temerariously, would describe these as Australian values. They might even prefer to have their tombstones inscribed with the words: 'He always treated friends and strangers with respect', than with: 'He always got value for his money'.
If people who come to us seeking protection are forced to leave Australia by choice or by death, might it not be to our credit as a nation if they could say that they found here respect and decency as well as economic