Refugee Update
The big news of the last couple of weeks is that both the previous Labor and the current Coalition governments have paid bribes to people smugglers. In the Coalition's case, those bribes were paid to smugglers to take their passengers back to Indonesia in two boats provided by Australia - a "suicide mission".
The bribes, totalling $US31,000, may have broken Australian law. The asylum seeker vessel was stopped in international waters.
(The government has refused to deny the allegations or to hand over relevant documents to the Senate. Both current Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten and former PM Julia Gillard have refused to deny that smugglers were paid for intelligence under Labor governments.)
As well as encouraging the people smugglers in their business, the bribe endangered the asylum seekers aboard; when one vessel ran out of fuel, its passengers were moved to the other boat, which then crashed into a reef.
By contrast, in the face of the Rohingya crisis, Malaysia and Indonesia have said they will stop turning asylum seeker boats away.
The bribes, totalling $US31,000, may have broken Australian law. The asylum seeker vessel was stopped in international waters.
(The government has refused to deny the allegations or to hand over relevant documents to the Senate. Both current Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten and former PM Julia Gillard have refused to deny that smugglers were paid for intelligence under Labor governments.)
As well as encouraging the people smugglers in their business, the bribe endangered the asylum seekers aboard; when one vessel ran out of fuel, its passengers were moved to the other boat, which then crashed into a reef.
By contrast, in the face of the Rohingya crisis, Malaysia and Indonesia have said they will stop turning asylum seeker boats away.