Liberal MP calls for asylum seekers to be settled in Australia
A Federal Government backbencher wants the asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru who are not accepted by the United States to be resettled in Australia.
Russell Broadbent, who has previously spoken out against hardline asylum seeker policies, made the call in a short speech in Parliament.
United States authorities have been interviewing and vetting refugees on Manus Island and Nauru, but it is still unclear how many they will agree to settle.
"Eventually, you come to a place in your time where, as a former member says, there is a rubbish bin and it smells and you can't walk past it," Mr Broadbent said.
"I'm happy that the process with the Americans is working its way through very effectively at this time and there will be a resolution.
"Once that time comes, it's time for this nation, through its Parliament, to act and resolve the situation on Manus and Nauru."
What do you think? Is it time to accept that the Government’s asylum seeker policies have failed?
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Sometimes things are brought to your attention that leave you gobsmacked. It happened to me this week thanks to an email from an Australian Conservatives member and concerned citizen.
This particular patriot used to work in a Centrelink call centre. One day, a particular call left her knowing there had to be a better way.
This specific query was from a migrant woman enquiring as to why her Family Tax Benefits (FTB) had been reduced.
The operator looked up the individual’s records and saw that the claimant was on Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) of around $495 per fortnight. Her husband was also in receipt of Austudy for a similar amount. The couple’s ten children entitled them to a further $2850 per fortnight through FTB ‘A’ and FTB ‘B’.
All up, nearly $2,000 per week in welfare payments and that figure doesn’t include other subsidies or ‘bonus’ payments if certain government requirements are met. It ignores any childcare benefits, housing assistance and medical benefits too.
Now there are several alarming aspects of this story.
The first being: how is it in anyone’s interests to have an immigration program that allows people to come to Australia to effectively live on welfare?
It also raises the question about how our welfare program allows people to access so much money, with little - if any - accountability or expectations.
Little wonder our country is slowly going broke and so many think the system itself is broken.
The statistics tell a damning story.
More than half of Australians receive more in benefits than they pay in tax. Some groups of migrants are 95% reliant on welfare, even after five years in the country. We are running billions of dollars into debt every year and still cannot support those truly in need.
Our pensioners and veterans seem to be given short shrift in favour of an imported underclass that many think are gaming the system.
Such an approach doesn’t pass the common sense test and that’s why Australian Conservatives know there is a better way.
Australia truly is a land of opportunity. However it is slowly strangling those opportunities under the yoke of regulation, bureaucracy and the entitlement mentality.
Our generous and caring culture is being taken for a ride and politicians are facilitating it by refusing to confront the truth.
We cannot allow that to go on. We simply cannot afford for it to go on. We need to make changes across the whole of government, including reforming our immigration and welfare offerings.
To ignore the problem so evident within our midst is tantamount to not acknowledging the elephant in the room.
Whilst our national living room is large, the elephant continues to grow, fed to a level of morbid obesity by decisions of past and present parliaments.
It’s time for a better way.
Until next week.
Cory Bernardi
P.S – Our new website allows every member and supporter to update their own contact details and manage their communications preferences. It’s as easy as ABC so if you need help logging in please click the link below for assistance.
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Ben’s real name is Behnam Moghimi Kivaj. He is from Iran and has formed a close-knit group of friends, including Nouhad Al Aboudi from Iraq, Zubio Kham Orakzai from Pakistan and Walid Zazai, who all tried to get to Australia by boat and have been detained in PNG for up to four years.
Recently they made another boat trip, this time to a nearby island off Manus for a “two-day holiday”.
Shirtless, looking bronzed and frolicking in clear blue waters, Ben and his mates hammed it up for the camera. In one photo they buried one their mates, Imran Khan, in sand.
His mate Walid Zazai, an asylum seeker with designer stubble and gold-rimmed, aviator sunglasses and an on-trend white shirt, later posted on Facebook about their trip in May.
“I had a lovely 2 days holidays with my lovely, cute, beautiful and best ever friends.”
Their posts about the trip include, “drinking coconut water...yumm” and “what a pleasant time hanging with friends”.
After the trip, they returned to Manus Island and have ramped up their campaign against the Turnbull Government and the detention centre, which will be bulldozed by the end of October.
In the GetUp! ad, which started running on TV stations and You Tube on Sunday, Ben says, “I’m asking for an SOS.
“Malcolm Turnbull you know PNG is not safe. You know Nauru is not safe. You need to evacuate us.”
Their own Facebook pages accuse Immigration Minister Peter Dutton of having blood on his hands, and demand the detention centres — where they are free to go — be closed.
They will have the option of resettling in PNG, returning home or possibly resettling in the US.
On holiday with a group of friends after having rowed to a small island off Manus Island.
Ironically, now the detention centre will be closed, Walid Zazai, does not want to leave, and posted on Facebook just days ago: “I’m losing myself to these harsh policies. It’s eating me from the inside slowly slowly. Australian immigration want to dump us in PNG where we aren’t safe.”
Nationals senator Barry O’Sullivan, a former Queensland police officer, said the pictures provided a different story to those told by activists and the Human Rights Commission.
“The pictures show people living in quite idyllic locations,” he said.
“I’m not pretending it’s Club Med... but these people aren’t in chains (as some activits like to portray).
“They are not under stress or trauma,’’ he said, referring to the images.
GetUp! has long protested against regional processing detention centres, which they describe as “expensive, harmful and heartless experiments — and yet, they remain open, and supported by our major parties”.
The refugees bypass safe countries mainly Islamic where they can just go and live as no passports etc needed for a Muslim as no nationalty when born a Muslim. 1967 Protocol to 1951 Refugee Convention meant for WW2 - changed that allowing passage through safe countries.
Why - UN is left biased and driven and changes made were to inconvenience the western nations and push them towards chaos, and overwhelm nations welfare/housing/medical systems with thousands of people.
Europe is seething under the weight of mass so called refugee invasion right now and we can thank Tony Abbott that the boats stopped coming here and thats one reason why the Left hated him and demonized him and managed to kick him out of office. Like they are doing now to Trump who isnt helping himself by opening his mouth before his brain kicks in so giving the media lots to harange him over.
And those on Manus etc are found NOT to be refugees.
Time way pass where we should have given our 12 months notice to UN on 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol which allows them to by pass safe countries for those with a good welfare system.