With this in mind, the only advantage I could see for asylum
seekers from Rudd’s Manus Island Plan, is that it is so unattractive, it would
actually deter them from making that dangerous journey.
Yet in the two and half weeks since Rudd’s announcement, 1765
asylum seekers have arrived in Australia by boat.
While I can’t find what percentage of these people were
already ‘in the water’ at the time of Rudd’s announcement, Fr Frank Brennan in
today’s Oz provides a couple of good reasons as to why Rudd’s Manus Island plan
didn’t stop more boats from leaving.
First, Rudd did not consult with the Indonesian Government about
his Manus Island plan. (Just quietly, given his track record, I was impressed he
let even PNG in on his plans.)
Second, a communications plan to inform asylum seekers in
Indonesia that they will not be settled in Australia if they come by boat wasn’t
in place at the time of Rudd’s announcement. Apparently, it STILL isn’t in place. Yet full
page ads, in English, in our Australian papers were ready to rock the day after
Rudd’s announcement. (Just on the off chance we were thinking about, you know,
leaving Australia and coming back by boat. Or voting in the coming upcoming
election.) According to a letter from
the Auditor-General to Senator Nick Xenophon, $30M is the budget for that domestic
campaign. And just $2M the budget for the overseas campaign – with a further
$5M to be sought in the future.)
See here for that doozy of a letter: http://mumbrella.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/AUDITOR-GENERAL-LETTER.pdf
And here for Fr Brennan’s article and some other very good
ones:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-05/brennan-shock-and-awe-asylum-seeker-plan/4864802http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1794165/Crime-report-details-asylum-seeker-deaths-at-sea
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-makes-people-get-on-a-leaky-boat-from-Indonesia/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/02/asylum-seeker-ads-could-cost-37m
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/rush-to-the-polls-before-voters-realise-manuss-no-solution-at-all/story-e6frg76f-1226691063914
