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Anne Frank described a refugee as a parcel that is sent from post office to post office. The 'Malaysian solution' is like solving the problem of overloaded post offices by sending incoming parcels straight to the shredder.
I had anguished over a particular sentence which was the subject of days of media comment. One of my fellow judges stuck his head around the door and said, 'Neil Mitchell says you are right.' This I found unsettling. Then he added, 'But don't worry, Derryn Hinch says you are a disgrace.' Phew!
The decision to suspend the processing of future asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka does not respect the dignity of asylum seekers. Now that the Government has bent to the populist winds fanned by an opportunistic Opposition, there are grounds for fearing the claims of asylum seekers will be judged in a way that unduly reflects the interests of the Australian Government.
My conversion moment came while walking along a busy interstate highway in Spain, crowded with trucks that were passing me every second, blowing me off my feet and filling my lungs with their exhaust gases. I knew then that we cannot go on like this.
The reception of asylum seekers is to be judged by the human reality of those who seek asylum, not by convenience of those on whom they make a claim. It is morally unjustifiable for Australia to transfer its responsibilities to Indonesia.
If we regard asylum seekers as illegals who burn boats to force themselves on us, we might choose to close our doors to them. Rather than criminals, we should regard them as human beings in great need, deserving our respect and compassion.
Despite its offer of a ceasefire, it is doubtful that Israel has achieved its objectives in the Gaza Strip. The popular grievances that propelled Hamas onto the political stage in 2006 will continue to sustain it.
Discussion prompted by the publication of Peter Costello's memoirs defines leadership narrowly as the ability to win elections. If the criteria were expanded to include moral fortitude, judgments about leadership would be very different.
Sold to a contractor at the age of 13, Roghini Govindhan was put to work churning out matchboxes 11 hours a day. Now 24, Govindhan has campaigned as part of World Vision's Don't Trade Lives anti-slavery campaign.
A new Bush Administration policy opens the door to proportionate nuclear strikes against states that transfer fissile material to terrorists — even if the material is stolen, not knowingly leaked. Such a 'negligence doctrine' increases the chance of inadvertent nuclear war.
Senator Chris Evans refused a protection visa to convicted people smuggler 'Mr A', even though he was assessed by Immigration as a refugee. Senator Evans had an opportunity to improve upon the previous government's treatment of asylum seekers, but instead reverted to the same hostile rhetoric.
Tackling the problem of terrorism by the application of force is unlikely to succeed. Pouring blood on the Iraqi desert produced an upsurge of terrorism where none had been before: cruelty, genocide even, but not terrorism, let alone fundamentalist terrorism.
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