Australian Politics thread [merged]

[WilliamPowell]

You don't agree they've made progress in human rights?

Yeah they have but think they have along way to go.

Especially when you read about the number of Tamels that appear to be continuing to flee. That suggest to me it's still not great

However, the part that got me and had me shaking my head was when the PM said it was peaceful country when DFAT is saying don't travel there. Thought it was a bizarre bordering on embarrassing statement.

[Judge Roughneck]

Jews burns Palestinian boy alive for revenge


Bbc


Palestinian Mohammad Abu Khdair 'was burned alive'

Mohammed Abu Khdair, shown in an undated family photo, was seen being forced into a car
Continue reading the main story
Mid-East crisis

Vicious cycle
Grief and anger
Vanishing point Watch
Disappearing dream
A Palestinian teenager killed in Jerusalem was burned alive, first post mortem examination findings quoted by the Palestinian attorney-general say.

"The direct cause of death was burns as a result of fire," Mohammed al-A'wewy was quoted as saying.

Israeli authorities say the circumstances surrounding the death of Mohammad Abu Khdair, 16, are unclear.

His death followed the abduction and murder of three young Israelis, with violent clashes spreading overnight.

The post mortem examination on Mohammad Abu Khdair was carried out by Israeli doctors, with Saber al-Aloul, the director of the Palestinian forensic institute, in attendance.

The Palestinian official news agency Wafa quoted the attorney-general as saying that Mr Aloul had reported fire dust in the respiratory canal, meaning the victim had "inhaled this material while he was burnt alive".

Mohammad Abu Khdair, who had also suffered a head injury, had burns to 90% of the body, it was reported.


James Reynolds reports from the funeral procession
The findings have not been officially released.

Mohammad Abu Khdair's family believe he was killed in revenge for the murders of the three Israeli teenagers.

The bodies of Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, both aged 16, and 19-year-old Eyal Yifrach were found on 30 June. Their funerals were held on Wednesday.

Thousands attended Mohammad Abu Khdair's funeral on Friday near the family's home in the Shufat district of East Jerusalem.

Hundreds of Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem before and after the funeral.

The clashes continued overnight in the West Bank and spread to Israeli-Arab towns in northern Israel.


Protesters near Nablus on Friday - the violence spread overnight into Saturday

Israeli teenagers Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach went missing near Hebron on 12 June and their bodies were found on Monday
Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said protesters burned tyres and hurled rocks. Disturbances were reported in Taibe and Tira.

Police responded with tear gas and stun grenades and more than 20 people were arrested.

Clashes were also reported in the central town of Qalansawe overnight, with Jewish drivers attacked and some cars torched.

Haaretz reported that some 50 Palestinians and 13 policemen were hurt in clashes, which it said had spread to all of East Jerusalem's districts.

It quoted Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as saying that rioters "do not belong in the state of Israel - and until that is resolved, their place is in jail".

PM's pledge
Israeli officials handed the body of Mohammad Abu Khdair to his family on Friday morning.


He was seen being forced into a car in Shufat early on Wednesday and his body was later found in West Jerusalem.

The killing came after the bodies of the three Israeli seminary students were found near the city of Hebron on Monday, two-and-a-half weeks after they were abducted.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed their deaths on Hamas. It has denied any involvement.

Mr Netanyahu also condemned the killers of the Palestinian teenager and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Are you in the areas affected by the recent clashes? You can email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject 'Israeli-Palestinian clashes'.

Or you can contact us using the form below

[Smokey]

You don't agree they've made progress in human rights?

Yeah they have but think they have along way to go.

Especially when you read about the number of Tamels that appear to be continuing to flee. That suggest to me it's still not great

However, the part that got me and had me shaking my head was when the PM said it was peaceful country when DFAT is saying don't travel there. Thought it was a bizarre bordering on embarrassing statement.

DFAT actually doesn't say that.  They have 4 levels of classification in their Travel Advice:

1. Exercise normal safety precautions
2. Exercise a high degree of caution
3. Reconsider your need to travel
4. Do not travel.

