In October 2001 Prime Minister John Howard said at the launch of his re-election campaign, “We decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.”
He instilled fear in the hearts and minds of part of the Australian electorate and won the election.
That statement, though, invites two questions. Who are “we” and what is “this country”? The meaning of both has changed since 2001.
“This country” used to mean Australia with all of its islands. But in our brave new Alice in Wonderland world the word “Australia” means just what John Howard chooses it to mean — neither more or less. And in this instance slightly less than we all thought.
For the purposes of the Migration Act, suddenly islands are being excised from Australia. It is a legalistic way for Australia to worm out of its international agreements on refugees.
Under those agreements Australia has a duty to treat refugees who arrive in Australia in a certain way — not to return them to countries where they might be persecuted and to accord them basic living requirements (even if in detention) and a right to protection while their homelands are in turmoil. The Migration Act gives them a right to apply for a visa and the High Court can supervise the way that law is administered.
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