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Not in my name Mr Morrison: compassion and public policy, a case study of Australia and asylum seekers

By Noel Preston - posted Monday, 21 July 2014


We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases, the alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice and our failure to imagine these things being done to us. With some noble exceptions, we failed to make the most basic response and enter into their hearts and minds. We failed to ask 'How would I feel if this were done to me?' As a consequence, we failed to see that what we were doing degraded all of us.

Keating did not mention "compassion" or the "Golden Rule" as a marker for public policy but that is what he was talking about. The parallels and application to Australia's treatment of thousands of asylum seekers are all too obvious. Is the best that we can hope for that some future Prime Minister will apologetically name the truth that our policy toward asylum seekers in the early decades of the twenty-first century failed the compassion test? What if it were us who endured the mental and physical anxiety, trauma and cruelty typical of so many who have sought refuge in this land? What if we failed to see that what we are doing degrades all of us?

Appendix: compassionate policy alternatives

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I have not provide a detailed critique of all aspects of Australia's policy. That is available in many other essays (for example, the Labor for Refugees' publication The Drownings Argument edited by Robin Rothfield, 2014). As for alternative policy suggestions, I do not envisage an 'open door' approach. However, in this Appendix I list a selection of substantial policy ideas which together would signal a more compassionate approach. Along with these, the language of political leadership needs to change. Mr Morrison, and the Jesuit trained Prime Minister and Opposition Leader need to revisit how they can move, in a bipartisan way, to a language of humanitarian compassion and social justice in this public policy. It is also worth saying that, along with the bad and sad stories, there is scope for Australians to hear (current or previous) good stories about refugee settlement in Australia.

Proposals for a substantial change in policy on asylum seekers, indicating that compassion and real politik can co-exist.

  1. Australia's humanitarian refugee intake should be increased to 30,000 per year.
  2. As part of regional co-operation, Australia should fund and help run an asylum seeker processing centre in Indonesia working with the UNHCR – this proposal has been advanced by Julian Burnside QC.
  3. Immediate steps must be taken to clear the backlog of applications for protection visas along with building an Immigration and Border Protection Department culture that is more supportive to applicants.
  4. The budget cuts to programs providing support in the community for asylum seekers and refugees should be reversed (for instance, to the Refugee Council of Australia and the legal support agency RAILS).
  5. Australian offshore detention centres must be phased out as soon as possible and the policy of denying those arriving by boat amended.
  6. The offer of the Uniting Church in Australia to government to house and support unaccompanied asylum seeking minors be implemented.
  7. As soon as possible, onshore detention be limited to special cases, while the fostering of community detention with visas allowing people to work should become the norm, supported by non-government local hospitality.
  8. The policy not to allow family reunion for "boat people" should be reversed.
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This year Noel Preston has published Ethics with or without God, Morning Star Publishers, Melbourne, and a 4th edition of, Understanding Ethics, Federation Press, Sydney. For a fuller account of the author's approach to political ethics readers may be interested to access the recent publications listed above: Ethics with or without God, ch.4 and Understanding Ethics, ch. 9.



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About the Author

Dr Noel Preston is Adjunct Professor in the Griffith University Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance. He is the author of Understanding Ethics (20O1, Federation Press, Sydney), and several texts on public sector ethics. His web page can be found here.

Noel Preston’s recent book is Beyond the Boundary: a memoir exploring ethics, politics and spirituality (Zeus Publications).

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