Currently Sri Lanka is on the 2nd lowest classification - Exercise a high degree of caution - and none of their regions are listed any higher, unlike India where many Tamils are currently located, which has classified areas as 'Reconsider" and even 'Do not travel'.  DFAT's advice is to Australian citizens travelling to other countries and has no bearing on the safety or otherwise of political, religious or social persecution of local citizens that might lead to them fleeing as a refugee.

Here's some interesting reading from different sources:

An article in the Toronto Sun 12 months after the war ended:
OTTAWA - A secret government survey reveals the majority of successful Tamil refugees travel back to Sri Lanka, raising questions about the legitimacy of their refugee status.

To become a refugee, a claimant must prove they are in danger of torture, there is a risk to their life or meet other criteria showing they will face persecution in their home country. Yet this did not stop over 70% of successful Tamil refugee claimants surveyed from returning to Sri Lanka for vacations, business or to sponsor family members.

"I think it's been fairly common knowledge, that after asylum seekers get status they go back," said James Bissett a former head of Immigration Canada. "Certainly after they get landed immigrant status they go back."

Bissett said such abuse should not happen but is all too common in a system he says is known to be generous, open and easy to play. "The name of the game is to get into Canada," said Bissett. "It's Hotel California, everyone checks in but they never leave."

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/08/21/15098766.html

From Bloomberg news in 2013:
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has been misled about conditions for Tamils in the north of the country, cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, a Tamil and national hero, said today.

The lives of people are improving, Muralitharan, who took 800 test wickets, told reporters at an event in Colombo with Cameron to promote reconciliation on the island. Cameron, who traveled to the north yesterday, confronted President Mahinda Rajapaksa last night about refugees, intimidation of journalists and the need for an inquiry into alleged crimes against humanity at the end of the country’s 26-year civil war in 2009.

“In wartime I went with the UN, I saw the place, how it was,” Muralitharan said. “Now I regularly go and I see the place and it is about a 1,000 percent improvement in facilities,” he said.

Cameron, who is in Sri Lanka for a Commonwealth summit, praised Muralitharan’s work to bring people together and said he had been right to travel to the north to see for himself what is going on.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-16/cameron-misled-on-tamils-living-conditions-muralitharan-says.html

The UNHCR 2014 Regional Operations Profile:

Although India, Nepal and Sri Lanka are not signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, they offer asylum to a considerable number of refugees. For its part, UNHCR cooperates with the Governments of these countries, as well as with NGOs and other stakeholders, to protect and assist urban refugees. It also helps to seek comprehensive solutions for internally displaced people (IDPs) and protracted refugee situations.

India grants asylum and provides direct assistance to some 200,000 refugees from neighbouring countries. As the country lacks a national legal framework for asylum, UNHCR conducts registration and refugee status determination (RSD), mostly for arrivals from Afghanistan and Myanmar. More than 24,000 refugees and asylum-seekers of diverse origins are protected and assisted by the Office in India.

.......................

Five years after the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka, the majority of those who were IDPs in the country have returned to their place of origin. However, an undetermined number of individuals remain in protracted displacement, unable to return home owing to housing, land and property issues. Although there has been significant progress in re-establishing infrastructure in the north, some returnees continue to face difficulties in earning a livelihood and meeting their basic needs.

Sri Lanka has seen a growing number of people arriving seeking asylum, and this trend is likely to continue. While national security is expected to be the Government's primary concern, problems of refoulement or the deportation of people of concern are not anticipated. The return of Sri Lankan refugees will continue, albeit at a slower pace.

http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e4878e6.html

And from Lankan News Web published on World Refugee Day 2014:

The Global Trends report 2014 shows that the number of refugees and IDPs under UNHCR care has more than doubled in a decade – from 15 million in 2004 to 35.6 million today. For the first time in the post-World War II era, forced displacement has exceeded 50 million people worldwide. UNHCR has given much needed hope by protecting tens of millions of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons by providing them with the support needed to rebuild their lives. In Asia, millions of forcibly displaced wait for durable solutions, long-running and new conflicts continue to force more people to search for safe havens. At present, Asia remains one of the largest refugee producing regions in the world.

In this global and regional context, Sri Lanka has made progress in reintegrating the returning Sri Lankan refugees and by being a host country to many of those that flee violence in the region. Since the conflict in Sri Lanka ended in May 2009, UNHCR has helped over 11,400 Sri Lankan refugees who have returned voluntarily to restart their lives. Similarly, though numbers remain low in comparison to other host countries in the region, Sri Lanka currently hosts 291 refugees and 1547 asylum seekers, all of whom are registered with UNHCR.

Sri Lankan government has made great strides in reintegrating 573,651 returning internally displaced persons since the end of civil conflict in 2009. UNHCR continues to assist the government in finding durable solutions for the remaining IDPs. Likewise, Sri Lanka has very effectively dealt with the issue of  statelessness on its territory by passing legislation enabling Tamils of Indian Origin, who had been previously disenfranchised, and a population of ethnic Chinese, who had been in the country since the 1940s, to access citizenship. Sri Lanka is often cited as the best practice in the region in resolving issues of statelessness.

lankanewsweb.net/news/7949-unhcr-marks-world-refugee-day-2014

From a SMH article this week:

But some passengers on board the latest Tamil boats thought they were bound for New Zealand. They were acutely aware they would be sent to Manus Island or Nauru if they reached Australia.

"I thought maybe it was to Italy, or France, or Tunisia," said Ragajini, the 32-year-old wife of one of the men on the fishing trawler. "I did not know where he was going and he did not know, either."

Ragajini, who has their two children with her, sobbed as she spoke from the Aliyar camp for Tamil refugees in the Coimbatore district in the far west of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Her husband had crippling debts and had needed to escape to a country where he could earn money, she said.


smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tamil-asylum-seekers-ghosts-on-the-high-seas-20140704-zsw0g.html#ixzz36e9qhoJK

From The Australian yesterday:

Chan­dra Ku­mari, 32, told The Aus­tralian yes­ter­day she was un­aware that her trac­tor-driver hus­band Ya­sotha­ran was plan­ning to seek asy­lum when he left their Tamil refugee camp in Coim­bat­ore, Tamil Nadu, with his brother and an­other man on June 4.

He called her on June 19 to say he was en route to an­other coun­try to seek asy­lum; she thought he was head­ing for New Zealand.

It was the last she heard from him. “My hus­band knew about the Aus­tralian pol­icy (of turn­ing back asy­lum-seek­ers) and would not have taken the risk of go­ing to Aus­tralia,” she said.

Ms Ku­mari said she feared for her and her hus­band’s safety if he were sent back to Sri Lanka, a coun­try both fam­i­lies fled as war refugees 24 years ago, be­cause of a 300,000 ru­pee debt her hus­band

Ms Ku­mari said she feared for her and her hus­band’s safety if he were sent back to Sri Lanka, a coun­try both fam­i­lies fled as war refugees 24 years ago, be­cause of a 300,000 ru­pee debt her hus­band

owed In­dian money lenders and the fact there was no longer any fam­ily to rely on in Sri Lanka.

“If he is sent to Sri Lanka the whole fam­ily will have to com­mit sui­cide be­cause we can­not re­pay the debt,” she said. “I beg the Aus­tralian au­thor­i­ties to just let him stay a few years and earn some money to pay our loans.”

Her tear­ful sis­ter-in-law In­drani Ye­sumani said she too be­lieved her hus­band had been aim­ing for New Zealand in the hope of rais­ing money to con­tinue her two chil­dren’s ed­u­ca­tion.

theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/refugee-arrested-as-tiger-bomber/story-fn9hm1gu-1226978440291?nk=3540a80f0a501e104eb7e508393cfbf8#

From a SMH article this week:

Australian government officials launched a campaign in June last year warning would-be asylum seekers living in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu that they would be sent back to their Sri Lankan homeland if they tried to enter Australia without a valid visa.

''This has been a brilliantly organised campaign,'' said S.C. Chandrahasan, a leading Tamil refugee advocate who has worked closely with the Australian government over the past 12 months.

''The Australian government began in Delhi and has worked down, slowly and diligently, through every level of Indian government and refugee organisations to get the message through that if you get on a boat without a visa, you will be sent back to Sri Lanka.''

Mr Chandrahasan said one of his major concerns for Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu is that by leaving India through illegal means, they are giving up everything they have built up in India over the past 30 years.

''We have land here, we have homes, we have electricity, we have education, and every time someone gets on a boat to go to Australia without a visa, we are losing that, and that is what I am trying to prevent.''

Mr B. Anand, the Tamil Nadu principal secretary and commissioner for rehabilitation and welfare of non-resident Tamils, also told Fairfax Media it was his clear understanding that it was official Australian government policy to return all Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka.

''I have regular meetings with Australian High Commission officials here, and this is what they have stressed to me, that Tamil refugees will be returned to their home country, Sri Lanka.''

Mr Anand said India was not able to accept any Tamil refugees who left India illegally.

''The war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, so it is difficult to accept that these people can still claim refugee status,'' Mr Anand said. ''And if they were registered here as refugees, once they leave the country illegally, we cannot take them back here.''

Mr Anand's office showed Fairfax Media a pamphlet in Tamil published by the Australian government that has been distributed throughout the Tamil refugee community and clearly states that people who try to enter Australia without a visa will be returned to their homeland.

''Effective from July 19, 2013, illegal immigrants who come by boats to any province of Australia will be sent to Papua New Guinea,'' the pamphlet says. ''Upon confirmation that they are genuine cases for refugee status, they will be allowed emigration at Papua New Guinea.

"In other cases, people concerned will either be sent back to their homeland or a detention camp.''


smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tamil-asylum-seekers-have-known-of-deportation-policy-for-a-year-20140703-zsv9n.html#ixzz36eBgWby2

[Judge Roughneck]

You are the accountant. What's the answer. Easy to laugh

It's becasue I am the accountant that I wont answer but will laugh

 

the old trick question from way back when 

I didn't know it was an old trick question. I was hoping for a proper answer

Yep so am I, so please tell us.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5IJeemTQ7Vk&feature=youtu.be

What u,reckon 

[Judge Roughneck]

Wot ...

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israeli-lawmakers-call-genocide-palestinians-gets-thousands-facebook-likes

[Diocletian]

She's hot...I'd give her one...

[Penelope]

we must never let it happen again.............

[1965]

Just wondering what people thought of how the Libs are coping with a hostile Senate?

Personally I think history will judge Julia a whole lot better than Tony.

'65 (from Langkawi 😊)

[Judge Roughneck]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-child-abuse-whistleblower-i-3848987



http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/margaret-thatcher-personally-covered-up-3848836

[Francois Jackson]

Just wondering what people thought of how the Libs are coping with a hostile Senate?

Personally I think history will judge Julia a whole lot better than Tony.

'65 (from Langkawi 😊)

Not looking good. Think his best chance is to call and early election and let is decide

Palmer is a loose cannon hope he ends up getting sued in court

[dwaino]

I always knew the Libs would get in, which is why I backed the minor parties in the senate to cock block them. All going to plan I say.

[Judge Roughneck]

Wp what you make of fed being privatly owned?



Does it worry you at all comrade?

"Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game." - Matt Taibbi, investigative reporter.  http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/everything-is-rigged-the-biggest-financial-scandal-yet-20130425

[tony_montana]

Just wondering what people thought of how the Libs are coping with a hostile Senate?

Personally I think history will judge Julia a whole lot better than Tony.

'65 (from Langkawi 😊)

all posturing- will be repealed by weeks end maybe even tomorrow

[tony_montana]

Carbon Tax repealed - 17/07/2014

[dwaino]

omg budget crisis!!!1!11oneone
*repeals a tax*

17/7/2014 marks the date of the first country to backflip on their climate change measures. Had an absolute gift horse in the carbon tax. I wonder how long it will take for power companies to cut their charges. Will have to screw someone else to make up the difference now. The tax exemption of non-christian charities is already in the gun.